This was not how the eight months pregnant Mrs Noh had planned to spend her morning. Absolutely not. Her husband had gone to work and she had decided to take a walk in the park despite feeling like a walking watermelon. She thought that the fresh air might help her feel better about her bloated and heavy self.

Oh boy was she wrong.

Mrs Noh had barely stepped into the park when a pain struck through her body and she fell onto the ground while desperately clutching her stomach.

Within moments, Mrs Noh was lying in an ambulance being brought to the nearest hospital. Crying out in pain, the pregnant lady prayed to the skies that her baby would be unharmed. There was still one month until her baby’s due date so being rushed to the hospital so suddenly, her heart felt heavy as she prepared for the worst.

This was most certainly not how she had intended to spend her morning.

“29 year-old patient, 33 weeks pregnant. Her waters broke on the ambulance and she is going through contractions.” 

Hearing the urgency in the paramedic’s voice and seeing the doctor’s eyebrows etch together in worry, Mrs Noh tightened her hold on her stomach. A wave of contractions shot through her body in that moment, sending her wailing in agony.

“Bring her to the OR. Someone contact her guardian!”

The corridor leading to the OR of the ob-gyn department was in a frenzy due to the unexpected arrival of a pregnant mother who was not registered to their hospital. But that could not be helped and thankfully she had her baby journal with all key information filled out in a delicate and neat handwriting.

On the other end of the corridor, another mother who recently gave birth was in a wheelchair while cradling her newborn baby. Mrs Lee had a tough birth and was currently wheelchair bound. Her good friend Mrs Suh visited her frequently with her two year-old toddler to keep her company.

With the toddler in tow, Mrs Suh was pushing Mrs Lee back into her ward to rest when the sound of an emergency patient being brought in caught their attention.

“My my, that sounds bad,” Mrs Suh commented.

“Were the staff that stressed when I went into labour?” Mrs Lee questioned as Mrs Seo helped her settle in bed.

“Not really, but your husband looked like he was about to faint when he heard your little son was in breach.”

Mrs Suh softly tapped the newborn’s nose with an affectionate smile, her eyes curling into the shape of crescent moons.

“Let’s hope our little Taeyong doesn’t grow up to be a troublemaker.” Mrs Lee grinned, blowing gentle kisses in her baby’s direction.

“I’ll make sure our Youngho takes good care of him,” Mrs Suh reassured the new mother. “You hear me darling, you’re an older brother now, so you must look after Taeyong, keep him out of trouble.”

Staring at his mother with wide doe-eyes, Youngho spread his mouth in a wide grin, showing off his still developing baby teeth. Climbing onto the bed, Youngho snuggled into Mrs Lee’s side and imitated the older woman’s earlier actions by blowing kisses at the unaware Taeyong who giggled at the sensation of the wind tickling his skin.

・・・

Mrs Noh stared blankly at the wall across from her. The birth had been extremely arduous and in the end the doctors had to opt for emergency caesarean. Her husband had rushed over from work as soon as he received the call from the hospital. By the time he arrived the procedure was already over and their newborn baby had been brought to the NICU for further observations