Yoona sobbed for a good five minutes before she was done. Finally, she wiped the tears from her eyes. “Well, that was embarrassing.”

Jesse pulled away and grinned at her. “You made me play pretend SATs with you when we were younger, but this was embarrassing?”

Yoona giggled. “I’m proud of my pretend SATs,” she told him, realizing they were alone in the room.

“I’ll bet you are,” he said softly, her hair again. He gave her another hug, and she hugged him back with her good arm.

“I’m so glad you’re here, Jesse,” Yoona told him.

He pulled away and grinned at her again. “Where else would I be?” he asked.

Yoona smiled softly and took a deep breath. “What is Yul doing here?”

“He wanted to see you, Yoong,” Jesse told her. “Actually, I think he needed to see you,” he corrected himself.

“I asked him to leave, but he said he wouldn’t.” She chewed on her lower lip nervously. “Will you ask him to leave?” she asked.

Jesse shook his head. “No,” he said firmly.

Her eyes filled with tears and he almost changed his mind. “Why?” she pressed.

“Because… you need him as much as he needs you,” Jesse told her.

Yoona started crying softly, and Jesse pulled her to him, rocking her gently. “It’s going to be okay, Yoona,” he assured her.

Yul was standing in the hallway rubbing his thumb over the photograph in his hand. He was staring at it intently. When Jesse had gone to Yoona’s side and hugged her, the picture had slipped from her lap down to her side, the one that Yul was sitting on and he picked it up. He had expected it to be a picture of Yul Jr., but it wasn’t. It was a picture of the three of them; him, Yoona and Yul Jr. It was taken in late October and Yul Jr. had been sixteen months old, just a few short weeks before Yoona and Yul had received the news that had rocked their storybook existence.

FLASHBACK

Yul was standing near the top of the slide and he reached up and placed Yul Jr. on the slanted surface, his hands gently placed around his son’s tiny little waist. “Are you ready, Yoong?” he asked, looking over his shoulder.

“I’m ready,” she told him. He let Yul Jr. go, and turned around. He smiled at his wife, who already had her arms out for her son. “Come see mommy, baby,” she said to him, grinning from ear to ear. Yul Jr shrieked with delight as he descended the slide and flew into his mother’s arms. When he reached Yoona, she picked him up and swung him around in a circle. “Wasn’t that fun?” she said, kissing him on one of his chubby cheeks.

“Again,” Yul Jr. said.

Yoona set him down, and he took off running for his daddy, his eyes never leaving Yul’s. Yul saw his son trip, but reached him and had him in his arms before he even had a chance to hit the ground. Yul Jr. laughed gleefully. “Again!” he commanded.

They had played like that for about a half an hour with Yul Jr. before inspiration struck Yul.

“I have an idea, Yoong,” he told her.

Yoona started laughing. “What is it?” she asked.

“I’ll be right back,” he said, running for the bench a little ways away.

“Yul!” she said after him.

“Excuse me,” Yul said, reaching the elderly couple on the bench. He pulled his camera out of his pocket. “I was wondering if you could take a picture of me with my wife and son?” he asked.

The old man stood up, and then helped his wife up. “I think it’s the least we could do since you’ve been providing us with entertainment,” the old man said with a smile. “We’ve been watching you for the last half an hour playing together. What a sight!” The old man grinned down at his wife. “Reminds me of us when we were younger,” he said to her, reaching over to pat the hand that she had wrapped through his arm. He looked at Yul again. “They grow up so fast,” he told Yul. “Don’t blinks, son, or you’ll miss something!” he warned.

Yul grinned at the older man, enjoying their conversation. “I won’t,” he promised.

“And that little wife of yours, what a ticket, don’t let her go!”

Yul looked at Yoona with their son and he could swear his heart was going to burst. “I wouldn’t dream of it,” he said softly. Finally, they reached Yoona. Yul kissed her on the forehead.

“Hi, little lady,” the elderly man said to Yoona as his own wife, standing right beside him, smiled at Yul Jr. in his mother’s arms.

“Hi,” Yoona said, smiling back at them.

“This man’s gonna take our picture,” he told Yoona.

“Ok,” Yoona said.

“Come on,” Yul said, pulling her by the hand toward the slide.

She laughed while Yul Jr. bounced happily in her other arm, seeing that they were approaching the slide again. “What are we doing?” she asked.

“You’ll see,” he said.

END OF FLASHBACK

Yul looked down again at the picture in his hand. He was sitting near the top of the slide, with Yoona between his legs, Yul Jr. between hers. He and Yoona were smiling widely in the picture, and you could tell that Yul Jr. was happy. All three of their cheeks were flushed with excitement. Yul could swear if he listened hard enough, he could still hear Yul Jr.’s laughter from that day.

He sighed and put the picture gently in his pocket. He warily rubbed the bridge of his nose, wanting to see Yoona again, but knowing that she needed to be with Jesse right now. He was sure she had questions about his being here, and he was fairly certain that he wouldn’t be the one she questioned about it. He was praying to God that she didn’t ask him to leave again, because he really didn’t think he could. He didn’t want her strength fighting him when she should be using it to get well.

Finally, Jesse walked out of Yoona’s room. “Where did Fany go?” he asked, looking around.

“Press conference,” Yul told him. “The world needs to know that Yoona “Im” Kwon finally woke up,” he said guardedly. He wasn’t ready for the world to know yet. He wanted to keep her to himself for a while longer.

Jesse nodded. “Listen,” he said, “I’m going to go make some calls. I’d like to call mom and a few other people to let them know Yoong’s awake.”

“Ok,” Yul told him, heading for the door to Yoona’s room.

“Yul?”

Yul turned around. “Yeah?”

Jesse sighed. “She really needs you. Only she doesn’t know it,” he told his younger brother. “Don’t blow it.”

Yul laughed. “I’ll try not to,” he promised, thanking God that Yoona had Jesse to watch out for her. He walked back into her room. “Hey,” he said softly.

She lifted her eyes to his. “Hi,” she said her voice still hoarse.

He returned to his seat by her side. “How are you feeling?” he asked, concerned.

“I’m tired,” she told him. There was a pause. “You look tired, too. How long have you been here?”

“I flew in from New York when I heard what happened,” he said. “I’ve been here since then.”

She slowly nodded. “Thanks,” she said, unsure of what else to say.

He just smiled at her and she felt her heart melt. She’d seen him on television so many times playing in his basketball games, and she’d even watched him smile into the camera after a win, but it was nothing compared to the smile he was giving her right now.

She nervously cleared . Suddenly, she remembered the item she’d pulled from her purse and looked down. Yul saw her start to panic as she looked down and then started to run her hands over the bed to see if she could feel it. He reached into his pocket and pulled the picture out.

“Its right here,” he said softly, holding it out to her.

“Thanks,” she said huskily, taking it from him. She looked down at it, running her fingers over it, as if trying to absorb the memory.

Yul had wanted her to wake up so badly, felt like he’d had so much to say to her, but now that she was awake; he couldn’t seem to find the words. He cleared his throat and motioned to the picture. “I remember that day,” he said.

Her eyes flew to his. “You do?” she asked, astounded.

“Every second of it,” he assured her.

She nodded. “Me, too,” she told him.

“How’s my patient?” the nurse asked, walking into the room.

“She’s looking good, Rosie,” Yul answered.

Yoona was surprised that Yul was on a first name basis with her nurse. Clearly he’d been not only sitting by her side, but paying attention to what was going on and monitoring her care as well.

“Ok, Yul,” the nurse said. “I need to check some of Yoona’s stitches, and I think it might be more comfortable for her if you’re not here.”

Yul winked at the nurse. “Sure thing, Rosie,” he said, grinning at her. He stood up and took Yoona’s hand, then leaned down and kissed her softly on her forehead. “I’ll be right outside,” he promised her, giving her hand a light squeeze. Then he let go and was gone.

Unbelievable, she thought. He’s already charmed my nurse.

“So, who’s the hottie?” Rosie asked, confirming her thought.

Yoona sighed. “He’s a friend,” she told her nurse.

“Some friend, he hasn’t left your side since he got here,” she informed Yoona, lifting up the hem of Yoona’s nightgown and pulling back some bandages on Yoona’s belly.

Yoona winced at the pain. “Funny he wasn’t here when I woke up,” she said resentfully, not sure exactly where that had come from. She had no right to be angry with Yul about not being here when she woke up. They hadn’t seen each other in years.

The nurse leaned in towards Yoona as if she were about to impart a piece of key information. “The night he got here, I heard him yelling at Tiffany by the beverage machine. And ever since he got past her, he hasn’t left this hospital once. In fact, that was the first time he’d left your side. Thank God. The boy was starting to smell rank!”

Yoona laughed.

“We had to practically force him to leave your side to take shower,” she said teasingly. “I’m surprised the smell didn’t wake up.”

Yoona laughed weakly, mindful of the pain on her stomach while the nurse was dabbing at a cut with a damp cloth, checking the stitches. Finally she put some antiseptic on it and put the bandage back in place. Rosie looked around, as if to ensure they were still alone. “Just between you and me,” Rosie said in an exaggerated whisper, “I think your friend is sweet on you.”

Yoona sighed. “Oh, Rosie, if you only knew. That ship has... sailed,” she said sorrowfully.

Rosie lifted an eyebrow at Yoona and crossed her arms knowingly. “If you ask me, it’s about to return to shore,” she said before leaving the room.

Yoona swallowed past the lump in , knowing that even if Rosie was right, and the ship was returning to shore, she wouldn’t be getting on board again.