“Dongwoo…don’t leave me…I’m scared.” She could hear  herself saying, looking up at Dongwoo, whose head was encased in a hazy halo. He looks like an angel, she thought. He’s helping me, guarding me. He’s my guardian angel…I smell chicken.

Jane opened her eyes. It was all a dream, just a dream. Thank God! With her eyes half opened, she looked around the room. She was surprised. After a month of living in her apartment, she would have expected to be used to her surroundings. But every morning, she always felt jarred, as if waking up in a still unfamiliar place. But, she didn’t remember the walls being so white, and the bed felt weird under her body as she shifted underneath the covers. “Ah!” she let out a slight yelp. While she was shifting her body, she felt a pain shot into her side. Her stomach felt so tight, as if it was stitched together, and her arm…what was that weird feeling? She turned over to look at it. “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” she screamed. An I.V.? When did that get there? She almost pulled it out from shock, but her hand paused as it brushed against the tube. Better not, she didn’t want to be one of those patients. Still, what was she doing there? She sifted through her brain, which was sluggish from the pain killers. It hurt too much, and so she easily gave up.

“Don’t scream. Someone will think that you’re one of the crazies,” she heard a voice call to her. Her dad had been sitting in a chair next to her bedside; Jane didn’t even notice he was there. He reached over and grabbed her hand. “I’m glad to see that you’re awake.”

“Dad? What happened?” Jane asked, rubbing her eyes with her free hand.

“Your appendix burst,” he stated with a sigh.

Jane groaned. Appendectomies were something her family was all too familiar with. For general surgeons, taking out an appendix was almost as common as garbage men collecting trash. Her father even set a record in the hospital by doing 5 appendectomies in one day. Something so routine. “Where’s my appendix?” she asked.

“In the trash. Why? You want it?”

“I want to punch it,” Jane said in all seriousness.

“The drugs are making you a little loopy, huh?” her dad said with a laugh.

“It seriously couldn’t wait to burst until we got home” Jane whined. “We’re going to be home in like, what, a week? And you couldn’t wait?!” She nagged to her phantom appendix.

Her dad made a strange noise. Jane shot him an inquisitive look. “I was going to tell you last night,” he began.  “Turns out that they want me to stay a bit longer. And the money’s good. We still have to pay for Maggie when she goes to medical school…” Jane cut him off.

“How much longer?” she asked.

“5 more months,” he answered.

Instead of being hit with a wave of homesickness and anger, she wasn’t. In fact she felt..relieved. After exploring the city a bit with Dongwoo, she regretted not doing it earlier. Korea was a beautiful and warm place. She had no idea why she felt so scared of it earlier. There was no reason to feel so intimidated by the crowds of people bustling about the streets, because once she got down there, she became one of them. She wasn’t the lonely island among a sea of people that she thought she would be. Besides, the language was beautiful too. Even the writing looked cute with all of the circles and straight lines.

“Okay,” she said to her father squeezing his hand.

A glint appeared in her father’s eye. “That didn’t take much convincing. Is it because of your new boyfriend?” her father asked with a wink.

“Boyfriend?” Jane wrinkled her forehead. Who could be referring to? The only person that she knew here was…”Dongwoo? Oh, no, he’s not my boyfriend.”

“Good. He seemed a little short. I want tall grandkids,” her dad joked. “I want to have a basketball team of grandkids.”

“Dad, I’m short too,” Jane said. “My kids will never be tall. I’ve accepted it. You should too.”

“Nope. Never,” he laughed. “So…you’re sure he’s not your boyfriend?”

Jane couldn’t help but laugh. “Yea, because I’m going to have my first boyfriend in Korea.”

“Well, the American guys didn’t seem to like you.” Jane slapped her father’s wrist playfully for that remark. His face then turned a bit more somber. “You really have no luck do you, Janie?”

“Huh? Why?”

“Not only did your appendix give out the one time you leave the country, but you also fainted in a pool of your own vomit,” he broke out into a laugh.

Jane felt like throwing up again. “No way. You’re kidding!” She said gently pushing him.

He reached over patted her head, then sniffed his hand. He was repulsed by the smell. “Nope. There’s still some in your hair.” He put his hand to her nose. “Smell!”

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Mom, can you please stop crying?” Jane begged to the computer screen in front of her. Her father was leaning next to her on the bed, and they were both web-camming with Jane’s mother and Maggie…and Kyle. They were all squeezed together on a small chair; all eager for seeing how Jane was doing.

“I can’t  help it. You look…so…bad!” her mom choked out between sobs. Kyle was patting his mother on the back, and Maggie was giving her tissue, which was almost immediately soaked with tears.

“Thanks, Mom.” Jane muttered.

“Ignore your mother,” her dad said whispering so that his wife wouldn’t overhear. “She’s being touchy because she’s going through menopause. Watch in a second, she get all hot.”

“Why is it so hot in here?” Jane’s mother complained, fanning herself with her hands.

“Hey, JayJay,” Kyle called out to his little sister with her childhood nickname. “Other than busting your gut, what’ve you been up to in Korea?”

Jane shrugged, “Not much. Sleeping, eating, watching tv…breathing. Hanging out in the hospital. The usual.”

Her dad nudged her playfully, ”Come on, you’re not gonna tell them about your new friend.” He wiggled his eyebrows. “It’s a boy!”

“A boy!” Maggie gasped, jumping closer to the screen until her baby-like face covered the majority of the screen. “Tell me everything!”

Kyle pulled his youngest sister back, “Finally! I thought that you were gonna end up an old maid.”

Jane sighed and rolled her eyes. Aren’t older brothers supposed to be protective? But Jane had a feeling that Kyle would sell her to the highest bidder. Anyway, she better feed their curiosity and tell them the truth before they start getting the wrong impression. “His name is Dongwoo. It was like the first time we hung out, and I threw up on him. Dad thinks that he’s short.”

A resounding, “Oooooooooh” came from the other side. They immediately dropped the subject, thinking that romance between the two would be highly unlikely. Besides, they knew how picky Jane was. If she hadn’t dated anyone before, what would make this Korean boy any different?

Her little sister broke the silence, “JayJay, can I see your scar?” Kyle made a retching noise. “Hey! If I wanna be a  doctor I need to get used to seeing stuff like this.”

Jane gave into Maggie’s request and received various responses: Maggie was fascinated by the scar and the bruising surrounding it, while Kyle was thoroughly disgusted. Her mom began crying again. And her father checked the doctor’s stitching and if it was wrapped properly. While carefully covering her stomach again with her shirt, Jane yawned and winced at the pain caused from stretching her wound.

“Hon, do you need us to go? Do you need to sleep? “ Her mom asked.

“No, you don’t have to,” Jane said trying to hold back another yawn. “I miss you guys.”

Her mom smiled through her tears, “We miss you too, and I can’t wait to see you next week.”

“Huh?” All the sudden Jane didn’t need to yawn anymore.

“Yea, since Maggie is going back to school in a few days, and Kyle is an adult and can handle himself. I’m coming over to join you and Dad.”

“Really? That’s great!” As much as she would hate to admit it, Jane really missed her mom, and there was nothing else that she wanted more now than a hug from her. “In that case, I’ll see you next week,” she said waving goodbye to the camera. Now knowing that soon she’ll see her mother, she was more than willing to take her up on the offer to sleep. Sleep was weighing down her eyelids. She was pretty sure that her left eye was already closed. “I love you!” She blew them a kiss.

“We love you too!” the three said in unison on the other end.  

Her father reached over to shut the laptop’s lid closed and kissed her ailing daughter on the head as she fell asleep.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Jane was quickly losing track of time and reality. When did she talk to her mom and the rest? A few hours ago? Minutes? Or did she even talk to them at all? Was her mom really going to join them in Korea? The pain killers were messing with her mind. This has to be a dream, she thought. She saw the large, toothy grin shining at her from across the room. Where did his halo go? He had one last time. Did he lose it?

She felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned to see Mrs. Kim, her father’s translator by her side. “Dongwoo’s here. Can you talk to him?”

Jane’s body tensed. That’s actually him. Not dream Dongwoo, the real one. Jane nodded and quickly fixed her hair as she propped up her body on the bed.  Dongwoo walked to the other side of the bed, sitting across from Mrs. Kim. His hands fiddling with his pants, then the sheets on the bed. He mumbled something that Jane could not catch. Her brain still felt drozy. “He wants to know if you’re okay,” Mrs. Kim translated.

“Oh yea,” Jane responded slightly irritated. “It was just my appendix. Nothing big. It’s not like I need it anyways. Stupid appendix!”  She looked over at Dongwoo. He was hanging his head, nodding in response to Mrs. Kim’s translations.  Jane reached over and touched his busy hands.  Dongwoo finally looked up at her. He looked pale. Worry plagued his expression, and Janie in her drugged state wanted to do the best she could to return a smile to his face. She raised her eyebrows playfully, “Do you want to see my scar?” Not caring for his response, she immediately lifted up her shirt, exposing her entire stomach. Dongwoo laughed and shouted something at her, grabbing her shirt and pulling it down for her. He tucked her back under the sheets like a mother putting her child to bed. Jane studied his face again. Finally a smile began to break through his worried exterior, even his cheeks started to gain color again.

“He’s afraid of blood,” Mrs. Kim said, amused by the situation.

Jane began to apologize profusely, “I’m so sorry! I had no idea! I’m afraid of needles. I know how you feel. This place creeps me out.” She shivered from the mere thought of being confronted with one of her greatest fears.

Dongwoo looked confused. “I thought your dad was a doctor,” Mrs. Kim said for him.

Jane giggled. She was used to those kinds of questions. She grew up flipping through her father’s medical books and hearing her father constantly drone on about surgical procedures (like how much of a bleeder his one patient was); she was completely unphased by all of those images, actual or mental. But put a needle in her sight, and she would run away from yours.  “I love my Dad, but if he came at me with a needle, I’d punch him without a second thought,” she said making a fist with her hand attached to the I.V.. She felt the tug due to being tethered to the apparatus. She pointed it out to Dongwoo and winced, “Even this thing is giving me the creeps.”

Dongwoo grabbed her cheeks, turning her face away from the I.V. and towards his own. His smile grew larger, and his eyes became like glittering half-moons over his cheeks. “Then don’t look at it.” He took his hands away from her face. Jane’s cheeks suddenly felt colder.

It wasn’t just his hands on her cheeks, but his entire presence was making her feel warmer, and almost revitalized. It was like he was a large vitamin that you could absorb just by being near him. Jane looked down at her sheets that Dongwoo just smoothed out for her. He was taking such good care of her. “Thanks, Dongwoo, for everything. For being such a good friend,” she said politely bowing her head.

“He said not to worry about it. That it was nothing,” Mrs. Kim said, studying them carefully. She began talking to Dongwoo, asking him a question. He giggled and shook his head. She looked skeptical at his response and asked him something else. He paused and then said something carefully in response. Jane rubbed her temples. Her head hurt from whipping back and forth between the two of them; she felt as if she was at a tennis match.  

Mrs. Kim then touched her on the shoulder and said in a hushed tone, “You’re getting out tomorrow. Invite him over.” Jane shot a confused look. Mrs. Kim shrugged, “Just a suggestion…a good one. Just do it.”

Janie concluded that the drugs might be clouding her judgment because that sounded like a great idea. She could think of one reason why not to. She liked him, a lot. He seemed to like her well enough. She grabbed his hand, “Dongwoo, do you want to come over to play tomorrow?”

“Um. YEAH!” Dongwoo responded excitedly. Jane was overjoyed with the response and shook his hand up and down, smiling so wide that it slightly hurt.

Then she felt something hit her back. Her bed had moved, and it was still moving slowly folding her torso onto itself. She looked over at Dongwoo and saw the remote for her bed lying in his hands, his thumb over the “up” button. “Dongwoo! Dongwoo! Dongwoo! Your thumb!” she yelled while slapping him.

“Oh sorry!” he said with an apologetic smile.