September 19, 2013

Tossing and turning all night with unsettling dreams, Ilana finally woke from her not so restful sleep with a scratchy throat.  Regardless of her lack of sleep (that's what makeup is for) and the irritation of , she got up for her morning routine. The walk would help her clear her head and hopefully, once her body warmed up, the throat irritation would go away as well.

Yoon Jihoo woke early, refreshed from a good night’s sleep. He had taken his violin out to the patio, for the first time in many months and played his favorite tune. Anytime he felt distressed or anguished he would put those feelings into playing that tune. When he was done, any melancholy feeling would be gone; dissipated into the air just like the music.

Dressed in white pants and shirt covered in a cream-colored vest, he headed to work early Having reports to go over as well as patient files, he would again be splitting his day between office and hospital; breakfast would have to wait until later. Too impatient to wait for the elevator, he took to the stairs. He was about to take the last step into the foyer when he spied his admin coming in from outside. Bundled up, he would not have recognized her until she dropped her hood. She appeared to have been exercising.  Jihoo's mind asked why she would be going outside when there was a state of the art gym inside their building. While waiting for the elevator she began to cough and he hoped she hadn't overexerted herself. "You were planning to get to work early today, quit stalling." He brought his focus back to the day ahead of him and crossed the foyer, heading for the door.

Ilana's throat wasn't feeling any better after her morning routine, she heated herself some pancakes with extra syrup in hopes that would soothe . Rinsing her plate, she poured hot tea in a travel mug and headed for the hospital.

Coding files all morning, her eyes were tired. Worn out from fighting the cough and now she had gotten the sniffle, Ilana decided on an earlier lunch.  She'd been fighting the urge to cough by guzzling down lots of water each time and now filled her travel mug with hot water for tea.  Warming her lunch, she headed for the rooftop garden. The weather was still warm in the high seventies and Ilana sat at her favorite table in the sun.

She consumed most of her lunch but wanted her tea with honey more than anything.  Her eyelids were getting heavier and she longed to lay her head on the table for the remainder of her lunch.  Unfortunately, she knew she would probably fall asleep like yesterday and did not want that to happen. "Just for a little bit," she thought and laid her head down.

She was saved from falling asleep by her phone ringing.  "Hello?" She answered, blindly, not looking to see who was calling.

 - "Annyeong Unnie!

 - "Suzy-ah!"

 - "We're having breakfast, you are on the speaker. Namja, say annyeong!"

 - "Annyeong!" The guys shouted.

 - "Perfect timing, I'm on my lunch."

 - "Guess what, Unnie, on the next cruise we'll be going home for a few days."

 - "Aww, I wish I could join you."

 - "Next time Cinderella, when you have more time to get away."

 - "See, Princess, if you had stayed with us, you would've been going too. Then I could've introduced you to Umma and...Ow! Princess, Saengie Hyeong hit me!" HyungJun whined, making Ilana laugh.

 - "Mianhae, I don't know how my hand came in contact with the back of your head."

 - "Sonyeon (boys) behave...Wait! Suzy! Does this mean...Jung Min's parents are going to meet your parents, officially? Ahhhh!" Ilana squealed in delight at the news, but then began to cough.

 - "Ilana-ssi? Are you getting a cold?" KyuJong asked.

 - "Mollah? I woke up with a scratchy throat and I'm a little tired. I've actually never had a cold; I go from high fever to pneumonia."

 - "If you're trying to reassure me, it's not working." Ilana grinned into the phone. "If your temperature goes over 100.6 (38.11c), you need to go to the ER and get your blood count checked. Also, start taking two vitamins a day instead of one."

 - "Oppa, they taste nasty!"

 - "Yah, don't argue with uissa," Young-Saeng mock scolded her.

 - "Ye, Unnie, we're not there to take care of you, so don't get sick, arraso?"

 - "Mmm." She pouted. "Oh! I almost forgot! I dreamt about you guys yesterday."

 - "Were you and I singing a melody of love?" HyungJun said wistfully.

 - "Tch!" Was heard twice in the background, making Ilana giggle.

 - "Mianhae Oppa, we were not. Someone was teasing me about Dr. Jihoo."

 - "It must've been me." Suzy said.

 - "Anieyo, it was a namja, but I didn't really see who it was and I don't remember the voice."

 - "If the guy was teasing, it must have been Ma," KyuJong said.

 - "Oooh! Probably, I don't talk to him as much, so I don't easily recognize his voice."

 - "Where is Jung Min-ssi? Is it too early for him to come out to play?"

 - "Deh, Unnie, he worked until three in the morning."

 - "Aww, pobrecito (poor thing), I'll have to call him later and ask him not to pick on me in my dreams." Ilana coughed again. "I'm going to go now; I want to get another cup of tea before I get back to work."

 - "Annyeong, keep your fluid intake up and I would avoid going into patients rooms for now."

 - "De, Oppa, I'll see if Abigaíl can help me out."

 - "Take care of yourself, Cinderella."

 - "Hugs, Princess."

 - "Talk to you soon, Unnie."

Ilana ended the call; gathering her things, she headed for her floor and more tea.

Returning to her desk, Ilana had a patient ID request; she turned to Abigaíl for help.  "Chica, I'm catching a cold, do you mind doing a patient ID for me? I'd like to try and stay out of patients rooms for now."

 - "I thought I heard you coughing over there," Abigaíl answered. "Okay, but, will you finish coding this file for me?"

 - "No problem, consider it done."

Abigaíl walked into the patient’s room, which was on the floor above them. She was not a critical care patient. Dr. Jihoo was in the room and she greeted him warmly.  "Hello, Dr. Jihoo, I have Sydney's ID, is this a good time to set up her file?" Abigaíl was a friendly girl and always had a smile for everyone, even if Dr. Jihoo didn't always smile back.

 - "Yes, let me check one more thing and she's all yours." After a moment he directed his conversation to the patient. "Alright Sydney, let’s see how this treatment works and you might be able to go home tomorrow morning. I'll come back to check on you then."

 - "Good," Sydney grumbled, earning her a smile from Jihoo.

 - "Ilana is not here today?" Jihoo asked nonchalantly.

 - "She is, but she has a cold, so I'm doing her patient ID's for her."

 - "Oh," was all he said before exiting the room.

 - "Hi Sydney, I just want to verify your information..." Abigaíl smiled warmly at the younger girl.

The end of the day had finally come and Ilana couldn't wait to go home for a change. She was in the middle of coding a file and didn't want to leave it for the next day. For this reason, she did not walk out with Abigaíl.

 - "Get some rest," Abigaíl had said when she left.

Ilana was about to shut down all her programs when she had received the ID request. She groaned and decided she better take care of it herself.

Dr. Jihoo noticed Ilana exiting a patient’s room. She had closed her eyes briefly and was rotating her head back and forth. "Stubborn," he thought. "Just like JanDi," he remembered his friend's wife when she caught a cold but wouldn't stop swimming. He had taken her some cold medicine. He wondered why Ilana had not left yet; one of the nurses could have taken care of the ID. He shook his head and went in to see his next patient.

September 19, 2013

The weekend arrived and surprisingly by Saturday evening, Ilana was feeling better; she had done as KyuJong instructed. What she was still curious about was who had left her a container of porridge. It was on her desk Friday morning with a little card that said:  "Get Well Soon".

Jihoo for some unknown reason woke up with his admin on his mind. He hoped she had gotten some rest during the night. He looked at the clock on his nightstand, it was only five A.M. "Go back to sleep," he told himself.

Thirty minutes later he found himself in the kitchen making porridge for his admin, who was the reason for his lack of sleep. He hoped she hadn't been foolish enough to have gone walking that morning. He felt an inexplicable responsibility for her. The office assistants were shared by all the Doctors, but Ilana solely worked for him, perhaps that was the reason. Dressed in gray and black, he left his apartment, stopping at a convenience store to pick up a small 'get well soon' card.

Yoon Jihoo arrived at the hospital around seven A.M., strategically when the nurses were doing rounds. He quickly left the pink cloth tied bundle and card on Ilana's desk and set off to see his first patient.

What Jihoo didn't realize was that SungRyung was in her office and had seen him by the desks of her staff. Although curious, she was in the middle of something and could not take the time to investigate. She received a welcome surprise when Ilana had arrived and begun to ask who had left the bundle on her desk. The bundle turned out to be a thermos of butternut squash porridge. Sung Ryun knew exactly who had left the bundle but was not about to spoil the surprise. Instead, she closed her office door and squealed and clapped her hands in delight. One of her prospective pairs was off to a good start.

September 25, 2013

The following week was a busy one for Abigaíl. Ilana could hear her on the phone several times a day checking on the preparations for her daughter’s party on Saturday.

 - "I think I've checked everything, what do you think, Ilana?" Abigaíl a checklist written on a notepad at Ilana on Wednesday of that week.

 - "I think you’re asking the wrong person." Ilana had never been to a child's party, much less planned any parties for that matter.

 - "Don't worry Ilana, she does this every year," Uee interrupted. "She's probably had everything ready since last week. She just stresses out a few days before."

 - "I can't help it; something always turns up wrong or missing. One year it poured rain, another year the video camera was stolen."

 - "Isabel neither knew nor cared. In her eyes, the party was a success." Uee tried soothing Abigail's nerves.

 - "You're right; the kids always have a great time regardless of my stress. Speaking of my little monkey, my Sister is bringing her for her well visit. When they are done, I'll have them come by so I can bring her up for a few minutes."

 - "Ooh! I can't wait to see my little jokah (niece)." Uee was delighted. Ilana too couldn't wait to see the child whose picture awakened in her a deep longing.

Sometime in the afternoon, Abigaíl received the call that her Sister and daughter were in the lobby. Abigaíl went down to the lobby to get her daughter. As soon as they walked out of the elevator, the nurses and other staff began to follow while oohing and awing at the wide-eyed girl. Once in the middle of the nurse’s station Mother and daughter were surrounded.

 - "Hi there Isabel, I just happen to have a chocolate for you," Uee handed the child a chocolate kiss, which she received eagerly. "Do I get a hug?" Isabel shyly presented herself for a hug.

 - "Tía Uee is bribing you for hugs, Isabel?" Shi-Yoon teased; Isabel hung back next to her Mom, wary of the stranger in front of her. "Mucho gusto en conocerla señorita Isabel (I am very pleased to meet you, Miss Isabel);” Shi-Yoon bowed a formal ninety degrees, making her giggle. It was Ilana's turn to greet her and crouched down to her level.

 - "Hola Bonita (Hello pretty), como estas (How are you)?" Ilana was only answered with a giggle. "Te puedo dar un abrazo (Can I give you a hug)?" Abigail nodded to her daughter and she shyly put her arms around Ilana. Ilana hugged her back and would have liked to stay like that forever. Her heart was cleaving to this child. She had to break away; she could feel the tears starting to form. "Eres un tesoro, sabías (You are a treasure, did you know)?" Ilana said as composed as she could.

Dr.'s Jihoo and Jaejoong arrived on the floor. Seeing the commotion, they wondered what was happening. Jihoo had seen Ilana turn and discreetly wipe her face. "Now, why is she crying?”  He wondered, silently.

 - "Yah, what's going on?" Dr. Jaejoong asked. He was used to being the center of attention and wondered what was stealing his spotlight. "And who is this pretty lady?" He said upon seeing Isabel.

 - "This is my daughter Isabel; Isabel, say hello to Dr. Jaejoong and Dr. Jihoo."

 - "It's a pleasure to meet you, beautiful," Dr. Jaejoong bowed formally to her.

 - "Mama," Isabel tugged on her Mom's hand. "Ese doctor esta guapo, porque no te casas con el (that doctor is handsome, why don’t you marry him)?" She said in a not so whisper. Ilana, Shi-Yoon, and Jihoo had to stifle a laugh. Abigail's face was noticeably pink. Isabel's shyness was completely gone with Dr. Jaejoong.

 - "What about Dr. Jihoo, is he guapo (handsome) too?"  He asked. Isabel nodded; while Jihoo gave Jaejoong a playful but meaningful punch saying knock it off. “How old are you, jagiya?" Jaejoong ignored his partner.

 - "I'm 4; my name is Isabel, not ja-jag..." She protested.

 - "That means sweetheart in my country. Will you be my little sweetheart?" He was becoming rapidly enamored by this child.

 - "Dr. Prince? Can you come to my party and your friend too?" She gave them the cutest smile and puppy dog eyes.

 - "Isabel!" Abigail said sternly. "Dr. Jaejoong and Jihoo are very busy, I'm sure they can't come to your party.

 - "It seems your Isabel will be a heartbreaker one day," SungRyung whispered to Abigaíl. "Isabel, which of these two ‘guapo’ doctors do you like best?"

 - "Boss! Don't encourage her!

Shyness returning, Isabel took Dr. Jaejoong’s hand.  "Abi-ya, she's a beauty and smart." Jaejoong crouched down to give the little girl a hug, "uncle Jihoo and Uncle Jae will be at your party, right Jihoo?"

 - "Sure, we'll go,” Jihoo bent down and tickled her nose with the end of her braid.

 - "Yay!" Isabel hugged them both,

 - "Vámonos niña, wave goodbye to everyone," Abigaíl was anxious to get her precocious child back downstairs before she embarrassed her more.

SungRyung returned to her office grinning from ear to ear. It looked like she wasn't going to have to do all the work herself this time. Isabel unknowingly just became her partner in crime.

Sometime later that afternoon, Abigaíl ran into Dr.'s Jaejoong and Jihoo.  “I just wanted to let you know, you don't have to come to the party. She'll be too busy with her cousin's to remember. "

- "Jagiya, we can't break her heart! She even got Jihoo here to smile, how often does that happen?"

Jihoo rolled his eyes at him.  "If it's not an inconvenience, we'd love to go. Your daughter is very sweet. Let us know when and what to bring her and we will be there." Jihoo, being more sensitive to others knew that Abigaíl probably felt awkward and wanted to reassure her.

- "If you're sure, it's this Saturday at five P.M. I will give you the address later; don't feel obliged to bring her anything. She's spoiled enough as it is."

- "As it should be," Dr. Jaejoong said.

September 27, 2013

Friday, after work, the girls went off to 'The Children's Place', which was near the hospital, to shop for Isabel. Shi-Yoon's fiancé went with them as well. Go Dok-Mi was a little shy, not quite as boisterous as Uee and Shancai, but they still got along great. After all, how can four ladies on a shopping trip not get along? They went absolutely nuts in the store; Ilana hated shopping for herself but loved to shop for others. She picked out a pretty pink floral dress and laughed when Dok-mi picked out a similar dress in solid pink. Between all of them, they began piling clothes, shoes and accessories in the shopping bag. Uee and Shancai went for more casual looks, including a pretty jacket suitable for fall or spring. They chose to just split the total four ways and together they spent about two hundred dollars after Dok-mi presented a coupon at the register; she was the thriftiest of the bunch.

After their shopping trip, the girls went out for Pizza and beer. Ilana had to explain yet again, that she didn't drink.

 - "You can drink one can't you?" Uee asked.

 - "No, I don't drink at all,” Ilana explained patiently.

 -"That's ok, Ilana-ssi, you don't have to drink," Dok-mi smiled kindly at her.

 - "Thank you, Dok-mi," Ilana smiled back at the other girl.

Uee and Shancai had almost finished half of the large pizza they had ordered. Dok-mi and Ilana looked at each other in amazement; they were both full after only two slices. More good-natured teasing followed.

- "Kim Yu-Jin-ssi, does nae Shi-Yoon do well?"

- "Please call me, Unnie.  As for Dok-mi’s nampyon, he keeps me laughing. Don't worry Dok-mi; I won't let him get in trouble. If he's a minute late, I call him to make sure he's not playing a video game somewhere."

- "Are you both settled in now?" Shancai asked Dok-mi and Ilana since both were recent transplants to the city.

- "Deh," Dok-mi answered.

- "Ilana, what about you? Dok-mi has Shi-Yoon but do you ever get homesick?" Uee asked?

- "I have good friends I can call when I need company;" she smiled thinking of Suzy, Min, and her Oppa's.

- "You can always call us, we're not that far if you ever want to hang out, you too Dok-mi."

- "Thanks, guys," Ilana said.

- "Komapta," Dok-mi said.

None of the girls went home early that evening.

Meanwhile, in another part of the city and a different store, two Doctors walked in.  "Are you sure she'll like one of these dolls?" Jaejoong asked.

 - "Deh, Gu JunPyo already purchased several of these for his three-year-old (Korean years). Jaejoong asked nae opinion, if you don't agree, we can leave." Jihoo was not in the least bothered by the idea of leaving and finding his own gift.  He could've easily gone out shopping in the morning; it was Jaejoong’s idea to go shopping together and buy the child one gift between them.

 - "Anieyo, anieyo, let’s look around." Jaejoong was slightly uncomfortable walking around the American Girl store until a pretty sales girl approached them.

 - "Can I help you gentleman?" The girl asked and Dr. Debonair sprang into action.

 - "My niece is having a birthday tomorrow and I was looking at the doll's."

 - "Aww, you must be the best uncle."

 - "Anything for my little sweetheart…”

Jihoo rolled his eyes; was there anywhere Jaejoong went that he didn't flirt?

 - "What's her name and does she have any hobby’s?"

 - "Isabel, I'm not sure about hobbies, but she's very smart."

 - "Well, we do have an Isabelle doll she might enjoy having a doll that's named after her. We also have dolls suitable for pre-school ages. Let me show you around. Isabelle is our doll of the year and is available this year only." Jaejoong liked the idea of a limited edition. "The twins are for the younger girls. Feel free to walk around the showroom. Each doll has its own mini showroom."

 - "Thank you, Emily," Jaejoong said with a wink as he read her name tag.

They walked around for at least an hour, followed by Emily and of course some of the other ladies who wanted to get a peek at the handsome and quite possibly rich young men. They each picked up a 'twin' doll; it was specially designed for the younger child.  Not being little girls, they saw no use in a doll that didn't really do much. These didn't have the vast array of accessories the other dolls did.

 - "Emily dear, these are boring, are there more?” Dr. Jaejoong asked.

 - "Right this way, these are our historical dolls." They did a thorough inspection (aka playing) of each doll. Drawing quite the audience, now, they weren’t fazed by it at all.

 - "What do you think, Jihoo? I think Isabel is more of a modern girl."

 - "Have we seen all the dolls, Miss Emily?" Jihoo wanted to make sure they had seen all the dolls before making a decision.

 - “You haven't met Isabelle, our limited edition for this year, she's a dancer."

Having bent and posed Isabelle in every which way possible, the two doctors finally agreed that Isabel needed her.  Next, they were arguing over accessories and Emily didn't have to try too hard to sell the starter kit.

 - “You know, Gentleman, we do offer a starter kit; it includes all her books, three outfits with shoes, and hair accessories. And for a bit more, you can have her kitten too." The kitten was the deal maker; Jaejoong had to have it (for Isabel) and the hairbrush. They walked out of the store with their wallets considerably lighter but almost giddy at the thought of Isabel meeting Isabelle.

 - "Shopping has made me thirsty, let’s go get drinks and sashimi." The guys hung out drinking and talking until about midnight.

 - "So...what's with you and Abigaíl?" Jihoo smirked.

 - "Tch, she's my admin and her daughter is absolutely charming," Jaejoong met Jihoo head on.

 - "Mmm, I didn't think you liked kids."

 - "I like Isabel, she has good taste."

 - "Mmm, my friends started out always fighting; they've been together ten years now."

 - "Abigaíl is cute but she's a good girl, not my type and I respect her too much to mess with her."

 - "Did I ever tell you of the Casanova who married the country bumpkin?"

 - "Not interested; here, have more beer."

Here I thought this would be a short chapter, but I wanted to expand on the comradery between the co-workers.

Next chapter: Isabel's Pony Party. What will happen at the party?

I originally thought to include the Party in this chapter, but everyone was having too much fun shopping to cut their outing short. Not to mention I have some fun things planned for Isabel's party. Ke Ke