Chapter 7

Yunho sat in the living room & watched the video of their wedding. If someone had told him when they were first married that he would ever re-watch the thing, he would have told them that they were crazy but now, it was all that he had to prove that the event had actually occurred & Yunho needed that reassurance that the vibrant young woman who he had married, who had danced, laughed & teased on the wedding video was really the pale, confused & frightened young woman upstairs in his bed.

He was pulled from his musings by the sound of the doorbell ringing. Pushing himself up from the sofa, he hurried to answer it.

Mrs. Kwon’s questioning gaze greeted him from the opposite side of the door, “Is she sleeping?” She whispered, seeming to notice right away the stillness of the house. Even the sounds of the grocery bags in her arms seemed muted.

“Yes.” Yunho answered, grabbing the bags from her arm & delivered them to the kitchen.

“Good.” Mrs. Kwon said, following.

“Good?” Yunho glanced questioningly over his shoulder at her.

“Yes, good.” Mrs. Kwon reaffirmed, “There's something we need to talk about. I'm frankly surprised the doctor didn't mention it but he probably didn't get to review all of the files.” She quickly brushed the straying topic aside & got back to her point.

“I've been thinking about this a lot. We need to take Yuri to Joowon’s grave.” She continued, “I think that she needs to see the obituary, pictures & everything. Whatever it takes to sum up the time she's misplaced.”

Yunho was hesitant, “I don't know, mom. Don't you think we should ease her into those things, maybe give her a little time to get used to the things we've already told her?”

“No, I don't.” Mrs. Kwon told him, matter-of-factly, “No matter how much advance warning we get, death doesn't ease up on a person. It's sudden & harsh & it can be devastating but I think we should do this. The longer we linger, the longer it will take for her to get on with her life, for the two of you to get on with your lives together.”

“Okay.” Yunho agreed, still somewhat reluctantly, “I guess you're right. You are older & wiser.” He said half-teasingly.

Mrs. Kwon smacked him on the arm with a stalk of celery.

Yunho ducked but continued, musing “I supposes some sense of moving on can only help her. When do you want to do it? I've taken a couple of weeks off so you can just say when it’s a good time for you.”

“I think as soon as possible would be the best.” Mrs. Kwon said, “How about tomorrow? We could drive up tomorrow. It's on this side of Korea country. The only question left is do you tell her or do I?”

“I broke the news to her in the first place.” Yunho said grimly, “I guess I should be the one.” ‘She couldn't possibly hate me anymore.’ He mentally added, “I'll tell her in the morning.” He continued out loud, “I'd like for her to have a good night sleep tonight.”

Mrs. Kwon nodded her agreement.

“Did you have anything planned for dinner by the way?” Mrs. Kwon asked, almost as an afterthought.

“No, I actually hadn't thought much about it.” Yunho admitted, “I thought I'd leave that to you.” He grinned innocently, “You have such interesting ideas. I might need to revise my opinion.”

“Pay attention, young man, & learn.” Mrs. Kwon shot back at him, “Here, cut these.” She flung a bag of carrots his way.

Yunho grumbled good-naturedly but took the bag.

“Can I trust you not to cut yourself?” Mrs. Kwon kidded.

A thump from upstairs cut off Yunho’s reply. They both froze & then looked at one another. Yunho moved first, running towards the stairs. He stopped short in the doorway to his bedroom. Yuri was sitting up in bed, a startled expression painted across her features.

Yunho followed her gaze to the floor where what used to be the entire contents of the night stand lay across the carpeted floor. Chief among the items was a mostly un-potted plant, its dirt was splattered all over the carpet as were several of its broken green leaves.

Yuri looked up piti