- Chapter Nine - "His daughter."

People in the hallway of this American hospital did what they had to do without paying attention to the small old woman standing in front of the nursery, looking at the little being in an incubator who was trying to fight for her life.

This little one had decided to see the world, their world, sooner than it was expected. Seven months. It was what doctors had said to them. This frail creature only needed to spend seven months in the care of her mother's womb to have a chance to survive after her birth. But, this young lady was eager to know the world before the due date.

Yukiko was happy to have her granddaughter coming into her life. However, at the same time, her daughter was fading away from hers.

What could she do to prevent that? Nothing.

"Maman? (Mum?)"

She turned to look at her older son with a sad smile painting on her face. "Où est Jaejoong? (Where is Jaejoong?)" She asked him quietly.

The man sighed and turned his eyes to look at his niece who was being monitored by all those machines connected to her. "Au chevet d'Hana... (At Hana's bedside...)"

"Comment va-t-il? (How is he?)" Yukiko knew that it was a stupid question, but she couldn't help to ask.

Nicolas didn't know how to describe the hurt he saw in the eyes of his brother-in-law. Jaejoong had closed himself from all of them, staying mute and nurturing his pain since three days, since doctors had said to them that Hana went into coma in the operating table.

"Est-il venu la voir? (Did he come to see her?)" She inquired turning to look at her granddaughter.

"Non..." The man shook his head.

And Yukiko heaved a forlorn sigh. She won't blame the man to stay away from the reason why his wife was lying lifeless on her hospital bed since three days. But, this little girl will only have him when her mother could no longer hold on to her life.

"Okaa-san?" Nicolas called his mother out in her native language when he saw her walking away from the nursery. "What are you going to do?"

"Doing what I should do since the beginning." She answered back in the same language, turning to look at her son with sad eyes.

"Soit clément avec lui. (Be lenient with him.)"

Yukiko took a deep breath and resumed her walk to the bed room where her daughter was laying lifeless waiting for her time to say good bye to all of them. The older woman would have preferred her to die on the operating table instead of seeing her fighting for her life. She wasn't cruel. But, the outcome will never change.

Hana will never stay with them. Her daughter just gave false hope to the poor man who was staying at her bedside, hoping to see her coming out from her timeless coma which she will never do.

The older woman entered the room and was taken aback by the man sitting next to her daughter. It was like seeing an empty body deprived of its soul. How could she be strong to face this broken man? How could she tell him to be strong for the future of his daughter seeing him like this?

Yukiko closed her eyes for awhile and took another deep breath. She could not fail. Hana would not want to see her family being a broken one. If people said that she was a cruel woman, she didn't care. What she cared was to provide a loving and doting father for her granddaughter.

"Jaejoong? We need to talk!" She said in Japanese, knowing this broken man could understand her. But he gave her no response. So she walked to him and put her hand on his shoulder, making the latter turning his empty eyes on her. "We need to talk."

Jaejoong looked away from his mother-in-law and locked his eyes again on his wife who was sleeping peacefully in front of him. He only needed to be here, next to her, holding her hands which seemed so cold in his. Yes, if he walked away from her, she would feel cold. And he didn't want her to be cold. He needed to warm her.

"Jaejoong... look at me."

"Hana a besoin de moi. (Hana needs me.)" He said with a hoarse voice, rubbing his hands on his wife's bonny ones.

"There's also someone else who needs you."

The man didn't react at her words. It was as if for Jaejoong he didn't have a daughter. And it was what Yukiko feared the most. Seeing the young man denying his daughter's existence.

"Stand-up!" She said sternly. "Jaejoong! Stand-up!" She added aloud when her son-in-law didn't move an inch at her anger. "I don't want to be cruel. But you leave me no choice." Yukiko dragged the man from his seat.

"Non! (No!)"

"Jaejoong! Please! Don't be like this. Ha-chan will never forgive you if you behave like that." Yukiko said aloud. "She gave you a child. A daughter." She added, cupping his face between her hands. "She fought for her until now. So, please. Look at her. Don't deny her."

"Ha-chan just doesn't feel well. That's why she's here." Jaejoong said back quietly with a nod.

"Don't be like this..."

"Ha-chan just needs to rest for awhile. And she will be okay... Soon we will return home." He added with a small smile, his eyes locked on his sleeping wife.

Yukiko couldn't bear this nonsense. She slapped him hard, hoping that the pain will wake him up from his delusional dream.

"You have a daughter who is waiting for you." She added angrily.

"No... you're wrong. I don't have a daughter." Jaejoong replied quietly with no expression on his face. "I don't have a daughter. How could we have a child with her condition?"

The older woman slapped him again. "You have a daughter. And your wife fought for her. Hana fought to give birth to her. Don't deny her existence. Don't deny all Hana's efforts." She said aloud with tears welling up in her eyes. She felt sorry for him but she could not let him push away the last gift her daughter had decided to give him before parting from this world. "Please don't deny the fruit of her efforts."

"I... I didn't ask for a child." Jaejoong said in a low voice. "I didn't ask for a child." He cried out running his fingers through his hair. Feeling suffocated, he took his breath and added looking at his wife, "...I just want my wife... I just want my Ha-chan... I just need her..."

Listening to his words, Jaejoong was aware of his child's existence since the beginning. But, the pain he felt right now made him deny his daughter. Yukiko took his hand in hers and walked away from the room with her son-in-law following her reluctantly.

"Ha-chan needs me." He told her quietly but still followed his mother-in-law.

"She's dying. You can't do anything."

It was cruel of her to say those words. But she won't stop until the man had the courage to face the reality of his life. His wife's life was coming to an end. But his daughter was struggling with the help of the medical staff to stay in this world. Yukiko didn't want to see the man trapped in his guilt when fate had decided to make him lose both of them.

"She needs me. She- No! I don't want to see her." Jaejoong yanked away his hand from his mother-in-law's when he saw where she was leading him into. The nursery. A place he avoided since the birth of his daughter.

"You don't want to face the reason why Hana is in this hospital. But I will make you face it. I will make you see her. Your daughter." Yukiko took his hand again and dragged him into the room where his daughter was, while Nicolas could only look at his mother pushing Jaejoong around for his own good.

"Please... Okaa-san... I don't-"

"Jaejoong! Look at her!" Yukiko pointed her finger at the incubator. "Look at this little being fighting for her life. She isn't nothing in the eyes of your wife."

Jaejoong turned his eyes away from the glass cubicle. He wasn't ready to face the reason why his wife was in coma. He wanted to erase her from this world, hoping that doing this his Hana will be better. She would open her eyes and smile at him like she always did.

Yukiko pulled him toward his daughter and made him face his reality. "Look at her."

"I can't." Jaejoong said slowly, shutting up his eyes not wanting to look at his daughter being connected to all of those machines which helped her to stay alive.

"I won't let you go anywhere Jaejoong. You will stand here until you accept her." The older woman said with determination.

"I can't."

"Stop denying her existence. Will Hana be happy to see you like that? Jaejoong? You don't want to deceive her, don't you?"

"I..." He hanged his head low and pressed his left hand on his lips, trying to suppress his sobs.

"I won't let you go away from her. You have only her now."

"Don't say that..." Jaejoong said in a low voice. "Hana is still alive..."

"You must face the reality of life. Hana won't last long. It hurts me to say those words. But... there's no hope. She's fading away from our lives. From your life."

"No... She's fighting to stay with me..." He tried his best to deny the inevitable.

"The result won't change anything. And you know very well that she's going to die. It's too late for her. However... this child... your daughter needs you. Don't make her an unwanted child. Growing up with that status could only hurt her the most... Seeing her father never look at her... because in his eyes, she is the cause of his wife's death... What will happen to her in the future? Jaejoong... don't do that to her..."

Jaejoong couldn't contain his pain anymore. He cried his sorrow out. And no one in this room, his mother-in-law, nurses and doctors could lessen his pain. They could only let him pour out all his grief, hoping that he will stand strong for his daughter who needed him more than anyone in this world.

"Cry... cry my son..." Yukiko held him tight in her arms and rubbed small circles on his back, trying to soothe his pain away for the time being, knowing very well that nothing could heal that pain overnight.

Crying made him feel better. But Jaejoong wasn't ready to look at his daughter. He feared to hate her. He feared to break the promise he made to Hana. He wanted to run away from this room. But his whole body didn't want to obey his mind, wanting him to remain in this place. As if it wanted him to face his fate.

And Jaejoong could only feel frustrated and angry at himself.

"Comment va-t-il? (How is he?)" Hana's father asked his wife when he stepped next to her in the hallway.

"Conflictuel. (Conflictual.) Il n'a toujours pas posé les yeux sur elle... sur sa fille... (He hasn't laid his eyes on her... on his daughter...)" She said, her eyes set on the back of the man who was trying his best not to look at his poor daughter locked in this incubator which kept her alive.

"Laisse lui du temps. (Give him more time.)" The man said sadly.

Yukiko breathed forlornly. "I will give him all the time he needs." She said slowly in her native language.

"Things will be better soon." Her husband said back, holding her in his arms.

Better in what way?

Hana was dying. Their granddaughter's life was hanging by a thread. And their son-in-law's sanity depended on one of them.

How could life be so cruel with them? With this man?

~~~~~

Two days.

It had been two days s