You step inside the house and you slam the door loudly announcing that you’re home. You drop your backpack to the floor and you kick your shoes off placing them carefully by the door before you walk further into the house. You step into the living room and you stare at the kitchen on the other side. You scan the place looking for your grandmother but she’s nowhere in sight. You haven’t seen much of her lately. Is she busy? You wonder as you walk upstairs to your room. You pause before your bedroom door when you feel the hair at the back of your neck raise up.

You stomach turns and you suddenly get a bad feeling that something is wrong. You look at the short empty hallway and your eyes stop at your grandmothers’ door. You hesitantly walk over to it and you knock lightly. You knock a bit harder when you don’t receive a response.

She should be home. You bite your lip as you reach for the doorknob, you twist it and the door opens. You slowly open the door and you poke your head in. Where is she? You think as you fully open the door and you step inside her room. Dad taught you better than this. You scold yourself. Don’t enter in other people’s rooms!

You ignore the thought and each step you take causing your stomach to twist and turn. You look at the bathroom door and you notice how it’s a bit open, you walk over to it and you swallow before you push the door open.

Your eyes widen and your heart skips more than a beat at the sight of your grandmother on the floor. You quickly snap out of it and race over to her side, you kneel down next to her and your eyes water. You notice the tablets on the floor beside her and a bottle in her hand. You get the bottle, you don’t bother to read but your brain is long gone. You place you index finger on her neck. Her pulse is low. You try to shake her awake. Desperate to make her respond to you, you grab the half-filled trashcan and you remove the plastic bag filled with trash. You throw it aside before you start hitting the trashcan on the floor to move sound.

What do I do?You drop the trashcan on the floor and you look at your grandmother. Why am I so useless? What if she’s dying? You quickly get to your feet and look around the bathroom before you run out. You scan the bathroom trying to find something useful – her phone. Nearly trash her whole room upside down, you don’t find her phone – you don’t even have a phone.

You run back to the bathroom and you look down at your grandmother. I’ll get help – I swear – wait for me. You spin around and you run out of her bedroom. You rush down the stairs and past the living room to the main door flinging it open.

Running outside on barefoot hurts like hell and the tiny rocks on the ground are making it worse but you ignore the pain. You come to an abrupt stop when you see a familiar figure coming your way. You don’t think the person has noticed you, you quicken your pace and you run to him.

He lets out a shocked sound when you wrap your arms around him. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?” He asks but he doesn’t pull you away from him instead he awkwardly snakes his arms around your waist.

You bury your head between his neck and shoulder as you shake your head. You don’t know how long you stand there before you pull away from him. HoWon.

Help.

You sign tearing filling your eyes.

“Help?” His eyes widen. “Are you hurt?” He exclaims and you shake your head, your lower lip trembling and tears rolling out of your eyes. You grab his wrist and you drag him with your back to the house, you’re glad he isn’t protesting.

You reach the house and the door is already wide open but that’s not important. You lead him it and directly to your grandmother’s room. You stop before you reach the bathroom and you let his wrist go. You blink at him and you make a calling gesture with your right hand.

“Call?” He questions and you nod. You watch him pull out his phone and you walk behind him, you gently push him to the door and you open the door. You look away from your grandmother as the sight of her looking so fragile and broken breaks your heart.

“What happened?” He asks calmly as he walks over to your grandmother and you follow closely behind him.

¤¤¤¤

You fidget in your chair as you wait for the doctor to come and explain to you what’s wrong with your grandmother. You’re sitting behind Mrs. Nam and HoWon biting your lower lip to the point of you tasting metal – blood.

“She’ll be fine.” Mrs. Nam rubs your shoulder and tucks your hair away from your forehead before she gives you a smile.

15 minutes of sitting there in silence, a doctor comes over and starts rambling about things you don’t really care about. You tug Mrs. Nam’s sleeve and she looks down at you, she seems to get what you want and looks at the doctor.

“How is she?” The doctor stops talking and looks at you. You blink at him and you remember him – he was your doctor after the plane crash.

He gives you a smile. “Your grandmother is fine,” He assures, “She just needs a lot of rest. Do you know what may be causing her stress?” He questions looking directly at you and you shake your head.

“Do you want to go see her?” You turn to HoWon and you nod your head. “Can she?” He turns to the doctor and the doctor pauses.

“Only for a few minutes – she needs her rest though – room 150 to your right.” He informs before he bids his goodbye and turns his heel.

“You can go see her first – we’ll be right here waiting for you,” HoWon murmurs and you nod, you take a step forward and out of nowhere someone accidently knocks into you causing you to lose your balance and you clumsily fall to the ground. Hospital floors may look sparkling clean but they are the nastiest.

“Are you okay?!” Mrs. Nam shrieks in a panicky voice and you force a smile on your face trying to ignore the slight pain from your fall.

HoWon helps you up and you can’t help but smile at his worried look.

“I’m sorry.” A new voice says and you turn to it, you lock eyes with the person and something tells you that you know who the person is. The person seems taken aback for a second and opens to say something but HoWon beats her to it.

“You’re not hurt, are you?” he releases his grip on you and you stand on your own. You shy give him a smile and you shake your head. You don’t put much thought to it when the person that knocked you over walks in the direction you’re about to use.

Not being able to utter a word hurts or to scream for help hurts.You think as you walk away from Mrs. Nam and HoWon. Right here. You place your hand on your chest just right under your heart before you shake your head. Be happy you have eyes and good ears – appreciate what you have! You scold yourself as you walk through the hallways. You reach your grandmothers’ ward and your brows furrow when you find the door slightly open.

“…Mother,” A stern voice hisses and you can’t make out who it is. “This is what happens when you don’t listen to me! It has been a week since you found me and now you’re in a hospital? Didn’t I tell you not to overwork yourself?!” You can hear the anger in the voice but the desperation and concern is there.

“Who told you I’m here?”

You take a step back not sure if you should keep listening to their conversation but curiosity glues your feet to the ground and stay.

“No one – I told you to give her to me.” The sternness in the voice never eases and you feel a shiver run down your spine.

“You’re not capable of looking after the child.” You wish you can see their expressions, you look around the hallway and you mentally let out a sigh of relief when you see no one in sight.

“And you are?” The voice scoffs. “Mother, you’re in bed! She’s my daughter –”

“You should have thought of that before you left them.” Your grandmothers’ voice turns harsh and you feel your knees weaken when what they are saying clicks in place like a puzzle.

“I had no choice!” You wince at the scream and sobbing that follows after.

“Don’t give me that act – one of the first questions she asked when I met her was if you were there with me.” You back inches away from the door but still within earshot.  

“Where was he?” You ears pick at the question and you don’t know how long you can stand there anymore.

“Her father passed.” Your foot accidently hits the door causing it to creek and your eyes widen. You back away when you hear footstep and seconds later, the woman that bumped into you opens the door.

You don’t know how long you both stand there staring at each other with shocked faces on. You’re the first to break the eye contact. You back away some more when she reaches out for you and you run.

No running in hospital.

You break the rule and quicken your pace without any direction in mind.

“Wait!” The yell from the woman sounds faint but you don’t look back. You don’t know what to feel – you do know that you don’t want to see her face just yet.

Mrs. Nam and HoWon immediately stand up and stare at you. “Don’t run!” Mrs. Nam scolds but you ignore her, you have to get past them to leave the hospital. Getting past Mrs. Nam looks easy, you know getting past HoWon is going to be impossible but you try anyway. You quicken your pace and you see the change in HoWon’s expression and you know he knows what you’re about to do.

You find yourself in a tight embrace and you struggle away harshly. Let go! You think trying to peel him off you but he doesn’t budge.

“It’s okay.” And just like that, you turn into an obedient human being – a child. “I’m here.” He whispers and finally your tears spill.

¤¤¤¤

Until Next Time :]¡