With the little strength she had, Jessica pulled herself up and ran away from the narrow corridor into the hospital lobby. She passed a couple of nurses in their white outfits, gathering in front of the administrator desk, chatting or whatsoever. There were people on the other side, sitting and chatting, probably waiting for their family or friends. The others were doing their business, either working or waiting. She passed down the long hallway and reached the big automatic glass door.

It had begun to snow outside. She watched the flakes, silver and dark, falling freely from the blue sky. It was falling on every part of the hospital ground, on the trees along the hospital way out, falling softly upon the row of parked cars, farther westward, softly falling into the hospital front gate. It was falling, too, upon lonely and grieving Jessica. The cold flurries laid upon her head, upon her shoulder. But there was nothing left to be felt. Her sense had not recognize anything anymore, except pain.

She ignored it all.

She ran. Running far away with all her might.

Her head was filled with so much loud car honking. On her left. On her right. Everywhere. But she didn’t care. She disregarded her hearing and kept running hastily, leaving irregular path on the snowy road.

Stupid car. Stupid truck. Stupid vehicle.

She wished it was all different.

The one who should have been hit by the truck, the one who should have lost so much blood and suffered from organs damage, the one who should have died inside the surgery room, it should be herself, not Yuri.

If only…If only she didn’t walk across that street recklessly. If only she had noticed Yuri’s shouts earlier. If only Yuri didn’t save her. Everything would not end like this.

“Sica.”

A voice called her faintly. So faint. So far away. But sounded familiar. Yet it couldn’t be. Jessica knew it was impossible. She had gone. There was no way that Yuri would be there and call for her name.

Jessica looked back just to check it out.

There was nothing.

“Sica.”

The voice was heard again. Clearer this time.

“Sica. Sica. Sica.”

And a hint of worry.

Jessica couldn’t believe it. What was all those voices? It was impossible. She must be hallucinating. There was no way in this world Yuri would call her name again.

Sica continued her walk, leaving a new mark on the snowy road. The loud honking was still lingering in the air, accompanied by flashing bright headlights. But Jessica didn’t care. She only wanted to go away. To chase away all the pain from inside her heart.

“Sica.”

It was calling her again.

No. No. No. It was impossible. Jessica repeated countless times inside her head. It must be her mind was tricking her.

“Sica.”

This time the voice sounded different. Not like all the voices before. It didn’t sound like Yuri. And it was like a trigger of repeating the same event as before.

She heard the same loud horn honking from her right side. And when she turned her head, she also found the same blinding bright light flashing right at her face from the very same truck. It was just like what she remembered about the accident.

“Sica.”

Just this time, there was no one pushing her away. She was standing still right on her place. The horn sound was echoing inside her mind together with the blinding white light. Jessica already braced herself this time. She was ready for the impact as she heard the sound of squealing tires.

Yuri, wait.

There was a loud roaming bang when the cold iron met her soft skin. In that moment, a wave of memories was coming fast and furious into her mind.

The memory of her and Yuri.

She felt like she could no longer keep up with the surge of them all but they kept coming and everything was colliding, until she could not take it anymore. Then there was a blinding flash. A pain ripped through her body for that one searing instant. But then she could feel the cold sensation on her skin changed into a warmer one. A warm touch on her cheeks, accompanied by a soft voice calling her name, “Sica.”

Jessica was not standing in the middle of the street anymore. She was now lying on her back in the hospital bed. The first thing her eyes saw was a view of a woman. The woman was looking with a caring look at her face. She could see a new curve was formed on the woman’s face.

Jessica summoned the strength remained in her body and took a sharp intake of breath. It was then followed by the sound of her hoarse voice.

“Mom?” she asked.

***

“She is a lil bit shock, but she looks fine.” Jessica’s mother said as she was getting up from her seat. “I’ll go for awhile, can you accompany her? Tiffany, right?” The woman smiled.

Tiffany nodded. “Sure, ahjumma.”

The woman smiled again before patting the black haired girl softly on her shoulder. After Jessica’s mother had left the room, Tiffany took a seat on the chair next to Jessica’s bed.

“Hey,” Tiffany said lightly. “How do you feel?”

“I’m okay, Fany.”

“Glad you’re okay. You almost gave me a heart attack when I got a call about you had an accident.”

“Sorry.”

“Nah, it’s okay. As long as you’re okay.”

Jessica smiled a bit.

Apparently, Jessica lost her consciousness not long after Yuri’s ambulance left the accident scene. She was lying unconscious for about an hour. Her mother, who was in Seoul at that time, immediately rushed to the hospital as soon as she got a phone call about her daughter’s condition. She had been accompanying her daughter ever since.

Suddenly, the image of her nightmare flashed in her mind again.

“Fany,” Jessica called weakly.

“Yes?”

“How is she?”

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