“Please wait outside” the nurse said to me as they took Amber inside the ER.

I nodded, I wanted to see Amber again but they shut the door. I sighed.

She’s strong, she’s going to be alright, I tried to convince myself.

After taking a deep breath, I looked for a place to sit. I covered my face with both of my hands. Too many thing happened in such short time, was it all even real?

“Hey” I heard a voice behind me. I turned my head and saw Lee, who sat himself next to me.

“She’s inside the ER” I told him

He nodded “They are operating on Jackjack, seemed like he had internal bleeding. The doc said 50/50. Gongju is in stress, they are putting her on i.v and they keep her for observation for the night.”

“I hope Jackjack will be alright”

“I hope so too” Lee sighed “Amber is going to be broken hearted if anything should happen to him”

I looked at him as I said “Since when?”

I didn’t have to complete my sentence to make him understand what I wanted to say.

“A little after her mom left. I was still little too, so I didn’t really notice it. Amber would come limping, a few years later it started with visible bruises on her face. She broke her arms a few times too. Uncle Liu always said she’s troubled and difficult, which I believed at first. Until we were 14, our families were both in vacation in Switzerland, I found Amber with broken lips, a black eye and broken ribs, shivered on the corner of her hotel room. Uncle Liu was sleeping on the couch, I could smell alcohol from far away. I asked Amber the truth that night, she didn’t answer my question but her being silent is enough for me”

“Why didn’t she tell the police? That’s child abuse. His Dad should go to jail”

Lee looked at me “I guess you really don’t have any idea what the name ‘Liu’ means in Korea. Uncle Liu owns everything, with everything I mean everything. Not only the business, he owns the police, the judges, you named it.”

He shook his head thinking about his own memory “Amber run away once. You know that she’s well known as a delinquent, who always starts a fight and even the police knows her name as a trouble maker. Uncle Liu reported her missing and they found her. She had to stay in a hospital for a month after Uncle Liu beat her. I think the police did investigate but Uncle Liu just said the gang members beat her up to seek revenge. That and a few fat checks and the police didn’t even bother to seek the truth”

“But why?” I still can’t believe a father could do that to her own daughter.

“I don’t know. I only know it started after Aunty Liu left them”

“You know why she left?”

He shook his head “No idea. I assumed that Uncle Liu used to hit her too until she decided to run away”

“It surprised me that he didn’t find her until now”

“For an adult to disappear is easier than a minor. I know Aunty Liu didn’t come from a wealthy family, she used to work so she wouldn’t have any problem to lay low and find work. I could also imagine that she moved to the mainland. She speaks perfect Chinese.”

“If  uncle Liu also beat Auntie Liu… why did she leave Amber with her Dad?”

“That I don’t know. That is the only thing that doesn’t make sense. She loved Amber so much, I couldn’t think of any reason why she left her with him”

“Maybe she thinks Amber has better chance with her Dad? Maybe she thought that even lions don’t harm their own cub so she thought Amber has a better chance with her Dad than with her on the run?” I tried to put myself on Aunty Liu’s shoes.

“I don’t know…”

I sighed

“Two years ago, I had a bad feeling, I kept on calling her but she didn’t pick up. I was so worried that I decided to take my dad’s private plane. Unle Liu basically left her to die in the house. I took her to Taiwan with me, it took her a year to learn how to move her hand again. He broke almost every bone in her body. He didn’t even feel ashamed about what he did. I think you know that I asked Amber to be my girlfriend a few years ago. I know she doesn’t love me, I mean she cares about me, maybe like a sibling. I told Amber, I would take good care of her and being with me means away from her Dad. My family is one of the few family Uncle Lie has respect for and he is happy about the business expansion if Amber and I did end up together. Amber would live with me in Taiwan, I wanted to move with her to LA once we are married. I’m sure she’ll be happy. She always wanted to live in the States. After what happened two years ago, I asked her to marry me. She didn’t say yes but she didn’t reject it. I told her I know that she loves another but I didn’t care and I am her best choice”

I didn’t say anything. Rationally, I can’t debate with him because all he said it’s true but my heart struggled.

“But it’s you she loves. The only thing she worries about is hurting you. I know she’ll endure anything to be with you. Because living in hell with you is more of an option with you than living happily with me. The question is, are you ready and willing for that, Soojung?”

“I won’t lie” I answered him “ I’m scared that I won’t be strong enough for us both”

“Give her to me if you are not up to it” He looked at me “I can take care of her”

“I love her and she loves me”

“Sometimes love isn’t enough”

I opened my mouth to say something but a doctor in green came out of the ER and said “Miss Jung?”

“I’m Jung Soojung” I walked hurriedly to him

“Miss Liu wanted to see you”

“She’s ok?”

“She’ll be okay. Good that her assaulter didn’t break her neck and crushed her trachea. She shouldn’t talk much though. We put her on morphine. She will be out in a few minutes but she insisted to see you. We#ll move her to her regular VIP room once she stabilized”

Regular VIP room… so he knows her. I bet like others he thought that she got into another fight and got hurt. I bowed and thanked the doc.

I walked to her bed, my whole body is shaking as I saw her with her neck brace.

“Hey…” I said to her

“H…” she tried to answer

“Don’t answer. The doc told me you shouldn’t talk much” I covered with my hand “He told me you’re going to be just fine”

And I couldn’t hold my tears anymore. I wiped them hurriedly “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t cry. I didn’t want to cry.”

“Krys… I’m sorry”

“Why are you apologizing? You are the one who suffers so much” my voice trembled. I her face “All those bruises, all the pain you have to endure”

“I am fine”

“No you are not!” I