My entry for Simply-Love Christmas Challenge for 2013. We were to recreate/rewrite/get inspired from a fairytale. The story was to start with "Once upon a time..." and we had to incorporate a given quote.
My fairy tale:- Sleeping Beauty.
My quote:- They say if you dream a thing more than once, it is sure to come true
WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING
1
Once upon a time there lived a princess, so fair and so beautiful that people called her Snow-White. With hair as dark as ebony, skin as fair as the first snow and lips so red as two drops of blood on snow, she was the epitome of beauty.
So Yi Jeong rubbed a hand over his eyes. He must've been extremely tired to have thought of those silly words at a time like this. He darted his eyes to the clock and it somberly confirmed his suspicion. It was 3:20 AM and he was at the last leg of his thirty-six hours long shift and was about ready to drop dead. This was the last patient that he needed to check before he could leave for the day and resign into blissful oblivion called sleep. Speaking of his patient, why had he been thinking about Snow-White of all things? She was not Snow-White. If one ignored those dark circles under her eyes, or her sunken cheek bones, or those cracked lips and the paraphernalia around her, she was a princess in her own rights. She wasn't Snow-White, she was Sleeping Beauty.
What is wrong with you? He chided himself mentally. He was looking at a patient who'd been comatose for eight weeks and he was thinking about fairy-tales and princesses? Actually it was his four year old niece's fault. She was currently in love with Disney movies and as a result he was suffering from a severe case of overexposure to saccharine sweetness. That combined with the bone-deep fatigue and sleep-deprivation meant that he was now officially a basket case.
With a world weary sigh, he picked up the charts hanging by the foot of her bed and studied them. As per the hospital's policy, the patients in ICU were under constant observation. Besides the machines, nurses would monitor the vital stats every hour and twice a day a Doctor would come by as well. Till now he had been working in the Trauma Center but that wasn't where his heart lay and hence when the position for an In-House physician for ICU had opened up, he jumped at the opportunity. Today was his first day of ICU duty and therefore the routine check-ups were his responsibility. He'd spent the best part of his shift understanding the machinations of the unit and this was his first independent round. He tore his eyes away from the broken figure that lay on the bed and looked at the charts.
Patient's name:- Chu Ga Eul.
Age:- 23.
Sex:- Female.
A brief history was scribbled at the bottom of the page. Eight weeks ago, she had come to the Emergency Room after complains of sharp abdominal cramps and fever. She was admitted for a routine appendectomy but then things went wrong. At the Operation Table, her blood pressure had plummeted severely and she had to be given an injection to be stabilized. But she had a rare genetic disorder that had not been detected earlier. As a result, the injection reacted in an unexpected way and she had slipped into a coma and had been in the ICU since then.
Yi Jeong quickly checked her vital stats, her nervous system's response and her other bodily functions. Assured that the machines were keeping her alive, he took a step back and looked at her. Someone had kept a framed photograph of her and another girl of the same age on her bedside table. In the photograph, he saw a girl with a bright smile and happy eyes. She was a girl full of life. Her eyes were dancing with joy, celebrating life. Her cheeks were full and round. Her lips were stretched into an easy and genuine smile. She had been alive.
All of that had been brutally snatched from her and now she lay on the bed, a broken shell of a human being. Biologically she was alive because other than her brain, all her organs were functioning as they should. But did that constitute as life? This pale, skeletal form that had innumerable tubes and wires attached to her was living and breathing. She was considered alive because her heart was beating; the beeping heart monitor said so. She was alive because her kidneys were functioning; the little baggie that collected her urine through the catheter confirmed that. She was getting her nutrition; her arm was hooked to an IV after all. But what was the point? She couldn't feel the warmth of human touch. She couldn't listen to the birds singing, or smell the flowers blooming or see a rainbow. She couldn't enjoy the first rain, the laughter of a child nor could she be discomfited by the biting cold outside. Weren't these the things that made life worth living? And if she couldn't enjoy them, what was the point in being alive?
His eyes once again travelled to the framed picture and he couldn't help but be saddened by the sharp contrast between her past and present. At twenty-three, she was just starting her life. She must have had her own dreams and aspirations. Perhaps there was a lover waiting for her somewhere. Maybe her parents were devastated that their little girl was hanging between life and death. Her friends were probably praying for her. Whoever she was, however her life had been, she definitely didn't plan or deserve this. No one wants to be kept alive by machines. Including his years as an intern and his residency, Yi Jeong had been working in hospitals for almost six years now and had seen many a tragedies in the time. Life was cold, harsh and cruel. Sometimes the price it demanded was so high that people lost everything trying to pay for it, just like the woman in front of him. Who had ever thought that a simple appendectomy would have resulted in a tragedy like this?
With a heavy heart he hung the clip-board on the foot of the table, drew the curtains around the cabin for her privacy and walked out.
2
"Yi Jeong!" Eun Jae flicked his forehead.
"Ow! What?"
She rolled her eyes, "Il Hyun asked you about three times, what's wrong with you?"
He rubbed the area she'd flicked, "Nothing is wrong with me. What do you have for fingers woman? They hurt!"
"You've been sort of lost," Il Hyun added. "Is everything ok?"
"Yes, everything is fine with me," Yi Jeong clarified. "I'm just a little sad about a patient I saw yesterday."
His sister-in-law raised a brow, "Unlike you to bring work home. Is the patient a girl?"
"Yes but…"
"That explains a lot," Il Hyun said mischievously. On his lap, his four year old daughter, Ha Eun shifted a little in her sleep.
"It's not like you think," Yi Jeong defended. "She's only twenty three but…"
"Perfect, just a few years younger than you," Eun Jae quipped.
"Will you let me finish? Thank you. So as I was saying, only twenty-three, but she's been in a coma for eight weeks. I was wondering if there was some way I could wake her up. At that age, she should be out in the world, exploring and living. Not lying in the hospital like a breathing corpse. It's not fair."
His brother and sister-in-law's demeanors changed. "Haven't the doctors tried anything yet?" Il Hyun wondered.
"I don't know, I haven't studied her case in detail yet. Maybe they have, maybe they haven't. But I owe it to my profession to at least take a good look at her case. I won't know peace unless I've done that."
"So do it," Eun Jae urged. "This is the reason you became a doctor. This is your chance."
Yi Jeong smiled. After losing his parents in quick succession, his brother, his sister-in-law and his niece were the only family he had left. They always showed him the right way, encouraged him to do the right thing. Besides had it not been for them, he'd have probably starved or burned to death, given that he was an unmitigated and colossal disaster in kitchen.
3
The next time Yi Jeong walked into Ga Eul's cabin, he received a genuine and a very pleasant surprise. There were two people visiting her, one of whom looked very familiar. "Jun Pyo?"
"Yi Jeong?" The taller man walked up to him and slapped his back.
"How do you know her?" he asked hooking a thumb at the patient he now mentally referred to as 'Sleeping Beauty'.
"She's my wife's best friend," The woman, whom Yi Jeong recognized from the photograph, approached the men with a hesitant smile. "Yi Jeong this is my wife, Geum Jan Di. Jan Di, my classmate from school, So Yi Jeong. Or should I say Dr. So Yi Jeong?"
He grinned at his friend and shook Jan Di's hand.
"Are you her doctor now?" Jan Di asked, looking forlornly at her best friend.
"Oh no madam. I'm just the on-call physician for ICU. Her doctor is still Dr. Kim," Yi Jeong clarified. "I'm merely here to monitor her. For the sake of her privacy, I'm going to ask the two of you to step out for a bit, please?"
The couple nodded and stepped out. He quickly performed the required tests and was about to walk out when he felt a tug on his lab coat. Startled he turned to find an edge stuck in her finger. That was odd. How could his coat get stuck in her fingers? The only explanation that he could think of was that she had grabbed hold of it when he had bent down to check her pupils for dilation. But that was impossible. Other than the involuntary twitch that happened when her responses were being checked, she hadn't moved a muscle in eight weeks. He must have somehow managed to hook his coat through her finger. That was the only logical explanation. Slightly rattled, he straightened and after casting one last glance at Sleeping Beauty, he walked out.
"Hey, we should catch up. Been years since we last chatted," Jun Pyo said once he was out.
Quickly masking his unsettling feeling, he put up his best smile, "Of course! My rounds will be done in another twenty minutes. So let's meet at the hospital cafeteria?"
Half an hour later, the three sat at the cafeteria and Yi Jeong took the opportunity to know more about his Sleeping Beauty. "So Jan Di-shhi, could you tell me about Ga Eul?"
The woman smiled, but Yi Jeong could swear there were tears in her eyes, "Ga Eul is… was…"
"Madam," he interrupted softly. "Your friend isn't dead. Please don't talk about her in past tense."
This time the smile was genuine, "Thank you. It feels so reassuring to hear that from a professional. I kept thinking that I was being stupidly optimistic, holding on to a vain hope. But hearing it from someone who knows what he's talking about, I feel so much better."
Yi Jeong instantly liked Jan Di. She was a true friend and genuinely loved her best friend. The somewhat idiotic Jun Pyo had found himself a keeper. Jan Di brushed her tears and continued, "She is a fantastic girl. I have known her since Kindergarten. She's the most selfless and the bravest person I have ever met. Would you believe that even in this day and age, she helps old people cross the street? She is a primary school teacher and she loves everything about her job. She was…," Jan Di broke into uncontrollable sobs.
Jun Pyo hugged his wife and patted her head lovingly. He looked at Yi Jeong and said somberly, "Had her appendi … operation had gone off smoothly, she would've been a bride today."
Yi Jeong inhaled sharply. This was not fair. "How is her fiancé holding up?"
Jan Di looked up with a ferocious expression on her face, "The doctors told us that if she didn't wake up in forty-eight hours, they wouldn't be able to tell when she'd wake, if at all. That bastard tucked tail and fled less than seventy-two hours after her surgery."
Yi Jeong felt a momentary need to punch the man unconscious. Controlling his irrational anger, he said, "In a way, this is a blessing. At least she didn't find out what a loser he was after she got married."
"That's exactly what I said," Jun Pyo agreed. "What kind of a bastard abandons his fiancée just when she needs him the most?"
Jan Di untangled herself from Jun Pyo's arms and sat up straighter. "Yi Jeong-sshi, I know I've just met you and I really don't have the right to say this, but can you try and take her case?"
Yi Jeong's eyebrows rose, "Honestly, I don't know. It's not normally done…"
"If there is someone who can wake her up, it's you," Jan Di said with conviction.
"I'm flattered that you think so, but I haven't worked with comatose patients before. Plus I don't know if Dr. Kim or the Hospital Administration will agree to such a transfer."
"Do you believe in miracles Yi Jeong-sshi?"
Completely taken aback, he looked at Jun Pyo, but the man was looking at his wife with something akin to fierce pride on his face. Well, no help was coming from that corner at least. When he didn't answer, Jan Di continued, "Ga Eul does. She loves to quote that 'They say if you dream a thing more than once, it is sure to come true.' I have dreamt of her waking up and after meeting you, I have faith that the dream will come true. All you have to do is believe. You just have to dream."
Yi Jeong wanted to point out that a comatose patient laying the ICU needed a lot more than just dreams and beliefs but then the image of his coat stuck in her finger crossed his mind. At once scolding himself mentally for being stupid, he wondered if miracles really existed. With a small sigh he said, "I can't give you any guarantees Jan Di-sshi, but I do promise to do whatever I can."
4
"I'm not discouraging you son but have thought this through?" Dr Kim Joon asked. He was a tall, lean man with a bald pate and an unwrinkled face that made his age impossible to guess.
Yi Jeong cleared his throat just to buy some time. "Honestly Sir, I'm not even sure why I'm doing it. But the thing is, the patient's friend, the one who's been taking care of her, she thinks I can do it. Coincidentally, she's also married to a classmate of mine. I sort of said I'll do everything I can."
The older man gave him a knowing smile, "Kind of tough to say no to a friend's wife, right?"
Yi Jeong grinned sheepishly.
Dr Kim nodded. "Fine son, go ahead, do it. Keep in mind that I'm not agreeing because you promised to a friend's wife. I'm agreeing because I think you're a talented doctor and you'll learn a lot from this case. You're free to consult me any time you want."
Yi Jeong smiled gratefully, "Thank you Sir. I will do my best."
"I won't accept anything less."
5
Yi Jeong licked his lips nervously. He had been told that there's a chance that Ga Eul could hear the conversations around her because hearing is the last sense to leave a person. So here he was, trying to make a contact with her for the very first time. He settled down on a plastic chair next to her and gently stroked her hand, careful not to disturb her IV.
"Hi," he felt exceedingly conscious striking up a one sided conversation but he was going to do it anyway. "I'm So Yi Jeong, your new doctor. Your friend Jan Di asked me to take care of you."
He swallowed, wondering what more he could possibly say to her, "I've been told that you can hear things around you, I don't know if that's true or not but I'm not going to take any chances."
That was all very good but now, having finished the introductions, he had no idea what to say to her. He was wracking his brains to talk about something when his eyes fell on the framed photo of Ga Eul and Jan Di. "You know what's funny? We're connected in more ways than one. Not only am I your doctor but I'm also a friend of your best friend's husband. So, that makes me your friend, twice removed."
"So as a friend I think I can safely tell you that this look doesn't suit you. I'm seeing this photo of yours with Jan Di, and I think you look so much better when you laugh. In fact, you can mesmerize people with that smile of yours. So shouldn't you be smiling? Why are you laying here like this? Don't give up. That lousy fiancé of yours ditched you when you needed him the most. Don't you want to get up, find him and sucker punch him in the eye? I would if I were you."
Oddly, as he continued to talk, he felt his inhibitions melt away. It was as if he really was talking to an old friend. "You know what, let's make a deal. I'll try my best to wake you up and you take a video of when you kick him where it hurts the most and send it to me. God knows I could do with some entertainment."
It could be because he so desperately wanted it that he had managed to delude himself or maybe it was a trick of light but Yi Jeong thought that he'd spotted a ghost of a smile upon her features.
6
With her parents' consent and Dr Kim's advice, he had started her on a new regimen of medications which had been known to help some comatose patients. Besides that he had also learned that coma patients should have a routine that they'd be able to recognize once they wake up.
So it had become a daily practice. Every day, no matter how tired he was, even if it was not his shift, he would stop by her bed to talk to her. He'd learned from Jan Di that Ga Eul loved to eat and therefore he would sometimes tell her what he was having for dinner, reminding her of what she was missing. He would tease her about the tasty food she was getting through the pipes, compared to what he was having. Sometimes he would bring an Ipod and put on some of her favorite songs, also courtesy Jan Di. She was an ardent book lover, so on his days off, Yi Jeong sat next to her, reading books. He had never been much of a reader with his reading material being strictly limited to his texts. Thanks to her, a whole new world had opened up in front of him. There was something immersive about losing oneself within bound pages.
At other times, he shared world news and sometimes he spoke about his niece. Occasionally he would remind her of their deal (although he had never really accepted it but that was a minor technical flaw that he was willing to overlook.) suggesting ways in which to take revenge on her jerk of an ex.
He knew that people were beginning to whisper behind his back. They called him obsessed he knew. But he couldn't bring himself to care one way or the other. Was he obsessed? He didn't know. What he did know was that he couldn't rest easy till Ga Eul had woken up. Other than the first small smile that he thought she had given almost a month ago, she had shown no signs whatsoever of any improvement. But then she hadn't deteriorated either. Her vital stats continued to remain stable and she still remained unmoving.
But he didn't give up. Jan Di had told him about the power of dreams and he had begun to believe in it. He had seen her couple of times in his dreams, awake and lucid. In it, she had been sitting next to him in a beach as they spoke about everything and nothing. If he were to be honest, that dream scared him a little and for a brief moment he considered staying away from her. But he quickly dismissed the idea. Her wellbeing was paramount. A mere dream and a possible attraction were not significant enough to jeopardize her health. Above all, he was a doctor. It was his prerogative entirely to remain as professional and detached as was humanly possible and therefore he had to curb these thoughts and concentrate on getting her back on her feet.
7
Yi Jeong was waiting for the little green man to appear on the sign where now an orange blinking hand was telling the pedestrians to wait. Around him the world was bright and shiny. His breath was coming out in fog. Dressed in a black trench coat, leather gloves, denims and a beanie, he was well insulated against the cold.
As he waited a familiar 'ho ho ho' reached his ears and he turned to look at Santa Claus ambling along the street, handing candies to the hyper excited kids surrounding him and Yi Jeong felt his lips stretch into a smile. Christmas had always been his favorite festival and he was looking forward to spending it with his niece. At the heels of the thought came the memory of the woman who would spend it lying on her hospital bed, unaware of the festivities around her and he felt his spirits dampen slightly. A loud beep reminded him that the little green man had shown up. Brushing aside his despondence he crossed the road along with ten other people.
The day turned out to be fairly busy with two new patients at the ICU, one with a severe heart attack and another who was a transfer from the trauma unit with severe spinal injuries. To top it all, a stage four leukemia patient died and that meant that there was a ton of paper work that had to be completed before the body could be released. What it meant that when Yi Jeong finally managed to find time to visit Ga Eul, Christmas was only a few hours away.
Given that this was the ICU, not too much of decorations were permitted in the cabins for the safety of the patients. However a couple of wrapped gifts were placed on the little table that held the framed picture of the two best friends.
"Hi Ga Eul yang," Yi Jeong settled on the chair by her bedside with a tired sigh. "How are you? Pointless question I guess, given that you're still here and still the same. But tell me, do you feel the days passing? At all? Do you know that it's Christmas in about three hours? You have a couple of gifts on your table. I'm pretty sure one is from Jan Di and the other is from your parents. They were here a while ago; I spoke to them for a bit. They can't wait to see you back on your feet. Actually even I can't wait to see you back on your feet. "
He moved on the chair to find a more comfortable position. "Have I told you that I like fish-cakes? Once you're up, I expect you to treat me to it. I've spent quite a few evenings trying to keep you entertained. I ought to get some sort of treat in return, right?"
"But you know what Ga Eul yang this is no way to spend Christmas. I mean what's the point just laying here? The world outside is beautiful, decorated with light and there's a thin layer of snow as well. And the Christmas tree outside the hospital is just resplendent. You should see it. The thing is decorated with baubles, lights, Swarovski crystals and some other things I don't even know the name of. I've clicked some pictures and saved it on my phone, just in case you don't get up before it's taken down. But you know what I firmly believe you'll get up before that. I guess some of Jan Di's and by extension your optimism seems to have rubbed off into me. Anyway, I'm going to continue reading the book we were reading yesterday."
For the next half an hour, Yi Jeong sat reading aloud. At the end of a chapter he closed it. "Well that's about it for today. I have to go home before midnight because I promised Ha Eun that I will be there."
With that he stood up and walked over to the head of her bed, "I brought a gift for you. It's Christmas and so…," he faltered and decided to drop the matter. What was he going to say anyway? He fished out the little box wrapped in silver colored paper and set it on the table. He cleared his throat nervously. "So yeah. That's it I guess. See you tomorrow then. Merry Christmas Ga Eul yang."
She was so incredibly beautiful. Her skeletal frame and wrecked form couldn't take away the natural beauty that radiated from her. The world outside was celebrating and here she was, lying all alone. Cut away from the celebrations with only the incessant beep of her heart monitor for company. It was terribly heart wrenching and the injustice of it all made Yi Jeong want to scream. He had opened up to her without even realizing it. He didn't think of her as a patient, of that he was sure. But he was terribly scared to examine the true nature of his feelings. He didn't want to know what he really thought of her. It was perhaps better that those territories remain uncharted. Before he could pause to think what he was doing or how his actions could be construed, he bent down and placed a soft and gentle kiss on her lips.
Almost instantly, a tremor passed through him and he swayed unsteadily on his feet. What had he done? He'd broken sacred codes, both as a doctor and as a human being. It was not done! He had kissed someone he had no right to kiss. Someone who couldn't express her consent or denial. He had taken advantage of her weakness and vulnerability. And what about him as a doctor? Wasn't he supposed to remain detached from his patients? He was supposed to keep his personal and professional lives separate. Patients and their caregivers trusted the doctor with everything and what had he done? He had just spat on the face of the trust Jan Di had shown him.
It was just a kiss.
His mind countered but he knew he was just looking for an excuse. It was a kiss now, yes, but who was to say tomorrow he wouldn't do something worse? Feeling a sickening guilt roiling in his stomach, Yi Jeong staggered out of the cubicle. He was no longer fit to be her doctor. He vowed to have himself removed from the case first thing next morning.
8
It is said that a watched pot never boils. In his haste to leave Ga Eul's cubicle, Yi Jeong failed to behold the sign he had been waiting for. In the solitary confines of her room, with just the rhythmic beep of the heart monitor as the witness, her eyes fluttered.
9
Trrrrriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnngggg!
A string of abuses left his mouth as he dragged himself off his bed to open the door. After a cozy, late night dinner at his brother's (how a four year old had managed to stay up that late was beyond him), he had fallen into a fitful sleep. And now, after what seemed like mere minutes of shut-eye, someone was here to rudely awake him, hanging by his doorbell by the sound of it. He threw open the door, his irritation visible on his face. To his intense surprise, it was Jun Pyo who stood there.
"Jun Pyo? What are you doing here? And what time is it?" Yi Jeong added when he realized that it was still dark outside.
"5:30 in the morning," the taller man replied. "Why aren't you answering your phone?"
Yi Jeong opened his mouth but Jun Pyo overrode him, "Never mind that. Come now. We have to go."
Throughout the drive, Jun Pyo categorically refused to tell where he was taking Yi Jeong and the later had to wonder if this did qualify as a kidnapping and if so, could he lodge an official police complaint for it.
Sometime later the car pulled into the Hospital parking lot and Yi Jeong raised an eyebrow. "Why did you bring me here at this hour? I was going to be here in sometime anyway."
Jun Pyo didn't reply as he dragged Yi Jeong along to the ICU and stopped in front of Ga Eul's cubicle.
"Why are you here?" Yi Jeong wondered. "It's too early for visitors."
"We were called by the nurse," Jun Pyo informed him and shoved the doctor into the cabin.
Yi Jeong managed not to fall as he stumbled into the cabin and steadied himself. He turned to look at Jun Pyo, intending to abuse him when something he saw from the corner of his eyes froze him. Slowly, with disbelief coursing through him, he turned to look, his eyes wide.
"How?" It was all Yi Jeong could say.
"Yi Jeong sshi!" Ga Eul said in a hoarse voice. "I was hoping you would come soon."
Her words were garbled because she hadn't gained full use of her lower lip yet but there she was, sitting on her bed, propped up against several pillows, giving him a crooked smile.
Yi Jeong at once felt bereft of air, "You… you know me?"
She nodded slowly, stiffly. "I could hear you. You spoke to me every day."
Next to her Jan Di sat on the chair he mostly occupied, holding Ga Eul's hand and crying uninhibited. He walked over to the other side and as a matter of habit, quickly checked her stats. Meanwhile Jun Pyo came to stand by his wife. "She woke up some time ago. A nurse came to check up on her and found her awake. A little disoriented but wide awake. She asked for us and you."
Yi Jeong was still reeling from the shock and was even more surprised when he heard Ga Eul say, "Jan Di ah, I need to talk to Yi Jeong sshi alone for a moment."
The other girl looked at Ga Eul, Yi Jeong and her husband alternatively but agreed nevertheless. When the couple stepped out, Ga Eul pointed a shaking finger to the chair and Yi Jeong followed her mute instruction. With obvious effort she said, "I'm sorry I can't speak clearer, nurses say…"
"It takes a while to regain the usage of all the muscles. You're severely atrophied, nothing to say sorry for."
She smiled a little, "Thank you. You woke me up. I guess I have to give you that fish-cake treat."
Oh shit. How much does she remember? "I didn't think you would remember."
Ga Eul let out a small chuckle, "I remember some of it. Not all. But I know you."
Yi Jeong debated on whether or not to tell her the truth and decided to come clean. "Listen Ga Eul Yang, I don't think I should continue to be your doctor anymore."
"I agree," Ga Eul said, surprising him. "I wouldn't want you to be my doctor either."
Despite the fact that it was he who'd suggested it, the fact that she'd agreed so easily stung a little. Oblivious, she continued. "However, I want you to be there when I kick my ex where it hurts most. And for that, my body needs to recover. Will you help me with that? Not as my doctor, but as a friend?"
Yi Jeong's lips stretched to a wide grin. "Absolutely."
"Oh and Yi Jeong sshi," her pale, sunken cheeks were slightly colored as she hesitantly said the next words. "Don't feel bad about that kiss. That's what woke me."
10
Six months later
"Yes, yes, I'll be there," Ga Eul assured. "Only if you let me get out of the house that is. I can't talk on the phone and lock the door at the same time! What do you mean why? This is a landline! Yes, see you."
Disconnecting the phone, she chuckled softly. Sometimes he could be a little overprotective of her, but she didn't mind. He was scared and for very valid reasons. As long as she was in front of his eyes, he was happy. But as soon as she was out of sight, he would start feeling a little anxious. Although he was slowly getting better at it and as her health improved, he too was beginning to relax. He still had a long way to go, but she knew he would reach there eventually.
She quickly locked the door and raced down the stairs. Just as she was climbing down the last flight, her cell phone beeped with an incoming message. She opened it only to roll her eyes exasperatedly. Ever since she had given him a piece of her mind three months ago, her ex had taken to persuade her to patch things up. But she was over him. She had moved on. Today, he was nothing more than an annoyance. And to think she had been about to walk down the aisle with him. She shuddered to think what would've happened if she did.
She climbed down the last few stairs and bounded out. Her eyes immediately found the one she was looking for and ran to him. He threw open his arms and she nestled into them comfortably. He was her Prince Charming. He was So Yi Jeong. And she was ever so glad to have him in her life. They had been together now for five months and she relished every moment of it. She knew there was more to come, for their life had just begun.
And they lived happily ever after.