FATHER ALWAYS SMILING

Chapter 45 ~~~~~

Iesha glanced at Elain and then the others before speaking. "El..." but whatever she was going to say fell short when there as a knock at the door, where it opened and Alastor looked inside.

"Hello, Miss. Ortiz, oh have your friends come to visit? I'll come back later—"

"No that's okay," Elain said quickly. "They were just about to go get something to eat, right, guys?"

Thus, Iesha, Robin and Victora left Elain's hospital and stood aimlessly further away from Elain's room.

"I fucked up...!" was the first words out of Vic's mouth as she squatted down on the floor. "Why did I say that? Why did I say that?! Whyyyyyyyy!?"

"Crying isn't going to solve the issue of your foot in your mouth," Robin said as Iesha just watched a self-loathing Vic.

"I know!" Vic proclaimed before her hands fell from her head to rest her arms on her knees. "I just... got lost in the moment. I'm not an idiot, I know how dangerous and terrifying that would have been for her. At least, I can understand, even though I've never gone through it I know someone who did..."

Robin remained silent, knowing full well what Vic was talking about.

Vic's grandmother, Eun-Ji had fled Korea during the second world war when Eun-Ji was just seventeen, and pregnant, how she became this way was unknown and never spoken of. When feeling with her father, Vic's great grandfather, from Jeju Island during the Jeju Massacre in 1948 where they escaped with the assistance of smugglers to Japan and then fled to Canada. The violence that her grandmother had seen was too great, something that Eun-Ji wrote in her journal, a journal that Eun-ji wrote during her travels. Whether it was for her to keep a record of what she saw or just to stay sane Vic's grandmother would never say.

Though her Dad, Eun-ji's son, chose to not read it but instead left it open for his children to read when they reached seventeen, something even his mother agreed to. Vic's father became heavily involved in activism and the rights of people. He also vehemently said that he would never forgive Korea and the American government, as a small group was involved, for such bloodshed and acts of violence.

"But it doesn't excuse my stupidity." Vic continued. "I should have realized she just wanted to not bring it up, at least not so soon. It's not my place to do that." She tilted her head back. "I hate my mouth sometimes..."

"I'm sure others do too," Iesha added.

Vic cut a narrowed glare to the woman. "Shut it."

"What are you guys doing?" the three stopped short in their conversation they turned to see one of the last people they expected to see.

"Emma? What are you doing here?" Robin asked.

Emma just looked at the three with a questioning stare as she had her hands in the pockets of her overall jeans and a crop-top T-shirt and running shoes. Her dark curly hair pulled back in a half ponytail.

"My idiot brother was trying to recreate a video he saw on Tik-Tok, broke his arm. Why are you guys here?"

Robin simply answered. "Visiting Elain," as if it were obvious.

Emma snorted. "Oh her? Yeah, well what she did was pretty dumb too, maybe even more than my idiot brother."

Vic glared at her. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me, I've heard the news outlets, if she was smart, she would have told the kid to quit her complaining and get whatever it was she needed at school the next day. But because she listened to that privileged kid, her arm's all fucked up." Emma shrugged. "Like I said, stupid, if she's smart, she'll learn from this."