Eyes Full Of Stars || Park Sunghoon

54 ¦ Dr. Chen

I hope so, too. I hope that so much.

At that moment, the door opens again and both Leela and I rise from our chairs with a "How is she?" as a man dressed in a white doctor's coat enters the room. "Are you family?" the doctor inquires. A grim-faced middle-aged man who is obviously quite stressed.

"Park Sunghoon, I'm the fiancé," I reply. He eyes me briefly and suddenly his expression softens. "Park Sunghoon?" he repeats, running his hand thoughtfully over the slight stubble on his chin. " Don't you own that huge-"

"How is my fiancée?", I want to know. I don't have time for small talk. "Fine, fine," he replies, casting an appraising glance at the file he has with him. "A few bruises on the left hip, no serious injuries." "And the baby?", I probe further.

My entire body is under tension. I would love to rip the file out of his hand and read it myself right now. "I can't tell you yet, your fiancée is waiting for the ultrasound right now," the doctor tells me. I don't want to imagine how awful she must feel and how scared she must be while she waits for certainty all by herself.

"Can we see her?", I want to know and I don't take no for an answer.

TimeSkip:

A few minutes later, Leela and I reach a corridor in the gynecology department. From a distance, I can already see the gurney on which Dolores is lying. In her fingers she holds the ultrasound picture she showed me a few days ago when she told me about her pregnancy. That was one of the happiest days of my life. Actually, almost all the days I've spent with her are the happiest days of my life.

"Aren't you coming?", I ask Leela, who stopped behind me a few meters away. "No...", Leela replies, shaking her head. "She'll be happy to see you," I reply with an inviting hand gesture.

"I think she needs her fiancé now... the father of her child," Leela explains quietly, looking past me to Dolores, who is facing the other direction, unaware that we are there. "Okay...I'll let you know when we know more," I inform Leela.

Nodding, she wipes the tears from her face. "Now go on," Leela mutters, not seeming to miss how much I just want to be with Dolores right now. Without hesitation, I turn away from Leela to hurry quickly to Dolores.

"Jagiya," I say softly as I reach her. Tears run down her cheeks as she lifts her gaze from the ultrasound image to look at me instead. My heart bleeds at the sight of her. I can't bear to see her like this.

Perplexed, filled with pain, and devastated.

"It's going to be okay, my love," I say, leaning down over the gurney to breathe a kiss on her forehead. I wipe the tears from her face with my thumb as I put my other hand to her stomach. "I'm sure our baby will be fine. You don't have to be scared."

I'm scared myself. And at the same time, her presence fills me with confidence. "I'm glad you're here now," she cries, completely distraught. She reaches for my hand, still resting on her stomach, and clasps it with her cool fingers.

"Mrs. Rey?" a female voice sounds from behind us. "Yes?", Dolores  sobs softly. I look to the young woman who has come out of the room across the hall. Another very pregnant patient is just leaving the room and I see her assistant preparing everything for Dolores's examination.

"I'm Dr. Chen," she introduces herself to us and smiles encouragingly. "I'll be performing the examination on you. You're the fiancé, I take it?" she adds with a questioning look in my direction. I nod hastily.

"I want him to be there. Please," Dolores murmurs in a shaky voice. Dr. Chen nods in agreement. While her assistant and she push Dolores' gurney into the room, I immediately stand on the other side of Dolores' gurney to hold her hand.

I smile encouragingly at Dolores. I don't want to show any weakness in front of her so as not to further alarm her. But I know I probably won't succeed as well as I would like.

My eyes wander over the screen that Dr. Chen has directed so that we can follow the examination. At one point, she finally pauses. She moves the transducer back and forth very slowly.

"The embryo is fine," the doctor informs us. I feel Dolores squeeze my fingers a little tighter. She closes her eyes and throws her head back in relief. I can feel the weight of a ton that is being lifted from my heart. Dolores is doing well under the circumstances; our child is unharmed.

Dr. Chen pulls back so that I can pull Dolores into my arm. She buries her face in the hollow of my neck and wraps her dainty arms around my neck. I breathe in her familiar scent and place a kiss on her temple.

I never want to let her go. Never again.