Arkangel || A Winter / Karina / WinRina Adventure

Ode to Joy

When she entered the colorful day room she spotted him instantly. He still had a long white hair and long beard, even though they were a little thinner. He was in a wheelchair, looking out the window at a nearby park.

For a moment Min froze. Ji rubbed her back as Min covered her mouth and cried. Trembling, Min knelt beside him and took his hand. He raised his head and she saw that his eyes were white. Well was blind.

"Well?" she whispered.

"Who is this?"

"It's me, Well."

"Min?"

"Yes, Well."

Well gasped, took her hand and pressed it to his cheek. He looked at her as if he could still see, tears streaming down his cheek. "I never stopped loving you, little one, I never stopped thinking about you, not once during all these years! I missed you so, so much, I missed my little girl!"

At that, Min started sobbing. Gone was the ice-cold operative, replaced by the little girl who'd had her father stolen from her. "I should have found you sooner, Well! They locked me up, but I could've escaped if I'd tried harder, and I could have rescued you! I'm so sorry, Well! I should have tried harder! It's my fault! It's all my fault! I didn't do anything and I abandoned you! Please Well, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, you were abandoned because I was selfish!"

"Min, Min, it's ok," he said. "You were just a child when they separated us. A child! Nothing is your fault! Nothing! The whole time I was in prison, I prayed that we'd find each other again. And we have. You found me, little one, you found me!"

"I love you, Well! I've never stopped!" She rested her cheek on his lap and he stroked her hair. She took a deep breath.

Well felt someone else take his hand and squeeze it. "Hello, Mr Well, my name is Ji. I'm Min's wife, and I can't possibly say how much I've wanted to meet you. I owe you a tremendous debt. Without ever knowing you, I've come to love you like Min does. You saved Min. She saved me. Well, without you I would have never met Min. I would have never met the kind, loving Min that you help nurture."

Well patted Ji's cheek and tears ran down his. "You found someone, Min? Do you see now that you are someone who should be loved?"

Min cried harder. "Do you think so?"

Well squeezed her face. "Of course, Min. You are love itself."

"You saved a child's life, Well," Ji said. "You had a blanket. One blanket. On a freezing cold night, you gave it to a child you didn't know. Without it you would have died that night. That makes you someone extremely rare, and very special... a hero."

"I should have saved another life long ago, but I couldn't... so I wasn't going to let it happen again. Min gave me the chance to care for my son again. It's I who've been saved."

"Now we need to talk about where you'll be living. You can live with us, if you'd like."

"A home? A family?"

"Yes, Well, yes," Min said.

Slowly Well lowered his head until it touched Min's. He'd been alone. Hopeless. Living in a box, a castoff from society. But the little girl made that cardboard box a home. She'd led him back to living. And she'd never stopped looking for him.

. . . . .

It had been a year since Min and Ji held Well's hand as he passed away. They stared at the bronze statue next to the alley where Well and Min had lived. Min finally used some of her money. It depicted a bent old man with shaggy hair holding the hand of a child in shabby clothes. The little girl clung to a blanket wrapped around her shoulders.

Ji leaned over and gently rubbed the bump on Min's abdomen. "Grow, little one," she whispered. "You're going to have a big name to live up to. But he'll be watching over you."

Min turned and looked at her wife, tears in her eyes. "I'm at peace, Ji. Finally. I'm at peace." Ji hugged her tightly.

Ji had helped Min write the dedication on the statue:

IN THIS ALLEY A HOMELESS MAN CALLED WELL

SAVED THE LIFE OF A FREEZING CHILD

AND THUS HE SAVED THE WORLD.