Surrender My Heart

Twenty Six

"Sleepover time." Na Ra grins, linking arms with Aylea after work. "Yes, a study sleepover. So don't go all crazy." Aylea playfully admonishes her friend.

Na Ra sighs "I guesssss. But I didn't get to have sleepovers in my youth so, I'll use this time to live out my dreams." She nods, "Lets go get snacks. I think I want chips. And chocolate. Salty chips with chocolate on them. I saw them at this store I went to on my way home once." Aylea rushes forward at the prospect of getting a large bag of them.

Grinning at her best friends behavior, Na Ra follows after so as not to be left behind.

~~~~~~~~~

Na Ra had fallen asleep at the coffee table, her head resting on the book she was taking notes in. Aylea smiles a bit and stands, going to her window. She pushes the curtain aside and looks down and across the street at the chicken place. "I'll have this sorted out before you get here." She whispers to her belly softly, rubbing it with a smile.

Na Ra groans as she sits up, "Did I fall asleep?" She blinks. Aylea laughs lightly "Yes you did. I didn't even notice for a bit." She goes back over and sits on the floor across from her. "We were going over the frontal lobe." They pick up their sticky note pads and pens and start to highlight again.

Pausing mid highlight, Aylea looks over as her phone buzzes. All her friends were either asleep, or partying as they have the day off tomorrow. She checks it and see's it's a text from Seung Jo.
'Aylea are you working tomorrow?' He asks. She sighs slightly and replies back that she was not.

'Can you meet me tomorrow? At the Hospital? It's urgent." -Seung Jo

'Yes, the cafeteria?' Aylea

'That's fine. Good night Aylea.' Seung Jo

She puts her phone done and rubs her eyes, tired. "Who was that?" Na Ra asks curiously. "Seung Jo." Aylea picks up her highlighter "He wants to meet tomorrow. There's some things we need to discuss." She says.

Na Ra nods, "Ah. Don't stress yourself too much, remember that." She pats her friends hand before going back to her task at hand. The two women work hard before going to bed, Aylea not knowing what tomorrow will hold.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Aylea arrives at the hospital and goes to the cafeteria, texting Seung Jo she was there. She grabs breakfast, two chocolate croissants, a bowl of hot oats, a bunch of bacon and a bottle of orange juice. Eating, she glances up five minutes later when Seung Jo sits across from her with a cup of coffee and a muffin. Well wasn't that nice, she was being a fatass.

Noticing her glance between his food and hers, he smiles lightly not wanting her to feel bad. "The baby must be hungry in the morning huh?" She nods "Yeah, usually I don't eat so much though." She sips her juice.

"About my mother...I talked to her and asked her bluntly if she told my father about the baby. I didn't ask him because if he doesn't know from your test it wouldn't make sense to question him anyway." He rubs his temples tiredly. "She said that she did. She went and asked the doctor if that were something he could have forgotten so quickly. The doctor said that because it is what caused him to pass out, it's possible that his brain pushed it in the back of his mind to protect itself."

Aylea blinks, putting down her juice. So his mother didn't lie? But she still has a feeling in her gut. That can't be right. "Thats possible..." she nods. Seung Jo slumps slightly, "Why do you keep questioning my mother? Do you not trust her?" No, Aylea thought. Out loud she said "Its not like I'm inventing this. It could happen. Mothers first instincts is to protect their child from anything they perceive as bad. You know something seems a bit off. Just a bit off. It just feels wrong." She rubs her stomach.

"I think you're scared, Aylea. And that's understandable. You always say your career comes first and your independence. Now you're pregnant and that may be a tiny setback. So right now you're a little confused on how to handle things and it's understandable that you don't want things to be your fault. Especially after your last patient died. But it's okay. Just relax." He reaches and strokes her cheek gently.

At first she embraces his touch, missing being comforted by him. But something in her brain tells her that he was wrong. His mother wasn't telling the truth and she wasn't crazy. But of course without proof he'd never believe it. So for now she'll play along. Catch Mrs Choi off guard. "Seung Jo...tell me about your shop. What's going on with it?"

Lies and deceit.

But now Aylea will become the deceitful one. But she has too.

Or is she just crazy? And Mrs Choi is telling the truth. Repression is real in mental health care y'a know.