Hour Before Dawn

Chapter 16

Mr. Son caught the change in her facial expression. "You miss her, huh? I miss your eomma, too," he said with a sigh.

Ye-jin took a deep breath and sat up slowly. She looked at Bin, who reached across her back to stroke her arm, before looking at her father again.

"Dad, I need to tell you something," she said so quietly, it was almost a whisper.

After struggling to let the words out, Ye-jin finally broke the news to her father. To say that he was devastated was an understatement. She has never seen him that emotional; he was a wreck. He didn't say much, but his facial expression, his tears, his cries said it all.

Ye-jin got up from her seat and made her way to the other couch where her dad was sitting.

"Dad," she said in a whisper as she sat beside him. She placed her hand on his arm, making him turn to her and wrap his arms around her. The room was filled with quiet cries and sniffles, and one could feel the heavy news that Ye-jin just told her father about.

"I can't lose you too, sweetheart," Mr. Son cried quietly while shaking his head. "Not you, too. Not you, too."

"I'll be okay, Dad," she said to try to comfort him. "You've got a racer. I drive till I cross the finish line. I'm gonna fight until I cross the finish line."

"Ye-jinah, you're all I have," her father said as his voice cracked. "You're all I have left."

Ye-jin closed her eyes as tears continued to fall from them. She hugged her dad tighter, not knowing the words to say to lessen his pain. Bin swallowed the lump in his throat as he watched the father and daughter cling on to each other, not wanting to let go. She looked like her father's little girl, seeking his protection against the world.

"We're going to get you the best medical help there is that specializes in your heart condition, okay? It doesn't matter where it is, I want you to have the best care possible. I need you to make it through, Ye-jinah. Please, Dad needs his little girl to make it through this," Mr. Son said with pleading tone and eyes. "I need you to pull through, sweetheart."

The fear and pain that he felt as a father has grown exponantially considering his wife died of the same disease. There were no words to describe how he felt inside.

She nodded and closed her eyes while her father wiped her tears dry. She felt so strong being in her father's arms but at the same time, she also felt so vulnerable.

"I have a scheduled surgery in two days, Dad," she said quietly to him. "I already have a cardiologist and a surgeon here. We don't have to go anywhere else."

Her father frowned even more upon hearing about her surgery. "In two days?"

She explained her situation to him, making him understand the need for it to be done as scheduled. He wasn't pleased that they couldn't seek a second opinion, but he wanted her to get the medical intervention her doctors have arranged for her.

To say that it was an emotional morning does not even describe the weight the three of them carried on their shoulders.

Bin sat in the kitchen with her father while they talked quietly over coffee. They were both looking towards the living room where Ye-jin had fallen asleep after exhausting herself from crying.

"We can only hope and pray now," Mr. Son said quietly with sadness in his voice.

Bin took a deep breath before taking a sip of his coffee. "I'd fight this battle for her if I could, Sir," he replied quietly, making her father look at him. "But we can only fight this with her."