Rushing to where my son was when I heard Shin Hye's voice shrieking in fear, I felt all the adrenaline pumping through my entire system. I went to check on him, picking him up immediately then looked for a shade from the wooden playground where I saw him lying down. Pooh looked pale and I suspected that it was just his body's reaction to him not drinking enough fluids while he was playing. He has always been that way, forgetting to take water while playing. We constantly remind him but as a kid, he tends to forget about it. After loosening his clothing, I softly called him but then he didn't wake up so I decided to lift him up.
Walking past Yejin, who by now was shocked to see what I was doing, I maintained a calm voice and told her we need to bring Pooh to the ER and she has to get the keys. She held onto Lilo and called Shin Hye to come with her. I was so focused on getting into the car and bringing our son to the hospital that I totally forgot about the information I just shared with Yejin over brunch.
Securing all of them in the back seat, I drove immediately to Seoul Medical while calling Pooh's pedia. I managed to bring the car to the hospital's VIP entrance, where some staff were waiting to take Pooh to the emergency room. I took Lilo from Shin Hye and phoned my brother if they could possibly look after my baby and her nanny right now. Fortunately Noona, who happened to be a doctor, was on site as she just got hired in the hospital. She came and took my daughter while I accompanied my wife to the ER, where we were advised to wait in the lounge.
As I looked at her, holding on to her last thread of strength as a mother, I couldn't help but look back at the last 48 hours of our lives. Pooh was in such high spirits, attending the party, made dinner with her, laughing his heart out while we were at the rooftop enjoying the mandu they made. Moreso, just this morning he cuddled with me as he spent the night with us.
How life can turn your world upside down in just a matter of time.
How I prayed to God hoping that there was nothing serious about what happened to our son, and that it was just exhaustion. But even so, my heart was clenched seeing him in a state where I would never want to see them in.
How I wanted to stand strong for my family and my wife who by now had tears in her eyes, ready to fall the moment I held her in my arms.
'Everything will be okay, baby,' I said as I grabbed her. 'He will be fine, trust me.'
Then she burst out crying. I had to take her away from the room so she wouldn't see what was happening. It would only add stress to the both of us, looking at Pooh while they were doing all the routine check-ups. As a father I wanted to be there with him and for him, but he is in the best of care through his pedia. Dr. Oh knows what she is doing, this is her specialty, and we must trust her on this.
'I should have been there, Binssi,' Yejin softly wailed, blaming herself for what happened.
'Hey, no one knew this was going to happen,' I replied, running my hand on her back to calm her down.
'Why is it him all the time?' she said once more.
'Baby, look at me,' I said as I pulled out of her embrace. 'Pooh is a strong kid, remember? It may be just because he forgot to drink his fluids that's why he passed out,' I continued, hoping she would believe me and calm down.
'You know how he is when he is playing,' I said. She buried her face once more on my chest and cried silently.
I had to believe likewise in what I said.
'Buddy, please just let this be about you forgetting your water,' I thought, and closed my eyes.
An hour has passed and we found ourselves sitting in front of the altar in the hospital chapel. I could hear Yejin sigh occasionally, and then I heard her ask where Lilo is. I had to smile, I actually forgot about our daughter too.
'Oh she is with Noona, she is upstairs,' I replied. 'How are you feeling?'
She took a deep breath, and her eyes were all puffy. Suddenly she closed them, somehow wincing a bit. 'Baby can we go to Lilo first? I think she's hungry,' she said.
Immediately we stood up. Never knowing how she knew that Lilo was hungry, I accompanied her to Noona's office. When we opened the door, Lilo was definitely crying that Yejin had to take her from Shin Hye and feed her right away. The crying stopped, and it was then that we greeted the both of them.
'Noona, I'm really sorry,' I said as I bowed down. My sister in law just smiled and told us it's okay. Yejin apologized likewise and noona said the same thing.
'Tae Pyung, what happened?' she asked. I narrated what happened earlier and she agreed that we were able to come just in time. A few minutes later, Dr. Oh called me and asked us to come to the ER right away. Since Lilo was full and asleep, we left her once more with her nanny and my sister in law and rushed to where our eldest was.
Yejin was holding my hand the whole time and I felt that she was really nervous. I tried to assure her that we are fine, and when we got to where Dr. Oh was, she immediately asked her what happened.
'Ji Hwan had a sudden drop of blood pressure in his system. Was he playing when this happened?' she asked.
'Yes, they were outside and I found him on the playground,' I replied.
'He may have not been having enough fluids that's why he passed out,' she answered. 'We put an IV on him and please do not worry, he is fine now. Although, we might have to check on him some more. I want to be sure he is in tip top shape before he goes home. We have already taken some samples from him. I will have to advise letting him stay for two to three days here.'
'Can we see him now, doctor?' Yejin asked. Pooh's pedia smiled and nodded.
'Of course, Mrs. Kim,' she replied. 'I know how it feels, I have kids too. Don't worry, Ji Hwan will be okay. We'll just have to transfer him to a regular room and you can stay with him.'
Somehow, the diagnosis for what happened to Pooh gave us a bit of comfort, but then we don't want to compromise. I myself want him to be well before he comes home. About fifteen minutes later, we were checked into a suite, where we stayed with him, while he was sleeping soundly. Yejin stayed beside him, crying once more. I didn't know if she felt relieved or was apprehensive of what the result would be after the series of tests to be done on our son.
'Baby,' I came near her and squeezed her shoulder softly. 'I can stay with him. You need to rest. Lilo needs you too.'
She sniffed and I understood she didn't want to leave. But then our daughter needed her eomma so she asked me to call her for all the updates. I nodded and gave her a soft kiss, telling her that everything is fine once more, before she leaned on to kiss Pooh's forehead before she headed outside.
As soon as Yejin was out, I heaved a big sigh and it was then that I realized that my tears were falling likewise. I had to be strong in front of my wife, but then I also had to let my guard down. I snuggled up beside Pooh, careful not to lie on the tube that was connected to the needle in his hand. I held out his cute, chubby hand and held it over my lips.
'Buddy, Appa was so scared to see you that way,' I whispered to a sleeping Ji Hwan. 'Please don't scare us like that again, okay? You know we love you and we still have to check out that school with noona, remember?'
I looked at him and I saw how much he looked like me when I was younger. I had to smile at myself, for I remembered that even before, a lot of girls wanted me to be friends with them.
'You know what, bud. Appa used to look like you, so when you get bigger, I won't be surprised if you look like me too,' I said, smiling. 'But I hope you won't follow what I did before, okay? You love the woman whom your heart chooses, and never stop pursuing her until she says yes. I could have done that to Eomma when we were younger, but then if I did, you and Lilo might not be here with us now.'
When I realized what I was talking about, I gave out a small laugh. Why was I even talking to my two year old, sleeping with an IV drip son about life and my experience? Maybe it was my way to ease up the heavy heart I had since earlier. My phone then went on ringing and it was Yejin. They could be home already.
'Hi baby,' I said, sniffing. I didn't want to hide it from my wife.
'Hi, we're home. Are you crying?' she asked.
'Earlier. I got scared actually,' I replied. 'I'm sorry I kept it from you.'
'You were amazing back there,' she answered. 'Is he still asleep?'
'Yeah. I think he will be sleeping until tomorrow.'
'Appa,' I heard Pooh calling me while he was lying on my arm. I opened my eyes right away, and smiled at him. Seeing him awake, and all right, lifted a heavy load from my heart.
'Buddy, are you okay? How are you?' he asked.
'Water please appa,' he asked. I reached out for the bedside table for water and gave him a few drops. I called the nurse and informed them that he was already awake. I was careful not to give him a lot since he just woke up.
Dr. Oh came just in time Yejin came. She brought Lilo but she stayed with her nanny again in my sister-in-law's office. My parents came likewise. When Yejin saw Pooh she immediately went to him and gave him a big hug.
'Eomma, where were you?' he asked, without a hint of tears. I smiled at him.
'I went home so Lilo can sleep at home,' she replied while running her fingers through his hair. 'Are you okay now?'
Pooh nodded and grabbed Hugsy which his mom brought for him.
'Okay, so the results came in just a few moments ago,' Dr. Oh said while looking at the charts. 'Based on this, Ji Hwan has iron deficiency anemia. Usually, kids who have anemia do not show symptoms. The best way is to have a complete blood count, which we had done already. There is nothing to worry about so much, but then I will have to prescribe another set of vitamins for him and please let him eat food which is iron-rich,' she said, while handing us the results. She further explained the borderlines which are normal and regular for kids his age.
Yejin and I felt a big lump taken away from our hearts totally when we learned of the prognosis for Pooh. She was asking which foods she would be giving him, and we need to adjust according to his diet.
'Doctor, will he be alright after giving the right amount of iron?' she asked.
'Yes, on his next check-up we will see how he fares with these. For now, let him take the vitamins I will prescribe you. I don't really want to prescribe medicine especially for my patients so please take note of all this,' Dr. Oh replied. 'Don't worry, Mrs. Kim. He can still be that active kid that you always see. Yesterday was a call and it was actually a good thing that we knew about it right away.'
I left Yejin with Pooh after a few minutes so they can have their time together. I understand how much she wants to be with our son so I gave her that time. I went out first to the outdoor lounge to get some fresh air, when Min Tae Gu gave me a call.
'Tae Gu ssi,' I said as soon as I answered the phone.
'Hi dude. Are you busy at the moment?' he asked. I haven't told anyone yet about what happened, although Yejin said he informed the Hyuns when they called last night.
'No, I'm fine now. My son is in the hospital and I just got my time to relax for a bit,' I replied. 'Is there something you want to talk about?'
'Yes,' he replied. 'But wait, is your son okay?'
I smiled as I thought that he wanted to know how it feels to have a child probably. 'Yes, he's fine now. He's with his eomma.'
'Good to know By the way, here's what we learned,' he replied. He went on telling me about what he discovered about Min Woo and who are the people surrounding him.
And I was right. Someone close to us is involved in it.
It's just a matter of time to uncover the mask behind that person.