Alchemy Of Abyss

Chapter Four~2

12:07 am.

Liam and Adaline walked for a while after finishing their heavy lunch, it was their habit whenever they had free time. The weather was extremely hot for a winter day, their walk was cut short, and they stayed at the hotel till the weather got a little cooler. "Do you want to get something to drink?" Liam said as they walked into the hotel lobby.

"Maybe coffee, but I've to check my emails for my patients' updates first," Adaline said.

"I must call the firm, too. Let's meet in the cafe then," Liam said, leading the way to the opened door of the elevator.

When they arrived at their floor, each headed to their suite. Liam booked the suite next to his for them before they arrived in Dubai. "I will take a shower, too. I will call you when I'm done," Adaline said and opened the door of her suite. Liam was about to put his key into the door when he heard Adaline screaming his name.

Liam pushed her suite door before it almost closed. He froze the moment his eyes lay on his father's body. Donggun was panting and sweating hard. His body trembled and was shaken by the bed underneath him. Adaline shouted he was having an intense seizure and ordered Liam to call an ambulance fast. Liam blinked swiftly, then dialed the emergency number.

8:30 pm.

After five hours, Donggun opened his eyes to lie on a hospital bed and his wife and son were standing next to him. "What... happened?" Donggun's voice was hoarse.

"Honey, how do you feel now?" Adaline said, lowering her body to reach Donggun's sight.

"Where am I?"

"In the hospital, you went into a seizure in your sleep," Adaline said and ran her fingers lightly through Donggun's hair.

"Seizure?" Donggun said and tried to sit up.

Liam helped him and said, "Yeah, but don't worry, everything seems okay."

Adaline walked to the end of his bed where his charts were on the bed handle. The charts had the results of his blood test and MRI scans. Two nurses and a doctor entered the room and handed Adaline another report. They talked about Donggun results in the right corner of the room.

After a while, everyone left. Adaline put the papers on a table next to her and went back to Donggun and sat on a chair next to his bed and held his hand. "Everything is fine, honey; you're tired from all the traveling we had" — she kissed his left cheek, he was about to say something, but she stopped him when she tapped on his hand — "Donggun, you need to rest." she stood up and helped him to lay again and kept tapping lightly on his shoulder.

9:00 pm.

They left Donggun to rest and went to the cafeteria to get some tea. After Liam put the cups on the table, his phone rang, it was Nadine's number. "Liam, it's Camellia," she said after he accepted the call. "Hey... did you mail me a box from Seoul?"

"What box?" he said, surprised.

"A box sent to me in the mail this morning from Seoul, but with no information about the sender."

"I haven't been in Seoul for like four months and I'm positive I didn't send you anything," Liam answered, raising his eyebrows. He heard Camellia taking a deep breath. They talked for a bit, and both ended the call with goodbyes after giving each other their phone numbers.

"Something's wrong?" Adaline asked, noticing Liam's reaction.

"No, I don't think so," he said and held his cup of warm tea to drink. They enjoyed the good taste of their tea before heading back to Donggun, who was getting better and back to his old energetic self.

December 18, 2009, 6:30 pm.

They left the hospital after Donggun's results all came back with nothing to be worried about. Liam took the day off to stay with his father. Donggun was a healthy athletic man; his age was clear on his face, but he had the body of a thirty-year-old man.

He insisted on leaving the hotel and enjoying the day rather than acting like an old sick man. While they were having dinner celebrating Liam's birthday, Liam checked his phone after it shut down most of the day.

There were over ten missed calls from Camellia's number. After they finished dinner, Donggun called the waiter and ordered red wine for them. He asked Adaline to get him his pen and sketch note from her bag.

The waiter served the wine and Adaline told Liam about their Europe trip. Donggun wasn't paying attention to their conversation. He was intensely drawing a realistically detailed portrait of a young woman.

7:30 pm.

Liam got a call from his assistant informing him about the updates on the cases. After he finished the call, he called Camellia. "Hey, you called me a lot—"

"Is your father, okay?" Camellia said.

"—what?" Liam was shocked by Camellia's worried voice.

"Is he okay?!" she asked again, louder this time.

"Why are you asking?" Liam said after a couple of seconds. Camellia didn't reply, her heavy breathing was enough as an answer for him. "He is now, how did you know?" — he left the table and went outside the restaurant — "he had a seizure in his sleep yesterday."

"At what time?" she shouted suddenly.

"Maybe around... noon, What's wrong?!" Liam said, shocked by her reaction.

"I have to go... bye," the call ended, leaving Liam confused. Why did Camellia ask him about his father when he didn't mention earlier that he was sick, he sighed and went back to the restaurant.

Donggun finished his portrait, and Adaline was checking it. "Pretty, but why does she look shocked?" he shrugged his shoulders and told her that the girl's face suddenly popped into his head suddenly.

Adaline handed the sketch to Liam to see, his face turned yellow, and said, "Bloody hell!" — Donggun looked surprised at Liam's reaction — "it's Camellia!" Liam pointed at the sketch. "It's identical to my friend Camellia! you never meet her before... how could you draw her that well?"

"Maybe you showed me a picture of her." Donggun rested on his back and took a sip of his wine.

"I never did."

"What is her name again?" Donggun said, narrowing his eyes and resting his elbows on the table. Liam answered him. "It sounds familiar" — Donggun looked at the sketch — "I don't know why I drew this girl... her face is stuck in my head for some reason."

"What do you mean?"

"Only her face with that scared reaction and the necklace she's wearing; her image feels like a memory... like a Déjà vu."

Camellia's voice was clear in Liam's ears — Is your father, okay? — Liam had an unreasonable feeling that something was not right.