Whispers of the Underworld (SunSun)

Chapter 8

I will never forget the moment I woke up, the sterile scent of the hospital assaulting my senses. The fluorescent lights above were too bright, too cold, and the beeping of machines around me was relentless. My body felt like it had been put through a meat grinder, every limb heavy and aching. It took me a few seconds to register my surroundings, and when I did, an overwhelming wave of panic hit me.

Where was I? What happened?

I tried to move, but a sharp pain shot through my side, forcing me to gasp. I felt a presence beside me, a hand gently squeezing mine. My eyes followed the hand, up the arm, until I saw Heeseung’s face. His expression was a mixture of relief and sorrow, and that alone told me something was terribly wrong.

“Sunoo, you’re awake,” Heeseung said, his voice thick with emotion.

I tried to speak, but my throat was dry, and the words wouldn’t come. I could only stare at him, pleading with my eyes for answers. What happened? Why am I here?

Heeseung’s eyes glistened with unshed tears as he gently stroked the back of my hand. “There’s something I need to tell you,” he began, his voice cracking.

A sinking feeling started in my gut, dread pooling like cold lead in my stomach. I struggled to focus, every part of me screaming to wake up from whatever nightmare this was.

“The baby…” Heeseung choked on the words, and I felt my heart stop. “The baby didn’t make it.”

The world around me ceased to exist. My mind was blank, a deafening silence taking over as I processed his words. I was a mother… I was supposed to protect my child, but now…

“No,” I whispered, my voice barely audible. My hand instinctively moved to my abdomen, where I had once felt the comforting flutter of life. It was flat now, devoid of the warmth that had once been there.

Empty. I was empty.

“No,” I repeated, louder this time, as if saying it with more force would make it untrue. Tears blurred my vision, and I gripped the hospital sheets tightly, my knuckles turning white.

Heeseung watched helplessly as I crumbled, his own tears falling silently. He reached out to comfort me, but I couldn’t bear it. I couldn’t bear any of it. My baby was gone. My baby, who I had loved and cherished even before I ever met them, was gone. And there was nothing I could do.

“What happened?” I finally managed to ask, my voice breaking. “Why? How…?”

“He ran away, Sunoo. I’m so sorry,” Heeseung replied, his voice thick with regret. “Jinyun… he ran away.”

I felt the last piece of my heart shatter into a million irreparable fragments. My child was gone, and the one responsible had escaped. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t think. All I could do was lie there, drowning in my grief.

The days that followed were a blur. Time lost all meaning. I barely ate, barely slept. I just existed, trapped in my own personal hell. I withdrew from everyone, refusing to speak or even acknowledge their presence. What was the point? The world had taken everything from me.

My nights were the worst. When the silence settled in and the lights dimmed, I would lie there in the dark, haunted by memories of what I had lost. I would press my hands to my abdomen, trying to feel something, anything, but there was nothing. No tiny heartbeat, no flutter of movement. Just emptiness.

One night, unable to bear the silence any longer, I found myself talking to the child I never got to meet. My voice was barely above a whisper, choked with sobs that I could no longer contain. “I’m so sorry,” I cried, tears streaming down my face. “I promised I would protect you… I promised… but I failed. Please forgive me. Please…”