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A stinging sensation filled through my eyes as I tried to pry them open. The light of the cold room burned my eyes as they fluttered open. I tried to move my head to look around, but my neck interrupted me from doing so. My eyes stayed fixated on the white ceiling, the coolness of the room hitting against my bones under the blanket.

My mind swirled with possibilities, being strangled deeper, tighter by the knot that formed with every breath I took. I looked around the room, my eyes tracing every wall that stood strong, falling onto the shelf that stood beside the leg of my bed, guarding a machine.

The knot in my mind eased at the sight, a small sigh falling out-of-my lips as the realization fell in place of my blood. The room had been engraved in my mind. The window was covered with the protection of the dark electric curtains. A familiar face sat lonely at the chair away from me, as I furrowed my eyebrows in thought. Her white dress shone over her face, my sight too fatigued to calculate the contours of the face that stood familiar.

She was the nurse. The edges of her face morphed together as I gained remembrance. The nurse who—-alongside with Hyunjin––patiently softened the worries that abounded in me. I opened my mouth to call out for her, but my voice trapped in the bottom of my throat, restraining me from letting my voice out. My throat slammed into itself, dry as a desert as I yearned for any sort of contact on it.

The nurse had seemed to notice the ghost of a lingering call to her, the slightest of breath escaping me being caught by her. Her head turned to my bed from the magazine on the reflective brown coffee table in front of her, her eyes twinkling with a hint of relief as she saw my eyes fluttering into consciousness.

She straightened her legs, getting on her feet as she patted her wrinkled skirt down with the pads of her palms, before making her way to my bed, her heels clinking against the wooden tiles painted over the floor. The sound of her sharp heels echoed around the room, that froze my bones with every single breath I took through the oxygen mask.

Her steps halted right at my feet, her hands clutching over the end of the light bed. Her thin lips were still lifted into the smile she wore from when Iast remembered being conscious. “Your surgery was successful,” She tilted her head, her curled locks falling out the white cloth-cap that she wore, brushing over the edge of her face. “Congratulations.”

My head was strained against my neck, too weak to let any sound of acknowledgment out. I blinked, gathering every ounce of energy I could muster, and moved my head up and down in a silent nod. Her eyes soften at my fragile state, her hand coming down to my feet as she puts pressure around my ankles, lightly massaging.

“Do you want to meet your sisters?”

Her question vanished into thin air, not an ounce of pressure on my chest pressing anymore at the question. My neck instinctively moved up-and-down, leaving no room for denial to seek in. Her smile widened as the corners of her lips lifted to her eyes. She nodded, stepping away from my bed, her heels clicking against the floor until she reached the door, sliding it open and leaving the room.

I fluttered my eyes shut once again, my chest opening up with questions that my throat had closed on while asking. Will I be okay?

An hour —or more, my mind had wandered too far from senses— or so ago, my stomach would have turned and twisted into a bundle of thousand knots, but now that I was in my body, with a heart that beat with a dance of relief. I will be looking at my sisters. They still had the presence of their older sister, who hoped to be a mother to them.

The sound of the sliding of a door echoed throughout the room, crashing against my ears finally. Forcing my eyelids open, I caught sight of my sisters; Kyungmi and Juwon’s rushed pace as they halted beside my bed. But as they stood besides me, another silhouette took place in the room, caught by the side of my gaze.

“She is okay, kids, don’t worry,” Jake’s voice, as gentle as if he cradled a feather on his tongue, rang around. He stood behind the two, patting Kyungmi’s head. “They were really worried, Iseul, tell them yourself that you are fine.”

Despite every limb in my body on fire, and being torn apart, a small smile graced itself over my dry lips. I reached my hand out, an IV attached to the back of it, which was immediately encased by Juwon’s. “He’s right…” My voice scraped against my own ears, the dryness filling every syllable. “I’m okay.”

“I am so sorry for always taking you for granted…” Juwon began, her voice shattering in between words as she spoke. Her hand around mine tightened ever so slightly, but her eyes remained on our connected fingers, sure to not graze my IV with her hand. “I will be better, I promise…”

The same as her voice, the newly transplanted heart of mine too, shattered into a million pieces at her words. The raw emotion like a knife to skin, scratching over and over until it stabbed. “No…” I said all I could, my heart beating, but screaming to say more, until I couldn’t.

“Hey, hey,” Jake began, massaging Juwon’s shoulders as he pulled her from me slightly. “No more crying. Your sister is okay. That’s what matters, yeah?”

Both of my sisters nodded, Juwon’s eyes too glossy to meet mine, while Kyungmi held a smile to her lips, the softness of her emotions mirroring through her gaze.

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