The Falling Petals...🌺

And-then-I-saw-her....

The next morning, I woke up around eight and saw Eomma in the other room, trying to wake her daughters up every ten minutes.

I went up to her and said, "Good morning, Eomma."

"Good morning, son," she replied, "Look at them, they are so lazy." She pointed at them, with a little frustration and a smile at the same time.

I looked at where she was pointing and saw Ami unnie and Mi-hee unnie fighting for the common blanket in their sleep. I felt pity for the blanket which was being pulled here and there so often. The heads and feet, coming out of the blanket at odd angles, posed questions about their sleeping posture which were hard to answer, at least for me. Amid this fight for the blanket, Nari was very calm in her sleep. Nothing was bothering her, not even her mother's wake-up calls. Watching them with a smile, I was about to go to the bathroom when I saw a little hand coming out of Nari's long hair.

"Hey! Who's that?" I said in a sweet voice, trying to uncover little Daewon who was sandwiched in between his aunties. He looked so very sweet in his sleep that I could not resist giving him a good morning kiss. The four of them sleeping on that bed appeared so good to me. Looking at them, I realized how much they loved each other and how close-knit this family was.

"Touchwood," I said in my heart.

I was amazed at the morning in this house being so good. And when Dae would be back here, it will be simply awesome. I wished I could soon see all the siblings in this house, sleeping in their funny way.

By 9:20 I was ready and through with my morning prayers. Coming out of my room I saw Nari and Ami unnie in the kitchen. I wanted to crack a little joke then, recalling the morning's sight. But I checked myself, maybe because of the thoughts of Dae's condition running in everyone's mind and mine, or the silence that pervaded the home. And if not that either, then because of Dad's serious presence at the dining table.

"We are getting late for the hospital. Why is the breakfast not ready yet?" Dad asked the females of the house, looking at the kitchen door.

We had to reach the hospital and send Hyungnim and Dong-in, who had been there all night, back home.

No one but Eomma dared to answer the question. "It's almost done," she said.

And in a short while, breakfast was served. Dad called me to join him and, of course, I did accordingly. We took nearly twenty minutes to have our breakfast and at ten, we left for the hospital. On our way, suddenly, I had the same feeling that I had the day before when, for the first time, I was entering the ICU, wishing to see her.

Soon, we were in the hospital. On the ICU floor, I saw Dong-in half- asleep in a corner chair in the hall. Dad and I went straight to him. "Hey Dong-in," I said, placing my hand on his shoulder.

He woke up with a start and looked up. He was tired and I could see the sleep in his eyes.

"Hi," he said, getting up from his seat.

"Did the doctors see her this morning?" Dad asked him.

"Yes, they saw her. In fact, a little while ago, they talked to me and said that they will be going for a CT scan by noon. They want to check the present status of the blood clots in Noona's brain."

Meanwhile, Hyunnim joined our conversation. He had gone to get a water bottle from the shop in the hospital campus. He too got an update from Dong-in. A little later, Dad asked both of them to go back home so that they could have breakfast and take some rest. But Hyungnim insisted on staying there for a while, with us. I suspected that the doctors might be taking Dae for the CT scan soon and then he too could see her. So he stayed back, while Dong-in left for home in his car. Dong-in was definitely not going to rest, as there was important work at home to be completed.