President Yang's Request: T.O.P

Chapter 64 - Closure

A few weeks later, Jang Mi had one thing left to do to complete her therapy. Choi Seung-Hyun held Jang Mi into his side as they made their way down the hall. Jang Mi was shaking in her skin, too nervous to think about anything else. Her therapist had claimed if she was able to get through with this, she didn't need therapy anymore. Especially since she already had a strong support group who would be able to help her through hard times. Jang Mi kept inhaling and exhaling as she passed every room.

"It's okay. I'm here." Choi Seung-Hyun said whispering into her ear.

Jang Mi twirled her now grown blond hair in between her firngers. "What if she doesn't recognize me? Or worst, what if I don't recognize her?" Jang Mi asked.

Choi Seung-Hyun shook his head. "Don't worry. Those images in your beautiful brain are all stereotyped. So just breath."

Jang Mi felt him slightly squeeze her body against his in a form of support. She felt better. She always did, when ever she was with Choi Seung-Hyun. She was glad she was doing this with Choi Seung-Hyun instead of her brother, Ji Hoon. She would be over stressed with Ji Hoon's non-existent filtered mouth. It would give her another mental breakdown just by talking about it with her brother. Also another year of therapy.

"Your mother should be in here." The nurse said.

Jang Mi held a breath as she released herself from Choi Seung-Hyun's grip and walked passed the nurse who held the door open. Jang Mi walked into her mom's room to see her sitting blank faced on the sofa. She was staring out the window that overlooked a field that patients were walking around on. It was spring time, so there were a lot of flowers and butterflies flying around the field. Jang Mi released the breath she was holding and looked at the nurse.

"H-how....has she been?" Jang Mi asked as she stumbled over her words.

The nurse sighed. "Well, she's on quite a few medications. Mostly to help calm her body and mind down. When they brought her in a year ago, she was a tough patient to deal with. She fought and hit a lot of the nurses. We had to sedate her most of the time. It was like that for a couple of months. She's been forced to see a therapist to help her. It appeared she developed symptoms similar to schizophrenia, which was the reason she was the way she was. She was sick for a while and it's a surprise that nobody had brought her in to get checked." The nurse explained.

Jang Mi nodded, understanding a few things. "You said developed? How?" Jang Mi asked.

"It's hard to say. The doctors said she wasn't born with it. Most cases similar to the one that your mom has are mostly developed from mental and emotional abuse over a long period of time. You'll be surprised by how common this is amongst the women in Korea." The nurse replied. "It's sad."

Jang Mi looked at her mom and then back to the nurse. "So what's the common factor in these cases? Cases like my moms'? What's the reason why most women become like this?"

The nurse looked around before leaning in a little to whisper towards Jang Mi. "Majority of the women were married. Although there aren't any proof of it, I think it's because the mental and emotional pressure mother-in-laws place on their daughter-in-laws." The nurse sighed. "We see patients like your mom almost twenty to thirty times a year. We've established quite a familiar base with women who developed these type of symptoms. These women are married and have kids. It's very common for the women to take their children away from their husbands. Running away from the abuse. But most cases that were found, the women always seemed to abuse their children in some type of way. The abuse wasn't the same for any of the cases. Some kids were forced into life threatening situations, while others were less than harmful." The nurse informed them. "That's why I tell families of a patients like this not to hold anything against them. They hurt people who are closest to them but these women were not in their right minds." The nurse looked over at Jang Mi's mother then back to her. "And I'll also say the same to you." The nurse sighed. "The hospital finds it very important for us nurses and doctors to keep family relationships private. So you shouldn't worry about this getting out." The nurse said and bowed. "I'll be leaving you two to the visit then."