Heartstrings

54. Wishes Denied

Dae's POV (Lee above)

Every night is a rough night for me. My sleep pattern was thrown off completely. Meeting Dr. Park after all this time, it was awkward walking in the Pet Care Clinic. Jong explained that the competition was under investigation after my license was terminated. So, the competition was postponed until further notice. Still, I didn't know what happened that day with the golden retriever. Although there were so many health issues, she was stable despite having no blood transfusion. Ri and I were waiting for Dr. Park to come back to his office. He wanted to discuss another case that he was assigned. I was confused but he was going to explain. When the sound of a click reached my ears, I turned around and the door creaked open. Peeking from around the door, he smiled.

"Hello Dr. Dae."

Shaking my head, I knew that that was a title that I no longer had. The moment the decision was made about my licence, it was made clear that I was no longer a doctor of veterinary medicine.

"Hello Dr. Park." I responded

Walking to his desk, he tossed the papers he had in his hands on his desk before taking his seat in his leather chair. Ri and I continued to wait for him to break the silence. Clearing her throat, Ri crossed her legs and nudged me.

"Dr. Park, you wanted me to come to your office so, what's going on?"

Clapping his hands together, he pulled himself closer to his desk. Staring back and forth, he finally speaks: "The competition will resume in a few days and I wanted you-

I raised my hand and shook my head. I had a feeling that he wanted me to perform the surgery that was assigned to him. "Jong, you can loose your licence."

"That's why I wanted you to meet me here so we can discuss it."

"What do you mean?"

Digging through files that were in her lap, Ri hands me a folder. Looking through it, I found several documents with his name but there wasn't an assistant to help him with his case.

"What do you want me to do with these forms?"

Giving me his usual look, as always he wanted me to help him. Without saying anything, I pinched the bridge of my nose and exhaled loudly.

"Ri, were going to be here for a while. Can you bring Dr. Dae some green tea with ginger?"

"You remembered?"

Giving me a wink, I leaned forward and placed the papers on his desk. Taking our time to review the medical history and possible risks, Ri walks in with a tray of coffee and tea. Sitting next to me, she gives me a pat on the back. She knew how much Jin's death effected me. Checking for consent forms, he asked me if I would be able to come to the competition to support him and the staff. Again, he gave me that look and I agreed.

A few days later

I haven't gotten much sleep since Jin's funeral. I was still up tossing and turning all night. Shaking the thought from my mind, I laid on my back staring at the ceiling. Still grieving, I looked at my alarm clock and I had about two hours before it went off. I dragged myself out of bed to go to the bathroom to brush my teeth. 

After gargling mouthwash, I looked into the mirror and saw that my eyes were extremely puffy. I knew it was because I have been crying for the past three days.

Suddenly, the notifications on my phone beeps. I knew it was a text message from the girls. They wanted to check on me so I sent them a reply telling Serene and Becca that I will be okay. They sent me some funny messages that made me chuckle a little. I understand that they are worried but, I don't want to burden them with my problems.