Chapter 3

Brent was up and out the door by 6am carrying his briefcase and Ji Eun’s purse. He had stopped by the police precinct on the way home and retrieved Ji-Eun’s purse.

He wanted to be at the hospital, by her side, when she would awoke. On the subway ride to the hospital he contemplated why he had suddenly seemed to be do attached to a woman he did not really know. But, seeing her eye, the terror, the need, her begging him not to abandon her broke so ething deep inside him wide open. Now, he felt compelled, that their fates were somehow conjoined in the crucible of tragedy and loss.

When he arrived at the hospital, he asked the charge nurse if she had awoken, and she answered, “No, not yet. You can go in and wait. She’s gonna need you there when she does.”

Brent slowly opened the door enough to peek around the door to see if she was up. Still asleep with her hands at her sides, Brent slipped inside and sat next to her, taking her hand. She reflexively loosely closed her fingers around his hand but didn’t waken.

Brent stayed motionless, thumb tracing small circles on her knuckles. He watched the steady rise and fall of her chest, the flutter behind her eyelids. The morning light filtered through the blinds, painting stripes across the blanket that covered where her calf should be. Any minute now. And he’d be right here.

Her fingers tightened around his first—then her eyelids fluttered open.

For a moment, Ji-Eun just stared at the ceiling tiles, blinking slowly. No fog. No dreamlike distance. Just crystal-clear awareness flooding back.

She drew a breath. Tried to shift her legs.