If I can't have you

Chapter 9

Min-jun looked at that surgeons face and found himself feeling as though he had been hit by a truck. He felt dizzy, almost as if someone had tried to hit him multiple times in the head with a sledgehammer. Surprisingly thorough, he didn't show it but he felt his father next to him take a few steps back. He gripped his elbow and gave it a light squeeze in the hopes that this would reassure his father, who would never want to appear weak. The surgeon pulled down her face mask to reveal an attractive woman and she indicated for the family to follow her down the halls.

After a seemingly endless journey of hospital corridors and doors that squealed as they opened, the small group eventually reached a small door. The woman stepped aside to allow the four to enter the room first and as Min-jun entered the room, he couldn't help but notice the sign on the door that stated 'Family Room - Do not enter if occupied'. A fleeting thought crossed his mind that this surely didn't mean well for his little brother. He immediately removed that from his mind. He could absolutely not be affording to think like this, could not seem like he was giving up on Nico. He couldn't. Nico has been there for him and now it was his turn to be there for Nico.

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Min-jee adjusted her skirt as she sunk down into one of the many recliners in the room. She smoothed out the imaginary creases as she tried to avoid making eye contact with anyone else in the room. She knew what was going through her family's head right at this very moment. Nico, Nico, Nico. The little golden child who could never do wrong. Here he was, suffering and in pain, like he deserved and her family were still acting like the world would stop functioning without him. Could her parents not see that their life had been better before they had decided to have a third kid and now they could go back to having that. To being that perfect little family.

"Would it be alright if I brought Levi in as well?" The surgeon asked.

"The boyfriend, Dad," Min-jun stayed from across the room. Oh God, Min-jee thought. That little rodent had no business trying to weasel his way into this family. However much Min-jee hated her little brother she had to admit to Nico being way out of that rodents league. No one saw her roll her eyes as her parent made a motion of agreement and the surgeon took a few strides across the room to the door, jerked it open and gestured for someone to come in. The little rat scum scurried his way in, his eyes filling with terror when he saw her in the room. He promptly sat down in the opposite corner of the hospital room and started to twist his hands together. She watched as her mother leaned towards the little runt, gently separated his squirming hands and gave them a small squeeze. Muttering to herself, Min-jee slid further down in her seat.

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Aida kept a tight grip on both her husband's hand and Levi's as she turned to faced the grim faced surgeon standing before them. She took a deep breath before swallowing and saying shakily, 'What happened? Is he okay? Is Nico okay?' The surgeons eyes flashed around the room before replying, 'He's alive. He's in recovery and you'll be able to see him soon once we've transferred him to the ICU. Now I'm sure you want to know why we had to rush Nico into surgery and the reason is that he had two seizures in very quick succession.' Aida felt Levi take in a deep breath and hold in what sounded like a sob. She knew then that whatever was about to come out of this surgeons mouth was not going to be good news. And it wasn't. 'We took him in to see if we could find what had caused these seizures as this was not the first time he has had one.'

"And what did you find?" Aida burst out impatiently. Her hands flew to her mouth and she sat there for a few moments in complete shock. That had been completely unlike her, interrupting someone of importance but then this wasn't a completely normal circumstance. She opened her mouth to issue an apology but all that the doctor did was raise a hand in acknowledgment. "It's fine," she said. "If you think this is the first time I've been interrupted by an anxious parent wanting news on their child, you have another thing coming." Aida let out a small chuckle in response to the surgeons words before making a small gesture to allow her to continue. "We we're unable to find an absolute cause for Nico's seizures but we will continue to search for answers. That I can assure you of. He is in the best possible hands for this kind of situation." She gave them a reassuring smile before standing up and walking to the door. She turned around and smiled sadly at them before saying, "I'm not saying that there is definitely a reason why this is happening but I need you to be prepared that we won't find anything and that Nico will be having seizures for the rest of his life."