Yanmei's Sympathy
Yanmei's Sympathy
Following his encounter with Maya, Anton lost his appetite and lost his mood to rest altogether. He would rather be home with his wife and child. He wanted to see Nari.
He arrived near dawn the following day. He went straight to waking up his wife.
Yanmei had fallen asleep out of exhaustion. She was hugging a pillow on one side of the bed, not noticing the arrival of her husband.
"Mine," called Anton. "Good morning. I want to see Nari today, Let's go."
Yanmei's eyes fluttered open. She rubbed her eyes, not expecting to see her husband at that hour. she asked, "Mine? How are you back so early? What time is it? I thought you are arriving at noon?"
"It's almost five in the morning." He pecked on her cheek and forehead before he answered, "I - I had a strange encounter."
"Strange encounter?" Yanmei asked.
"I'll tell you about it later." He sat up and held her hand, saying, "Come on and get up. I want to see Nari before going to the office today."
"Don't you need to rest?" She asked, sitting herself up and caressing his athletic face. She smiled and appreciated his good looks despite the lack of sleep. "You are so handsome, mine."
"Hmmm... say that to me when I can... make love to you," he said, putting Yanmei in his arms.
She chuckled and hugged him back. He asked, "Do you want me to." She let go of the hold and gestured for a blow, but Anton only scoffed.
"I think I want to see Nari first, but do drop by the office to give me a good one," he instructed, leaving his wife chuckling.
"But what about Li Wen? She said she would come to see Nari before leaving for Guangzhou today," said Yanmei. "Then mom?"
"Minsuh can drive them to the hospital later," said Anton.
It was still seven in the morning when Anton and Yanmei arrived at the hospital. The first thing that the couple did was to watch Nari from the viewing area.
Chun-Ho and Iseul were with them the entire time, also checking on Nari while two more bodyguards stood farther. The latter two were meant to be Anton's companions before he would leave for work.
On one side, Yanmei and Anton were observing how Nari was being fed with milk through a feeding tube, embracing each other. Meanwhile, Iseul and Chun-Ho took the other side of the viewing area.
"Isn't she getting bigger, Mrs?" Asked Chun-Ho.
"Yes, she is getting bigger," said Yanmei. "She has her dextrose and her milk helps - my milk."
"We can't tell yet how she looks like," remarked Iseul.
"Who else would my daughter look like? Nari would either look like me or Yanmei!" Said Anton with narrowing eyes.
"I was not suggesting anything different, boss," Iseul tried to bounce back. He sincerely did not have any underlying meaning to his words.
As they continued to observe, Yanmei waved at a woman who came inside the NICU, checking on her twins. The said woman had twin premature babies who were born at 30 weeks, both of them were ventilated. Her name was Rae Bin.
Yanmei had grown familiar with the woman, especially after learning that her twin boys had been at the hospital a month before Nari. It was with Rei Bin that Yanmei learned more about the struggle of having their babies left in the NICU. Yanmei considered her a new friend. Especially since they share the same sentiment.
It was also because Yanmei took pity on Rae Bin that she purposely befriended her and she anonymously bought medicines for her twins. She learned that the twins did not always get their medicines on time. She thought all the children who were in NICU needed a fighting chance.
While watching her new friend, Yanmei whispered to Anton, "Mine, she is the mother I have been telling you about. Her name is Rae Bin. Poor thing really, she has been struggling with getting the medications for her twins -"
"Hmmm... Is that why suddenly your bank account of Three Billion Dollars suddenly got deducted by five thousand?" He asked, precisely highlighting how minimal was her withdrawal since they got married.
Yanmei giggled and said, "I did not even think you'd notice."
"Oh, I noticed. I could clearly see the bank account seems useless," he sarcastically replied.
Yanmei chuckled before defending herself, "I usually just take out money from the Royal Dragon's profit sharing. And we are always together. Seriously, I don't know when I'll make use of that money. And I have your credit card!"
"I am also rich you know... We are just.... too rich," remarked Yanmei before she continued to laugh.
Iseul and Chun-Ho stepped back, seeing the couple were at it again, boasting of their greatness. Still, they feel fortunate as they always got a splash of their boss' wealth.
While the couple was busy showing off only to themselves, they noticed the nurse who was attending to Nari expressed panic in her eyes. She was still feeding Nari and quickly eyed the milk that was about to finish from the feeding tube.
As soon as Nari finished her milk, the nurse elevated further Nari's incubator and rushed to the direction of the twins where Yanmei's new friend stood in distress.
"Oh, my, what's happening?" Yanmei muttered, pressing her hands against the glass wall of the viewing area and trying to have a good look. The twins were two incubators away from Nari and she had a peek of the confusion.
Yanmei could hear nothing, but she could see that the mother inside, Rae Bin, was crying. All the nurses and doctors gave their attention to one of the twins.
"Oh, my goodness!" Exclaimed Yanmei. She quickly covered her mouth at the sight of the commotion from inside the NICU. By how Rae Bin was crying, she concluded it was serious.
When Rae Bin fell crying on the floor, Yanmei knew what it meant. She could also see the doctors shaking their heads in dismay.
"No! No!" She exclaimed while turning to Anton.
Right at that very moment, one nursed realized the viewing area was left open. They had accidentally allowed Mr. and Mrs. Yeong to witness a tragic loss of one of their premature babies.
Only then did the nurse rushed to turn down the blinds of the glass windows.
From outside the NICU's viewing area, Yanmei dived into her husband's chest. She was trembling in fear, and Anton knew why. Even if it was not their own child, seeing the possibility of frightened Yanmei. Moreover, she had taken sympathy for Rae Bin and her twins.
Eventually, he heard her take heavy breaths. He caressed her head and said, "I'm sorry, mine. I'm sorry you had to see that."
He raised Yanmei's face with both his hands and said, "Listening to me. It's unfortunate that it happened, but your new friend still has one child to care for. Let's help that child."
"Do you want to help that child?" He asked, wanting to get Yanmei speaking again. He was feeling how her hands were trembling against his chest.
She nodded and said, "Yes, mine. Let's help Rai Bin and her child. She is now only left with one of her twins. She must be heartbroken."