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Chapter 3
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           “OOOOOOOMMMMMMAAAAAAAA!”
           “HOW DID THIS HAPPEN??!”
           “OOOOOOOMMMMMMAAAAAAAA!”
           “You have to keep still,” an attending nurse commanded sternly.
           “OOOMMMAAAAA!”
           Mrs. Ko sobbed as she watched her son being wheeled away to the emergency room on the hospital bed.
           That morning she had awaken to a frenzy in house. Servants ran about, shouting orders and suggestions at each other. She heard her name being mentioned several times and hurried downstairs to see the uprising riot.
           Of all things, she found her son’s eyes squeezed shut and servants around him. His arms laid in a strange position and blood soaked his shirt. He could only mumble ‘Oma’ and then start screaming like a madman. She rushed to her delirious son and realized he was in shock. She slapped him twice and his eyes popped open. He gazed at her momentarily before letting his head loll off to side. She watched his eyes roll to the back of his head, lasping into the state of unconsiousness before letting out a bloodcurdling scream.
           She had no idea how long she kneeled on the floor, screaming her son’s name and desperately trying to shake him awake.
           The ambulance arrived without her notice, by then she could only utter her son’s name. As attendants pulled her away from the motionless body of her son, the only thing that ran through her mind was, What happened?
           To think someone had deliberately set out to harm her son sent a chill coursing up her spine.
           But who would do this kind of a thing? she wondered.

           The doctors rushed about in the operating room, trying to calm Jiyong down. His cries grew more frantic and desperate by the minute. His arms rested by his side, ached and burned as if it was on fire. Shots were injected and more screams and cries erupted from him. Slowly, his voice died; him, falling into a deep sleep.
           He was quickly stripped of his bloody attire and the usual rountine of the emergency room was once again performed. The nurses cleaned him up good and then he was observed by several doctors. They all came to the same conclusion that nothing was physically wrong with the boy, at least not visibly to the naked eye. Except for his arms and legs.
           His arms lost their senses from staying in the car too long and his legs were crushed from the sudden landing of the car. But other than that, they haven’t found anything majorly wrong with him. Soon he was wheeled away to the ‘critical condition’ section of the hospital.

           Day faded into night and the stay at the hospital was tiring. Mrs. Ko looked down at her only son, who was sleeping angelically on his hospital bed. She smoothed his hair back, fighting back tears. She had learned of her servants that he was found in his car. Flipped! He was still conscious, but in shock. His arms bled and a gash formed on the side of his face.
           They, too, were clueless as to how the Young Master ended up in his new car, flipped and dazed.
           “O...oma...”
           Mrs. Ko shook off the bothersome thoughts and looked at her son.
           “O...oma...” he moaned, his eyes fluttering.
           “Jiyong,” his mother murmured, caressing her son’s bony hand.
           “O..o..omaaaa...”
           “Mom’s here. Open your eyes, baby.”
           As if a robot, Jiyong’s eyes opened mechanically and wandered, not focusing on anything.
           “Jiyong, how do you feel?”
           “Mom...where am I?” he whispered hoarsely.
           “You dunno?”
           Jiyong shook his head vainly.
           “You’re in the hospital.”
           “Hospital? For wut?!”
           He has no idea...
           “For wut, Mom?!” Jiyong repeated.
           “You were in an accident.”
           “Accident? Wut accident? Mom! Wut happened to me?”
           “Wut were you doing in your car early in the morning?” she questioned, the sudden anger returning.
           “Morning? Wut are you talking about?”
           “Don’t mess with me! Wut were you doing in your car early this morning?!”
           Jiyong paused before answering. “This morning? I was test driving my car.”
           “You were doing WHAT?”
           “Test driving my car.”
           She felt cold. She thought she was about to faint upon hearing the crazy excuse her son had offered her.
           “Mom, why is it so dark in here?”
           Mrs. Ko gazed down at her son, watching his unfocused eyes still wandering.
           “Mom?”
           “Whaddid you just say?” she asked, feeling faint.
           “Why is it so dark here?”
           “Dark?” she echoed, her heart raced.
           “Yeah. Is the power out?”
           Mrs. Ko glanced at the light that stood on the table next to the bed and up at the dimly lit light of the room. “How many fingers am I holding up?” she asked, her voice wavering.
           “Fingers? Mom, stop playing games. You’re not holding anything up. Or I can’t see if you are. Turn on the light.”
           Her deepest fear was confirmed. She waved her hand over Jiyong’s wide eyes and still, his eyes wandered of a lost child.
           “Mom, what are you doing?”
           “Look at me, Jiyong,” she choked, hearing her voice shake.
           “I can’t see you, Mom. It’s too dark. Shouldn’t it be afternoon now? I remember I went down to my car at five.”
           “Jiyong, it’s eleven right now,” she informed, her voice thick.
           “At night?!”
           His mother nodded.
           “I was sleeping for that long!?” he screeched.
           “I thought you weren’t going to wake up,” she said softly to herself.
           “Say wut, Oma?”
           “Nuthin...”
           “Can you at least turn on a light? It’s getting annoyingly dark in here.”
           “But...Jiyong...the lights are turned on.”
           Silence.
           “Jiyong?”
           Jiyong’s ashen face was still like a stone. His eyes stopped wandering and stared straight up at the ceiling.
           “Wut are you saying?”
           “Ji...”
           “How are we doing?”
           Mrs. Ko turned at the cheery voice. A doctor strolled in, clicking his pen with a clipboard at his side.
           “Wuz wrong with me, doctor?” Jiyong asked gruffly.
           “Wrong? You haven’t given me the chance to look at you yet,” the doctor answered with a chuckle.
           “Well, can you get to it!?” Jiyong snapped.
           The doctor raised an amused brow at the still body that laid on the bed. “Very well,” he replied, setting down his clipboard and pen. Mrs. Ko stepped away from the bed and sat in a chair close to her son. The doctor quickly examined Jiyong and shook his head.
           “Follow my finger,” the doctor instructed with a sigh, already knowing Jiyong was blind.
           “I can’t see anything. It’s too dark,” Jiyong complained.
           Mrs. Ko chewed on her botton lip from crying out loud. Her son was blind and there was nothing she could do to help or comfort him. He’s an invalid.
           “I’ll let you rest now. I’ll come back again to check on you tomorrow,” the doctor informed with a nod, motioning for Jiyong’s mother.
           “Jiyong, Oma will be back tomorrow.
           “I’m blind,” Jiyong stated flatly, finally realizing what was going on.
           Mrs. Ko froze.
           “I’m blind,” Jiyong repeated in the same cool tone. “Isn’t that right?”
           “Ji...”
           “TELL ME!”
           “YES, JIYONG!” Mrs. Ko screamed, her voice cracking.
           The room was silent except for his mother’s violent sobs. Her shoulders heaved with every intake of breath and the doctor patted her softly on the back.
           “Good night, Oma.”

           It seemed like only yesterday when he was in the hospital, trying to accept the new concept of himself being blind. His mother’s last minute love for him. His last time ‘seeing’ his friends. His last time living like a ‘normal’ person.
           He shook off the grim memories and retired to his room. Leaving his food to cool as he did every other day.