Chapter 23: The First Hug

"Mom! Mom! Please wake up. Please listen to my voice. Please wake up." Ashma kept shaking Vidhi to wake her up and kept pleading the whole way. Vidhi's head was in Ashma's lap. Yong-Sun raced the car as fast as he could yet was driving carefully. Young-Soo kept glancing back every two seconds to check on Vidhi. Vidhi was drenched in sweat, her eyes were closed and was completely immobile.

Ashma kept placing her fingers on Vidhi's neck to constantly check for a pulse. She was getting heart rhythm but she was still worried. Tears kept flowing down her cheeks. She didn't try to wipe them away. She kept crying the whole way without any sound. Her tears were doing all the talking. Ashma's heart was beating so fast with fear that it was ready to jump out of her chest any moment.

"Please be faster," she pleaded to Yong-Sun. He looked at her in the rear-view mirror and his heart broke into a million pieces after seeing Ashma in that condition. She kept touching her mother's face and pleading with her to get up. Yong-Sun drove like a maniac and within minutes they arrived at the hospital. The car stopped with a halting screech.

Yong-Sun jumped from the car and shouted something in Korean. A few nurses came running to the emergency entrance of the hospital. Young-Soo too jumped from the car and tried helping the hospital staff in getting Vidhi out of the car but suddenly Ashma shouted, "don't you dare touch her. This happened because of you. Don't touch her."

Young-Soo stood there frozen, defeated, dejected. His daughter, his firstborn was commanding him not to touch the mother of his child. Her face had pure hatred for him. She was holding him to be responsible for everything that happened with Vidhi. Well, she was not wrong. She fainted after seeing him.

Yong-Sun was shocked at her expression. Her eyes were filled with tears, were crimson in colour, her nose was flaring and daggers were coming out of her mouth. She looked like the embodiment of anger and hatred but he still was feeling pity for her.

After placing Vidhi on a stretcher, everyone ran inside the hospital. The nurses forbade them to enter the emergency room. A doctor came and bowed down to Young-Soo. Before Ashma could explain to the doctor about everything, Young-Soo explained everything to him in Korean.

The doctor asked a few questions to Young-Soo but he just stared at Ashma. She nodded and gave him permission to ask her a question.

"They are asking about her medical history," said Young-Soo meticulously.

"What do they want to know?" asked Ashma with concern in her voice.

Young-Soo looked at the doctor who showered question after question on him. He then turned towards Ashma. Young-Soo repeated, "I have already told him about her name, her age, her nationality and her travelling. Now, they want to know how was her health. Was her BP normal? How is her sugar level? Any mental health issues? What medicines does she eat? And vitamins supplements she takes? Does anyone in your family has a history of heart attacks or strokes?"

Ashma sniffled, wiped her face, composed herself and replied after taking a deep breath, "everything was normal. She is very active. She is a regular member of the gym. Her menopause started last year. Her BP, her blood sugar level, her thyroid levels all are normal. She only takes vitamins supplements for calcium, vitamin B12 and E." She looked at the doctor after her reply while Young-Soo translated her answer to him. The doctor kept nodding and listened to his every word.

The doctor again asked a question. Young-Soo repeated, again, "he is asking about stress and tension as her BP was slightly elevated."

She exhaled again and while trying to control her anger, replied, "you know about that. She has been crying for the past three days because of you. She had to deal with telling me about you. Moreover, she wanted to see you. She was stressed as your daughter told us that you were about to die."

"She did what?" screamed Young-Soo.

Ashma closed her eyes and with quivering lips, she shouted, "every one of you is a culprit. My mother is lying in a hospital because of what you did."

Young-Soo lowered his head in shame and explained everything to the doctor. He told him about Vidhi's forty-eight hours travelling from India after hearing a piece of stressful news which no one knew was a prank and she fainted after seeing him after almost 28 years.

The doctor nodded, placed his hand on Young-Soo's shoulders, reassured him and then went inside the emergency room.

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"He said he will try his best. They will do some test and then will inform us," explained Young-Soo. Ashma had her palms on her mouth trying to control her crying but in vain, she kept sobbing like a child. She wanted her nanaji badly but retrained herself from calling him without getting proper details from the doctor. She didn't want to give him an unnecessary shock. She tried to make out what doctors were doing inside the room but was unable to. She sat on the chair nearby as her knees started to give in.

The next instant the whole house came running towards Ashma, even Young-Jae came to the hospital. Bong-cha approached her carefully. She clenched and unclenched her fists a few times struggling to place her hands on Ashma's shoulder to console her. She touched her softly. Ashma looked up, jerked her hand away and stood up with a jolt.

"Are you ok?" asked Bong-Cha in a guilty voice.

"You…" screamed Ashma. "Everything that happened, happened because of you. She is inside because of you. She is lying on a hospital bed because of you."

"Hey!" interjected Baek-Hyeon. He pulled Bong-Cha away from Ashma and stood in front of her to protect her.

"Shut up. I am not talking to you. Everything happened because of your sister. She is the evil behind everything." She then addressed Bong-Cha directly. "You lied to me about your dad's condition. You gave us the shock of our life. That shock gave her a heart attack. She might die. I do not have a father and I am about to lose my mother because of you. You killed her, you are a murderer." Tears kept streaming down her face. Now, even her nose started running.

"Ashma!" shouted Eun-Kyun in a calming tone. She held her shoulder tightly and shook her once. Her voice brought Ashma back from the darkness. Her mouth was open and she was breathing heavily. She looked at her with guilt-ridden eyes. Bong-Cha was staring at her with tear-filled eyes. Ashma realised what she had done, how she spewed poison which she didn't mean to. She trembled, her whole body shook with sobs, she was having trouble swallowing. Her saliva turned into sharp needles and clogged her throat.

The next instant, the door of the emergency room opened. Everyone was silent and was staring at Ashma but as soon as the doctor arrived, they all turned towards him. The doctor approached Young-Jae first and bowed down to him. He then bowed down to other family members and they reciprocated. Ashma was annoyed as to why the doctor kept bowing down to the Park family members.

The doctor then turned towards Young-Soo and told him some details in Korean. Young-Soo in turn looked at Ashma and said, "all the tests were normal. It was not a heart attack, as per symptoms that we told him, they concluded that it was a panic attack but would like to run a few more tests. And she has regained consciousness. You can go and meet her." He placed his hand on her shoulder and continued, "She is okay, she is fine. Your mother is fine. Go, see her."

Immediately, Ashma knitted her eyebrows and clenched her fists. She turned towards Eun-Kyung and tears fell from her eyes, her breath shuddered and she covered her mouth with her hand. She turned away and ran from there. She searched for a quiet corridor and entered it. She stood at a corner and faced the wall. Her face was contorted and she was crying inconsolably.

She covered her face with her hands and let herself fall. She curled into a ball in the corner while facing the wall and sobbed loudly. She didn't know whether she was crying out of relief, or sadness or happiness. She was relieved that her mother was okay but was sad that she unloaded her negative emotions on people who didn't deserve it. A few hours ago she was praising Bong-Cha and now she held her responsible for everything. She even called her a murderer. Will Bong-Cha be able to forgive her? Will she be able to talk to her again after she called her names? What will be Eun-Kyung's reaction? She must hate her now. How will she face everyone?

She was thinking and crying terribly when a hand touched her shoulder. She instantly stood up and saw a handsome face in front of her. The muscle man was standing before her. She flinched and jerked his hand away.

"Are you okay?" he asked politely.

She was not ready to talk to anyone so very rudely she replied, "I don't need your help." She snapped at him and started walking away from him.

Before she could create some distance between them, he promptly grabbed her hands and pulled her closer to himself. He held her hand with one hand and placed his other hand on her waist.

"What are you doing? Let me go," she squirmed.

Without paying any heed to her words, he pulled her even closer and engulfed her in his arms. He placed her head forcefully on his shoulder and held her tightly. He didn't care that she was rude to everyone, he didn't care that she reprimanded Bong-Cha badly, all he knew was that she needed someone right now. Eun-Kyung was trying to follow Ashma but Young-Jae stopped her. Her only family member was lying down on a hospital bed and she had no one else.

He held her strongly no matter how much she struggled. In her grief, she forgot all her martial arts training. She struggled like a novice to get out of his grip.. The human touch in such a situation was overwhelming for her.

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