10. Leaving

Suddenly all the joints in Rose's body weakened and lost their function. Her heart was also beating erratically. Her lips trembled with an erratic gaze as her world seemed to shatter into pieces at every sentence that Jae's younger brother said.

"How could I not be present at his funeral ceremony? How could I not be by her side at the last second? How could Jae leave me?" Rose wondered to herself with a voice that felt so heavy to hear.

Min slowly tried to calm Rose down by gently rubbing the back of her hand, "Calm down. You have a reason for that."

"On Wednesday, Jae's body arrived from Urk, so the family held the ceremony immediately. They told me to pick you up because I was training in Daegu." Min moistened her lower lip for a moment before continuing her sentence again.

"But when I came here, you were having surgery. It was very sudden and there was no way I could take you right away. Your patient was also going through a difficult time," Min continued. He feels Rose's equally deep sadness. Min tries to make her not feel guilty.

That fact only made Rose feel even more devastated. Jae's departure was so sudden. He had to give up his own life to help earthquake victims when a large-scale aftershock shook again.

At that time, Jae also served as a doctor who had to feel crushed by the ruins of the building. He had survived, but in less than five hours, Jae finally gave up and had time to write a letter to his future wife, Rose.

And that day coincides with the day Rose took part in Sandy's surgery.

Min gave Rose another box. "This is a mandate from Jae. If you have an opportunity to go to Seoul, you can visit his funeral." That was the last sentence before Min left her in an inflamed huddle.

Since then, Rose had not been able to shed her tears. It was too difficult to show sadness in front of others. Slowly, Rose opened a piece of paper on which there was a handwriting of a Jae.

It showed how fragile Jae was in his last second. The writing looked bad. But now, when she felt the world was hers, Rose broke.

Instantly Rose felt all the joints in her body suddenly numb. She was weak and could no longer do anything other than shed a few beads of the liters of tears that had been lodged in her eyes.

She could no longer complete her activities by reading the piece of paper in front of her. Then he sobbed while giving a small punch on his chest as a pain reliever.

Is it true that all the people he loves have left?

Instantly the door opened, making Rose wipe away the tears streaming down her face.

"What the hell? What's wrong with you?" asked Alexa surprised to see a puffy under Rose's eye.

"A-ah. N-no... I'm just..."

"Is there a problem?" Her probing brought her steps closer together as she quickly reached for the piece of paper still in Rose's grasp.

She slowly read it and ended up with her eyes and trembling hands. Then Alexa looked at her best friend and looked down while dripping beads of water from her eyes.

Alexa immediately pulled Rose into her arms. The woman broke down even more and buried her head between Alexa's neck while continuing to scream from her sobs.

Alexa rubbed Rose's back gently. The shoulder-length-haired woman could feel how devastated Rose was right now.

Rose wasn't the type of woman who showed her sadness to others. But she was a complete mess when she lost the person she loved. Because to Rose, Jae was everything. He could be a father and even a mother.

"Just cry. You're not alone. I'm here," Alexa said, giving Rose some comfort.

^^^

Rose was wearing her proud doctor's coat. She walked down the hospital corridor with a broad smile as if nothing happened. Although her eyes were still puffy, it was not uncommon for some people to ask her questions, but Rose only answered them with a joke.

Knock! Knock!

Rose knocked on the door of Sandy's VVIP ward, then opened it while bowing in respect before she entered the place.

"Excuse me!" Rose greeted Sandy and his aunt there.

Sandy looked at Rose sarcastically, then looked away to resume his watch-wearing activities. The man looked relaxed sitting on the sofa. He also looked better. Because today, Sandy could return to Seoul.

Aunt Ryu smiled to welcome Rose as she packed some of Sandy's clothes. There was also Mr. Choi, Sandy's driver. He was cleaning up the wreck.

"Let me take care of it, Auntie." Rose was not quick to respond. The girl immediately took over Aunt Ryu's job.

"Well... Thank you." There was a smile on Aunt Ryu's face. Instead of assisting Chan, the woman who was still charming at half a century old was watching every move Rose made.

Sandy took mineral water. "Auntie, I need to get some fresh air."

"Oh... I'll take you..."

"No, Rose." Aunt Park held Rose's arm, "Let Mr. Choi take him."

"Don't take too long, okay?" Aunt Ryu reminded her nephew.

"Thank you very much, Rose." Aunt Ryu invited Rose to sit on the sofa while waiting for Sandy to return.

"Ah... I feel bad if you keep thanking me."

"You've helped us a lot."

Aunt Ryu never faded her smile of happiness. Especially seeing Rose's struggle up to this point being patient with Sandy until he could walk.

But the moment her eyes met Rose's brown ones. The smile faded. Raising a question mark for the woman with long jet-black hair.

"Do you have a problem? Are you crying?"

"Oh... No! I just didn't sleep well."

Aunt Ryu brushed aside the hairs around Rose's forehead. treating her like her own child, "It's a relief if it's nothing. I hope you always are. And if you're sleep deprived, it means you've been working hard."

Rose smiled softly. Nodding her head in understanding, she felt a warmth she had never felt before.

"Oh yes. The head of the hospital and the professor have given me a certificate that I will still take part in the surgery at the Seoul Branch Hospital and do the proposal exam. I plan to leave next week to take care of my transfer first." Rose explained.

"You're leaving today too, Rose."

Aunt Ryu's words were like a thunderbolt that struck her ears. Rose was surprised. She had to take care of the transfer as well as a farewell to the hospital worker who had influenced her life a lot.

"N-now?"

"Rose..." Aunt Ryu rubbed Rose's shoulder gently. "There are things I need to talk to you about. Including my reasons for bringing you to Seoul right now."

Rose didn't know how to react. She could only listen to every sentence was came from Aunt Ryu's lips because every single thing this half-century woman did was soothing to her soul, like a real mother.