Pay With Your Heart

Chapter 471: Coma

No one was certain if calling Ki-Jun’s surgery a success was right, as he was yet to regain consciousness hours after his surgery was concluded.

Although the doctors had said the surgery was successful, there was yet to be some response from him, thus bringing everyone’s fear of him slipping into a coma a reality.

“He should be awake by now. So, what’s happening?” Sena worriedly demanded for the upteenth time. It’s been ten hours since he was wheeled out of the operating room, and it was way past the estimated time for him to regain consciousness.

“Why isn’t he waking up!” She impatiently demanded, finally being unable to keep still anymore. She anxiously stared at the doctors who were examining him and her gaze became pressing when she saw the wary look registered on their faces.

She felt an ominous feeling about it, and her worries weren’t unfounded as the doctors declared Ki-Jun might have slipped into a coma.

An eery silence coursed through the room as everyone tried to assimilate what the doctor had just said.

Sena’s gaze bored at the face of the lead doctor, who surprisingly wasn’t Doctor Tan. “I’m sorry, Mrs.Kim, but the chairman seems to have slipped into a coma. This isn’t far above our expectation, as we aforementioned the risk of him slipping into a coma, but despite our effort, we couldn’t sav-”

.....

“What are you saying?” Mi-Cha sharply interjected. The doctor glanced at her, and ruly repeated his words.

“That the Chairman might not be waking up immediately.” He told her, and another round of silence reigned in the room as everyone seemed dumbfounded by the news.

Mi-Cha stilled as she incredulously stared at him, while Sena violently shook her head in denial. “This can’t be! That’s not true!” She declared. She refuse to accept such news, neither would she believe it.

She marched towards the doctor and firmly gripped him by the coat, taking the doctor and everyone else by surprise. “You’re lying to me, aren’t you?” She demanded, while the doctor helplessly looked at her. These were the moments that made his profession extremely hard.

“I’m sorry,” He remorsefully apologized, and the other doctors behind also tendered their apologies.

Her eyes darted across them with incredulity.

“Sorry? But you said he’ll be fine. You said-”

“I’m sorry, we tried our best.” The doctor once again apologized, but Sena went hysterical as she hit him on the chest repeatedly.

“Mom,” Mi-Cha tearfully called as she pulled her mother away from the doctor and held her to herself.

“Mi-Cha, your father-” She cried.

“It’s okay, he’ll be fine.” She confidently told her even though she lacked the conviction herself. Her mind was almost blank and she didn’t know what to say or do, except to hold her mother.

“So what’s going to happen to him now?” Dan-Han, who had been awfully quiet asked.

“We’ll have to wait. There’s neurological activity in his brain. So there’s a chance he might wake up.”

“Might?” Eun-sun asked with a frown. She didn’t like the uncertainty. She had been keeping quiet for too long and she couldn’t do it anymore.

The doctor glanced at her and nodded. “We’re still not certain about the degree of his situation, and only time can tell.”

“How much time are we talking about? Two days? One week?” Eun-sun asked. She didn’t think time was something they had. Even if they did, she didn’t think it should be wasted on matters like this. She’d prefer if she had it to leisurely spend with the family she had just been given, and not use it to anxiously wait in peril.

All eyes darted to the doctor as they awaited his response. “We can’t be certain in situations like this. All we can do is wait.” The doctor replied, and Eun-sun’s heart sank into her stomach.

“Isn’t there a way to actually wake him? Like some machine. Something to atleast tell us that he’d indeed wake up? Perhaps elicit a response?” Dan-Han thoughtfully asked, and all eyes shifted to him, before darting towards the doctor who seemed to be in thought.

“There is indeed a way to tell us that.” The doctor replied.

“Really?” Eun-sun asked with surprise as she subconsciously took a step forward. Mi-Cha also loosened her grip on her mother when Sena looked at him with surprise and relief.

“But I’m not certain it might work. The BIS is mostly used to measure a patient’s response to sedation, and their level of consciousness. And if we indeed try it, it might have some effect on him. Forcefully waking him might not be good for him.”

Eun-sun’s brows furrowed. “How so?” She asked.

“Forcefully waking up a comatose patient might have a backlash effect on their health and recovery, especially if they’ve slipped into a healing coma. But the BIS is mostly used for cases where the coma is as a result of the anesthesia used during surgery. Which isn’t so in this case.” The doctor explained.

“But will it atleast tell us if he’s going to regain consciousness if he isn’t in too much of a critical case?” Dan-Han inquired.

“I believe so.” The doctor replied.

“Then let’s do it.” He said.

“Dan-Han!” Eun-sun sharply called with anger flaring in her eyes. Didn’t he hear the part where the man had said, there were risk involved. Why was he so keen on taking too much risk with everything, including her father?

Understanding her tone and the look he was receiving, Dan-Han sighed. “It would be better we know just how serious the situation is right this moment. That way we can get better help. I don’t advice we delay at this point. If he wakes up even if it’s just for a second, then that’s good. If he doesn’t, then we decide what to do from there.” He told them.

Eun-sun still wasn’t pleased with this idea. She wasn’t sold to it at all. Dan-Han had a knack for doing dangerous things with no care of the consequences whatsoever. She had been blindly trust in him, believing him to do what was right for them and their families, but he was getting out of hand.

“I say no!” She vehemently told him, and Dan-Han silently looked at her.

“Babe-”

“No!” She declared. She wasn’t going to do anything risky anymore. He promised her everything would be just fine, but look at where his promise had brought them.

Dan-Han sighed as she kept staring at him in a challenging manner. Observing the tension in the room, the doctors excused them so they could make up their minds on what to do.

He looked to Mi-Cha and Sena who were staring at them, most especially Sena who seemed surprised by Eun-sun’s sudden involvement in deciding what should happen to her husband.

She dismissed as a show of concern and worry, and she felt grateful that Eun-sun was being concerned for them.

“It’s okay, my dear, you don’t have to fight with him because of this.” She said between sniffs, while Eun-sun tried not to look at her. She could barely hold herself from wanting to hold her and cry with her.

Mi-Cha looked at Dan-Han with a deep frown. “I’m with her on this. This isn’t a good idea to me either. The doctor just said it could be dangerous and can impede on his health.”

“But it can atleast tell us what to expect and what to do.” Dan-Han argued.

“Lee Dan-Han, let the doctors do more test.” Eun-sun drawled. She wasn’t going to support him on this.

“Aunty, what do you say?” Dan-Han turned and asked Sena who was yet to say something about it. “You heard the doctor. It could be of help, and it could also harm him. But we’ll know exactly what to expect, and know how to tackle it before if gets too late. We can call for more professional help if he needs it.” Dan-Han said as all eyes turned towards Sena, as she had the final say.

Eun-sun anxiously looked at her.

“What do you say, mum?” Mi-Cha asked, while the woman hesitated as she pondered on it.

Sena glanced at her husband for a while. “Ki-Jun would want to do everything for me if I was in his place right now.” She said.

She sighed and peered at Mi-Cha and then at Dan-Han and Eun-sun. “Maybe we should try it. If God is on our side, then he’ll wake up. But if not, then we can do our best to bring the best help for him so they can bring him back to us.” She said, agreeing with Dan-Han’s idea.

But the moment she did, Eun-sun frowned. She stared at Sena before storming out of the room and Dan-Han followed.

“Babe,” He called after her, as he tried to reach for her arm, but Eun-sun turned around and he met her livid eyes.

“Dan-Han, I’ll ask you one last time. Is there something going on that you’re not telling me?” She questioned.

“Something like what?” Dan-Han innocently asked.

“Like all this is a joke! That you have a hand in my father being like that?! That this coma and this waking him up is all part of the plot in your head you always seem to drum your fingers over! Tell me this is a part of your plan!” She angrily demanded.

“Eun-sun-”

“Dan-Han, I just got him back. I just got my mother and father back after twenty-five years, I don’t want to lose them. Don’t make me lose them! Because if I really lose him, I’ll never forgive you, you hear me? Never!” She drawled as angrily held his gaze. Her fiery eyed telling him she meant everything she had just said, and Dan-Han knew she wasn’t joking.

He cautiously tried to reach for her when a Sena’s voice came from behind him, “What’s going on here?” She softly asked.