Nayeon, who was young, healthy, with superb reflexes, and most importantly, not Seulgi, managed to catch the water before it fell to the floor. All she managed was a truncated “What?” before Seulgi was gone like a puff of wind.

  Seulgi was too polite to shout. They were in a hospital, after all, and there were other patients. So, she marched over to the group, against every inclination and absolutely zero regard for the respect for her elders, rudely interrupted with the one thing that she knew would get a reaction. “Wendy moved.”

  Without waiting for a reaction, she turned and quickly walked back to the room. She was lucky that the recently disrespected elders didn’t body-check her out of the way was because of the massive decorum that they held. Still, it was a near thing.

  Nayeon, watching the show as it would make great gossip ter, took a step back and held the door open for the incoming mini-hoard. She quickly figured out that the only reason Seulgi got there first was because they let her. Another note to tick off in her mind.

  Seulgi entered first as she was fastest, then Herself, then Himself, then the lowly, unmented administrator.

  Knowing that Katie said that she was being held on one side, Seulgi went to the other side which was yet unoccupied. She was joined by Nayeon once everyone was in. The administrator stood at the end of the bed.

  The elders were standing on either side of Katie. In normal circumstances, she would be terrified by how close these people were, but these were not normal circumstances. She was actually comforted by their presence.

  “Jeong-Hui, Sung-Hoon, this is Nayeon. My friend, my co-worker,” a small smile crept in, “and my main partner in crime.”

  Seulgi turned to Nayeon and said, “These are Wendy’s parents, Jeong-Hui-ssi, and Sung-Hoon-nim.”

  She turned to the administrator who was not used to being ignored, “I’m sorry, I did not get your name.”

  “I’m doctor…” be began pompously and got that far before being interrupted.

  “Is she actually holding your hand? As in that, she grabbed your fingers?” asked Sung-Hoon.

  “Yes, sir. She has a pretty good grip for someone unconscious.” Small smile at a small joke.

  She continued, “In case it was not explicitly made known before, I know Wendy because I work with her. We’ve been on a few projects together already. That is why I was there with her when it happened and am here now.”

  The Parents nodded warmly to her with small smiles.

  Seulgi, Nayeon, and Katie all shared a single brain cell and collectively thought: How did a chatterbox like Wendy come from these two? If she had not looked like a carbon copy of them, they’d wonder if she was adopted.

  Her parents would tease her while growing up that they found her on the side of the road. With a small child, that could be a terrible thing to say, but they had loved her so much that even if it were true, it would not have mattered. They loved her with all their being, she had them wrapped around her little finger.

  When she was in her teens, Wendy would turn that old joke back in on her parents. Whenever she would ace a css, she would get credit to her ‘Real parents’. Then they would all crack up.

  Her parents remembered how very infrequently they had to crack down on her or even discipline her. Both lost in separate thoughts about her childhood, they both got wistful smiles. The administrator used the silence to hide and snuck out the door.

  The parents noticed the escape and heaped this upon all of his other sins to be answered for. After all, Seulgi had interrupted them when Sung-Hoon was just warming up to a full-fledged ass-chewing. Butt, there would be time for that ter. Besides, Wendy was far more important than some petty administrator.

  Aside from some rapid eye movement indicating sleep, nothing else happened. After about three hours of nothing else happening, Seulgi turned to Nayeon and asked Nayeon, “How rested are you?”

  “I’m good for quite a while. As many hours as you need.”

  “OK, folks. Here are the pns. I’m going to take Katie home. Then I am going to take Jeong-Hui and Sung-Hoon back to my pce. They need to get something to eat and then a bed to sleep for at least eight hours. Stop. You two shut up and listen to me for a change.” At this, the Parents were shocked to be spoken to like this. That had not happened in a very long time.

  She continued, ticking off points on her fingers, “You two just got on a very long flight. You’ve been under incredible stress. And, not to put too fine of a point, neither of you are too young. You need your rest to be your best for Wendy. You will follow my orders at this time.”

  Katie started taking mental notes on how to talk to scary people.

  The parents looked at each other, blinked, and ughed a small ugh. This time, there was no irony, only acceptance when He said "Yes, ma’am." He’d argue with his wife before he tried to argue with Seulgi in this state.

  “Katie, come back in four...” looking at Nayeon “Four?” who flipped up a thumb and moved it up once, “Five hours to spell her.”

  Katie just nodded, accepting her orders as if given by Wendy.

  Looking at the Parents and Nayeon, “We will be back in the morning. Katie, now that I think about it, you are not allowed back until you’ve had eight hours of sleep yourself. You will be worthless otherwise. She needs you in your best shape as we do. Understood?”

  Nod.

  “If anyone tries to give you a hard time, you give them my number, understand?”

  Nod.

  “Due to the suitcases, it will be a bit cramped, but only for a little bit. Are you OK with that?”

  Nod.

  “Nayeon, if you start getting tired, call Jackson and have him or Gillian come spell you. If you need something delivered to you, put it on the company card. Understood?”

  Nod.

  Katie let go of Wendy’s hand. She made a soft sound that was not quite a sob, but closer than anyone ever wanted to hear from her. Nayeon moved forward, squeezed her shoulder, and then took Wendy’s hand into her own.

  “Okay everyone, let’s go.”

  However, what no one was able to predict was the nurse stationed outside the door who stopped them. “Um, ma’am? Are you pnning on leaving for the night?”

  “Yes, that’s right.”

  “May I make a suggestion?”

  Seulgi’s turn to nod.

  The nurse looked around in a semi-conspiratorial way. “There are press out there sniffing out a story. Might I suggest that you go get your car and meet us at the emergency room entrance so you can get out with a bit less hassle?” “That actually sounds like a great idea, nurse.”

  “Good. Then I’ll give you a five-minute head start then I’ll escort these persons to the emergency room. OK?”

  “Fine, I’ll go now.” And she did just that. She made it to her car with no bother and drove to the ER without anyone being the wiser.