Kai's Cinderella

Your POV My father takes Tao’s in his own and shook it, “It’s nice to meet you. So are you dating my daughter?”
“Appa,” I whine and Tao laughs a bit.
“No, I’m not dating your daughter we’re just friends nothing else and nothing more.”
I look up at him and smile, “Yup, appa he’s telling the truth we're not dating he’s just a friend of mine that has been looking after me since the accident.”
“What accident? Hwa Young, what happened to your leg?”
“Oh I tripped down the stairs at school. It’s nothing really I just need to go to my check up next week and see how it’s healing.”
“Why wasn’t I told about it?”
“Mother told me that she was going to tell you,” I tell my father not even close to lying.
“Well I’ll have to have a talk with her about her not telling me that my daughter had hurt her leg and talk with the school.”
Right away I almost want to scream and kick at him but I know better not to and plus I don’t have the strength to do so even if you wanted to. As he almost paces back and forth, I turn back to Tao, and smile at him.
“You should probably go now before he tries to be a great detective,” I tell him as he nods and walks over to his car I take my dad’s arm and drag him into the house holding onto him nice and tight.
As I take him inside, he stops thinking about whatever it was he was thinking when he sees my stepmother standing at the staircase like she just made a grand entrance when really she was probably standing at the bottom of the stairs waiting for us to come inside.
“Hwa Young, dear who was that young man that had driven you home?”
“That was 1 of my friends from school didn’t 1 of your daughters tell you.”
Before she can retort back I lean over, kiss my father’s cheek, and smile at him, “Appa I’m going to do some of my homework before supper in the kitchen so if you need me you’ll know where to find me.”
He smiles and kisses my cheek right back making me smile brightly.
When I enter the kitchen, the workers look up to see me, and smile brightly, “Young miss, you’re home thank goodness. How is your leg feeling?”
I lean over and whisper, “It’s much better in truth I don’t’ need the crutches but it keeps me from being beaten since I have to come in for checkups. I think they are onto that I’m being abused.”
“Did you visit your brother today?”
I shake my head looking down, “No, I have too much homework to do I was going to, but I’m not sure what to do there anymore. I’ve visited every day for almost ten years and his condition has yet to change. Even though it wasn’t my fault I feel like it is. So I don’t’ know what to do anymore I can’t just stand there and look down at my brother as he lays there like snow white waiting for true loves kiss to wake him.”
The workers look at me and pull me into their arms letting me shed my tears. When I’m done they make me my favorite drink and I sit down to start my homework.
I hear your father’s phone go off and know it probably has to deal with work and he’ll have to leave.
He walks into the kitchen and hands the phone to me with tears in his eyes.
“Hello?” I answer or more ask with uncertainty in my voice.
“Is this the sister of Choi Kwan?”
“Yes it how may I help you?”
“We’re calling to inform you that your brother has been calling out for you we don’t know if he’s awake or asleep but you should come down to the hospital to see if your presence will calm him down.”
“Of course I’ll be there as soon as I can,” I hang up the phone, look at my father he nods, pulls out his car keys, and hands them to me.
I take the keys from his hands, run out to the garage, and drive out to the hospital making sure I’m driving the limit and everything not wanting to be pulled over.
When I reach the hospital I let go of the breath that I was holding and race to the reception desk and run up to talk with the girl who’s manning it.
I state my name and right away she calls down Dr. Kim and when she reaches the room, I smile over at her. I have known Dr. Kim since my brother was emitted into the hospital ever since then she has been his doctor and refuses to give up on him.
She smiles over at me and gives me a hug, “Come on Hwa Young.”
As she pulls me to the room, we talk like usual.
“So how is your son and daughters?”
“They are good my daughters have settled down a bit with their boyfriends and my son seems to have fallen in love with someone.”
I smile over at her, “That’s good do you know who he’s fallen for?”
“No, I don’t but I wish I did cause then I’d tell the girl. Hwa Young this is the first time that my son seems to be interested in a girl in his 18 years of being on this earth.”
“Your son’s 18 that’s odd from the way you talked about him I always thought he was younger, far younger.”
She laughs agreeing with me, “I know it’s not like he had a phobia of girls but it was more they all annoyed him with how they always seemed weak. I think its cause all the girls that try to hang themselves on his arm are all girls who need to be taught some things by a girl much like you.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean your strong, smart, thick skulled, know how to stand for yourself, well I could go on for a while but a lot of things girls your age aren’t much of.”
I blush a little bit and when I reach, my brother’s room I stand outside for a bit looking in for the first time in a while I see my brother tossing and turning in his sleep. Before I can turn around or cry Dr. Kim grabs a hold of me and pushes me into the room and slowly follows me in.
“Come on dear don’t be afraid to get closer to your brother.”
I listen to her, walk slowly to his bedside, and sit on the edge. He stops tossing and turn as I reach over and start to move his hair out of his face. I think of a song to sing to him but only think of the lullaby that my mother would sing to the two of us. As I sing it, he stops moving, a peaceful look crosses his face, and I seem to be able to breathe again.
When I’m done singing Dr. Kim has a smile across her face, “That was wonderful I never heard you sing before.”
I blush keeping silent, “I don’t like other people hearing me sing it’s on a list of things that I hide from people.”
Walking over to the bedside table Dr. Kim pulls out a sketchpad that I had left in the room, “You mean like this.”
“You looked through it,” I more state then ask.
“I did this is really good, but I noticed that your stepmother and sisters are not drawn in here or at least not very nicely. Also you never try to draw yourself into the happy pictures of your family why is that?”
“What are you my shrink?”
“No, I’m just worried about you. Hwa Young it seems that you're falling with a parachute but you won’t open it. I heard you had hurt your leg but another accident,” I stay silent, “but we both know that it wasn’t’ an accident.”
I look down giving her the answer that she wanted, “It was that fiend of a mother of yours,” again I keep my head down and don’t answer, “So I’m right.”
I nod slowly looking down playing with my brother’s hand. As I do that it seems to grow quiet. The bed moves as the nice doctor moves over, sits by me, and pulls me into her arms. I can no longer hold my tears and start to cry into her shoulder feeling better as the tears shed.
It’s quiet until Dr. Kim’s phone seems to go off and she looks at it and sighs. Ignoring the call as she rubs my shoulder and hums the lullaby that I had just sang to my little brother. As I lean closer to her since she overflows with warmth that I miss in a mother figure or even just a parent.
As I let her hold me, I hear knocking at the door as an orderly walks in, “I’m sorry but Dr. Kim your son is here.”
“Tell him I’m with a patient and his family.”
“But he says that he needs to talk to you.”
She sighs and looks down at me, “I’ll call your dad and tell him that you’ll be staying by your brother’s side tonight I think that would be for the best.”
“Dr. Kim I have school tomorrow. I can’t miss a day.”
“What school do you go to?” I tell her and she smiles, “My son goes there I’ll have him drive to school with you will that be alright.”
“I guess so.”
“Great I’ll have my son talk with you when I’m done talking with him.”

Notes