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He reaches for the knob and pauses, looking at me now with a grin. “It was the Wildman.” Then he quickly opens the door and bolts from the room.

I chase him to the living room, both of us laughing, until Lyric abruptly stops, and I bump into his back.

Halmeoni is sitting on the torture couch, holding her foot. Her face is smeared with blood. She has a small gash above her right eye, which is bleeding and there’s a scrape across her left cheek.

Lyric rushes to her side, panic stricken. He says something to her in Korean but she waves him off. He stills his grandmother’s hand and doesn’t budge from her side.

Lyric looks up at me. “She said she twisted her foot in the garden but that she’s fine.” He points to her face. “Does this look fine to you?”

“That cut looks nasty, and her foot… It’s either sprained or broken. I’d say the latter, but you’re the medical professional. What do you suggest?”

“I can’t gauge if her foot is broken, especially with so much swelling. But if her foot is broken, I can’t do anything. We need to take her to the hospital.”

“What’s the closest one. Ji will drive,” I say, then call out Ji’s name.

Fig rounds the corner; his clothing and hair are disheveled. “What’s wrong?” he asks, tucking his shirt into his pants. Then he glances at Halmeoni and scrambles close to her.

“We need to take Lyric’s grandmother to the hospital,” I say, eyeing my bodyguard. “Where’s Ji?”

“I’m here,” he says in a rush, his eyes darting to Fig, then back to us before they settle on Halmeoni. “Jesus.”

“We need to take her to the hospital. What’s the closest one?” Lyric briskly asks as he stands.

“About an hour away, but it’s a clinic.”

“I don’t care,” Lyric barks.

“Does it matter? If it’s money, I’ll pay,” I offer.

“The healthcare here for senior citizens is a lot more affordable than back in the States,” Lyric quickly explains before he loops an arm under his grandmother’s arms and carefully lifts her. “We need to go now.”

“Let me,” Fig says. He gently picks up Halmeoni with a single sweep, settles her into his arms and takes off outside.

“From all the fuss your grandmother is making, she’s not happy about us going,” I say as I watch the small woman trying to wiggle out of Fig’s arms.

“She’s not.” Lyric says something to her, which calms her down.

“What did you say to her?”

“I told her if she doesn’t stop moving, she’s going to hurt herself worse, and hurt Fig too,” Lyric clarifies, then turns to me and utters, “Thank you for your offer to pay. But seriously it isn’t necessary. My father will pay for her care.”

Fig gently puts Halmeoni in the back seat, then Lyric slides in next to her. I get in on the other side of the vehicle. With Ji driving like the devil himself is on his heels, we arrive at the clinic in less than an hour.

One staff member comes out, Ji barks in Korean, and the staff member rushes back in, only to come back out with a wheelchair. After Lyric gets out, Fig helps Halmeoni out of the car and into the wheelchair, this time with no fuss.

While we—meaning Ji, Fig and I—stay in the waiting room, Lyric goes in with his grandmother. It takes about an hour before I see Lyric approaching us.

“Is everything okay?” I ask, hoping for good news.

“She broke her foot in three places and has a concussion.” He breathes out, flops into the seat next to me like he’s exhausted, and scrubs his fingers through his hair. “The doctor explained that she should have surgery on her foot but with her age…”

Lyric doesn’t need to finish his sentence. I know firsthand what can happen when surgery is done on the elderly. My own grandfather went in for open heart surgery at seventy-four and didn’t make it out alive. He knew the risk and decided to take it. It was a sorry day for us, but mostly for my mother, since she had a really close relationship with him.

My heart aches for Lyric, since he also has a close relationship with his grandmother. And because he well knows the complications that could arise if she agrees to have the surgery.

“What is she going to do?” I finally ask him.

“She doesn’t want the surgery, but she also knows the ramifications of refusing it. And what could happen if she does say yes.” Tears well up in Lyric’s eyes, and I can read worry and fear on his face. He could lose the only family member who truly loves him.