“‘The first step to coping with your illness is learning to accept it!’”
Ilhoon had seen the same pamphlet in the past seven doctor’s offices sitting. It would either be placed on a shelf among dozens of other brightly colored pages or in the withered hands of another patient. Occasionally, one of the elderly patients would talk to Ilhoon about their past while slouched in their wheelchair. Ilhoon would listen politely, nodding and smiling when appropriate and offering stories of his own until the patient would turn back to their chosen packet.
Ilhoon himself had never touched the packet. In fact, he would rather spend his time in the waiting rooms listening to music with his hands jammed into his pockets and being as small as possible. It was only once he would stand to walk that one would see that he wasn’t the son or nephew of another patient, but a patient himself.
His name called, Ilhoon stood and pulled the headphones from his ears with twitching fingers. His gait was slow as he calculated each step, watching for anything he might trip on as he made his way to the examination room. The nurse poked and prodded at his body carefully, after all he was a new patient, before sending the doctor in. Said doctor glanced at the documents while sitting across from Ilhoon, flipping through each page before asking Ilhoon to share what he knew of his condition.
"It’s Parkinson’s. I’m dying a bit faster than everyone else and get to watch my body fall apart while is happens," Ilhoon said dryly, looking down at his trembling fingers and closing them into fists. The doctor prompted him to continue, jotting down notes as Ilhoon dragged fingers through his hair and sighed.
"I’d just like to finish something before I kick the bucket, a project or something," he offered after a few minutes of silence, digging a hand into his pocket and producing a small folded crane. A wry smile crossed Ilhoon’s lips as the doctor mentioned folding a thousand cranes as the Japanese would and he stuffed the crane back into his pocket.
"Nah," he shrugged, hopping off the exam table and approaching the door to leave. "I’d rather fold one thousand and four."