Lukas burst in through the doors of the hospital ward, his forehead dripped with sweat and his mid-section felt hot.
He leaned over to catch his breath and straightened up, only to find that the room was empty save for the two familiar faces inside.
Tingting's reddened eyes widened at his sudden arrival and Yu Jing who sat huddled in the corner uncurled himself to peer up at Lukas.
Lukas searched desperately for the granny but all that was in the room was her empty bed.
He barely managed to whisper as the tearing pain inside pierced him.
"Where is she?"
Tingting buried her face in her hands and choked,
"She's left us."
Yu Jing curled himself into a ball once more and whimpered.
"We couldn't do anything. It all happened so quickly!"
Mike who had only just caught up cried out.
"F*ck. F*ck. F*ck!"
Mike kicked a chair, sending it crashing into the wall.
"Um, excuse me."
A nurse walked in with an anxious expression and the granny's doctor followed behind her. His gaze darkened when he saw the broken chair but he soon regained his composure and helped explain to the boys what had occurred.
A group of men had rushed into the ward and began to demand for Lukas. Tingting and Yu Jing were the only ones in there and so the men attacked them. The granny, seeing the children struggling to defend themselves from the men, attempted to call for a nurse but one of the men realized her intentions and shoved her aside. The stimulation seemed to triggered a relapse.
Seeing the granny moving strangely, the men decided that there was no point in being there any longer so they left.
Nobody was in any state to call for the doctor, and when they did, it was too late.
Even now, Yu Jing and Tingting had no clue who those men were.
Lukas stood at the side blankly. His gaze remained fixed upon the bed where that person should have lain.
"Lukas?" Mike's call shook him awake.
"For me? They were shouting... for me?" His voice grew softer until it was nothing more than him mouthing it.
"Yes, they called for you so many times... Wait, it's not your fault. It's not your fault, okay?" Tingting grew alarmed as she realised what this meant.
Tingting's cries fell on deaf ears.
Who the men were, why they were searching for him... all of that, that didn't matter.
She was gone.
Again.
Why, why did she leave him? Didn't she promise him? Promise that she'd always be by his side?
Was she going to break her promise again?
In that case... In that case…
'I'll come to you.'
Lukas strode to the door but was ultimately blocked by the doctor who had been observing Lukas for a while.
"Where are you going?" The doctor's calm voice grated against Lukas's nerves. It was a stark contrast to the tense atmosphere swirling in the room.
"Let me see her." His voice quiet, Lukas attempted to move past the doctor.
The doctor shook his head and grabbed his shoulder.
"Calm down. It's too late to do anything."
"Let me see her!"
He pushed past the doctor and ran out of the ward.
The shouts of the others rang behind him.
He raced to to every emergency room.
He crashed into walls, tripped down the stairs and stumbled as he ran.
He bumped into people, angered the staff and knocked patients over.
He continued to apologise mindlessly with every casualty, until, at last, he found her.
On a single operating bed, barely visible in the dark room, he found her.
He stood at the door, the light glaring on his back as he faced her. His voice cracked as he smiled.
"Found you."