Birds flock at the fountain outside the entrance gate of the hospital in Zone 3, pecking at the leftovers on the ground. The clear green sky paints the swaying clouds in a masterpiece across a wide canvas. The air is blowing mild as grasses and trees dance on its choreography giving off a nice fragrance.
"What a nice day." Cassandra sighed. She shoved her hair behind her shoulder and smiled at the sky. "I wish he could see this sooner."
She walked towards the fountain with her basket of toiletries hanging on her arm and saw a boy throwing a coin into the fountain. She slowly approached the kid and muttered,
"That's not a wishing well, you know." She lifted her brow and frowned at the boy. Her grin made the boy wary of his deed.
"What if it is?" The boy answered nonchalantly, trying to justify his actions. His smile turned into a hopeful grin. "There's nothing wrong when you believe in things like this. Don't be too realistic, Cass. There's more than what our world can offer." He said with his eyes meeting hers.
"Did the heat boiled your head, Dave?" Cassandra hit his side with her elbow and smiled. "What was that about?!"
"Nothing. Haha." Dave replied, rubbing his side.
They looked at each other's belongings and giggled.
"I brought us some milk tea, too." Dave said. "Care to share a sip on that bench under the tree?"
"Sounds great."
They walked towards the bench near the side exit of the hospital and sat on it.
"What a nice view we have here." Dave said, he handed her a cup of milked tea. "It's Red tea with cafe americano. A new blend, I hope you like it."
"Oh! a new blend with coffee. Thanks." She smiled and gratefully accepted the cup. She slouched and looked up at the sky. "You're right, Dave. And you see, that star on Orion saw everything that happened these past few months." Cassandra said.
"I know." Dave replied. "The symbol of the world's salvation--"
"And the City's destruction." Cassandra continued.
"That wouldn't happen if the hacker didn't toy with the system."
"No." Cassandra refused. "Like what uncle Reiko said, it wouldn't have happened if Orion is strong enough not to be invaded. And Markus won't have to suffer because of it."
They sighed and looked down.
"When I think of what happened, I still get to have cold feet. Like, I am reliving that danger we encountered when we were on the street." Dave shivered.
"I feel you. We were just having a nice morning discussion with Ms. Pineda about sociology--"
"Where Markus was already at Orion doing something we haven't got wind of." Dave butted in.
"Yeah, and when we got to find him in the library--"
"We saw him with a bunch of books piled on his table." Dave continued.
"We're about to invite him to lunch but when we approached him," Cassandra said.
"The building next to the library exploded and we got hurt from flying glasses and other debris." Dave continued again.
"Why are you finishing my sentences?" Cassandra whined. She pointed her index finger to her friend while holding her glass of milk tea.
"I was just making sure that what happened to us was not just a dream of mine." Dave looked at her with a straight face. "I mean, if you agree with what I'm saying, then maybe I was not just hallucinating all of it."
Cassandra sighed with her eyes went blank. She realized it was not just her and Markus who suffered like hell during that incident. All this time they all, including Dave, suffered in that attack.
"I'm sorry, I was a little self-centered back then--" she whispered.
"A little?!"Dave exclaimed. "C'mon..." he whined. "You went your way and dragged me all along. Not that I didn't offer my help, but, during those melee fights on the street, you were being so rude by leaving me behind. I strived to get away from those Androids, you know. And that time when we flew from uncle Ned's apartment to Markus' room, I felt like I was gonna die! Like literally! I don't have much confidence on that rope." he grasped his breath for talking straight. "And you just laughed at me at the other end of the rope."
"Coz you we're just exaggerating. If you just saw your face, it was very hilarious. And, we were running out of time at that moment so we gotta jump the gun or we'll lose that chance." Cassandra grinned. "Besides, you just kept on muttering complaints and hides behind me--"
"I am not!" Dave stared at his friend and they both laughed.
"Haaa...I wish Markus can have these petty talks with us right away," Cassandra muttered.
"That's why I've been throwing coins on that fountain over there." Dave looked away.
"How much did that cost you?"
"Uhmm--" Dave tried to recall how much he had thrown on the fountain. "Around a hundred coins, I guess?!" uncertainty paints on his face.
"What?!" Cassandra stood up and went straight to the fountain. "Have you lost your mind, Dave?!" she exclaimed. She extended her arm and made her friend to look closely at the fountain. "Look what you've done!"
Dave reluctantly followed his friend and took a peek closer to the fountain.
"Can't you see there are fishes on that fountain? Live fishes, small fishes, Dave!" She exclaimed. She put down her belongings on the ground and crossed her arms. "If you've thrown that many coins into the water, it will oxidize and will pollute the water those fishes are living with. Not to mention the radiation it will bring to the water because of the coin you brought which are exposed to UV rays since they're out from the bank. Even if there are people maintaining this place, they could come a little late and these fishes could eventually die."
Dave stared at her with blank eyes, he kept on listening without uttering a single word. He knew he messed up.
"What if people follow your example and they start throwing coins into the fountain, huh?" Cassandra raised her brow. "The maintenance will have a hard time cleaning this area from then on." She rolled up her sleeve and submerged her arm into the water. She started picking up the coins. "And the fishes might have died during that time." she continued. "These are rare creatures in our planet nowadays. We've lost most of it during the great fall, we should at least care a little for the rest of the living things we co-existed with."
"Hey wait, hey wait!" Dave exclaimed. He dropped his basket and went beside his friend. "Why are you getting all of the coins? I mean, that's an offering for Marky's recovery..."
"You think Markus believes in this fate stuff?" She glared at her friend. Her voice came a little coarse but Dave can hear her getting mad, "He's a realistic guy who strives to make things happen. It's okay to have faith, it's okay to hope, but hoping is not magic. It can't magically make something impossible, Possible. So, if we want to attain something, we should focus on what lies ahead and not with these sorts of false beliefs. These coins are meant for the vending machine, not on fountains." she muttered as she scooped the coins on the fountain floor.
Dave did not say anything but he rolled up his sleeves and did what was Cassandra is doing. They said nothing to each other.
"What are you two doing out there?" a voice asked behind them.
"Why do you always have to speak from behind, huh, Ken?!" Dave muttered. He stood to face the boy who's talking to him with an unease look while water is dripping from his fingertips. His other hand is holding the retrieved coins. "It's kinda creepy, you know."
"What's creepy is the way you think, idiot." Cassandra stood and faced her friends after the last coin she picked from the fountain floor. He faced Ken with a pissed-off mood and said, "So, what took you so long?"
"My fault!!" Brent ran towards them, exclaiming while waving his hand until he reached the fountain. "I was scolded for not bringing anything here and my mom took so long to pack all this stuff. She said I should be more sincere and send her regards to aunt Charlie."
"Oh, I see..." Cassandra sighed and smiled.
"You haven't answered my question yet." Ken bluntly said. "What were you two doing there?"
"This idiot childhood friend of mine wished for Markus' recovery and threw coins on the fountain behind us." Cassandra pointed her finger behind.
"Is that bad?" Brent asked. "I mean, we all wished for Markus to wake up already."
"I know the intention was not bad." Cassandra curled her brows and faced them with her arms crossed. "But he threw a hundred pieces of coins in that fountain."
Ken and Brent exchanged looks and kinda lost what to think back there. Dave looked away.
"What was that?!" Ken burst into laughter and Brent did the same.
"Stop it you two..." Dave's ears turned cherry. "I was just being--"
"Too concerned. I know." Cassandra patted his back and gave him the coins. "Just keep those coins and gave them to Markus when he wakes up. He'll gladly throw those in the vending machine and get some iced cold coffee." she walked past them and entered the hospital.
"Hey, wait for us, Cass.." Dave followed her and the rest did the same.
They took the elevator and went to the 5th floor of the building. They took the right turn and went straight in front of the ICU.