Completely out of breath and shaking, Kaya ran out of the bus and towards the hospital, but before she could reach the gate, someone roughly pulled her to the side.
"Hey!" She almost screamed but seeing the face of the middle-aged man in messy clothes, glaring at her, she stopped. Her stomach which was already in a knot twisted more painfully.
"Why are you not picking up your phone, girl?" The man barked loudly attracting a lot of stares from the people on the road.
"Sorry . . . I was . . . busy," Kaya whispered wringing her hands together. Why on earth would he corner her today of all days? Wasn't two catastrophes enough for today?"
"Busy?" The man stepped forward with a malicious grin. "You remember when I warned you that you are in no position to be busy?"
"I —" Kaya's voice shook as she stepped back from him. "Please, I have to . . . go. My mom is not. . ."
"She isn't dead yet?" The man laughed.
Kaya glared at the man, gritting her teeth at the comment, and clenching her fist so tightly that her fingernails dug deep into her palm. The man noticed her glare and his smirk stretched.
"And here I thought you would be free of all of the strings by now," He took a few more steps toward her, his hands almost touching her.
Kaya backed away but he kept moving forward, she looked around for help, and seeing the desperate look on her face, the man started laughing.
"Who would help you, darling? And you know what will happen if you make a scene," The man whispered coming close to her face, showing his predatory grin with all of his teeth.
Feeling his dirty breath on her face, Kaya's instincts kicked in and she shoved him, and he stumbled back. Taking this advantage, Kaya turned around to run for the hospital gate.
"You little —" The man spat on street and ran to grab her.
But in her haste, she didn't look around and she barely made four steps before she ran straight into a car.
"Owww!!"
Kaya's hip slammed onto a sleek black car, which was thankfully already slowed down, so it didn't send Kaya flying across the road. However, the impact was enough to knock the air out of her as she fell over the hood of the car.
"My God!" the driver of the car shouted. "Miss are you okay?"
Hearing the driver, Kaya slowly nodded and opened her eyes to look inside the car. Two pairs of eyes were staring at her, one of the concerned-looking eyes of the driver and the other was a blank stare from the man on the passenger seat. As she met those blank eyes, her eyebrows knit automatically as if she recognized that stare, that look. How did she —
Kaya's chaser yanked her up from the car and pulled her towards himself. Kaya gasped and struggled to free her arm.
"Let me go!"
"Now, now, little woman," her chaser grumbled under his breath glancing at the expensive car in front of them. "We don't want to make a scene, do we?"
Kaya looked around and saw a small crowd forming and the men in the car, still looking at her.
"Say, you are fine and we can take our conversation somewhere private," the scumbag chaser whispered.
Kaya's blood boiled as she closed her eyes shut but he was right, if she cause a scene then it would make her situation worse. But how much worse can it really get?
"Tell them!" the scumbag gripped her arm and twisted.
"Ouch!" Kaya muffled her cry of pain and looked up to say that she was fine, but by now the man seating in the passenger was getting out of the car.
His designer three-piece suit and neatly styled hair screamed money, but his eyes remained cold in his handsome face as he strode toward Kaya and the scumbag. His walk was definitely intimidating but the scumbag didn't back away or looked scared.
The man stopped in front of Kaya and eyed the scumbag's grip on her arm.
"Let go of her arm." His voice wasn't loud but the way he said it in his low and dangerous tone made Kaya's heart beat faster.
The Scumbag, however, smiled smugly.
"She is fine, sir. Why are you bothering in the matters of low lives like us?"
"I don't like to repeat myself," the handsome stranger's voice got a bit lower as he stared at the scumbag.
"Sir," the Scumbag gave a teacher's pet smile. "I will handle this. She is fine. Please go on with your important business."
But the stranger didn't move. Everything got very quieter around them. The driver of the car came out of the car as well but didn't interrupt them. Suddenly, the stranger grabbed that scumbag's wrist in a death grip and twisted it away from Kaya.
"Ahhh!" the scumbag shouted in pain and tried to use his other hand to free himself but the stranger releasing his hand, kicked him hard in the chest.
The scumbag crumbled on the road, and giving him another glare, the handsome stranger turned to Kaya.
"Who is he?"
His question snapped Kaya back to reality. She looked back and forth between the gorgeous man and the scumbag. Yes, that man helped her but now there will be consequences if what just happened, and now that she lost one of her jobs, how the hell will she deal with this? And that's when it came to her. Her mom.
Kaya turned around to look at the hospital, her stomach dropping.
"Thank you for helping me, but sorry I have to go," without even looking back at the stranger, Kaya mumbled and ran.
Her mom's room was on the third floor but Kaya didn't even wait for the elevator, she ran up the stairs and through the crowded hallways. She was about burst into her mom's room when a nurse stopped her.
"Miss Sah?"
"Yes, I am. Is my mother okay?" Kaya asked gasping for air.
"Unfortunately, we had to move your mother to the emergency room, that is the reason we called you. Her situation is getting worse. We have to operate her now or else it will be difficult for her . . ." The nurse kindly explained.
"Now? Like right now?" Kaya blinked at the nurse shocked. "But the doctors said not until next month—"
"Yes, the doctors did think that but unfortunately, your mother's body is not responding well to the treatment," The nurse softened her voice seeing Kaya's expression. "We were waiting for you to sign the papers since you're the name on the family member. Please quickly sign the papers, so we can take her to surgery. We can't wait anymore."
"Can I meet her before you take her to surgery?" Kaya mumbled feeling cold all over.
"Yes, you can see her, but you should know she is unconscious."
The nurse directed Kaya to a quiet hallway and pointed at the door. Kaya peeked inside through the glass part of the door and saw her mother on a bed attached to three different needles and machines. Her body looked far more fragile than what Kaya saw yesterday. The nurse lightly patted Kaya on the back sympathetically and told her where to go to sign the papers. She didn't say it out loud but Kaya understood they wanted Kaya to quickly sign the papers.
Kaya stared at her mom's unconscious form and tears started to spill down her face. Why? Why was she so unlucky? She thought she had nothing, yet things kept slipping through her fingers.
"How can you so much from someone who has nothing?" She whispered looking up at the ceiling. But like always she knew nobody will listen to her prayers and problems. Wiping her tears angrily she looked back at her mother and muttered, "Please be ok Ma. Please fight this."
After signing the papers, Kaya got into the elevator and pressed the top floor button. From there she took the emergency exit and climbed up to the hospital rooftop. It wasn't accessible to patients or their families but after spending the last six months at the hospital, she had befriended many of the staff and security guards and they didn't mind her going up to the roof.
Kaya walked to the railing and looked down at the view of the city but her eyes barely focused on anything. She felt like crying but her eyes were dry and burning. To her all-nighter in the cafe, losing her job, that scumbag, her mom's surgery . . . everything was falling apart. Now that her mom was in surgery, she needed to pay now. For next month, she had a plan but what now? And what about the money she owed other people including that scumbag? And what happens if something goes wrong in that surgery?
"F*UK! F*CK! F*CK! F*CK! F*CK!" Kaya chucked her bag to the ground and kicked the wall with every scream. After cursing everyone and everything for a long time, she dropped to the floor, pulled her knees close to her chest, and buried her head in her hands.
She sat there like that without realizing how long, but her trance broke when a low and familiar voice called her name.
"Kaya Sah?"