The silence of the hospital hallway made her steps echoed in her ears. The rhythm of her steps were like a soft whisper in her ears urging her to hurry.
She swallowed hard and expelled a deep breath. Her chest heaved and hurt.
Her desperation brought silent prayer that she kept repeating in her head despite not believing in any God.
The God she knew abandoned her when he allowed those bad men to take her to the forest and left her to the cold rain.
She still got nightmares of the scary hands that were touching all over her body as she cried in fear.
Now that she was older, she realized that those arms that were trying to get her were probably tree branches. Nonetheless, the dreams never stop. The frequency lessened but it never stopped.
The fear of something trying to get her never left her subconscious mind.
And with the presence of someone from the past, the fear at the back of her mind was pestering her senses like a throbbing pain in her chest. She felt like running away.
Era exhaled another deep breath when she reached her father's room. She glanced over her shoulder, making sure no nurse on duty was in sight.
She was glad that they new guard let her in but with a provision that she must get back after thirty minutes.
Glancing at her watch, she quickly but carefully twists the door and curses inwardly when the door hinges creaked, breaking the silence.
She hurried inside the room, gently closing the door behind her.
The room is illuminated with soft light. The individual curtains are drawn, indicating that all of the patients are turning in for the night.
With all the curtains wrapped around each bed, she noted in her head that the room was in full capacity again.
Her father must have had a hard time controlling his cough so as not to disturb the other patients in the room. Right at that moment, Era decided to accept the offer from Dommie to accompany Ridge to the skiing trip. She just has to make a good excuse to tell Trez about her gone in the middle of practice week.
"Era, is that you?"
"Yes, Pa," she whispered back.
She stopped her father from trying to turn on the light.
"I just dropped by, Pa. It's okay. I didn't want to disturb you."
"You're already here and you're never going to be a disturbance. What disturbance are you talking about?" He said displeases.
"Besides, I really want to talk to you about something."
Era's breath was caught at the back of her throat. She waited with apprehension.
"I called an old acquaintance and discuss what we last talked about —"
"Pa! I told you to keep things a secret. I told you that there is—" she exhaled a deep breath to reign in her frustration.
Her father must avoid stress at all costs.
She heaved another breath and forced a smile on her face.
"Listen, Pa. I'm happy with my life now. With our family. You as my father. And my memories aren't back. So, there's no need to worry."
"Please, can we let things be? Please!"
"I don't understand why you don't want to look for your real family," he murmured in his thin blanket.
"Pa, I want to remember but I'm scared. I don't know why I'm scared but I'm listening to my guts. Right now, you must get better. Please, don't stress out about matters that could wait."
Her father didn't answer her back. They let the silent sat with them.
"I'm not going to last longer, child."
Era bit her tongue and pretended that she didn't hear what he said.
"I want to make things right, Era. I think my guilty conscience is the one that is making me sick."
"Please, Pa,"she whimpered and grabbed his bony hands.
"Don't think that way. Believe me when I tell you that you saved my life. I'll be dead by now if you didn't make the choice of hiding me and changing my name."
"Era—-"
"Shhh, no more. I have to go. I can't stay here the night because the guard is new. I just beg him to let me see you for a few minutes."
She bent down and kiss his forehead.
"Goodnight, Pa. I love you."
She didn't wait for him to reply. She turned on her heels and headed out of the room. She knew from the previous visit that the nurse would make their rounds soon.
"Look for your real family."
She didn't know if she just misheard it because when she stood by the doorway she heard her father's voice.
She shook her head and chuckled lightly.
There's no way for her to hear his voice because his bed is far from the door.
Era took the opposite direction where she came from and walked with her shoulders hunched.
She didn't want someone to see her and recognize her face. She was being careful because she didn't want to meet the man she met the last time she was here.
She made sure to walk by the sleepy guard who let her in and nodded at him with gratefulness before she stepped off the hospital and went home.
She had to hurry home because she had some packing to do. She had to be at Dommie's place early because Dommie told her she had some shopping to do.
I have never skii in my life. How am I going to survive the skiing trip, she thought to herself as she stood at the empty bus stop.
She opened her phone and searched for some skiing for dummies videos, seeing that the next bus won't be in the next thirty minutes.
She was deeply engrossed in the video when she saw a shadow moved from the corner of her eyes.
Her body reacted slowly. She sensed the man stepped closer to him at the same time she smelled his cheap cologne mixed with tobacco scent.
— — —
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