Sira and Lan turned and headed up the street, oblivious to Azul's presence a few meters away from them.
He stood there watching for a moment, frozen in place as their laughter filled the air.
After some distance had been put between them, he slowly began to follow after them, his hands balled into fists.
Even though their marriage was only for his business endeavors, he found himself fuming at the sight of her arm and arm with someone else.
"We should eat lunch together more often. I really like having you around Sira." Lan said as he smoothed his caramel brown hair back.
There was no denying that he was overflowing with charisma and charm as he flashed his perfect smile at her.
A light bush crept upon Sira's face as the corners of her mouth turned up.
"I'd like that. It would be nice to have you as a lunch buddy."
"A lunch buddy? Is that all?" Lan grabbed his chest and smiled, his eyebrows furrowing as he mocked offense.
"Yes. That's all. Work hours should stay professional, don't you think?"
Sira tucked a stand of her hair behind her ear, feeling a bit awkward at the thought of becoming anything more than Lan.
Lan chuckled and nodded, "Alright, fair enough. After work hours are free game then, right?"
She hesitated a moment, "I guess that's ri-"
Before she could finish, Elora shoved past them, stomping on the concrete towards their office.
"W-Whoa!" The momentum caused Sira to tumble backwards, right towards the street.
Lan, whose attention was turned towards Elora, was busy shouting, "Hey! Watch where you're going!"
As Sira tumbled backwards, her foot slipped on the curb of the sidewalk, sending her falling completely backwards into oncoming traffic.
She reached her hands out frantically, hoping something in the air would magically appear for her to grab onto.
When her hands were met with nothing and the sound of car horns honking blared in her ears, she shut her eyes tight, bracing for impact.
SCREECH! THUNK!
She could feel her body rolling and could hear the crunching of pebbles from the asphalt underneath her.
Yet….she felt no pain….only warmth.
Her heart was racing and she could feel something warm and sticky on her hands.
There was no doubt what that feeling was – it was blood.
She didn't need to open her eyes to know what had happened. She'd just been hit by a car.
Her body felt constricted, and it began to tremble uncontrollably from the shock.
People were shouting in the distance, their voices melding together through screams and commands.
"Oh my god! Someone call 911!"
"Has anyone called 911?!"
"Oh my god are they okay?!"
"Hello? Hello? Sira?! SIRA?! Can you hear me?!"
Suddenly, she felt her body being shaken, and she slowly opened her eyes, fearful of her own condition.
However, all she could see was cloth.
Her brain fought as it tried to piece together what had happened and what she was seeing, the frantic shouting from nearby witnesses slowly fading away as realization hit her.
A loud ringing pierced her ears as her eyes trailed up from the cloth to the face of the person she was squished against.
Tears pricked her eyes as they widened in horror, her voice cracking as her shaking voice called out his name.
"L-L-Lan?"
Blood trailed down the side of his face and she felt a warmth against her cheek.
Was it his blood? Was his blood on her? Was the blood on her hands her own or was it his?!
"….-ra...-ra…..-ira....SIRA!"
The voice slowly faded in and her eyes darted around searching for the source of the voice.
For some reason, she didn't recognize it. Who was it that was calling her name?
Who?
Her eyes landed on a figure that was knelt beside her. His mouth was moving, but she couldn't make out his features. He only looked like a blurry blob with a mouth.
Slowly, her eyes fluttered shut and she faded into the darkness.
She could hear the faint echoes of chaos as if she were underwater, swimming in the dark as her brain tried to shield her from the accident.
It was like that for….well….she wasn't sure how long…..maybe it was a few minutes….maybe a few days...all she knew was she was floating in the deep abyss of her mind.
Beep....beep....beep...beep…..
What was that? It was the only noise that had come clearly to her, a sharp high-pitched beep that went off in even intervals.
She tried to swim towards the direction of the noise and when she broke the surface, her eyes slowly fluttered open.
It was hard to see at first, her vision blurry, but when it adjusted, she could see she was in a dimly lit room.
Where was she?
She looked around.
Due to the poor lighting, it was difficult to make much out, but it appeared to be a small room with a window and some heavy machinery in it.
Next to her was the machine making the noise, its screen lit enough for her to see what it was – an EKG.
"I'm….in the hospital?" She thought as she tried to recount the events that had transpired.
Her head throbbed and her body ached as the rest of her body caught up to consciousness.
The room was cold and she felt goosebumps cover her skin, the thin blanket laid on top of her offering her not much protection from the almost freezing air.
"Mmm!" She groaned as she turned onto her side – a little too quickly for her body's liking.
She then let out a sharp gasp as her eyes landed on a large lump beside her.
Sira squinted her eyes, trying to make out the figure.
Curled up beside her in the bed was Azul, his arm being used as his pillow as he slept deeply in what looked to be a very uncomfortable position.
"A….zul….?" she whispered in surprise.
What was he doing here? Was he injured too?