Chapter 1.1 - A Dream or A Nightmare?

It was around twelve midnight, when the voice inside my head started again to mumble something. But as it goes on, it became voices of pleading and crying.

I can hear it.

I've tried and ignored it for a long time. I tried finding the reason as to why I'm hearing these voices. I've gone to temples, monks, shaman, also to those obvious hoax. I've even resulted to cult books to find the reasons. But nothing, nothing was found, it didn't made light of anything.

The person in me is screaming, as if it was trying to tell me something.

In the past, it would mumble phrases like "I need to get away" or "I can't afford to trust anyone anymore" repeatedly.

And now, it's the voice of a hopeless person, mumbling to scream the words "Save me!"

But I don't know what to do, is this voice even real? Or am simply crazy?

And if this is real...just how and why?

What is happening to me?  How come I can hear another person's voice in my head?

I don't even have the slightest idea how to remove these voices, but, what can I do? People might call me crazy if I try and tell them that...

Sigh...

...

"Am I really crazy??"

That was the last thing I thought before I completely fell asleep.

"Whoever can hear me, I'm begging you... please save me!... "

The voice pleaded.

[Dream]

Huff... Huff...

Wait... Where am I?

As I looked around, all I can see are giant trees. Up ahead is a blue moon, shining brightly, illuminating the forest with it's gleem.

I don't know, but I kept on running, like my feet are moving on it's own.

This surrounding... I'm sure I've been here before, but when...?

I observed the surrounding more, as I continued to run.

This feels real, but I'm sure that I just slept...

Is this a dream?

By the way, why am I even running? What is happening?

I turned back and saw that I am being chased by shadow-like people...

When I say being chased, I mean to say...

I AM BEING HAUNTED DOWN. THEY'RE HOLDING DAGGERS!!

Why am I even being chased here?

But yeah, this is a dream, so anything can really happen, even the most impossible ones like flying or being ressurected again...

Sigh...

So...do I really need to keep on running?

It's not like they could kill me in reality...

But... I'm really scared of them, plus the daggers and those people, they look rea~lly scary...

"Stop!! Don't try to run anymore! Up ahead is a cliff, Miss Leslie, you have nowhere to go now!" one of the people chasing after me said.

Okay, deep breaths Lesley, this is just a dream, don't get swayed, don't be scared...

Ahhh!!! But...this is really freaking me out!!!

"Ha! Don't be like this now, Miss. I'm pretty sure, your husband won't be so happy to see you like this."

What? What husband? Where is this all coming from?

Swish!

One of the men throwed a dagger, exactly at the back of my foot, and another to a giant tree near me.

Huff... Huff...

Run... I need to run...I don't really know why, but I can sense real danger from this dream...

As I continued to run, I saw a cliff to where I'm heading towards, like what the man said before.

A cliff!! Where am I gonna go now!?

Right! I need to wake myself up, this is just a dream...this is just a dream...

Lesley!!! You need to wake up now!!!

But no matter how hard I tried, I can't wake myself-up.

What am I gonna do now? Am I supposed to jump off the cliff?

I know that this is a dream, I just know that I'll feel the impact of the fall if I really jump off.

I'm acrophobic, what am I gonna do now??

"Miss!! There's nowhere to run now! If you would just follow us back..." with a grin

One of the men said as I approached the end of the high cliff.

My feet are just a foot away from the edge of the cliff.

Am I really supposed to jump off?

I looked down the cliff to examine it, but all I can see is fog and big rocks with a pointy end.

Those rocks are no joke, even for a dream.

Like a beast is lurking somewhere down there...

But before I could think more of it, my mouth started to move on its own and talked in a different voice, a voice so cold and emotionless.

"I'd rather die than go back to that place"

The voice sounded strangely familiar to me, I'm sure I've heard this voice before, but who?

I felt the surroundings froze, as my feet slowly neared the edge of the high cliff.

Wait...! Why is my body moving on its own!?

No!! I'm---

"I'll kill you all!!" my mouth moved on its own again, the same time as my feet moved on its own to jump off the cliff.

Okay Lesley, it's okay! This is just a dream!! You'll wake-up before you know it!! Deep breaths...inhale... exhale...

Swoosh...

Ahhh!! Shit!! I'm falling!!!

Jesus!?

God!?

Buddha!?

Anyone?!

I don't wanna die in my sleep!...

When I woke up the next morning, I know that I dreamt of something, but at the same time, I feel like someone, or something is trying to make me forget about what happened.

Everything from my dream is hazy.

But this got me thinking...

The dream felt so real, it might be a little hazy now, but it's like I was really the person running while being chased by those shadow-like figures.

The surrounding, it felt strangely familiar to me, like I've always been there and it's nothing new to me.

I checked the clock and saw it was 6:30 a.m., I overslept a little, but I can still make it to work if I make haste.

I put some clothes on and went downstairs to make breakfast, and then left for work.

It was 7:30 by the time I reached the Hospital where I work at and was met with the bright lady at the front desk.

She smiled brightly and spoke, "Good morning Miss Lesley! Early as always, How may I help you?"

"Good morning Aunt Lyn!"

Chapter 1.2 - A Day Ahead

I got up at around 6:30, I really panicked for a second there.

I got up late.

Oh gosh!! I really can't be late. It's still not that long when I first started working at the hospital, it'd be so embarrassing!

Would they think that I'm incompetent? Or, or ---

Deep breaths...

...

Haaa...

---Okay Lesley, stop thinking about this! You can still make it!

I took a sip of coffee and a slice of bread before starting on the day's work: I had my job at a hospital a little far away from my house.

When it was almost 6:45, I was getting ready to go.

I put on my light blue nurse uniform and my white shoes.

Still trying to keep track of time. I walked out of the house to go to the bus station.

One of the reason that I moved in my house, is because it's near the bus station.

I walked for a little like five or seven minutes to reach the bus station.

Luckily, I got to the hospital early at around 7:30, since the traffic is surprisingly not too heavy today.

In fact, I'm pretty punctual, since the time for work is 8:30, I always leave the house at around 6:10 in case of heavy traffic, and since I don't have my own car, I have to take public trasportation that always have long waiting lines.

But then it hit me, today would be the day I get promoted to Assistant Head Nurse, right?!

My thoughts flew as I opened the glass door entrance of the hospital building.

"Good morning miss Lesley! Early as always!"

All the thoughts cleared up as I heard Aunt Lyn's bright and cheerful voice.

"Good morning Aunt Lyn!" I responded happily.

Aunt Lyn was one of the most friendly people here.

I think she is around 35 or 37, but she asked me to call her aunty, it's kind of weird cause I'm 28 and calling someone aged 35 'aunty' is...ummm...

It's new to me.

When I first got here, around June, she was the one who taught me a lot of things and guided me up until now. But strangely, after one month of my stay here, she asked the hospital director to change her post to front desk.

I don't get it though.

Hmmm...

Ah, yes!

Today is my promotion!! And this'll be the first time I'll see the Hospital Director face to face!

"You seem to be thinking about something Miss Lesley"

"Oh, yes. Yes, um - I was just thinking...today is my promotion, I'm really nervous..." I said mindlessly as I leaned in to the counter, closer to Aunt Lyn.

"Oh, yes! I also heard about that!" She exclaimed joyfully.

"Congratulations!"

"I bet you will love it!"

"What do you mean?"

Aunt Lyn looked at me, with reminiscing eyes.

"I was once also an Assistant Head Nurse, it's actually tiring, rea~lly tiring. But it's a great experience, you get to learn a lot from the Head Nurse"

Aunt Lyn leaned closer to me, as if to tell me some sort of secret.

"Though, the Head Nurse right now - Dr. Andrew..."

Aunt Lyn placed her chin above her knuckles "hmmm..."

"How should I say this.... I once talked to Dr. Andrew, he's polite which is very rare in these times. And he is really competent in his work."

Aunt Lyn said cheerfully, I guess she really likes the Head Nurse.

"Though some of the nurses complain to the front desk how tiring and strict Dr. Andrew when they work with him." as she continuously nodded her head.

I'm starting to get skeptical about this promotion, I guess additional stress is on the way~

Aunt Lyn looked straight at me, smiling.

"I remember, Dr. Andrew is just as much the same age as you, maybe a few years older. So maybe you'll be good friends with him too!"

Friends my a**, I can already see other regular nurses looking at me with sharp eyes, cause who would've thought that after only five months, I'd already be promoted to an Assistant Head Nurse.

I shrugged as I don't want to think about all the stress these changes would bring to me.

But when I think about it, there are actually rumors around that the Head Nurse is more of a workaholic...and really strict.

"I remember when I got that promotion, I was so nervous, just as much as you."

Aunt Lyn looked down with a sigh.

I looked at her, a little confused as to why she suddenly looked sad to me.

She noticed me and got back to her usual bright smile.

I thought for a second, maybe my eyes were just playing tricks on me.

Cause my mind has always been.

I subconsciously put my right hand on my forehead.

Haa~ I really don't know anymore.

"Don't worry too much Miss Lesley, just focus and you'll definitely do well!" Aunt Lyn said energetically.

Ding! Ding! Ding!

An announcement echoed through the whole hospital building.

"Announcement. Nurse Lesley Olerro and Head Nurse Andrew Willard, please proceed to the Director's Office in the fifth floor.

...

Announcement, Nurse Lesley Olerro and Head Nurse Andrew Willard, please proceed to the Director's Office in the fifth floor."

"Oh, would you look at the time now, it's already 8 o'clock, the Hospital Director should be busy the whole day so I guess he'll hold your promotion earlier." Aunt Lyn said as she looked at me to say goodbye.

"Yes, I guess so" I replied

"Well, I think it's time for me to go now, I'll see you later"

I walked inside the elevator.

It makes me happy. I guess it has been some time since I've actually talked with Aunt Lyn this much, since I've been busy in the past two weeks.

The elevators are huge, the buttons has the names of the ground floor parking - GP - to the highest floor in the building, ths sixth floor - F6.

I pressed the F5 button for the fifth floor.

Ding!

"The elevator door is closing"

Okay

Breath in...

Breath out...

Breath in...

Breath out...

Okay Lesley!! You can do it! Don't be too nervous, the Director and the Head Nurse are humans too, there's no reason to be too nervous.

I spent the whole time with silence as strangely, I am the only one in it.

I watched silently as the floor indicator above the elevator door changed from the first floor to second.

...

Second Floor

...

Third Floor

...

Until the sound echoed in the room.

Ding!

The elevator door opened, but not in the fifth floor, it opened on the fourth floor.

A tall man holding a hospital document in his right hand, walked in while skimming through some medical papers.

He also wears light blue uniform like me, so I guess he's also a nurse.

I can't see his face fully but I can see that he wears glasses and has sharp eyes.

He's physic is big, but not in an intimidating way, it's like a gentleman's physic, one that would make you look beautiful and elegant in anything that you wear.

Even the light blue nurse uniform that I always see in the hospital, it seems to be more beautiful when he's the one who wears it.

The man stood on the right side of the elevator room, while I stayed on the left side.

...

I looked at the floor number indicator on the top of the elevator door, it's still on the fourth floor.

I start to subconsciously silently tap my foot on the elevator floor.

This silence is really suffocating.

This is really giving me weird feelings.

I smiled and looked at him.

"Uh... Aren't you going to press your floor button?"

The man put the medical documents down and said

"I'm also going to the fifth floor" he replied in a deep and husky voice.

...

...

I don't want to admit it, but I think I saw the words Head Nurse: Andrew Willard on the silver name tag on the tall man's chest when he brought the paper's down.

I looked down to hide my face.

I feel like time is passing so slowly right now, this feels like forever.

...

No! I'm not ready to face him yet!

I thought I will have some time to practice myself first before all!

A cold voice cut my overthinking

"Aren't you going out?"

I looked up to see him looking straight at me.

...

"We're already in the fifth floor" the man said

"Ye-yes, I'm going out" I hurriedly replied

As the Head Nurse walked swiftly, out of the elevator and in to the Director's Office.

Chapter 1.3 – Emergency!

“We’re already in the fifth floor.” The man said while holding the medical documents down.

I looked up to him, his glasses didn’t hinder me from seeing his mesmerizing dark, ocean eyes. Without anything covering the man’s face anymore, I realized that using the word “Handsome” to describe him is an understatement. With a perfect jaw, his lips with a tinge of pink, and tall, pointed nose. His face, sculpted from the most finest and sophisticated jade. Even more beautiful than the models I saw in posters and magazines.

The Head Nurse turned his face away from me and left the elevator.

His foot stepped one after the other.

Every silent step he took feels like it could create waves that would be sent down to even the smallest part of your body that would render you dazed.

“What are you still doing there?” He asked me before I even knew that he came back. He stood at the hallway, just about ten feet away from me.

‘Why did he even come back, did he left something or what?’

He walked closer and halfway to the elevator’s door, stood in front of me and asked “Aren’t you going out?”

“The elevator’s going to close you know” He said as he chuckled.

I stared blankly at him, not knowing what to do. His sudden appearance in front of me, added to the nervousness that I’ve been feeling since I stepped into the elevator, rendered my mind blank. I didn’t know why I suddenly moved towards him, I don’t know what has gotten into me, I just felt a sudden impulse to rush out the elevator, resulting in me bumping into him and falling.

The documents the Head Nurse was holding earlier fell on the floor as he tried to catch my

fall. The same time as the elevator beside us closed with a ding! sound.

His brows pinched together in worry as he said “Are you alright?”

His left hand held my right wrist, and his right arm wrapped around my waist. The moment he caught my fall, I felt the sudden tension in his arm that revealed his muscular arm. People say that studying in the medical field requires careful and delicate hands to perform precise operations, but those delicate hands of his showed that they can also be careful and domineering at the same time. I felt like I’m in a trance as I saw his worried face.

‘So this person who is said to be strict, workaholic and has been keeping his stoic face the whole time also knows the ‘worried expression’’ I thought to myself

“That could’ve been dangerous if you fell like that” The Head Nurse said in a low voice as he held me in his arms. I hurriedly removed myself and stood in front of him. ‘I think I just embarrassed myself there’. The two of us stood in the hallway. Awkwardly.

The Head Nurse looked at me, no, he is in fact staring at me. I think he is finding this meeting weird, or maybe, he’s finding me weird, well, I mean, I am in a daze and I suddenly rushed out the elevator bumping into him – nearly falling, I didn’t even know how to talk to him the whole time, I hadn’t even thanked him for catching me. I placed my hand in my forehead and sighed. They said ‘First impression lasts’, I really don’t want to be remembered as someone weird. Especially by a person I’ll be working with!

I can’t stand the awkwardness anymore, so I picked up the medical document that fell earlier and gave it back to him. He just reached out his hand to take the papers and nodded as if to say “Thank you”. As strangely as it have already been, he kept staring at me. ‘Okay, stop that, you’re gonna burn a hole through me if you keep doing that, I know that this is incredibly awkward and embarrassing as it is, so don’t add another layer to it.’ I just want to say that, but I can’t!

The Head Nurse massaged his chin, seemingly figuring out something “Hmmm…”

And that same time, the elevator behind us opened and several people came out, few nurses and some doctors, they went straight to the Director’s Office in a hurry. ‘I wonder what’s going on’. Though I think that the Head Nurse is too focused on thinking something and didn’t saw the people come out of the elevator and going to the Director’s Office.

His brows then suddenly shot up and his sharp ocean eyes widened in interest. “Oh! Now I remember you!” He pointed at me and exclaimed, “No wonder you looked so familiar”.

And just as I thought, ‘Is this really the person they said to be stoic? He’s shown many expressions just now to be called a stoic man, well, the handsome part in the rumors is real though.’ Looking at him closely, his eyelashes, even behind his glasses are still noticeably long and beautiful, every time he closes his eyes to blink, his eyelashes seems to fall like feathers and gently float again after. ‘This person is too lively to be called strict’

But back to business, it’s my turn to think on what the Head Nurse is talking about, ‘Hmmm…’

‘Okay, I’m hearing someone chuckle, it’s the Head Nurse right? It’s him right? I knew it’

‘But I don’t remember anything though! What is this about now? I just wish that that memory or whatever he remembers about me is not something weird or bad, I don’t want his image of me to be anymore weirder that it already is.’

While my mind floated somewhere, trying to recall memories that I might have had an encounter with the current Head Nurse, the Head Nurse suddenly appeared near my ear and whispered “So you don’t remember it.” With a chuckle.

I felt incredulity crept up from my head to toe. ‘Why would he just pop-up like that? Suddenly whispering in my ear’. I touched my ear, I could literally imagine my face coated bright red because of that. I looked down to hide my face.

‘So Lesley doesn’t remember that time, well, it’s been too long since back then, but seeing her now just brought all the memories back’ Andrew said to himself unknowingly smiling as he started to walk in the hallway to go to the Director’s Office. Holding the files and waving it up, he called Lesley, noticing that she has her head down, he spoke “We need to go to the Director’s Office now, you’re the one to be promoted as the Assistant Head Nurse right?”

‘Oh, right, the promotion! I need to focus now! You can do this Lesley!’ I looked ahead and saw the Head Nurse smiling at me, a sweet smile like when you see an old friend after long years of not seeing each other. ‘I think I just felt my heart skip a beat’

--------

The Head Nurse’s right hand that once held me earlier knocked at the wooden door of the Director’s Office, creating a neither too delicate nor aggressive sound. The Head Nurse knocked at the door three times before a deep voice of an old man answered with “Come in”.

The Head Nurse opened the door and looked at me through his glasses with his ocean deep eyes “Please”, as he pointed at the entrance, indicating I should go first. I didn’t have any reason to refuse, maybe he’s just being courteous, and so I took the chance and entered first. ‘I don’t know what memory the Head Nurse is talking about, or what is up with his sudden change in temperament, but I don’t have any time for his games, I need to focus in my promotion and do well, not to let the chance escape and not to let my family down. I can do this! Breath in, breath out…’

I knew that there are several nurse and doctors that came in the Director’s Office before us, I didn’t get to see their faces clearly earlier, but now that I see them closer, I notice that they’re trying their best to stay calm and is explaining something very important to the Director. They surrounded the Hospital Director's table, I can't see the expression of the Director, but from the vague tone of his voice, I can tell that something's not quite right.

“Hey, why’d you stop walking? Get in, don’t stop at the door” A familiar deep voice from behind said to me so casually, like I’m his friend and is someone I’m close to. I turned around and realized that it was the Head Nurse. ‘Why does he talk like that, I’m not being a snob but it’s true that we’re not close in any way, how can he talk so casually to someone he just met? It may seem mean of me to say this, but it’s real that we don’t know each other in the least.’

Without paying any heed to his tone in talking to me, I looked behind and answered “The Director seems to be busy with important things right now, it seems like an emergency.” The Head Nurse stayed silent for a moment, then suddenly told me to move aside. I moved aside and let him in, I saw him walk through the crowd of nurses and doctors and talk to the Director, though I don’t know what they’re discussing, since I’m standing quite far from the Director’s table and the office is quite big, but the atmosphere suddenly turned dead serious when they started talking to each other. I knew from that moment that something happened. The doctor and nurses in the office looked at each other wearing grave expressions on their faces.

“Sir, Mr. Lanford’s life is hanging on the balance, we don’t know if he’ll survive until the day after tomorrow” One of the Doctors said

“Sir, the injuries are too severe, even if he miraculously survives, there’s a high chance for Mr. Lanford to suffer from memory loss or amnesia, there’s also a high chance of his lower half body being paralyzed being the one with the biggest damage received in the accident. And that is just if he ‘Miraculously’ survives.” Another Doctor added

Andrew stood in disbelief of what he is hearing from the best doctor’s in the hospital, if even the best doctors in the hospital has low chances of saving his best friend, what will happen if they fail? He knows full well of the answer, but he doesn’t dare to think about it. He just silently stood in the room, thinking about how all this came to be.

The Director, even in a more serious predicament as the said person who’s life is hanging on the balance is his own grandson.