Hope of the Dying World

CHAPTER 66 - THE WOUNDED MAN

Crying. Wailing. Sobbing. It really hurts to lose a loved one but we can do nothing but accept the fact that they will die and say goodbye.

["SL News... this afternoon the remains of well-known artists were buried, and their relatives could not contain the regret and sadness because of their deceased loved ones. The court sentenced Jennifer Robles to life imprisonment for allegedly killing her colleagues. The suspect in the murder is believed to be mentally ill---"]

Ferran turned off the television because he didn't want to hear the news anymore. His blood really boils every time he hears the name of the person who almost killed Blair.

"I want to watch the whole story uncle," Blair said while eating an apple on her hospital bed. It's been four days and she's still recovering.

"You should rest." He said and sat on the sofa inside that private room.

"Fine. Uhm..." She wanted to ask about something but she was hesitant. Since she woke up after forty-eight hours, she has not seen Trestan yet and she really wants to ask where he is or if he is okay. The last time Blair saw Trestan was when the incident happened.

"Do you want anything?" Ferran asked.

"Nope. I just want to sleep." She said and tried to move but she just felt the pain in her stomach. "Ah..."

"Careful. You're not yet fully recovered." Ferran assisted her to lay down then he turned the lights dim. After hours, she's still up but her uncle is already sleeping on the sofa.

She lifted her right hand and stared at the bracelet Trestan gave her that day. She smiled unconditionally but it quickly faded away when she remembered his worried face the day she was shot. It's kind of blurry but she felt the pain in his voice while calling her name.

"Where are you?" She whispered. "Why are you not visiting me?" She put her arm on her forehead and looked at the empty ceiling of her hospital room.

Trestan couldn't sleep either, and his left arm rested on his forehead. He was ashamed to visit Blair but he was thankful that she survived, and was glad to know that she was recovering. Trestan thought he would lose her though they have no label at all.

+++

"Hey..." Alexa visits Blair as soon as she hears the news about her. She's out of the country when things happened and got worried sick about her best friend's condition. "How are you?"

"I thought, you'll be back next week?" Blair asked while eating an apple.

"Do you think I would still enjoy my trip if I'm aware that you were in this condition?"

"I'm fine. You worry too much."

"Of course I am!"

Someone knocked at her private room, and her hope rose up when she saw Aquiro arrived holding a basket of fresh fruits.

"Hi." He greeted her.

"You're alone?" Blair asked.

"Yes, why? Are you expecting someone else?" Aquiro grinned at her.

"What?"

"Nothing." Aquiro shrugged his shoulders and put the basket on the empty table. "Long time no see, study buddy. How's your trip?"

"I'm good. The places I visited were all amazing."

'Seriously? These two... ugh.' Blair rolled her eyes and just finished her apple.

"By the way, Blair." Aquiro turned his attention to Blair who was watching them the whole time. "When will you be discharged?"

"Tomorrow night. Hm... around seven or eight. Why?" She raised her eyebrow.

"Just asking."

It's a day before New Year, Blair requested to go home because she doesn't want to celebrate the New Year in the hospital. She was bored staying there for a long time. It's eight o'clock in the evening when they arrived at the house where her uncle Rouvie was waiting for them.

"Finally! I'm home." She said after getting out of the pickup car.

Trestan heard that Blair was coming home that day so even from a distance, he watched her entering Simeon's house. A smile drew into his face while watching her from afar. When Blair was already inside the house, Trestan started riding his bike to go home.

On his way, it was silent because people are busy preparing for the New Year countdown a few hours from now. He heard a crackle behind a tree near a house of a family who went out of the country.

It was a strange sound. Sounds like a person panting. He lost his attention on the road so he almost ran over a cat that suddenly appeared in the middle of the road.

"Sh*t." He fell with the bike and had a minor wound in his palms and elbows.

The cat looked at him then ran toward the seashore. He followed the cat with his gaze then stood up and took his bike. He was about to leave when he heard a panting sound again. He got curious so he went near the tree.

It's a bit dark so he took out his phone to check on something.

When he opened his flashlight and pointed it at the back of the tree. He almost let go of the cellphone he was holding and his stomach almost turned upside down at what he saw.

"D-Don't come n-near me." The man said, whose body was full of an unknown purple thing that looked like a wound and it was bleeding. Almost his whole body was filled with those disgusting wounds.

He stood three meters away from the man. "W-What... happened to you?"

"I... I w-was injected by a d-doctor for an e-experiment. T-They pay m-me but h-here I am s-suffering because of their sh*tty experimentation."

"Experiment? Inject what? Do you know the doctor?"

"She's Dr. Ma---" He coughed and didn't finish his sentence until he died.

Trestan quickly ran toward his bike and immediately went home to report it to his father who was busy preparing the dining table.

"Trestan, where did you---"

"Dad, you need to see something. Please, hurry!"

"W-What? Where are---Trestan!" He was pulled by his son to go to the man he talked to earlier but when they arrived there, the body was nowhere to be found.

"Where is he? He's leaning here earlier." Trestan searched for the body but he found nothing!

"Who? What is this for Trestan?" Timotheus confusedly asked his son.

"I talked to a man, dad. There's... There's something strange in his skin. Something like a..." He snapped his fingers. "A disease! Yeah, a disease!"

"What are you talking about? There's no one here." Timotheus was about to come near the tree where the man was leaning on earlier, but Trestan immediately stopped him.

"Dad, don't get too close. You might get infected with the disease that the man was carrying." He pulled him to get away from the tree.

"Trestan," Timotheus put his hands on his waist and looked at his son with a serious face. "Are you hallucinating?"

"No! I swear! I saw a man there." He pointed his index finger to the tree. "Leaning and carrying a strange disease."

"You're just tired. Let's get back." Timotheus put his arm on his shoulder and started to walk.

"But dad---"

"Trestan." His tone was like when he's at work so Trestan just sighed heavily and simply turned his head to look at the tree. He saw the cat again making a sound while watching them walking away.