CHAPTER 3

The woman's face was stern. There was a bit of tension to her jaw.

"Thank you for looking after my daughter," She said with a bit of bated breath. She pressed her lips together. "Mr. Richard and Mr... Gary, correct? W-Well, thank you."

Gary and Richard had frozen in place. Richard looked like he had seen a ghost, mouth closed shut and pale in the face. Gary, on the other hand, had a mix of emotion ranging from what could only be anger, hurt, and utter disbelief. Standing in front of them was a woman both knew all too well. At least they thought it was her.

But the woman looked away and turned her attention back to the nurse behind the station.

"Where can I see Maggie Sutherland? I'm her employer and I'd like to—"

"Rowena!" Gary shouted. He slowly inched closer to her, hand balled into a fist and thumping the marbled counter of the nurse's station.

Both the woman and Hope instinctively turned to him and flinched. Hope's hold around her mother's neck suddenly tightened. This alarmed Gary. He took a deep breath and stood still.

"R-Rowena..." He said again, in a much more gentle voice, filled with concern. "It's you. I know it's you. Tell me it's you... please..."

The woman turned away and continued ignoring him, focusing on the nurse. Richard placed a hand on Gary's shoulder without a word. Gary ignored him, only staring at the young woman. He was about to say something yet again when he noticed Hope. She stared at him, with a look that was both mixed with confusion and caution. Not wanting to scare her, because he had grown so fond of her, he kept his mouth shut but continued looking at the woman.

Then the doors to the emergency room swung open, an Asian man with short black hair dressed in denim pants with a knitted green sweater atop a beige button down and black neck tie made his towards the woman and Hope. He placed a hand on the woman's shoulder.

"What now?" He inquired, addressing both Rowena and the nurse.

"Rowena..." Gary croaked again. He couldn't help it. He was sure it was her.

The woman exhaled and turned to him with a serious look in her face. "Look," she began. "You... have the wrong person. Now please stop scaring me and my child."

Then the doctor who had attended to Maggie arrived. The woman quickly turned away from Gary and began conversing with the doctor. Eventually, they began walking away, the doctor leading them towards another section of the emergency room. It was only Hope who stared at the two men over the woman's shoulder. She gave a wave good bye out of politeness as she was no longer the smiling, cheerful girl they played magic tricks with.

"Rowena!" Gary reached out his arm and shouted. "Rowena! Rowena!"

"Sir," a nurse from the station stood up, alarmed and nervous. "Please no shouting in the emergency room!"

But Gary didn't listen and kept shouting, "Rowena! Rowena!"

He began walking to follow them. But a firm hand gripped his shoulders. He turned to find Richard shaking his head in discouragement. Gary scoffed and shook off his hand, attempted to chase after the woman again. Then Richard wrapped his arms around Gary's shoulders to restrain him. Another male nurse came forward and blocked his front. But Gary continued to call out and struggle under them.

"Sir, please calm down! If you continue this behavior we will call security!" the nurse behind the station reprimanded.

"Gary," Richard squeezed him. His voice was calm but stern. "Please. Stop this."

Gary stopped squirming. His body relaxed and he began to breathe heavily. But his hands were still balled into fists as he watched the hallway where the woman walked into. Richard let him go and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

So they just stood there. Contemplating the shock that went through them, watching what could be the woman they knew all those years ago, walk away and out of their lives... again.

A breeze pushed through the bench I was sitting on, carrying along dozens of withered leaves of red, orange, yellow, and brown. Some eventually settled on my lap and the seat. My eyes began to water from the cold. The air was extra crisp today. I didn't have a handkerchief with me so I used the end of my scarf instead to wipe my eyes.

"Are you crying?" a voice that was all too familiar teased.

As I drew away my scarf from my eyes, Gary's goofy grin came into view. His eyebrows were high enough for me to see the mole he had above his left eye. He was barely dressed up for a November autumn. He only had on a knitted maroon sweater, a forest green trench coat that complimented his hazel eyes and brown skin, and a black beanie that covered his usually quiffed black hair. He was holding up our drink orders with his bare hands.

Last semester, I would've made a sarcastic comeback to his comment. But over the course of this new semester, being partnered and doing a report together—spending all this time with one another, I've realized his teasing is actually one of his charms.

"It's cold," I simply said.

Just as I reached out for my cup, he also extended it towards me. I scooted farther left to make some space the exact moment he sat down. It's like we were dance partners in perfect unison. These past few weeks, I've been finding us always in sync. He knew when and how to move as I do. He knew just what to say and when to say them. I've never really had this dynamic without anyone else other than Richard.

It was nice. This was nice.

"What are you smiling about?" Gary asked.

I was sipping from my drink as my eyes turned to him, a little bit surprised. I didn't even know I was smiling. He didn't wait for my answer and proceeded to take a sip of his drink, a caramel macchiato. Then as if on cue, he said, "Damn this caramel macchiato is good!"

I chuckled. "Nothing," I said to answer to his earlier question. Then I quickly changed the subject, "You always order that."

"Because it's so good." He took another sip.

I wanted to argue that it's only good because he hasn't really tried anything else. But we've been down that road before and it would be an endless conversation—argument. And right now, I enjoyed the quiet and calm. It was weird. I felt weird. I didn't think I'd enjoy sitting on a bench, that was actually one of my favorite spots on campus. It was right along one of the pathways that didn't crowd too much since it wasn't a main walkway. It was lined with enough benches, iron, green street lamps, and quaking aspen trees. Usually, I'd be by myself when I'm here. I liked being on my own; a situation I could handle well. I would always end up feeling awkward in silence with others in a given context. Richard, and maybe Helga every now and then, were the only ones I actually good be okay to share some quiet time with. Other than them, it always made me anxious. Do I need to say something? Do I need to do something? Why don't they say something? Am I being too weird? Am I being too awkward? I might not show it, but internally it's a shit show with how the stress gets to me.

But I don't feel like shit when I'm with Gary. Even if we have different personalities, different views. There's just something about him that grounds me, that makes me feel safe.

Another breeze blew. Gary's body unintentionally blocked it from me. Yet he didn't shiver and continued drinking.

I wanted to say something, to check if he was cold and maybe even offer to head inside.

But I didn't. I was enjoying myself too much. It wasn't an exciting feeling. I just liked watching him drink, sitting together, and being with each other.

I took another sip of my drink and smiled.

"Rowena?" A voice called out.

Rowena snapped out from her daze and turned to find Michael Li holding the car door with a worried look on his face. She sighed and gave a short smile. She turned back to fixing Hope into her car seat. It was already past lunch time and the stress of recent events had tuckered the little girl out and she was fast asleep. Rowena double checked the seatbelts then softly caressed her daughter's cheeks.

After everything was set, she hopped into the driver's seat, while Michael sat beside her in front at the passenger seat. The car ride was silent. No one said anything. Rowena seemed like she was concentrating on driving, but really, she was replaying the events that transpired in her head. Huntsfield was about an hour or so away from Glenmont. Yet the drive felt long and excruciating for her, as if she was in a standstill. She could see things passing by her, but she felt motionless, afloat even. It was only when Michael pointed out he needed to be dropped back at the teacher's conference they were attending prior to receiving the call from the hospital and police did she actually snap out of it.

"Get some rest," Michael said as he got off the car, voice filled with concern.

Rowena sighed without looking at him.

"It was them," she simply said.

"I could tell," Michael responded. Then he closed the door and walked back into the school building.

For a moment, Rowena just sat there. She wanted so badly to bang her head on the steering wheel, to melt right then and there, or to even just combust into a thousand pieces. But she snapped out of it when she saw Hope's reflection in the rearview mirror. Eventually, after a few deep breaths, she began to drive.

Not long after, they arrived home.

Hope was still asleep. Rowena brought her up to her room and gently laid her on her bed. She would've changed her out of the clothes she wore in public, but she was so tuckered out. Nothing was more important for Hope than sleep. Rowena kissed her forehead then left for the master bedroom.

Once inside, she made her way to the bathroom and stopped at her walk-in closet. She was finally alone. Rowena's knees felt weak. Luckily, she was able to sit herself down on one of the velvet, purple ottomans. She couldn't remove the image of Gary and Richard standing there. The looks on their faces. A wave of emotion drowned her. But at the same time, she felt hot and nauseous. A jolt coursed through her and she found herself walking towards the bathroom. She headed straight for the faucet, quickly turning the knob. Her left hand gripped the marbled side of the sink counter while she cupped her right and brought it underneath the falling water. It was cold. She bent down and began splashing her face, almost as if to wake her up from this dream—or was it a nightmare? Rowena knew that her past would catch up to her. She just didn't expect it so soon. She continued to wash her face but she could still feel the heat.

"Mama?" Hope's faint voice called out.

On instinct, Rowena turned off the faucet and quickly grabbed a hand towel.

"Mama!"

She aggressively wiped her face and dashed out of her bathroom, throwing the towel behind somewhere.

"Mama!"

"I'm here! Sweetheart, I'm here!' Rowena shouted back. She entered Hope's room and found her sitting up from her bed, obviously having just woken up. The little girl immediately smiled as soon as she saw her.

Hope raised her arms, signaling her desire for a hug. She must've been surprised to find herself alone in her room. Rowena went to the side of her bed and they embraced.

"I thought we was in the hopsital while go," She said.

Rowena kissed her forehead. "You were sound asleep, my darling. I brought us home."

They held each other for a while. Rowena could sense that she was feeling a bit uneasy, probably because of all that happened. She rubbed circles on her small back and Hope's arms tightened around her in response.

Hope. It was what her daughter was—what her daughter gave her. Because of this precious little girl, Rowena knew there was hope that things will be okay.