Pursuance Seven

Vesta slowly opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was the white ceiling of the hospital, smelling the antiseptic and bleach combined in the puff of the aircon.

She winced when she felt the pain in her head, using her trembling hand she touched her head, feeling the clothes of the bandage wrap around.

The flashback of what happened came to here unexpectedly, the man appeared in the road, the screeching of the tires as she steps on the brake, causing her to lose control of her maneuver as she tried not to hit the person, and she crashed on the nearby tree. That's what she had remembered, she could not remember who helped her.

Fear crept out on her when she felt death at that moment like she could not do anything but let it happen. And the memories of the past eight years playing in her mind, she was sitting in the back of the car, then suddenly her father brakes busted losing control, and the car went to the cliff and went down and crashed into the trees. Then suddenly fire lit up, and she saw in her two innocent eyes. Her parents' bloody body and out of a life she could not scream, she was helpless at that moment.

Then Vesta felt the hot blood in her head, and she could not even move her right shoulder where a broken window glass was pricked. She was breathing hard, the smoke started to suffocate her until darkness slowly took her consciousness.

Vesta did not notice the tears that went out of her eyes, the pain of the memories and the same feeling of how she faced death.

The door opened, and the two women entered the room with their worried face, it was Vesta's cousin and her godmother Estella. Right away she wiped her tears, for she doesn't want them to see her crying.

"Vesta, my God! What happened? Are you okay?" Full of worry as Estella says, and stopped at her side.

"Why did you drive, you know you are not still capable of driving, Vesta after that traumatic event," Ashley said, irritation in her voice.

"I am fine, Ninang, Ash," Vesta said smiling at them. She got up from lying down with the help of her godmother Estella.

"You are not fine! If I only knew that was going to happen to you, I wouldn't have allowed you to go to Ashley," Estella said with a guilty conscience.

"Ninang, I am really fine, it wasn't bad what happened to me," Vesta insisted to Estella.

"What the hell of fine you are, Vesta? Why don't you look at yourself? Oh! This cousin of mine!" Ashley replied with a shook of her head.

Vesta took a deep breath. She will persist to them that she was fine when suddenly her head hurt badly, her hand moved above touching her head. She felt like someone was tremendously hitting her head. Not only that, but she couldn't help but wince at the painful feeling.

"Oh see? Is that what you're fine, Vesta?" Ashley said while helping Vesta to lie down.

"Vesta, the doctor said you have hit your head so hard, and you need to rest first." Estella's voice worried and caressed Vesta's left arm.

"It's just going to disappear, Ninang. I want to go home." There was a plea in her voice.

Vesta dislikes staying a day or even a few hours in the place, for she feels she will die sooner or later if she stays. Yes, she hated the place, for the memories it could give to her because the hospital did not save her family except her.

"Rest here first, Ashley will take care of you, Vesta," Estella told her with a face shows she wouldn't change what she spoke.

She sighed helplessly, what can she do? She will respect her godmother's decision for now.

Vesta suddenly remembered to ask them who had helped her to get here.

"Do you know who helped me?" Vesta asked.

Ashley sat comfortably in the plastic chair next to the bed.

"We don't know, Vesta," Estella replied melancholy.

Vesta didn’t know what to say, she wanted to know who helped her to say thanks to the person, but it was vague to happen because she didn’t know who it was.

She glanced at the ceiling moving her gaze to the direction of her Mother Estella beside her, she noticed Ashley was busy on the phone. Vesta already knew Ashley was telling her boyfriend what had happened to her. Then Sean will get worried also including his elder brother Clyde.

"I'm leaving first, I'll be back later after I talk to the doctor again," said Estella, they gave her a nod.

After the woman left, Ashley suddenly asked Vesta what had happened. Her cousin was looking in her eyes full of questions.

"I'm so sorry, Ash, for what happened to your car," Vesta said downcast.

"Oh, that's okay, Vesta. It does not matter what happens to that thing as long as you're alive," Ashley held out Vesta's hand.

"Thank you," Vesta said with a guilt-free smile.

"Oi, you didn't say what happened?" Ashley's forehead furrowed, and her eyes were full of questions as she stared into Vesta's face.

She doesn't want to remember again what happened, but she needed to.

Vesta took a deep breath and got up long sitting on the bed. Ashley was still holding her hand.

"It's like this, Ash. While I'm driving, it's not that fast. Suddenly there's a man in front of me, pressing my brakes hard to prevent the car from colliding with him. I lost my control and maneuver the car to the side and then I hit the three, and here I am," Vesta said, making her voice like it was funny.

Ashley's frown deepened, Vesta could see that her cousin was thinking about it.

"Problem?" Vesta asked, felt like her cousin knew something. Ashley shook immediately and smiled.

"Maybe you just mistakenly see someone in your eyes, but there was not. Thank God you are safe," Ashley said tearfully.

"Don't dramatize, Ash. I don't like that," Vesta said with a smirk, then Ashley sighed.

"You don't like drama, you don't even watch drama movies. What kind of person are you? By the way, Vesta, I told the school that you will be absent for a few days, I have informed them what happened to you, and give you excuses."

Vesta's eyebrows rose at what Ashley had said. She has no plans to stay in the hospital for a few days, and still, she had important things to do. She needs to go to his brother’s locker and to get the key to her twin’s former dorm.

"I'll be going to school tomorrow, Ash. I'm fine. You know studying is very important," Vesta reasoned, stressing her last three words.

"Vesta! Listen to me, this is for your good, you need to get yourself well before you go to school," Ashley explained with a worried voice.

Vesta crossed her arms and pouted. "No! That's my decision, Ash. I am fine," she lied to her.

However, her cousin did not buy what she said but excused Ashley's reason for her good. Vesta wanted to reason out when the door opened, and Estella went in.

"What happened here?" Estella asked the two of them.

"Mom! Vesta, she wants to come to school tomorrow," Ashley said in a cry.

"Vesta?" her godmother looked at her in disbelief.

She wanted to reason with her godmother, but why could she not? When her godmother was in front of Vesta she lost the courage to disobey the woman at the end she finally agreed.

Earlier, Vesta was bored sitting in the hospital bed, the nurse who checked on her had just left. She was looking at the four corners of the room, and it was 9 am. A groan came out for her, she was going to die in this room if she stayed.

So she decided to leave, she took the dress that her godmother had brought this morning, so she could change her dress. Gently removing the dextrose from her wrist, and left the bed and walking slowly to the hospital comfort room. After she got dressed, Vesta looked carefully and no nurses or doctors could see him outside the room. When she was sure there's no one, she walked quickly in the direction of the elevator and rode without anyone noticing her.

The elevator was nice and empty when she boarded, yet her heart was still beating fast, she was afraid someone might notice her. Until she was out of the hospital no one saw her, fortunately, destiny was in line with her.

Vesta took a taxi, she stopped the driver opposite the clothing shop. After paying, she hurried down and entered the glass door of the shop. When she came out, her dress was different from her previous blue dress, wearing jeans and a plain black shirt, and a black cap on her head so as not to notice the bandage wrapped around her head.

Vesta went straight to the university, it was near where she had bought the clothes, she turned on the sidewalk and the school was in front of her. Vesta went inside and walked as if everything was normal, ignoring the pain in her head.

She only had one destination, the botanical garden where Xyller's former locker was located. To her knowledge, her brother things were still there. Turning into the hallway on the first floor Vesta walked the bricks pathway and not far from her was the botanical garden.

A smile appeared on her lips and she walked quickly towards it. The heat of the sun prick on her skin, eleven am when the heat of the sun begins to intensify. She passed some students from the botanical garden. On her left side was the wide field and on her right was the large gym.

Vesta pushed open the glass door when she saw the word push the door written in the red placard glued in front of her. She saw no one else inside. Upon entering, she went to the locker in front of her and was about to take a step when someone spoke to her right.

"Are you a botanist student?"

Vesta turned in the direction where the familiar voice came. She didn't expect to see a man here, and it was Zaiden holding a clipboard in his right hand, his eyes were eyeing her with a suspicion that made her heart skip a beat.

She did not know what to say to the man. Her mouth felt dry, and a cold sweat started to form in her forehead. Vesta knew that only botanist students could enter here.

"Did I catch you doing a bad act?" Zaiden said again solemnly.

Vesta shook her head and smiled weakly at him. Finally, she found her voice.

"It's not what you think, my friend conjures me if I could get her notebook to her locker. Because she was doing something important," Vesta lied.

Zaiden's thick eyebrows arched upwards. Vesta thought he would say something, but he just turned around and walked towards the back door. She didn’t know why the man was like that, seemed snobbish, and not friendly. Vesta went to the locker after making sure he was gone.

The gray metal locker had a password key button on the side. Vesta presses the password, she knew her brother enough and what password he was using. She silently says yes, when the locker door was unlocked.

The first thing she searched for was the spare key of the dorm, and she suddenly stopped noticing the black journal. The locker was full of study research papers, she picked up the journal before closing the locker door.

Vesta went out of the botanical garden and walked back to where she had gone. She frowned as she walked away, trying to ignore the growing pain in her head. How big was her head wound? And how hard her head hit?

"Vesta?"

She suddenly stopped in the hallway of the first floor when someone called her from behind.

"You are, Vesta!" A cheerful voice of a young woman.

Vesta glanced at the approaching woman she did not know who. She smiled at the woman and was about to speak when felt her world spinning, and tried herself not to fall and prop up the body against the wall.

"Vesta are you ok?" asked the woman full of concern in her tone.

Then her head hurt badly. Through the intensity of the pain, Vesta sat up in tears. She was seeing inside her mind a girl, a boy and a young woman running away, crying in fear. Then the smoke, and the burning and the agony.

She was hearing a ringing in her ear like she was going to be deaf after a maddening silence came.