Chapter 6

“Why didn’t you do something to save the child?” Amilia silently asks him.

They were at the hospital. The mother was in the operation room. The baby? She was proclaimed dead on arrival. Amilia was silent, hanging her head down. Something was pressing in her chest and an unsettling feeling inside her stomach. She wanted to cry and shout to release what she was feeling inside.

“Why do you care?”

Yeah, he is right. Why does she? The mother and daughter were just nobody. It was the first time in her life that she saw them on the bus. They were not familiar faces and yet, she can’t stop herself from feeling hurt and lost.

“You just got curious about them. You don’t need to care. It was not your loss.” With that, Amilia threw him a glare.

What does he know? He had the strength to help them but he just declares the baby’s death. He just let it happen and didn’t help. He is not a human so he won’t understand what human feels. Or how is it hard to be eaten by your conscience?

“What? Am I wrong?” He asked casually.

Amilia stops herself from lashing at him. Except for her, nobody can see him now. She would look like some crazy woman in the hospital if she argues with him so she keeps quiet after glaring at him.

“Julien! Julien!” Amilia looks up at the man who comes rushing into the operating room. He looks up at the monitor and sees his wife’s name. There is no other patient who is undergoing an operation so Amilia instantly recognizes the man as her husband.

“She’s still in the operating room.” He looks at Amilia.

“Thank you. For bringing my family here. For saving and helping them.” Amilia smiled a little. He feels pity and guilty for this man. But that won’t take back the life of the baby. And his wife’s life is still hanging by a thread.

“I should have taken them home. I should have skipped the game. I should have… maybe if I have this wouldn’t happen.” Amilia taps the man’s back as a comfort.

“Your decision wouldn’t affect much on a human’s life. Whatever their destiny is nothing can stop it.” Amilia looks at the man beside her.

Can he just shut up his darn mouth for a moment? Really? In this kind of situation?

“Maybe you’re right. But feeling guilty is part of being a human.” The man answered.

“If guilt was a natural emotion for humans. One should stop the killings and destroying things just to avoid feeling guilty.” Everyone fell silent after that.

The man knows he’s right and can’t find an answer to that. Amilia was just there, silently hoping that he would at least have some manner. While he was thinking, maybe, just maybe. If the guilt was so powerful then anything people would abide by His laws. People will do good deeds. But no, people are all sinners by nature. Most powerful than guilt. Sin.

Amilia was struck by something. It was not the lacked his manner. It was the conversation itself. The man was talking to him. Or at least he can hear him. She was not sure if he can also see him because the husband had been staring at nothing ahead.

“Thank you, Miss. I’ll take it from here. I feel indebted so I won’t ask for anything. We won’t be a hindrance to you but I can call you after the surgery.” Amilia get the card he pulled out of his pocket.

She nods once to the husband and looked at the operating room door. Please live. She silently prayed. Without a word, Amilia leaves. She didn’t bother to check whether he followed her or not. Her mind was still in deep thought. The husband just talks to him.

Amilia was just walking. Watched the people pass her. Went to their destinations unlike her. She turned back to look for him but he was not following her nor standing there. Where is he?

Amilia sighed. She’ll just take this as time for herself. She looks around to fully take in her surroundings. She’s in the middle of the city right now. Gigantic buildings stand with each other on both streets. Cafés and luxurious restaurants too.

Amilia was not familiar with the business district of the city. She just passed there every time she had a trip to the mall which was at the end of the district. After what happened to the mall yesterday, she contemplated and change her destination point.

Amilia spotted a small arcade a few meters away from her. She decided to set that as her destination. The arcade was small but was enough to fill in the machines and its customer mostly were kids and teenagers.

Amilia was just walking around looking for nothing in particular. She saw the crane machine and the prizes inside. She had played that one once. When her parents were still with each other and she was still a little child.

Now, she had no one at her side. No one in her family remembered her. She fished her purse in her pocket to play. Carefully, she positions the crane to where the stuffed panda was sitting. She squinted her eyes to align the crane and the panda before pressing the grab button. Amilia bite her lips when the panda slipped on the crane’s hold.

“Amilia?” Amilia was about to insert the second batch of coins when someone called her name.

“Hey! What are you doing here?” John was standing before her in his casual clothes.

“Hey! I was just…” Amilia trailed. She didn’t know what to say.

“You didn’t come to work yesterday. Linda was worried and she can’t contact you. Now, I think she was mad.” Amilia felt a pang of guilt when she heard it.

She was guilty. The last time she attends her work was before the night of the attack. Amilia wins distraught. She forgot about it because of those unexplainable events. That’s when she thought of Lizzie.

Oh, my goodness! Lizzie! ly slipped her mind. She left Lizzie at the mall and didn’t even contact her when she woke up earlier. A hand was waving in her face when she got back to reality. John’s face was masked with concern.

“Are you okay?” He asked scrutinizing Amilia.

“I-I’m fine. I was just having some problems. But nothing to be worried about.” She smiled a little to appease the worried look on John’s face.

“I’ll be at the restaurant later. I’ll explain everything to Linda but I got to go now.” Amilia portrayed an apologetic face to John.

Tlatterter was reluctant to let her go and was just thinking for a minute. He finally nodded. Amilia’s lips broke into a smile. She beamed slightly before saying her thanks to John. Jowatchestch her back with unexplainable uneasiness. Amilia was half running and half walking to the bus station.

She needed to get back home. Her phone was there to prepare for her work too. As she waits for the bus, she was thinking of ways to explain everything to Lizzie. Discarding the first entity she saw at the library, what happened in the hallway of her apartment, the man at the m, all, and that guy she wouldn’t be able to see.

She pushed the thought of him to the back of her mind. No, she’s still breathing and that means she’s alive. She’s grateful that he had saved her twice but believing him was another matter. The bus pulled up in front of her. As soon as the door opens, she stepped inside.

Lizzie was still running in her mind. She must be angry by now. Amilia can’t believe that she has done that to her only friend. Amilia welcomed the distracting thoughts about Lizzie. Away from a gray-eyed man who has already disappeared.