SCARS OF THE PAST II

"What happened to her?" one of the guys ask the people around. The lady who was frightened earlier helped Ivan to take Kaye's pulse.

"She might've been shocked or scared, who knows." answered another person while other people were in chaos.

Ivan could hear Kaye's faint breathing but he wasn't sure as well as to what happened. When he was holding her earlier, she was trembling and sweating profusely. The only thing he heard her say was fire.

The crowd was still helping those that were still inside the building while waiting for the emergency response team. Some people brought their own pale and water. Some connected hoses to their own house's faucet to provide water assistance. The fire wasn't that big since the house wasn't made of light materials but it still swallowed the whole 2 floors of the building.

"Can you help me get a taxi?" ask Ivan to the lady who was currently fanning Kaye's face.

"Why don't we call an ambulance?" the lady asked, worry marred her face while looking at the pale woman beside her.

"There are people here who needs the most assistance. We'll be fine. I think she was just exhausted."

"Boy, don't exhaust her so much. Lessen your night activities. One round should be enough, right? Look at her now." However the woman realize that her words were nonsense, the man couldn't actually see. "Wait here since this area is safer. I'll get a taxi for you." and the woman just left like that.

Ivan didn't know if he should laugh or cry out loud. She didn't exhaust her with any night activities, though they did spend the night watching movie.

Ivan waited not more than three minutes and the woman came back, following her was the taxi he asked her. Ivan thanked her and got inside with Kaye in his arms.

"Where to sir?" asked the driver who gave him a look through the rearview mirror.

"To the nearest hospital." came Ivan's response. Kaye was sitting on his lap unmoving. Sometimes, she would frown as if in pain but it couldn't be seen by Ivan. "Can you drive a little bit faster?" he asked the driver who gave him a slight nod seeing his anxiousness.

When Ivan arrived at the hospital, the doctors immediately assisted him and put Kaye on a vacant bed.

"Do you know the patient personally? What happened to her?" asked one of the nurses while the doctor checked Kaye and another nurse put on the IV drip.

"Yes, I know her. I'm not really sure. She was trembling and sweating so much earlier and she suddenly collapsed. Can you run a full body check up? I just want to make sure she's fine." Ivan told the nurse who was taking notes on her clipboard.

"Fill out this form while we conduct the examination, we will...oh I'll get one of the nurses to assist you in filling this up." the nurse changed her statement when she realized the person was blind. She gave him a bunch of papers, telling him to wait for the assistant nurse to help him.

Ivan sat on the floor, leaning on the wall with a helpless expression. "I guess it's time to decide if I want to keep you safe with me." he whispered to himself while massaging his temple.

"Sir, I'm the assistant nurse. How about we look for a better place to sit?" the male nurse asked Ivan in a gentle manner.

Ivan raised his head and looked at the person with his blank gaze before he stood up and followed him to the lounge area.

Fire. There was fire all over the place. The walls were burning, beams and woods were collapsing and the curtains were caught by the fire one after another.

"In the end, I would still have to die to escape here." she looked around her, a place of hell from the time she was born. A woman was lying in her own blood in front of her, some debris were stuck on her. 'Maybe from the blast', she thought. Not far from her left, a man was burning from head to toes. Those were her so called parents who never acted like one as far as she could remember. Dead. Both of them were dead. Her most-awaited moment.

It was getting hotter as the flames engulfed the whole kitchen. The fire reflecting in her eyes and her madness. She was crawling towards the door when her shirt got caught in the fire. She tried putting it off but it continued to grow. Burnt cloth sticking to her skin but she didn't mind the pain at all. Pain was her second skin already. At the same time, just because she's used to it, doesn't mean she couldn't feel it. She's a young child for Pete's sake. However, she didn't know how to put of the fire that was licking her body. She rolled on the ground in pain, without knowing that by doing so, she was able to extinguish the fire.

"Harley, help me. I don't want to die." the girl cried her heart out while slamming the door with all her strength. "Harley! Miss Maine! Please help me." she was losing strength already and her vision was getting blurry as well. She was hungry, tired, afraid and all other emotions were mixed all together, choking her.

She slammed the door again and again, but since no one could hear her, she gave up and let herself fall on the ground. Staring at the ceiling that was about to fall on her, she smiled. "I'm still happy to die. At least, I came to know the happiness and the cruel reality of this world. I just hope Harley would take care of Tomo...ahh...I'm...really...hungry..."

"Therese!" she heard voices in her head. "Therese!" she thought the souls of the dead were taking her with them.

A sudden white light came out of nowhere, blinding her. She was so exhausted. A tear fell from her eyes before she lost consciousness.