Apologize (II)

11:44 A.M.

San Miguel's Hospital.

June 6th, the year 2018. Wednesday. 

Katrina squinted her eyes again. She couldn't believe that she was seeing a person holding a Katana sword in a public place. She widened her eyes and stood still, her feet glued to the road. The fear rising in Katrina's veins was undeniable. The person wearing the black hoodie swayed the katana sword in his armpits. That was the moment Katrina ran over to that place.

"Hey!" Katrina shouted while running. The person rode his motorcycle, started it. He sped up towards the highway when Katrina reached the place where he had been.

She exhaled and held her knees. She turned around and saw that the motorcycle vanished. Katrina's sure that the person holding the katana sword earlier was the same as the one in front of her house.

'Is he following me around?' Katrina asked herself, scared.

"Kat! Kat!" Carmela called out to her. Katrina looked at her and saw the confusion written on her face.

"What are you doing over there? I thought you were standing beside my car, but you were not," Carmela asked, observing Katrina's face. Katrina darted her eyes everywhere. Her breath quickened, and she closed her eyes.

"Um, nothing. Let's go," Katrina said. She walked like she saw nothing, and also for Carmela not to ask any more questions. But Carmela gripped her arm and faced her.

"Don't hide it from me, Kat. What did you see?" Carmela asked while locking her eyes to Katrina. Katrina looked down and gave up.

"Tell me what you saw," Carmela added.

"I-I saw someone there. The person is wearing a black hoodie," Katrina said anxiously.

"And then?" Carmela urged Katrina to continue.

Katrina licked her lips and continued, "I saw the person holding a Katana sword."

Carmela's astonished by that and froze in her place. She narrowed her eyes and thought.

"Why is he holding a Katana sword in a public place? It's prohibited," Carmela pondered. Katrina shrugged and shook her head.

"Did you see his face?" Carmela asked. She shook her head once again. 

"I didn't see it, Carmela. All I know is, I am scared," Katrina trembled. Carmela sighed and put her arms around Katrina's shoulder.

"Fear is a hilarious thing, Katrina. We have a lieutenant friend. Marcus will sure capture that person," Carmela reminded. Katrina nodded and sighed. 

"You are the same as Matthew, a scaredy-cat," Carmela teased while giggling. Katrina removed Carmela's arm and slightly slapped Carmela's back.

"What did you say?!" Katrina exclaimed.

"I know you are pretending. You like Matthew, am I right?" Carmela teased again as Katrina crossed her arms over her chest and grimaced. 

"What?! What are you saying?!" Katrina yelled again. Carmela stuck his tongue out. She ran over to the entrance of the hospital and left Katrina on her own.

"Hey, Carmela!" Katrina yelled as she ran over to the entrance. Carmela grinned from ear to ear. She raised her eyebrows up and down when Katrina reached it.

"Hey, let me remind you that the reason we are here is that of your ex-boyfriend." Katrina retorted while putting her hands on her waist. She was raising her left eyebrow. Carmela's smile vanished as Katrina said that.

"I know. Don't remind me of that," Carmela mocked. She stomped her feet and walked towards the door and pulled it. Katrina grimaced and entered the hospital. She caught up with Carmela and walked beside her.

"I'm sorry, Carmela. I didn't mean to say that," Katrina mumbled. Carmela sighed and stopped at the nurses' counter. She looked at Katrina and replied, "It's okay. It's part of moving on."

Carmela shifted her eyes towards the nurse that was sitting in front of her and asked, "Excuse me. Where is the room of Xian Santos?"

The nurse took a minute before answering because she was observing her face. She seemed to identify Carmela from somewhere. She looked down from the notebook and said the room number of Xian to Carmela.

Katrina looked around and saw that some people were whispering and pointing at them.

"That is Katrina Fajardo, right?"

"Yeah. She is with her friend!"

"The scandal on Kingston Restaurant?"

"They reconciled? Cannot believe it."

"Showbiz tactics. They fight in public, but in reality, they are just acting."

Carmela gripped Katrina's right arm and tugged at it. They walk fast towards the hallways while Carmela was still holding Katrina's arm. They stopped at the elevators. Carmela pressed the up button and looked at Katrina.

"Don't be so hot-tempered. You look as if you want to fight the nurses there," Carmela's straightforward tone emerged.

"They are so disgusting," Katrina mumbled, infuriated, and looked at the other way.

"You can appoint an interview with the press. Apologize to the fans and say to them you didn't intend to say those words. Besides that, we reconciled easily after that misunderstanding," Carmela explained.

The elevator doors opened and the two of them stepped inside. Carmela pressed the button with the number 3 encrypted on it. Katrina sighed and confessed, "Not that easy."

"Well, that is my suggestion. You can do what you have to do to resolve this," Carmela said. The doors opened and the two of them stepped outside. They walked towards the right hallway and stopped at room #307.

Carmela knocked first before opening the door. She peeped and saw that Margo was sitting beside the hospital bed of Xian. Carmela opened the door wide, and they entered.

"Margo," Carmela called. Margo turned around and stood up. It surprised Katrina to see that there were a lot of gauzes wrapped around Xian's head. He also had a cast on his arms and his right leg.

"Thank you for also coming, Katrina," Margo said to Katrina and smiled . Katrina nodded at that.

Carmela observed Xian in a deep sleep in his hospital bed. The gauzes, the cast, the wounds behind it. How deep is it?

"What happened to him? Is his condition critical?" Carmela asked while still scrutinizing Xian's body.

"I don't know. All I know is, someone brought him here, and his car smashed into a tree, so he lost his consciousness after that. They based it on the reports of the police," Margo explained, then looked at Xian.

Carmela furrowed her eyebrows and tilted her head. She looked at Margo and asked, "May I ask who brought him here?"

"I asked the doctors earlier, and they said that it is a guy," Margo said while still looking at her boyfriend. Katrina and Carmela both waited for what she had to say.

"It's someone named Xyrelle." Margo stared at both Carmela and Katrina. Carmela opened her mouth slightly, not wanting to show Margo that she got surprised.

"I guess his full name is Xyrelle Martinez." Margo shifted her eyes towards Xian. She sighed and held her boyfriend's hand.

Katrina and Carmela froze in their places, standing still. She doesn't want to believe that Xyrelle brought Xian over to the hospital after his accident.