Distance Away (II)

09:10 P.M. 

San Miguel's Hospital. 

June 21st, the year 2018. Thursday. 

Matthew, Abbey, Katrina, and Zoey were watching over and observing who Mina was talking to. Matthew widened his eyes when he saw a glimpse of the person wearing a black hoodie over the glass door outside. It wasn't facing them, but he felt the fearful feeling coming from the insides when he first saw it. 

'Margo was dead, so, if that wasn't Katrina, who killed her?' Matthew asked in his thoughts as he looked over at Katrina. 

... 

Sammy answered the call quickly. Mina skeptically walked through the glass door as he saw the person was talking on the cell phone. He opened the glass door and held his shoulders. 

Sammy heard the same thing. She ended it sooner. She panted as she slowly looked over at the four people standing by the doors of the emergency room. 

Mina gripped the person's shoulders and faced him. He was so surprised at what he saw. 

"What's wrong with you, bro?" the person asked angrily to him as he puffed a cigarette in his mouth. He exhaled the smoke in the other direction while still furrowing his eyebrows. Mina recovered from his surprise and apologized quickly. 

"I'm sorry, I thought you were someone," Mina muttered, ashamed by what he did. The guy wearing the black hoodie looked up at the sky. He raised his eyebrows, annoyed by any disturbance. 

Mina apologized again as the guy walked into the parking lot. He climbed into his car and drifted away towards the highway as Mina sighed.

"Maybe it's a delusion," Mina mumbled. He turned his heel around again. 

When he was about to push the glass door of the emergency room inside, he heard a rustle over the bushes. He peeped through it and there was nothing. He observed the nurses, doctors, and patients coming in and out of the hospital premises. 

Mina felt someone was watching them. He looked around while still holding the handle of the glass door. Mina heard another whish of the bushes and his sharp eyes stared over there. He widened his eyes when a person, also wearing a black hoodie, came out from his hideout. He ran over to the exit of the hospital. The hood covering his head. 

Sammy widened her eyes when the call immediately ceased from the line. There came the silence. She creased her forehead as she can't hear anything now. Sammy looked at the screen. She shrugged her shoulders and stuffed it back into her pockets.

Sammy looked over at Mina and was about to call him when he ran over the lot. Matthew took a step. He furrowed his eyebrows when they saw how Mina ran further outside. 

Matthew stared at Zoey, Katrina, and Abbey, and they were all puzzled by Mina's actions. Matthew sprinted, followed Mina outside. He saw Mina at the exit of the parking lot, turning into the curb. Sammy froze in her place as she saw Katrina, Abbey, and Zoey also doing the same thing. Sammy left her jaw open as she watched them rushed outside. 

Sammy realized it's time to sneak inside the emergency room. 

Zoey, Abbey, and Katrina looked over at Matthew and saw that Mina's gone. 

"Where did Mina go?" Katrina asked. Someone hitched her arm, stopping her from following Mina. 

"Stay here," Abbey ordered. Katrina creased her forehead towards Abbey with a questioning look. 

"Katrina, please, don't start a fight with me. I said, you have to stay here, okay?" Abbey barked. It made Katrina startled. Zoey observed how Matthew ran over the lot where Mina had been and turned around the corner.

"Mina! Mina!" Matthew yelled. Mina turned on a corner street again, adjacent to the national highway. Matthew put his hands over his knees as he glanced over the narrow street from where he had been. 

Mina sprinted towards the narrow street of Clara Avenue. The Queen's Bar location was there, with all those shimmering colors dancing in the night. 

Mina wanted to unravel who was following them. His strong guts were indicating it was someone they had a connection with in the past days. The person still ran, whereas Mina got tired. His feet were pulling him to stop. 

Mina was inches away from that person, but then it halted. He stumbled to the ground, hitting his elbow on the dirty tracks. He groaned, the stinging pain sent through his joints. The person sprinted once again, but Mina raised up his arms and coiled through his feet. 

He saw how grimy the person's sneakers were. He gazed at him.

... 

Matthew dialed Marcus's number on his cell phone. He picked it up immediately. 

Marcus turned on the air conditioner in Carmela's car. She sobbed through the window while leaning her forehead against it. Marcus answered Matthew's call hastily and responded up. 

"What is it? Something happened?" Marcus gripped the steering wheel. He stepped on the accelerator and they zoomed from the highway. He turned the corner of Carmela's village and stopped midway down the bumpy road. 

"It's Mina. He was chasing someone on Clara Avenue. I don't know where he is now," Matthew panted. He held his forehead as he saw Katrina, Abbey, and Zoey following him. 

"Mina? He was chasing who?" Marcus asked on the phone as Carmela glanced at him worriedly. They both waited for Matthew's answer on the phone. 

"I don't know, Marcus. I lost sight of him. He was chasing someone," Matthew uttered. Katrina, Abbey and Zoey widened their eyes on him. He raised his hand, signalling that they should wait. The three women glanced around their surroundings. 

"Where were you now?" Marcus asked as Carmela wiped the tears from her eyes. She got her cell phone out and texted her aunt, saying that she will be late at home tonight. She put it aside again as she waited for what he had to say.

"I am with Katrina, Abbey, and Zoey. We need to find Mina, Marcus. We will search through Clara Avenue. Send some police officers for the backup." Matthew hanged up the phone after saying that. He ran in the middle of the highway, while the three women cried out. Matthew let a car stop on his side and briskly took the tracks to the other street. 

The three women left hanging from what he had done. 

... 

Mina gripped the left leg of the person until the hood came off. The lady wriggled out of his arms. Mina looked up, astonished as he saw a red-haired woman in a hoodie. 

"Let go, you punk!" the red-haired girl yelled over at the man who gripped her feet.  Mina immediately got up from his floor and stared at the woman. The girl straightened her black hoodie and locked her gaze on Mina. 

"Who are you?" Mina asked him nonchalantly. The girl furrowed her eyebrows as if she knew the guy who was standing in front of her. He was tall, probably inches much than her, and she had to look up to see his face. 

"I'm sorry? I think we have never met before," Michie hissed, brushed her red hair with both of her hands while rolling her eyes. Mina raised his arms, signaling defeat towards her. 

Mina creased his forehead out of bafflement and asked, "Why are you hiding? Is there someone you have been observing in the hospital?" 

Michie furrowed her eyebrows and retorted back, "What are you saying? I'm not hiding there. I have someone to visit." 

Mina scoffed and muttered, "Visit? Late at night?" 

The girl with the red hair scoffed at him and said, "Why do you care? I don't even know you."

Mina stared right through her eyes. He had a bad feeling that she was scrutinizing every person in the hospital. 

A moment later, he jumped as he heard the blare of the sirens. Mina looked over there and was about to glance back at the red-haired woman, but she vanished. He creased his forehead and gasped as he darted his eyes everywhere. 

He saw no signs of her. He searched, but no clues of footprints lead to her. 

She must have hid somewhere, and she escaped like a ninja. The police car stopped in front of him and someone climbed out of the car. 

Mina shielded his eyes from the headlights of the car and saw a police officer coming out of it. 

He's confused about why an officer was asking about his name.