Chapter 21.3: A mission

She first threw the rubbish away with her right hand while her left was holding on to the tray at her very best to not spill anything.

"Nancy!" She called out as she stood beneath the first floor balcony for shelter. Nancy was surprised to see her but got more angry while she waited for Ivy to approach.

"Here, have some warm milk to keep yourself warm." She placed the tray on the table as she quickly wrapped the blanket around Nancy and sat her down. "Enjoy! The book is thrilling."

Nancy was taken by surprise at her gesture but snarled at her. She was thinking Ivy was trying to challenge her.

"Chill it Nancy. I'm only helping you. If you fall sick, you wouldn't be able to keep up with updates about him or even see him. If you want to see him always, you need to learn to care for yourself first." She took an umbrella by the side of the garden tools shed and opened it wide while leaving it on the floor beside Nancy to prevent the rain from spraying at her.

"Don't stay too late… After all, you can always see him everyday. I'll share with you my treats too." Ivy smiled as she was ready to return before Jason noticed she was gone.

Nancy was getting more furious as she misunderstood Ivy's kindness. She turned Ivy around and attempted to attack her with a penknife which Ivy managed to snatch from her but accidentally cut Nancy's left arm on the surface.

"You! How dare you?!" Nancy was furious at the cut as the pain was feeding fuel to her rage.

"I'm sorry, Nancy! It's an accident! Listen, I was just being nice. You should listen to my explanation!" Ivy was panicking and tried to keep her voice low as she knew Jason would be out of the shower anytime soon.

"Don't hurl nonsense at me! Do you think I am here to watch you both? Every single time you get any closer to him makes me want to rip you apart!" Nancy fumed as she charged at Ivy and they both struggled in a fight. Nancy was trying to push Ivy's arm which was holding the penknife towards Ivy's chest as Ivy was fighting to push it off with all her strength while being pinned down in the ground.

She could hear Lucky barking from inside and she was sure Jason would be done from shower. Ivy cursed at herself for not paying attention to the penknife earlier when she withdrew it. She regretted not retreating from the protruding knife head pointing at her.

Jason, who stepped down after his shower heard Lucky barking fiercely at the sliding door and Nancy was nowhere to be seen. He was worried and had a gut feeling Ivy went outside as he could see a glass of milk and blanket was on the table outside. He quickly texted Nick to come to the rescue or at least bring Nancy home to keep Ivy at peace.

"Nancy…. Li Listen… stop otherwise you would make it worse. You could at least do something to help Jason instead of creating more conflict." Ivy could feel the tension lessen.

"What do you mean?" She snarled and demanded for an explanation while still pinning Ivy.

"There are two roadshows which he is very short-handed of but yet he needed to continue his part time emcee job which Nick was supposed to fill in. You could volunteer to help in any of these tasks and that way you could keep him by your side and slowly earn his trust…" Ivy explained as she slowly drew in the blade of the penknife but Nancy noticed it a little too early and screamed while she pushed Ivy's thumb to push out the entire blade while putting more force to push the entire knife towards Ivy.

Jason could hear Nancy's screams despite the heavy rain as he feared for Ivy's safety the moment he saw their struggle when he ran out to the front porch.

"Nan..cy… lis...ten..trust.. me…" Ivy begged as she struggled but knew Nancy's force was stronger and she had no choice but to grab the penknife with the blade itself. The pain from the cut was so excruciating that she let her tears flow but didn't dare to scream at the sight of Jason rushing towards them and pulling Nancy off herself.

"Nancy! Stop!" Jason yelled as he pulled Nancy off to one corner while Nick arrived just in time to check on Ivy who was licked by a worried Lucky.

Ivy could feel someone else was by her side helping her up. She quickly drew the penknife and pressed her bloody palm onto the thick coat she was wearing, putting pressure to stop the bleeding. She quickly sat up and realised it was Nick in the midst of being pounced on by Lucky.

The next few moments went hazy as she struggled to stay alert. She was aware that Nick drove her while tailgating Jason to the hospital after he sent a reluctant Lucky into the house and locked the doors.

Ivy dared not move her arm as she kept gripping on tighter to her coat when she could feel the flow of her blood while enduring the pain, hoping they would reach the hospital as soon as they could. Her visions were turning blurry but the chaos of her thoughts on the situation had not subsided.

Nick was shaking her the whole way trying to keep her awake which she was thankful for. "Ivy… Are you alright?" Ivy nodded as Nick concentrated on driving even faster.

When they reached the emergency unit, she forced herself to alight by herself to assure Nick she was fine although she was wobbly. She signalled Nick to go ahead without her as he ran to catch up with Jason who was carrying Nancy into the emergency ward building. Nick was more worried with Nancy's mental stability than her physical injuries as he knew she wasn't heavily injured.

Eventually, Ivy couldn't catch up with them as the bright lights were making everything very blurry and hazy. She told herself to keep up with their pace but her dizziness was creeping in more as her eyes were more comfortably closed than opened.

Nick noticed Ivy wasn't trailing behind him. He turned around to only find a pale, frail collapsing girl with oozing blood dripping on the ground from her left hand. Nurses were rushing her to an empty bed as Nick dashed towards them instead.

He finally understood it was Ivy who succumbed to the heavier injuries and Nancy was indeed exaggerating her act earlier as though she had serious injuries. He blamed himself for not noticing Ivy's bleeding palm in the car although he could smell a strong iron odour which he mistook as Nancy's blood residue. Nick stood dumbfounded at the trickery Nancy played just to get Jason's attention as disappointment sipped in.

He didn't realise the nurses were nearly done with dressing the deep cut on Ivy's palm as they put her unconscious self on a blood drip.

"Ivy…" Ivy felt a light shook as an echo called out to her. She was greeted by pink and green hues shimmering in the sky. She blinked further to clear the blurriness only to be greeted by Phoenix's mysterious eyes. "Ivy, you're awake!" He echoed as he embraced her tighter before helping her to sit up.

"Phoenix… Are we still in the prism?" She asked while trying to stand up. "Yes…" While she heard Phoenix's echo, she saw a shadow at the end of the prism as she quickly chased after it. "Ivy! Where are you going?" Phoenix called out while he ran after her.

"Stop! Who are you?" Ivy called out to the shadow as Phoenix stopped her. "Ivy… stop chasing. It's my sidekick. I had sent her on errands." Phoenix echoed. "But how? How is she going to get out from here?" Ivy questioned.

"The prism only imprison those with mythical powers. Lentil is a spirit just like your dogs… She doesn't possess any mythical power but just normal ghost abilities…" Phoenix echoed, looking sad.

Ivy thought about it and wondered who it could be. "Is it someone dear to you?" Ivy asked while she strolled at a slower pace. "Yes, my …" Phoenix hesitated to tell Ivy as he wondered if Ivy would misunderstand him.

"Your lover? From another life?" Ivy asked. "Wife… From another life…" Phoenix echoed while Ivy smiled.

"Phoenix, how was my life in that life of yours?" Ivy asked out of curiosity. Phoenix hesitated again to tell her the truth. "Later… When we have the chance, I will show you…" Ivy blinked in glee at his mysterious eyes looking back at her.

"Can't wait to see it, twinny…" Ivy beamed as she embraced Phoenix. "Feels good to have a brother…" Phoenix felt a nostalgic moment as he had never expected Ivy to react to him that way again like she used to in another life.

"Feels good to have you back, Ai Lee…" Phoenix embraced her tighter as she looked up at his glistening eyes filled with tears.

Nancy's cut was minor as they dressed her in another section while she clinged on to Jason. The nurse had put her on a liquid drip and left them.

"It's late. You should get some sleep. When the drip finishes, I will wake you and send you home." She smiled at the old Jason she used to have as she thought about Ivy's suggestion earlier and decided to give it a try.

"Are the roadshows giving you problems? Do you need any help? I want to help." She asked as Jason gently patted her arm.

"Don't worry about it. I will get it resolved. I always do." Jason reassured her.

"Let me help out instead? Besides, I could really use the wage you will be paying." Nancy tried again.

Jason pondered and thought it was not a bad idea since he was short handed and she needed a routine. So, it was a fair trade. "Alright, I will send you the location details and agenda later in the morning."

Nancy gasped in disbelief. Ivy's idea worked and she was overjoyed but she felt guilty as she knew Ivy could be treated for a deep cut at this moment. She hoped she wasn't badly injured.

"Nancy, have you taken your anti depression medication? Are they in your bag?" Jason was rummaging inside Nancy's small bag and found a bottle of tablets. He knew it was them as he poured a glass of water and made her take one pill as written on the bottle. She obediently took them but she couldn't help but to feel guilty of having him here and was also worried about Ivy's condition.

"Jason, you should check on Ivy. She had a deep cut on her palm while trying to stop me earlier... I hope she is being treated now. I'm sorry..." Nancy dared not look at Jason as she kept her head down.

Jason realised he was too focused on Nancy and her superficial cut that he forgot the penknife was held by Ivy and he didn't check on her at all. He instantly sprinted to search for Ivy in every ward. When he saw Nick standing in front of a bed, he knew it was Ivy.