JANE'S POV
"Selene will come here again later. Then in the next few days, I will come to her house," Chanelle said to me as she arranged her things. "She said our house is nice, and she even complimented that you're beautiful, but I said maybe you just scared her so she said that," she added so I just stared at him.
"How dare you," I interrupted. "I'm leaving too. I'll just make some money." I said goodbye to her and she nodded immediately.
Chanelle didn’t know Kent, Isabella, and Leigh, and they didn’t know Chanelle either. I don't know why Chanelle is so aloof from people these days, so I'm thankful that she already has a friend.
I looked at my cellphone when it beeped.
From: Kent
Come on, let's have a date.
"You miss me already?" I said while smiling and even pinching the sofa. I immediately replied to him while the smile could not be erased from my lips.
To: Kent
All right, fetch me here.
As soon as I sent it, suddenly someone rang the doorbell so I looked at who it was.
"Kent?"
"You said I should pick you up, didn't you?" He grinned before winking at me. "I'm already here."
"Crazy." That's all I told him.
And that's it, we dated. We ate at restaurants, we played in the park, we walked around the mall, and the two of us made the most of the day we had together.
Not knowing that it was the last day we would be together... happily.
The next day, I woke up with a smile on my face. I remember the date Kent and I had yesterday. Then we talked about where we would get married, and when we would start a family. We were young but we knew right away that we were each other’s future.
Oh, isn't it sweet?
I went to the kitchen and I suddenly saw the picture frame on my side table.
"Oh, well," I reacted when I saw that the glass of the frame was broken.
But, why does it feel so strange?
Chanelle and I are in the picture, but why is the glass only broken on the part of her face?
I don’t know why I was suddenly nervous because of the broken picture frame. I immediately went to the living room because I was about to go upstairs to see if Chanelle was there, but I stopped when I saw Selene’s cell phone on the floor.
From: Unknown
Let's meet today.
What is this? Does it have anything to do with Selene’s past?
I was about to put the cell phone in my bag when I noticed a draft message there.
To: None
Page, don't include other people with this mess. Please. She had nothing to do with it. Nothing.
-draft five months ago-
"Shit."
Chanelle. My sister. I don’t know why she was the first to enter my mind.
I quickly ran outside when my cellphone rang. I immediately answered the call when I saw Chanelle was the caller.
"Hello, Chanelle? Where are you?" my tone of voice was tinged with concern.
I was expecting Chanelle to speak but someone else answered.
"Ahm... are you a relative of the patient, miss? I saw your name in her phonebook. This is Doctor Mei from St. Luke's Hospital."
"Yeah. I'm her sister." I could no longer function properly. I can't even think properly.
I wasted no more time. I turned off the call and hurriedly got on my motorbike and went to the hospital.
"WHERE'S the room of Aliyah Chanelle Sy?" I asked a nurse there when I got to St. Luke's.
"Wait for a second, ma'am."
He scanned his record book, and I am so thankful to God that he found my sister's name right away.
"Room 145, ma'am. On the second floor, near the Emergency Room."
"Okay, thank you."
I immediately ran up the stairs. I had no trouble finding a room because as soon as I climbed the stairs, I immediately saw the emergency room.
I knocked on room 145 and was about to go inside when I saw the woman come out of the emergency room. Her body was full of bandages. She also has a bandage on her head and she is still walking on her heels. She has a nurse with him and it looks like she will just be moved to another room.
And I know that woman.
"Selene," I called to her but she just looked at me with confusion in her eyes.
"Who are you?" she asked me in confusion.
What? She doesn't know me?
Maybe she just forgot about me. Maybe her brain just shook for a while so she can't remember me.
"Jane Sy. Chanelle's sister."
I held out my hand to her but she didn't take it. "Jane? Chanelle? I'm sorry, but I don't know you," she said coldly and walked into room 146.
I was just left stunned in front of the emergency room.
What the hell was that? And why is she here in the hospital? Why was she injured? Fuck, is she with Chanelle here? What happened to the two of them?
I entered room 145 and saw Chanelle’s pitiful situation today. So many dextroses were attached to her. Something was stuck in her leg, in her wrist, and she even had an oxygen tank in her mouth.
She smiled at me but I saw tears dripping from her eyes. It's like I don't want to look at her in that condition... it's like I want to kill whoever did this to her.
The male doctor came and was surprised to see that I was already there.
"How are you related to the patient?" the doctor asked.
"I'm her sister," I answered. "What happened to her?"
"She was shot close to the heart. And that is almost a fatal shot." Shot? By whom? "But now, she's already stable, she just needs rest."
I sighed in relief, but still, I can't believe what was happening. Was it because I was focusing on Kent, I no longer knew what was really going on with my sister?
"H-How about S-Selene Perez? How is she?" Chanelle asked weakly.
The doctor sighed so I looked at her. And Chanelle, too, is looking forward to what the doctor has to say.
"She was in a critical condition even though she woke up earlier and was moved to another room," he replied sadly. "I also found out that she had mild amnesia before she was brought here, and because she was hit in the head, her condition got worse."
"What do you mean, doc?" I asked in a worried tone as I frowned.
"Now, she's suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. She was traumatized by what happened to them so she quickly loses the memory of what happened to her. It will be better if she won't remember anything at all. That's all I can say," he said. "How are you feeling now?" he asked Chanelle.
We were both in Chanelle's state of shock when we heard what the doctor said. I can barely move in my seat because of how my sister looks now. They are still very young, but why do they experience this thing right away? Who is the idiot who makes the lives of two people close to me difficult?
Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome? Shit. Does that mean she forgot that Chanelle was her best friend? And shit, times two. It means... she forgot everything?
Is there anything more tragic in that girl's story? Is there more? Shit. Selene was pitiful. It's just really pathetic. But I feel more sorry for my sister now.
"Chanelle..." I approached her and held her hand.
"It's okay. And at least... and at least she forgot about the bad things in her life..." Chanelle said while smiling. "She'll never remember that again."
But I could feel when she spoke that she was sad.
Because she forgot her best friend who saved her life.
Chanelle was more pitiful. My sister is pitiful.
ONE week has passed and Chanelle has been discharged from the hospital. That is why we are here today in the park, ventilating and relaxing.
We both wore white dresses. My sister and I went on a trip to wear a couple of dresses. Chanelle has been depressed since that incident. And in fact, she has yet to recount what happened before they were taken to the hospital.
As for Selene, we never saw her again after that incident. She was allegedly taken to another hospital so that she could not see Chanelle first and that her brain would be at peace.
And earlier I noticed that Chanelle was looking around as if looking for someone.
"Chan, who are you looking for?" I asked her.
She turned pale. Why is it?
"I'm just looking at the kids," he replied before smiling slightly.
I just ignored her. Maybe she was still traumatized. But what happened? Why doesn't she want to tell me the story? I haven't seen Kent since she was hospitalized. I promised that I would only pay attention to her.
I was about to ask her when she suddenly called my name.
"Jane..."
"Why?"
She approached me and secretly handed me a notebook. She was very careful that someone might see us.
"Make sure you read this, okay? All of this, she whispered to me while smiling.
I took the notebook and looked at it. Wait, I seem to know what this is.
"I love you so much, even though I don't say it often because I always tease you." She smiled at me but I could clearly see her tears. "Be careful. I want you to be happy always."
And all I know, she stood up and... I just heard a gunshot.
"Chanelle!"
I ran in her direction when a gun hit her in the heart. I tried to find who shot her but I didn't see any suspicious people. What the fuck is happening, and why are they doing this to my sister?! We are not rich, so what is their sole purpose?!
"Help us, please! Chanelle!" I begged to cry.
Some approached us for help and others called for an ambulance. I could hardly see what was around me because it was full of tears. I could feel the trembling of my body as I looked at my bloody and dying sister. Her white dress was gradually turning red.
"Okay... just..." She smiled at me but soon she vomited blood. I just closed my eyes because I could no longer handle what I was witnessing.
"Chan... Chan... You won't leave your sister, right? Chanelle, don't leave your sister first, I-I can't..."
I was already crying in front of her but she just wiped away my tears even though she was moving with great difficulty.
"I'm always by your side, sister..." he said weakly. "I won't leave..."
"Don't talk anymore, please." I tightened my grip on her hand because I knew how hard she was experiencing right now.
"I won't leave you..." That was the last thing she said before her grip on my hand finally loosened. She gradually closed her eyes and completely lost consciousness.
"Chanelle! Chanelle!"
When the ambulance arrived we immediately took her to the nearest hospital, and I hoped she would wake up but I just got on my knees because of the news that was waiting for me.
"She's dead on arrival."