My Little Moon - 𝗂𝗋𝖾𝗇𝖾 𝗆𝖺𝗋𝖼𝗈𝗌

25. needles

After Imee and Irene retrieved the location of the hospital, agad-agad sila tumungo doon at nagdasal na sana maayos lang ang kalagayan ng dalagita. The roads were busy, cars filled every crevices making Irene scoff and tsk'ed.

Traffic wasn't helping either, ear shattering beeps from afar made Irene flinch.

"Come on. . ." She muttered, teeth with grit as she cursed the car in front of her. "Move, damn it!"

Imee sat by the front seat, looking further towards the roads before holding her sister's hand in hers. Her thumb caressed the back of it whilst shooting her gazes of wariness. "Relax, makakarating din tayo doon."

If things weren't as grim as before, thunder started to overcast the sky and fill both their ears with loud crashes of desolate raindrops. It didn't take long before the windows fogged up, blurring the glass as multiple sprinklers of rain ran down in different directions.

Anxious silence accompanied both siblings as they hurriedly rush to wherever Catrina was located. Kanina pa kumakagat ng labi si Imee habang si Irene patuloy sinisilip ang kanyang cellphone para sa oras at messages.

Irene kept praying, she's hoping that whatever happened is not that severe and that Catrina won't be in harm's way despite being in the hospital. Other family members were informed of the situation and would visit if Irene confirmed that the young girl is finally alright.

Soon, the roads began to clear and Irene sped away. Muttering a few 'please' before perfectly parking in the hospital lot. Agad  bumaba sila ni Imee at pumunta sa front desk, not minding a few people staring at their sunken state.

"Uh, excuse me. . .do you have an emergency patient named Catrina?" Irene played with her ring. . .waiting for the lady to answer.

"Let me check Ma'am," She pushed in some keys from the board before looking up again. "Ano po last name ng patiente?"

"Tuazon. Catrina Tuazon," Imee was the one who replied before fixing her hair and shot her sister a look. Irene was as pale as the fluorescent lights that surrounded the halls, namumutla din siya kaya binigyan siya ni Imee ng tubig.

"We have a patient with the given name, is that all po?"

"May we know kung ano yung room number niya?" Imee took over on the questioning after noticing Irene getting overwhelmed.

"I'll just ask lang po kung kaano-ano niyo yung patiente?"

Imee gazed at Irene before answering the lady's question. "Kapamilya. We are her titas."

"Understandable Ma'am, she's located in room twenty-five just down the hall. Private po yung room na 'yon—"

"—wait, private?" Irene interrupted before exchanging glances with her sister.

"Opo, she was taken here by a fellow classmate at bayad na din po yung fee niya."

Napatingin sa isa't isa ang magkapatid bago tumango sa babae at nag-'thank you.' At the sudden rush of the moment, nakalimutan nila tanungin kung sino nga ba yung bumayad. They dashed to where Catrina's room was located and opened the door without wasting time.

They were met with a white bed, the sheets were clean and in them wrapped a frail Catrina. She looked peaceful, but the bags under her eyes said otherwise. An IV bottle dangled by the side of her bed, whilst her right arm had been decorated with a needle.

Both Imee and Irene held in a gasp as they slowly approached the young girl. As they close in. . .they saw just how sickly she looked, what happened still remained a mystery. Not until their eyes caught a small figure by the corner.