Hunting for Shadows (JaThea Fanfic)

Willow

**San Martin. Postwar.**

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She woke up screaming aloud. Alone in the darkness. Shouting out a name her lips have uttered a thousand times before.

"Althea!." Jade cried violently as the nurses try to pacify her. One of the nurses, a huge man, held her by the shoulders and lifted her up. Pinning her against the wall. After which, another nurse injected her with a sedative. Jade was strong and squirmming so they tied her to the bed.

She was helpless.

Jade's lids began to feel heavy and numb, the drug was lulling her to sleep. With tears streaming down her face, she closes her eyes. And soon.. deep slumber conquered her. 

A year has passed since the war came to its close. After the government surrendered their oil-rich island in the Pacific, the enemy withdrew their troops from the mainland and left them in peace. It was a desperate move, but it's the only way to end the chaos war has brought upon the once tranquil place.

Slowly but surely, war survivors rose up from the ashes. They buried their dead in a mass grave after burning them, to prevent an outbreak of diseases. Then they started rebuilding the Capital and planted crops for food. The refugees made use of whatever aid they received from volunteers overseas. But it will take years before the war-torn land could restore itself to its former glory.

Ate Linda maneuvered her wheelchair under the shade of a Willow tree. It was a hot afternoon and the sun's rays were hurting her skin. She called the tree, "Puno ng Pag-asa", which means "Tree of Hope" or "Full of Hope" depending on how it's translated. She stayed there, savoring the fresh country air. 

After the war, the Mayor of San Martin awarded Ate Linda with a medal for her 10 years of service as a nurse in the provincial hospital. They also gave her a wheelchair which she wholeheartedly accepted. 

But perhaps the best thing that ever happened post the war, was the Major and his cohorts' imprisonment. After thorough investigation, the international court found out about "The Weapon" as well as the kidnapping of refugees from hospitals to be used as human subjects for experimental drugs. Most of which killed the patients.

Ate Linda dragged her gaze across the serene setting. A blanket of green sparkled under the sunlight and it made her long for home.

That quiet spot in the cemetery is where she usually stays in the afternoon. Everyday, the retired nurse would visit the graveyard to leave flowers for her dead relatives. Then she would light a candle on one of the tombstones. Ate Linda still sheds a tear for that particular Guevarra.

The grieving woman often wonders why she was spared. That albeit her injuries, she survived the blast while her cousin did not. It was a slow recovery for amputee, and it took a while before she could smile again. Even so, the erstwhile nurse could never forget how Althea shielded her and Jade from the eruption. 

Her cousin died from severe bleeding. Shards of shrapnel found its way inside the victim's heart causing the muscle to stop beating permanently. It was a painful, cruel, and sudden death.

Ate Linda closed her eyes to shake painful thoughts off of her mind. She glanced at her wrist watch once more. 

It's time to go, and she can't be late for her ride. 

"Sorry to keep you waiting Ate, Jade took her time talking to Nanay." Althea smiled politely as she pushed her cousin's wheelchair out of the tree's shade.