Won't Let You Go

Chapter 6: Foregone Times

Chapter 6: Foregone times

It was already seven in the morning when Rees rose. "Oh my! We're going to be late!" she then walked toward Eily's bed and abruptly wake her up but she was alarmed when she felt like she's in febrile condition. "Oh! You are hot!" She rushed to the closet, got the first-aid kit out and searched for the thermometer then put it on her armpit. "39.3°?!" she was aghast. She rushed downstairs to get some ice cubes then went back to the their room, to their bathroom and wet a towel in a basin and put the cubes. She placed it on her head then went downstairs again to cook porridge. While doing so, she phoned Andrew so that he would report her friend's condition to their office.

She motioned to the upper bunk of her bed to wake Lia up. They used to put some of their belongings on that space. Lia was lucky. It was destined to be occupied by her. "Eh? Where’s Lia?" she wondered. She checked the shower but nobody was there. She noticed a small piece of paper on top of her side table. "A note?" she mumbled. "I didn’t wake you up. Eily is sick so much better if there’s someone to look after her. If you're worrying about your absence today, leave it to me. I'll take care of it." that was what she wrote.

Trevor came late that day. He was sleepless because of his cousin. He heeded Jerome's rants about that girl he met that night, the same girl he had encountered in the super mart. Before he entered his office, he peeked in the photography department but failed to see who he wanted to see. Lia saw him and said that Rees couldn't make it today.

"Why? What happened?" For the reason he didn't know, he asked but tried to not be obvious.

"Our friend Eily is sick. Nobody is around to take care of her." she explained.

Schedules on that day were cancelled. Trevor was mad at first but in the end he understood the situation.

......

Rees heard the ring of the doorbell so she came to see who it was only to find it's Lia. "Lia! Is there any problem? Why you came back?" Rees wondered.

"So that you're not alone looking after her. besides I’m worried too."

"Is that so?  But I can manage. Go back to work sis."

"I told them I was going undertime today so it’s okay."

"Oh, you’re so sweet. Hmm, by the way, have you taken your lunch?"

"Ne, I'm done, thanks sis."

They're having a nice confabulation when they were interrupted by Eily. She was calling somebody's name.

"Pete... Pete..." Eily kept on mussitating on her sleep.

 Lia moved to feel if she still has fever. "She's still hot!" she panicked.

"Again?! The second time I checked, it somehow dropped." then she ran downstairs to get some ice again.

At last, after a moment, Eily's fever went down. Lia asked who was that she's mentioning a while ago.

"Pete was Eily's ex-boyfriend who just left her reasoning he’s fallen out of love with her. A week later, she found out that he’s dating another girl. Would you believe that? He replaced her that quickly?" Rees commented bitterly.

Lia was saddened by what she just discovered. "I never thought that she had encountered such thing."

......

"Are you sure you're okay now? You can still rest Eily. I will call Andrew..." she wasn't able to complete her utterance when Eily protested. "I'm no longer unwell, really. I will go to work today, OKAY." emphasizing the last word.