Boboiboy L/S: A Loophole in Time (BOOK 2)

Ampang Hospital

An hour has passed silently without Astor even coming out of his room. Boboiboy was starting to get worried. But what if Astor didn't want to see him? He sighed, let's face it, he had been trying to avoid him for an hour already, he couldn't wait anymore longer. 

But just when he was about to get up from the couch, Alxebot came flying to him.

"What's wrong, Alxebot?" Boboiboy asked.

"Incoming transmission," Alxebot said in a voice unlike his.

Next second, Alxebot's blue eyes flashed a few times before a hologram was displayed. It was Fang. 

"Ha, where are you guys?" Boboiboy acquired.

"On the way back home," Fang said. "We just sent Yaya to the hospital."

"Yaya WHERE?!"

"Hospital."

Another hologram appeared beside Fang's. This time it was Gopal.

"Sorry Boboiboy. She got hurt somehow when we were doing our mission." he tried explaining.

"I'm gonna go to her," Boboiboy said bluntly, standing up and going about to gather his things. He froze when he was outside Astor's door, on the way to the kitchen, should he say something? 

Hesitantly, he rapped the door sharply, twice. It was so silent that it was possible that there was no one on the other side.

"A-Astor?" he called.

There was no reply for a moment, but then-

"What?" came a weak, muffled voice.

Boboiboy spoke slowly, carefully choosing his words in case it might hurt his feelings in any ways. "I'm going to the hospital to- to visit Yaya for a while. You wanna come along?"

Boboiboy stood waiting for any reaction. It was about a minute later the door creaked open an inch. Astor's puffy grey eyes can be seen out of it. 

"A-are you OK?" Boboiboy asked, taken aback by how awful he looks. 

"Never better." Astor grunted, opening the door fully.

Alxebot came flying back to Boboiboy, a hologram still shown. 

"Don't just leave us without saying bye." Lia snarled. "Anyways, she's in Ampang Hospital, for your information. Oh, Astor's coming too? Yaya'll be pleased."

"Yeah, we'll be going in no time. See ya guys when we get back later."

"Bye!" was the last thing Lia said before the call ended. Alxebot blinked to find himself face to face with Astor.

"Oh, Astor!" he said, delighted. "How did it go?"

Astor shot him a glare that suggested that he didn't want to talk about it, but too late: Boboiboy had heard.

"How did what go?" Boboiboy questioned curiously.

"Never you mind." Astor muttered, turning away to the direction of the toilet, perhaps to wash his face or something.

Boboiboy felt even more hurt. Is he really that angry at him? He supposed he should let the topic lie low for a while, then only bring it up when Astor was feeling better.

They left the house to Ochobot and Alxebot's care as they set off in Astor's Grand Livina to Ampang Hospital. Boboiboy sat on the passenger's seat beside Astor, looking out at the houses flashing by, but his mind dwelling to somewhere else. He thought of Yaya, what could've happen to her? The others seemed unharmed, meaning the tsunami has been successfully avoided, but then, what could be so horrible that Yaya is brought to a hospital?

He was snapped back to reality when the car stopped in front of a traffic light. The only sounds that was heard was the sound of the aircond and radio talking softly. He wanted to break the ice between him and Astor, but at the same time, he didn't knew how. 

"Hey..." Boboiboy said lamely.

"Hi." Astor said, not looking at him.

"What's up?"

"The ceiling." he grumbled. 

Boboiboy noticed the dry sarcasm, and tried to change topic.

"Where did you go just now?" 

"I was just at the house." he said, as he stepped on the accelerator as the traffic lights turned green.

"Yeah, I know, I mean before that," Boboiboy said, starting to get irritated.

Astor sighed. "I'll explain to you later."

And that was all he needed to hear. Satisfied, he sat back down into his seat to listen to the radio advertising about a chicken restaurant.

***

They arrived at the hospital when Boboiboy had fell asleep. He jolted awake when Astor poked him by the face. He was grinning at him.

"Rise and shine." he said, still grinning. Boboiboy had the impression he was keeping something.

"Yeah, very funny." Boboiboy rolled his eyes, yawning at the same time.

"C'mon now," Astor said, climbing out of his car and closing the door with a loud bang.

Boboiboy got out too, and went into the hospital beside Astor. The hospital seemed very busy for a Wednesday evening: nurses rushing here and about, some carrying trays of needles, some pushing disabled patients in wheelchairs, and a few were even carrying trays of delicious smelling food, patients were sitting on hard, worn-out chairs, waiting for their turn to see a doctor.

They walked up to the counter, where a nurse was smiling warmly at anyone that sees her. Astor left Boboiboy to deal with her while he looked around.

"Welcome to Ampang Hospital. Do you have an appointment?" she asked kindly. But Boboiboy had a feeling she was asking that because of Astor's unusual look, who was observing several posters about Dengue Fever on the noticeboards.

"We're here to see Yaya." Boboiboy stated firmly, starting to get anxious by the time.

"Yaya..." she said, scrolling through her computer for Yaya's name. "What's her last name?"

"There's only one Yaya that I reckon exists, mind." Boboiboy said.

At last, she found her name.

"Ah, here it is. Oh, apologies, but she's currently in surgery. You would have to wait here or come back later."

Surgery? His mind was in a state of panic now, what injury has she got that is so serious? Honestly, couldn't the others tell him just now?

"Hey, have they found Yaya yet?" Astor asked, approaching Boboiboy.

"Yeah, but she's in surgery now. We can't see her." Boboiboy frowned.

Every head had turned about when a harassed doctor had came stumbling around to the counter. He was quite large, and was panting as he caught his breath.

"Doctor Patrick, are you OK?" inquired the nurse, walking over to help support the doctor.

"Fine, but Yaya isn't!" he said through great puffs. This caught Boboiboy's attention.

"What happened to her?" Boboiboy hurriedly asked the doctor while he got the chance to.

The doctor looked appealingly to the nurse, still clutching to her slender arm to support himself. The nurse nodded.

"Call backup a few backup doctors, and make sure they hurry up!" the doctor said to the nurse, and then turned his pale, sweaty face to Boboiboy and Astor. "Follow me, if you please."