Chapter 6

She holds him by the hand and reciprocates his smile.

"There there, it's alright," she says as she pats him gently on the head. He closes his eyes and relapses into a sleep-like state, his mind wondering just how lucky he was to have met such a person.

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   About a week later>>>>>>>>>>>

In a huge white mansion, with a myriad of miniature alabaster sculptures here and there, and white plaster of Paris ceilings from which hang a row of huge chandeliers, in the huge living room with a digital fireplace and a lot of paintings hanging on the wall, a Latino-looking man sitting in a large throne-like one-person couch smokes a huge brown cigar, surrounded by men in black suits standing in a row. On the other chairs are rich fat men, all in suits and fedoras as they all puff either a cigar or a pipe.

"Again? What is wrong with that girl?" He yells, "Where did you see her?" He asks one of the men in black suits standing right beside him with his hands behind his back.

"She was spotted somewhere around the Lightsout bar by one of the men yesterday with a bag of groceries," he says, his expression stern and unchanged.

Puffing out a misty cloud of smoke, he sighs.

"I want her back here in three days," he says to the men in suits, "Is that clear?"

"Sir yes sir" they all respond in unison.

"Good, now get outta here" he orders prompting all the men standing in black suits to take a bow and walk out of the living room.

Who exactly is this guy?

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*** At the makeshift hospital where Jacob was treated after the accident ***

Mia walks in through the door which was left partially open. She's got a yellow plastic bag of supplies in one hand and her phone in the other. She pauses as she observes as Jacob changes the IV drip for one of the patients. It's an old lady whose blood pressure shot up about a day ago. The woman has been quite gloomy ever since she regained her consciousness but to Mia's surprise, she's smiling and chuckling as she talks to Jacob. Jacob laughs and says something to her as he walks out of her bed corner. As he walks out, he soon sees Mia standing in the doorway, watching him with a smile on her face as she shuts the door.

"You're back early," he says as he walks up to her, "and what's with the smile?" He asks.

"Oh, nothing. Except I'm surprised how much the patients like you" she says, "It's almost like they like you more than me" she says with a chuckle.

"Nah, they probably don't" he replies in a modest voice, "You're probably a better doctor than I am" he adds.

"Pfft! Don't make me laugh" she scoffs with a giggle, "Besides, thanks for helping out around here," she says in a sincere voice as she stares at the patients, "No one cares for these people, y'know? It's almost like they don't exist at all. But someone has to, right? They're still humans," she says with her eyes flaring with passion as she looks sympathetically at the patients on their beds. Jacob stares at her and finally, a slight smile etches up on his face as he watches her go on and on. She soon notices him staring and smiling.

"What?" She asks him a bit startled as she looks him in the eye

"You're a good person," he says, "I just wish everyone was like you, maybe then we wouldn't have a world as fucked up as this".

"Aw, that's so sweet," she says with a smile when suddenly, shrill screeching noises can be heard from outside.

"What in the world?"

"Bam!" The door blasts open, totally unhinging from the posts as a group of men in black suits armed with pistols and rifles barge in with guns pointed.

"Everyone down! Now!" One of them orders in a loud intimidating voice as everyone lies on the floor, except the old woman, who can barely even move. The one who seemed to be in charge looked to the side and saw Mia on the floor...

"There you are," he says as he picks her up, "Cuff her" he orders one of his men.

"Let go of me!" She yells as she tries to fight back, to no avail though.

"You're very stubborn, know?" The guy says to her as she is being cuffed up, "Your dad has been really worried about you" he adds as he looks her in the eye. Glaring at him, she spits on his face, causing him to slightly recoil his head as it gets in his eyes. He beckons with his hand and one of the men hands over a tissue to him. He wipes the spit off and tosses the tissue on the floor. "I guess you're still the same as ever," he says and beckons to the others to move out.

Just as they are about to leave, he notices the old lady on the bed and pauses, gesturing with his hands for the others to halt. He slowly walks over to her bedside and looks her in the eye. Her fear is evident in her eyes whose hazel iris can be seen vibrating.

"Didn't I tell everyone to get on the floor?" He asks as he softly runs his index finger from her temple to her chin. Her body is shaking in fear at this point.

"Leave her alone Antonio," Mia says to him, "She can't move"

Antonio turns around and looks at Mia and then back at the woman.

"She can't move any?" He rhetorically asks, "So she's technically dead, you mean?" He asks.

"No, she can recover with proper medication," Mia says, still held from behind by one of the men.

"Proper medication," he thinks aloud, "Ain't that shit supposed to be costly? How do you want such a poor old lady to afford such medication?" He asks.

"I'll take care of......"