Four Lifetimes

This chance is our only hope. It's our only way to make things right again, to relieve the pain we've endured because of that mistake… ~ Florence Joyce

xxxxxx

Sarina couldn't believe it. The stranger she saved from getting stabbed earlier was the man that kept appearing in her dreams together with a woman.

It was the thought that lingered in her mind as soon as she woke up in an unfamiliar room. Her back seared with pain. Maybe the injury she sustained was deeper than she thought it was.

"Sari! You're awake."

She turned to the source of that voice, which turned out to be Rein. As she looked further around, she saw Sejin and Isona, as well.

"Where am I?" She asked, trying to sit up straighter but winced at the pain that still lingered at the wound she received.

"I'll get the doctor," Sejin said, rushing off towards the door in the room.

As soon as she left, Sarina sat upright again. She had no idea where she was. But at the mention of the word 'doctor', then she didn't need to hear where she was.

"You're crazy, you know that?" Isona blurted out as she sat beside her and embraced her tight. "Why did you suddenly run off like that? Right towards that riding killer?"

Sarina smiled bitterly. "Sorry. My body moved on its own before I could even stop it."

"As I thought."

She looked at the stern-looking Rein as soon as she heard that. But besides that, she could see worry in his eyes, as well.

"I can't believe you'd end up dealing with one strange thing after another just as soon as you came back to this town. Are you sure there aren't any ghouls or demons following you from all those searching that you've done for the past five years?"

Sarina couldn't help bursting a laugh but soon winced at the shot of pain on her back.

"That's a bad idea..." she murmured as she tried to calm down to dissipate the pain.

"Then don't talk too much right now. Let's just wait for Sejin with the doctor." Isona faced Rein soon after. "Do you think the professor is still here?"

"Professor?"

What professor? She faced Rein with a frown.

"The man you saved earlier from getting stabbed is a history professor at another university."

"He looks young to be a history professor, though."

"Well, his sister is the archaeology professor at our university. So I guess you could say it runs in the family."

She didn't know why she found it funny. Then again, given the fact that Rein said it almost jokingly, it was a given she felt that way.

It wasn't long before Sejin finally arrived with a physician in tow. The examination didn't take long, but the doctor said that her injury was deep enough for her to lose a considerable amount of blood. And so they had to perform a surgery as soon as she reached the hospital.

"How long have I been unconscious after that?" Sarina inquired.

"Two days."

'Woah! That long?' And yet even with that, the throbbing pain from that stab wound lingered. She shuddered at the memory of what happened back then.

"You're going to be alright. I can tell that you're a tough woman and your body was able to withstand the stress that your wound had given you. But you mustn't move too much in the next several days if you want to fully recover."

She nodded and thanked the doctor. At this point, there was no reason for her to argue with him since she was at a disadvantage, with her fresh wound and all.

Rein helped her into bed after that, making sure she didn't do anything that would worsen her wound. The doctor also gave her some antibiotics and painkillers, which she took gratefully. Once everyone else left, she let herself relax a bit.

"You two should go home now. Don't worry, I'll look after her," he said as he faced Isona and Sejin.

The two women nodded.

"We'll switch with you tomorrow." Sejin looked at Sarina after that. "Don't you go being reckless again while we're not around, okay?"

She only laughed at that before nodding. "As if I could do that at the moment. Not to mention, Rein would be really angry at me if I do something reckless again in this state."

Isona giggled at that, as well.

Soon enough, Sejin and Isona left, leaving only Rein behind.

"Are you tired? Do you want to take a nap?" He approached the side of her bed as he spoke.

"I suppose I could use a bit of rest. Thank you, though." She smiled at him once more. After that, she closed her eyes.

When the sun was setting, she noticed that she hadn't woken up once throughout the whole day. She assumed her sleep wouldn't last long, however.

She was wrong. A few hours later, her eyelids fluttered open.

The sunlight blinded her when she opened her eyes, causing her to squint slightly. She immediately lifted her arms to protect her face from the brightness and waited for them to adjust to the light.

As she was trying to adjust to the brightness, her mind wondered to that dream she had again.

'That professor... I knew I saw her from somewhere before.' But Sarina never thought it would be from one of her dreams.

After that, she also recalled the visions that assaulted her before she passed out that day.

"Four lifetimes..." The professor whom she saved that day had lived for that many lifetimes searching for a way to undo the mistake he did when that woman died in his arms...

He had lived through that torture every time he would be reborn. But... was he even aware of that?

"Are you talking about what you saw in the professor's eyes that day, Sari?"

It didn't surprise her anymore to hear that voice as she kept contemplating. She knew she lost the glasses she wore that day. And that was why she was able to look into the professor's eyes and see those visions.

All of which had something to do with his past lives. Plural. The vision all came fast but she was able to discern how many lifetime did she see in those eyes.

"It looks like he's been dealing with a lot..." Sarina muttered, still loud enough for Rein to hear.

"Well, he does emit an intimidating aura, even making Isona think that he's pushing people away. On purpose."

If she didn't know any better, she would assume that the professor was a reincarnation of someone from four lifetimes ago...

But why didn't that make sense? Why would he end up reincarnated for four lifetimes? How did he manage to survive that?

And then there was that dream she had about a woman who was determined to fight with the killer. The woman who soon recklessly threw herself in front of the professor's first past life to protect him from the killer of back then...

Thinking about it, it seemed that it was hard to imagine someone like the professor would ever let anyone risk their own life to save him. Or... was that just because he couldn't remember the woman he was supposed to protect?

Whatever the case might be, the professor seemed to be suffering immensely, which made Sarina think of one person. Someone whom he was close to before death happened to him. Perhaps someone important to him, but he couldn't recall a name, even with the help of others he encountered. If only he remembered the name...

"It looks like Professor Larrea now caught your attention."

Sarina chuckled bitterly at Rein's comment. "Not intentionally. But the visions I saw as soon as I laid sight on his eyes for that long made me want to do something for him. If that's even possible..."

She sighed heavily. It was all just speculation on her part. And even if she and the professor were to meet again, she doubted she'd be able to get the answer she sought from him.

Still, there was something about him that made her wonder if he had known that woman all along. But that was all speculation on her part. And yet, she had to admit that maybe... if he didn't really remember her, then he probably loved her.

Maybe he did love her. But that just wasn't the truth, was it? And that was where the doubt began. The real question would be, 'What happened between him and that woman?'

She shook her head lightly, as if telling herself to stop thinking about all these questions now. Even she herself didn't really know.

'There's nothing to be gained from such speculations.'

So with that thought in mind, she decided that it was best to just let sleep come over her now and continue her healing process. Though the pain in her back still lingered, at least it wasn't as painful anymore. And so she soon drifted off to sleep, fully expecting that another dream featuring that mysterious woman would come.

But she gained more than what she was expecting.