Chapter 3:

TW: mention of rape attempt towards the end of the chapter, skip if you feel uncomfortable reading it.

Taking off the disposable gloves, you sighed out of relief. You had been working the whole night non-stop, and saying you were exhausted would be an understatement, but it was finally your break, you still had to work a couple of hours until midday.

It didn't help that you were out the whole day yesterday, shopping with Judy. She insisted on checking every store in the mall, and couldn't leave it without buying something from it.

"You've got to make use of all that money you earn" She had said, balancing all the bags in her hands.

When you got home, you spent almost two hours organizing all the groceries and things you bought, in their respective places.

For you it was unnecessary, you knew that half of what you got won't be put to use, well except for the food maybe.

But Judy insisted, saying it would make the house more lively, somehow.

Sitting down on a chair, you pulled out your sketchbook. It wasn't something you usually do, drawing but it helped you take your mind off things.

You ignored your colleagues, who were overly immersed in whatever they were talking about, and skipped through the pages of your sketchbook, looking for a certain drawing.

You stopped for a while when you found it, silently admiring your work. It was a portrait of a girl you met yesterday at the mall. She had particularly caught your attention, that the moment Judy left your house, you decided to draw her.

Flashback:

You silently sipped on the remnants of your smoothie, waiting for Judy to come back with another slice of cheesecake.

You were both exhausted from all the shopping, so you decided to stop at a small coffee shop available at the mall, to take a break.

You finally looked up when Judy came back to your table, placing down the plate of the delicious pastry.

You watched her as she happily dug in it, shoving a handful of it in her mouth, closing her eyes at the pleasurable flavor hitting her taste buds.

"You have a night shift today as well?" Judy asks, mouth still full.

You nodded saying. "Yeah, from 11:00 PM till 11:00 AM. It gets tiring at some point but, it's work."

"Is that old creepy man you call your boss, still hitting on you?" She asked, a disgusted grimace making its way to her face.

You laughed. "You should resign from that department seriously. I'm sure you will excel in any other area." Her voice was whiney, a cute pout forming on her lips.

"You're right, but I love working with the kids. Besides, he never really stepped a boundary so it's fine." You weren't sure of your words yourself, but you didn't want Judy worrying about you more than she already does.

You suddenly remembered her marriage, a sudden sadness rushing over you. You knew that not only you wouldn't be able to attend the wedding, but you also won't be spending much time with her anymore.

"So When are you planning on doing the wedding?" You asked, fidgeting with your nails.

You could see her from your peripheral vision putting down her fork before she cleared her throat.

"Well, we still didn't talk about it but, I think we would both agree on doing it at the beginning of summer. It just seems like the most appropriate time." She concluded, taking a sip from her drink.

You nodded. Summer is in about four months, which means you still had time with her.

It was still hard for you to digest, not your best friend and brother getting married no, it was this new law. It just seemed messed up. The authorities are already controlling a lot of things, but marriage? You wondered to what extent they would go in the future.

"So I was thinking" Judy started, uncomfortably shifting in her seat.

You looked up at her, now giving her your full attention. You knew that when Judy started her sentence like that, it was always a serious matter. But from the way she wasn't locking eyes with you, you could sense it was something more than that.

"I want you to be my bridesmaid." There it was, she said it. It was stuck up in her throat for a while now. But it was finally voiced out into the air.

You froze. You looked away from her, not knowing what to say. She wanted you to be her bridesmaid, which is a grand honor, but only if it was in a different circumstance from the one you were in.

"I know I'm asking a lot from you, Yn but it would make me happy if we could all just reunite again. Your family misses you a lot and- I'm sorry." At the mention of your family, she stopped. Feeling you had tensed under her heavy words and knowing she had stepped a boundary, she immediately apologized.

You softened your demeanor at the sight of her nervous state.

You found yourself stuck at an intersection. You would either accept her offer and meet your family after years of not having any type of contact with them. Or you don't accept her offer and risk a huge change in your friendship with her.

"I'll think about it, Ju." You finally said, reaching out for her hand and caressing it.

She looked at you, smiling hopefully. If you accepted, it would be a huge change, not only for your life but for hers as well.

She could imagine, if things went well, and if meeting your family won't end up being the worst idea ever, life would start looking up for the both of you.

Her plan was finally being brought to life.

"Excuse me?" A voice inquired, catching your attention.

Looking down to your left, was a girl. She was dressed in a baby pink sweater tucked carefully into a white plaid skirt, her honey-brown hair was left flowing down the small of her back, a beret hat adorning her head.

She looked adorable, but what caught your interest were her doe amber eyes.They had this familiar feel, you caught yourself admiring them.

"Hey little one, how can we help?" Judy asked, making you snap out of your haze and scooch down closer to the child.

Only now did you notice her teary eyes. It somehow shattered your heart seeing the little girl sad. You always had a soft spot for kids, but this one right here, had managed to strike a special place in your heart, and you had barely even met her.

You carefully took her small hands in yours, making her look at you. You didn't have to ask what was wrong, because the girl quickly wiped away the tears that slipped from her eyes before saying.

"I can't find my mom." She said with a small voice. "She said she needed to make a call, and left me here it's been a while that I've been waiting but she still didn't come back."

You smiled sadly at her, reassuringly patting her hands.

"Don't worry, I'm sure it's just an important work call that your mom is caught in, that's why she's taking a while to come to get you. Why don't you stay with me and my friend Judy? We'll keep you company and wait for your mother together, okay?"

The little girl nods, smiling gratefully at you, before joining you and Judy in your booth.

"What's your name?" Judy asked, scooting the cheesecake closer to the kid, who in return eyed it suspiciously. Smart girl, if it was you when you were her age, you would've eaten it without thinking about it twice.

"Nyla? Nyla!" The sound of heels approaching, resonated through the space, accompanied by a distraught woman.

"Nyla! Oh God, I am so sorry for leaving you for so long sweetie, but I couldn't decline the call-"

Your attention had long left the girl- Nyla - and was now fixed on the woman before you, who was hardly letting her daughter breathe with how hard she was hugging her. But that wasn't the issue, no. The thing was, you knew the woman.

"Roseanne?" You called, but immediately regretted it when she looked at you.

At first, she was shocked, standing up from her squatting position and pulling Nyla closer to her. But then her gaze hardened, landing heavily on your figure, making you feel uncomfortable with each second that passed.

"Nyla, I always tell you not to talk to strangers, don't I?" With a monotone voice, she asks the little girl, who seemed suddenly tense, all look of relief by her mother finally showing, vanishing from her eyes.

But the question wasn't directed to Nyla, more so to you. It was as if she indirectly imposed that you were a stranger to her. You couldn't blame her, the last time you saw her didn't quite end up with you being on good terms, but you had to admit that, it did hurt.

That is exactly why I don't want to meet my family.

"Nyla, c'mon we need to go home, your father is waiting for us." Roseanne said, turning on her heels and dragging the girl away with her.

Nyla gave you one last wave, before following her mother out of the coffee shop.

Once they were out of sight, you heaved out a deep puff of breath, finally allowing your tensed shoulders to relax.

Looking down to where the girl was once sitting, you noticed something.

"She forgot her purse." You voiced, staring at the pink Hello Kitty purse in your hands.

You glanced up at the entrance of the shop, but Nyla and her mother were long gone.

Am I going to ever see them again?...

End Flashback.

The feeling of a hand on your shoulder snapped you out of your thoughts. Looking up, you smiled at the sight of the boy standing before you.

"Who's that?" He signed, looking down at the portrait of Nyla.

"I met her at the mall yesterday." You signed back, closing your sketchbook and shoving it back in your bag.

"What are you doing here anyway? You know you're not supposed to be here." You looked at your colleagues but it seemed that they didn't pay attention to the forbidden presence of Ian.

"I was looking for you, it's time for breakfast." He replied, holding your hand and dragging you out of the nurses' room.

Ian was one of your favorite kids at the hospital. When you first came, you almost instantly noticed him and you became close really fast.

He was a non-marked. Which is a rare case, especially for newborn babies. His anomaly severely affected his communication ability and was later diagnosed as mute. Now you didn't know how his condition had to do with any of this since it was not your field of work, but specialists in the area of soulmates classify it as a spiritual case.

You knew you could still talk to him and he would answer you back with signing, but you didn't like to make him feel inferior to you, that's why you learned sign language, this way you could communicate with him without any problems. It was also a little fun, seeing all the curious and confused looks of the other kids.

"Oh Yn, there you are. Dr. Lee said he needed to talk to you, I think you should go see him now." Dr. Sky said, phone to his ear, managing somehow to keep up with two conversations at a time.

You quickly nodded and looked down at Ian.

"I need to go bud, I'll see you before I head back home okay?" You signed, a frown already making its way to the boy's face.

He only nodded, hugging you before sprinting back to his room.

"Peter, you're confusing me now and I most definitely ain't free for your blabbering, talk to you later." Dr. Sky said, hanging up on the phone, and fixing his gaze back on you.

You were deep in thought, when Dr. Sky snapped his fingers in front of you, getting you out of your days. What was I even thinking?

"Yn, you're still here? You know how Dr. Lee doesn't like to be left hanging on. C'mon now off you go." He insisted, pushing you in the direction of the Doctor's office.

With your thoughts long forgotten, you made your way to the office.

Reaching your hand to knock on the door, you suddenly feel nervous. Dr. Lee was the head of the kids' department of the hospital, so he was your boss. You were rarely called to his office, the few times when you did, you always got out of it feeling extremely uncomfortable and irritated.

Hearing a 'come in' after you knocked, you heaved out a deep sigh. Here goes nothing.

You entered the vast space and closed the door behind you. The motion made Dr. Lee avert his gaze from the paperwork scattered around his desk.

"Oh Yn, you're here." He said, a grin plastered on his lips. For some reason, you didn't like it.

"Yes sir, you called for me? Is something the matter?" You asked, taking a seat in the chair in front of his desk after he allowed you to.

"No no Yn, if any I only have good news for you." He said, getting up from his seat and rounding his desk, taking the chair beside you instead.

You uncomfortably shifted in your seat, not knowing what to expect, and him being this close to you didn't particularly make you feel all that safe.

"You see we both know how your father and I were really good friends, also seeing how it's been two years since you started working here I thought it'd be a good idea to give you a promotion." He concluded, his unwavering gaze fixed on you.

You were shocked, to say the least. For a moment you didn't know if you should be disturbed at the mention of your father, or happy because you were getting a promotion.

"Uh, I don't know what to say, sir. Thank you, it means a lot." You finally said, nervously fidgeting with your nails.

Beginning of TW.

"It's nothing at all Yn, consider it a favor, we're family. I can still remember all the times I visited your house, at birthday parties and such. It would always be a great pleasure seeing you and I knew that you and I were going to have a special relationship." His voice was low by now, his hand has somehow made its way on your leg, stroking it. Creepy chills run down your spine, and all you wanted was to get out of there.

"Um, yes sir I always considered it a great opportunity to work alongside you, but I think I should go check on the kids one last time before the end of my shift." You tried to smoothly escape his hard grip, standing up from your seat and carefully making your way to the door.

His eyes followed your every move like a predator would do to its prey. A devilish smirk made its way to his lips and saying you didn't like where this was going, was an understatement.

He got up from his seat, approaching you with calculated steps. You always admired how huge and clean his office is, but now you hate it. The door suddenly seemed miles away from you.

You were walking backward, making you unable to see where you were heading. And for some unknown reason, you tripped on nothing, thus making you lose your balance and eventually fall to the ground.

You were more than terrified when he suddenly was hovering above you.

"Sir- I need to get back to work." You stuttered out, trying to escape but he had you trapped in his arms.

"Oh, c'mon Yn we are just going to have a little fun, to celebrate your promotion!" His voice was disgusting in a sickening way.

You were now, trying to take his hands off of you, you couldn't bear the feeling of it traveling from your waist all down to your inner thighs. Tears were flowing down your rosy cheeks and you wanted nothing but to crawl out of your skin right now.

"Sir please! Stop! No no no- Stop! Get off of me!" You were screaming by now, hoping someone would pass by and help you out of your miserable situation. "Help! Someone please- Help!"

End of TW.

And as if your inner prayers were answered, the door bursts open and two men enter the space, detaching the creepy old man from you, who wasn't bothered by the sudden presence of them.

Dr. Sky was shouting for security to come to his help, the second man had held you in his arms pulling you to a corner of the office, trying to silence your cries.

You couldn't quite figure out who the man was, seeing as your face was buried in his chest, slightly muffling your sobs.

"Shhh, I'm here Yn don't worry, you're safe now. You're safe." His voice was not only familiar but soothing and it made you somehow relax into his embrace.

More men barged into the office, forcefully dragging out Dr. Lee.

"Peter please take care of Yn, I need to call the police." Dr. Sky said, leaving the room as well already on the phone with an officer.

You finally backed away from the man's embrace. Looking up at him, you realized why his voice was so familiar to you.

"Peter?"

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A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter, if yes please vote and comment!