A Truth Too Hard To Accept

In the downpour, Mia raced at full speed and arrived at the hospital in an hour's time. When she got there, her mom and Elliott were already there. She went to meet them and saw that their eyes were completely swollen with tears. At once, she guessed the reason for their mood and so did not ask a thing. Instead, she yearned for a hug to calm her nerves down and her mom who must have been in need of one as well, read her mind and drew closer to her before embracing her tightly. Without asking about the one in the emergency room, Mia concluded that it was Juliana. But upon seeing doctors and nurses rushing in and out of the emergency room, Mia could tell that her friend's condition was definitely more serious than she imagined. This made her wonder what exactly was happening inside. 

Inside the emergency room, the ER chief after charging the defibrillator, instructed: "Three, Two, One… Shock!" He applied the device to the patient before him but she did not respond. With her face almost unidentifiable from burns, Juliana was truly fighting for her life.

Outside the room, Mia sat on a bench with her face in her palms whilst sobbing. Despite the continuous application of the defibrillator, Juliana did not respond, instead, her condition kept getting worse. Soon, a doctor with a different personality walked in. He looked extremely calm and confident. The chief looked at him and admitted: "We are unable to resuscitate her."

A nurse on standby then exclaimed to the new arrival: "Doctor Cole! We are losing her!" She pointed on the monitor as she saw a flat line develop. The doctor who had just arrived, Doctor Nathan Cole, quickly ordered one of the nurses, saying: "Get me vasopressin."

While awaiting the drug, he continued to perform CPR. The nurse got the syringe ready and handed it over to the doctor who injected it into the patient. As he continued to perform CPR, the chief and the other health personnel all watched the bedside monitor to see if the flat line will change.

Outside the room, Mia was also praying that Juliana would make it. And all of a sudden, everyone's wish came true. The flat line disappeared and Juliana's condition became stable. After a while, all the doctors came out except one. Mia quickly got up to meet them.

"What happened?" She asked the doctors while her mom and Elliott stood right behind her.

By the look on their faces, one could tell that none of the doctors wanted to give out the news, hence the ER chief had no other option than to reply. He said to Mia in reply: "Unfortunately, she didn't make it." Those words stabbed Mia's heart. They were skin tearing words that stole her breath away. She held the doctor by the collar and laughed briefly while saying: "You are pulling my legs, right? That's it, this is all a prank, right?"

The doctors were unable to say a word and slowly the news was gradually accepted by Mia. In the next second, she cramped to the ground and kept saying to herself: "It's not true. It's not true. She is alive, my friend is alive."

She got up and asked her mom: "Juliana is alive, right? Mom, tell the doctor that he's mistaken. Mom say something…" Unfortunately, her mom was unable to accept her request and rather started sobbing greatly. 

"Why are you crying mom? The doctor made a mistake. It's definitely not Juliana, right? Mom, say something," she encouraged, but her mom held her and said to her: "Mia… I wish that it's not true but it is…"

Mia still refused to accept the news and said to them all: "You are all in this together, right? That must be it, Juliana did tell me that she's pursuing acting now. Perhaps, is this one of her movies? That must be it. But can you stop the act now, I'm sure the director already has the needed shot."

Elliott was unable to take Mia's reaction anymore and yelled at her, saying: "Enough Mia! Juliana is not an actress… and this is not a movie. She is… she is really gone. She is no longer part of us, Mia."

Thanks to her brother's words, Mia was awakened from her dream to reality. She cramped down to the ground very slowly and this time was unable to control herself. Her eyes got puffy and she could not help but release the tears freely. She sobbed so hard that the sound traveled all the way into the emergency room.

In the emergency room, Doctor Cole, who had now lost his patient for the first time in his entire four years of practice as a surgeon, wept on the floor. The body was to be taken away but Doctor Cole did not allow it. Juliana's demise turned out to be bad news for everyone.

Some minutes later, Mia and her family saw a body covered with sheets being moved from the emergency room. It seemed like Doctor Cole had become sober after that sad loss.

Once Mia's mom and Elliott saw Juliana's body being sent to the morgue, they intensified their tears as reality hit them. Though she was said not to have a heart, Mia joint her family in their grief and they kept mourning the entire night that they did not even realize when it became morning. Since Juliana's face was completely burnt, there was still a glitter of hope that she wasn't the one who had died, though the owner of the car the body was found in, proved otherwise. Nevertheless, Mia and her family stayed up all night crying, praying that the DNA test would give them different news. A news that was comforting and reassuring. And with the sun up, they could finally receive the confirmation of Juliana's demise.

However, someone else got that news first. Sleeping at his desk with a cup of coffee before him, the smooth looking guy heard his phone ring. He lazily stretched out his hand which roamed about the phone before getting a hold of it.

"Come on, can't I even rest for twenty seconds?" He asked himself as he had just placed his head down for a nap. Despite complaining, he still picked up the phone.

"Yes. Detective Tyler Rubens speaking," he said to the caller. He heard the disturbing news and slowly dropped the phone. He was unable to believe what he just heard and so couldn't Mia.

"What did you just say?" She asked the officers who had received the report from the doctors.

"The results of the DNA test prove that the one who died from the car explosion is Miss Juliana Parker," one of the officers repeated. His news was so disturbing and different from what she wished to hear. Like a burst out pipe, Mia let out a loud cry accompanied by a pool of tears.

At the crime scene, an SUV arrived. After parking his car, Detective Tyler Rubens stepped out. He walked to the police officers who had blocked the road with barricades and police lines and showed them his ID. Immediately, they let him in.

"Detective Rubens, you are here early," an officer who was not so tall said as he approached the detective.

"At least I should be here before the reporters arrive, right?" he asked and went in to look at the car that had exploded. After descending the sloping hill with the officer, the detective began to imagine the scene. 

In his mind, he pictured the car after the explosion, then like a rewinding tape, he played out the events in reverse and sensed that it wasn't a car explosion incident but a murder case. Nevertheless, he still went on to ask the officer who was accompanying him the question which he already had a preamble to. "What exactly happened?" Detective Rubens asked.

The officer replied back saying: "We're still investigating what caused the car explosion. However, it looks deliberate like a well-executed accident."

"What makes you think so?" Tyler asked the officer.

"Look! There were no CCTV cameras working when the explosion occurred. Also, no vehicle used the road last night. And the victim's phone was crushed whilst pieces of broken glasses were also found on the floor. They didn't look like ones made from an explosion but ones from a burglary," he explained.

"What else?" Tyler asked.

"The explosion was caused by an explosive," the officer reported.

"What type of explosive?" Tyler asked but the officer replied, saying: "A mini sized bomb or a grenade. Something of that sort. But it hasn't been confirmed yet. The Forensics Team is still gathering as much evidence as they can."

"Are there any witnesses?" Tyler asked and the officer replied: "We have not yet found any."

"Then, did you analyze all of this on your own?" He asked the officer, to which he replied: "A part of it. Waiting for my hypothesis to be confirmed."

"What's your name?" Tyler asked and he replied, saying: "I'm Officer Chris Jones, formerly worked for The NYPD."

"Nice meeting you Jones. You already do know who I am, don't you?" He asked and he said: "No, aside from your name, I don't really know you."

Tyler stared at him in amazement and said: "It surely will be my pleasure to work with you. Let's get the culprits at all cost."

At the hospital, a nurse very familiar to Mia arrived. She was holding Juliana's belongings. Immediately she saw Mia, she drew her into her arms. Mia wept for a while before receiving Juliana's belongings. Since the deceased had no family, Mia's family was her family. The nurse, Olivia Potts, a young nurse who was envied for her beauty, wanted to have a private time with Mia, so she requested her, saying: "Mia, can I have a word with you?"

Mia agreed and Olivia led her to an empty room. Inside the room, she told Mia who looked like her twin sister (for they both had blue eyes and golden hair): "Mia, Juliana's death was planned."

"How do you know that?" Mia asked with her eyes nearly popping out.

"Juliana told me that if anything happens to her, I should give this to you," the nurse replied and gave Mia a mini sized journal.

"When did she give this to you?" Mia asked and Olivia replied, saying: "Just yesterday. I never thought she would leave so soon. I think it might lead you to the one who did this to her."

Mia looked at the journal and then at Juliana's belongings. In silence, she swore to herself whilst clinging on to Juliana's belongings: "If anyone is responsible for your death, then I promise you that I shall make them rot in hell."