CHAPTER 2

The ambulance arrived at the hospital after fifteen minutes. The nurses and doctor quickly checked the condition of the woman laying on the stretcher. As for Rhianne, she was following them but also keep her distance so she will not become a hindrance to their work. A young nurse told her to sit in the waiting area first and they will call her again later once they finish checking the woman's condition.

Rhianne followed the nurse's instructions and sat on a vacant chair. After letting out a sigh, she picked up her phone and texted Keith the hospital's location. It took her a few minutes to type the words she wanted to say since the screen of her phone was broken. Rhianne cannot help but let out a regretful sigh in her heart thinking that she needed to replace the phone she just bought two months ago.

Keith did not reply but Rhianne noticed that he already saw her message. After a few minutes of waiting, she saw a figure of a young man running towards her. It is her Mr. Protagonist, Keith.

"Rhianne, are you okay?!" Keith asked while his eyes checked her body trying to see if she received any sort of injury.

"I am fine." Rhianne answered before getting the handkerchief inside her pouch. "Here. Wipe your sweat first."

When he is sure that Rhianne is okay, Keith let out a sigh of relief before accepting the handkerchief. He sits beside Rhianne and gently wipes the sweat on his forehead. Keith quickly arrived in this hospital as soon as he received her message.

"Rhianne, can you tell me what happened?" Keith asked. "Who is that woman you were talking about earlier? Did an accident happened at the mall?"

"There was no accident. And I do not know that woman. She just lost consciousness in front of me and I happened to be near her so I caught her before she fell on the floor."

Rhianne described what happened earlier in the mall to Keith. According to Rhianne, the woman she saved must be similar to her mother's age. She was quite tall for a woman that's why Rhianne got a hard time catching her falling body earlier. But she also noticed that although that woman is tall, she is also very light.

After she retold what happened earlier, the young nurse who approached Rhianne earlier came back at the right time.

"Excuse me, miss. But are you a relative of the patient inside?" The nurse politely asked.

"No. I just helped her by calling an ambulance since she lost consciousness. I also noticed that she got a high fever." Rhianne explained.

"Oh, I see."

"Nurse, what happened to that woman? Is she in a critical condition?"

"Oh no. She is now fine. The patient lost consciousness due to fatigue and dehydration. We also gave her a shot since she got a high fever. She only needs a few days of rest and drinks a lot of water to feel better again."

"Thank goodness."

"By the way, miss. Do you have her phone to call any of her relatives?"

"Well... Let me see."

It was fortunate that the woman's purse was strapped on her wrist earlier. Rhianne kept that purse when the medical staff attended to that woman and she just remembered about it now when the nurse asked for the patient's phone. Carefully opening the purse, Rhianne saw a wallet, several bills and papers, and an old model phone inside the purse.

They were lucky that the phone does not have any passwords. Rhianne quickly looked at the phonebook and searched for her relative's phone number. On the woman's phonebook, there is a phone number named 'My dearest' so Rhianne did not hesitate anymore and called that number. After several rings, the person answered the phone.

(Mom? Did something happened?)

"Excuse me, miss. But are you the daughter of the woman who owned this phone?" Rhianne asked. She is very careful with her words trying not to scare the person on the other line.

(...Yes. May I know who is this? And why do you have my mom's phone?)

"Hello, miss. My name is Rhianne. I actually called to inform you that your mother is in the hospital right now. She lost her consciousness earlier in the mall and she also has a high fever."

(Hospital? How is she? Is she okay now?!)

"You do not have to worry about her, miss. According to the nurse in charge, she is now fine and only needs to rest for a few days."

Rhianne can hear the person on the other line let out a sigh of relief.

(May I ask the name of the hospital?)

After giving the other information to the person she was talking to on the phone, Rhianne ended the call. When she turned her head, Rhianne saw Keith quietly looking at her. His lips were pursed and his eyebrows were slightly furrowed.

"Hmm? What's wrong, Mr. Protagonist?"

"...It is nothing. Are we going to stay until her daughter arrived here?"

"No. The daughter of that patient is on her way here. I will just pay her bills and we can leave after that."

"Why do you have to pay for her hospital bills?"

Rhianne only smiled at Keith but she did not answer his question.

Rhianne noticed the bills inside the woman's purse and some of them were already overdue. She also saw a budget list inside. Rhianne did not saw everything written on it, but the total amount that would be left is only two dollars. Thinking about it, the woman's clothes earlier is also faded and the hole on the woman's skirt was carefully patched using a cloth with a colorful pattern. The model of her phone is old and the keypads' surface of it is already erased.

Rhianne can really sympathize with the woman's condition. She already experienced it in her past life. She knew how hard it is to budget the small amount of money inside your wallet. You cannot afford to spend even a single cent because you were trying to save money as much as you can.

Rhianne paid for the woman's hospital bills. She also paid in advance for the medicines and things she will need in the future while resting in this hospital. Rhianne also made an online order from a restaurant nearby and left its payment to the nurse in charge of that woman. After that, Rhianne also left the woman's purse to the nurse in charge of that woman and asked to give it to her daughter when she arrives. When Rhianne already finished all the things she needed to do, she pulled Keith on her side and left the hospital.

"Do you still want to visit the cafe today?" Rhianne asked.

"Why are you asking me that? You are the one who wanted to visit that cafe, not me."

"Oh. That's right. Hmm... Nevermind. We can visit that cafe next week."

"Then where do you want to go now?"

"Hmm... Let's go and watch the action movie that you wanted to see last week. I think it is still showing in the cinema."

"...I thought you were not listening to me when I told you about it."

Keith mentioned it before to Rhianne while they were in the library. She was busy reading a thick book at that time. Rhianne did not say anything back so Keith just dismissed their conversation and remained silent until she finished her book.

"Of course not! I am listening to you while reading a book. I just cannot answer you or else, my concentration will be destroyed."

"Yeah, sure. If you say so." Keith answered. "So we will watch that movie now?"

"Yes!"

"Alright."

Keith called his driver to fetch them in front of the hospital. After waiting for a few minutes, a black car stopped in front of them. Keith opened the door and put his hand under the car roof to avoid Rhianne from hitting it while entering the car. She thanked Keith and he carefully closed the door. After that, he also entered the car and sit beside her.

When everything was ready, the driver started the engine and leave the hospital. While fixing her seatbelt, Rhianne saw a petite woman dashing towards the entrance of the hospital. She cannot see her face clearly and only saw her body disappeared in a blur.

"Rhianne, where are you looking at?"

"Oh. It's nothing."

Facing Keith, Rhianne did not dwell too much about that woman and focus on the conversation with Keith.