Chapter 20 Between Three
Lina's POV
I looked away immediately, then stood up and walked to the window side of the room. I pulled the windows shut and locked them slowly.
“We need to go see Kate in the hospital,” I said smoothly, almost acting too cold, like we weren’t in the middle of a serious discovery.
Father Eron didn’t say anything afterward. He simply stood up too, walked to the other window, and locked it as well. Then we all walked out of the office. The air was heavy, but nobody spoke.
I wasn't angry, I was just lost. I have no idea why Father would think that way about me. Did he think I'm being possessed or something?
Whatever he was thinking, I'll believe it was a mistake fueled by fear and absolute fear—nothing more.
It was a quick ride, and nobody spoke in the car, not even father Eron or me.
We arrived at the hospital shortly, and the moment we walked into the busy building, the sterile smell of antibiotics and septics hit us like a wall.
That same awful smell of a hospital, yeah!
The fluorescent lights made the hallway feel cold and eerily unforgiving. Father Eron and Dr. Allen followed closely behind me as I led the way towards Kate's hospital bed where she's being attended to.
Dr. Allen's face was heavy with worry and Father Eron wouldn't even hide his look of condemnation on his face. I have no idea what is suddenly wrong with him, but why he is acting that way.
Maybe something happened to him. Something so typical—typical enough to change a person's personality completely.
Just as we were about to step into Kate's room, a doctor suddenly rushed towards us, his lab coat flapping side to side as he ran to us, his breath uneven. “We…we don't know how to explain this,” he said, his breath ragged and unsteady.
He paused and swallowed hard, then he said again, “She was sedated. It worked…but when we stepped away for just a minute…she was gone.” he explained, voice trembling.
“Impossible!” I swore silently.
I couldn't believe I was hearing this, not now.
I blinked sharply, though I remained frozen. I have no idea what the doctor was even saying. How on earth could a patient go missing under your watch?
What a sick situation!
I flung a quick glance at Allen and Eron, then I said softly, almost too calmly, “Gone?” I whispered.
“What do you mean gone?” I asked, still in shock.
Father Eron's jaw tightened, his eyes narrowing, but he didn't say anything. However, his expression said it all. This had to be some sick joke, but deep down I knew it wasn't. The doctors wouldn't pull such a joke with me.
“We're really sorry about this, but we promise to take full responsibility for everything.” The doctor said then he bowed his head slightly before rushing off to attend to other patients.
Father Eron and I exchanged a quick glance fueled by disbelief and panic. We didn't say anything, but the glance said it all. We weren't expecting anything close to this, it's such an unexpected thing to happen in situations like this.
Slowly, our eyes drifted towards Dr. Allen, who was standing quietly beside us, but her eyes weren't settled. She kept looking around as if she was searching for something really important.
For a second, I thought she was seeing something nobody else was seeing.
Dr. Allen seemed a little too calm for what was going on. Her situation does not match her calmness, given the fact that Kate was missing and we have no idea where she could be.
Dr. Allen didn't utter a single word still. She turned towards us and started to pull out her gloves from her fingers, the faint and rough click of latex suddenly sounded louder than the chaos around us.
“Which bed was she in this morning?” Allen finally spoke up, her voice was surprisingly sharp and steady.
“Over there,” I said immediately, pointing quickly to the empty bed at the far end of the room.
Without saying another word, she stepped forward, closer to the bed, now removing the second glove from her hand as if she was going to perform some sort of ritual.
Eron and I followed her behind, patiently looking and observing what the hell was about to happen.
“What is she doing?” I thought, but I still followed her blindly, monitoring every one of her moves.
Maybe she is gonna find out where Kate was.
But if I can remember vividly, the last time we discussed about this, Dr. Allen had said something like her powers as a REVEALER are no longer as strong as they used to be. So how come she still can read things through a simple touch.
The moment Dr. Allen stopped close to the bed, she slowly pressed her bare palms firmly on the mattress, then her eyes slowly shut, and for a passing second, the room seemed to have grown colder, and it just kept getting even colder.
A moment passed… then she suddenly flinched and snapped her eyes open.
“Noel,” she suddenly yelled. Her voice was suddenly loud and sharp, carrying a deliberate push of energy no one can explain—not even me.
Father Eron and I exchanged quick, startled glances.
I stepped forward to her, “What about Noel?” I asked smoothly, but my voice couldn't help,but crack slightly.
Slowly, the REVEALER turned to me, then she looked at Father Eron and back to me, “We need to find Noel…we must find him.”
I was shocked by what on earth Dr. Allen was talking about. And what does she even mean by “we must find Noel?”
Of course, Noel doesn't want to have anything to do with this case anymore.
He clearly showed his rage the last time at my office and he left without whispering even a simple goodbye. So why do we suddenly have to find Noel?
Lost in my own thoughts, my phone suddenly buzzed in my breast pocket, and I didn't hesitate before pulling it out, but I immediately froze at the name of the caller boldly written on my phone's screen.
It was Noel calling.
Yes, Noel.
The same Noel that we're talking about now.
Why the hell is he calling?
I didn't pick, I simply let it ring until it's done ringing.
Then a message came in immediately after the last ring. It was him again—Noel.
“We need to talk. Can I see you?” The message read.
I stared at the screen for a while, mind racing.
I'm confused. I don't know if I should tell Dr. Allen about the call and text message I just received from Noel just now.
Or should I just keep it to myself and go and see Noel secretly.
I have no idea why Dr. Allen wants us to find Noel, but whatever reason it was, I might be able to know if I meet him secretly.
My fingers trembled as I slipped my phone back into my pocket, pretending nothing had happened.
I finally thought sharing this so soon would be a bad idea so I remained quiet. After all, is not as if Noel will or can hurt me—we’ve known each other for over seven years before he suddenly disappeared seven years ago.
I immediately turned to Father Eron and Dr. Allen who was already putting her gloves back on. “Head back to the office. I'll handle things from here.” I said sharply. I didn't wait for a reply or anyone's opinion—I didn't even care what they had to say. The moment the words left my mouth, I turned around, and hurried towards the exit door, the hospital lights blurring past me as I made it to the elevator.
Every step felt urgent, necessary, and dangerous.