Rina and Olivia rushed out of the train and thudded into a lot of strangers.

Rina lost
control and was parted from Olivia who was already far and was searching for her. A young
man at her age accidentally bumped her shoulders that made her almost kissed the ground.
“Sumimasen”, he uttered without sincerity and didn’t even offered a hand for Rina to get
up. He went on and left her still in the humiliating position that strangers looked at Rina
confusedly.
“Hey, Rina!”
She at once stood up, upon hearing Olivia’s voice. She looked ath the direction the man
headed to and was not found no trace of him. “What a jerk!”, she hissed and shook off the dirt in
her pants.
“

They held each other’s hand until they were finally out of the station. They were
currently in Hokkaido, Japan and it was winter season. Rina decided to witness the Diamond
Dust with Olivia who was not fascinated at all.

“It would be better for you stay here. I’ll call the hospital”.
Olivia took her phone out of her bag as she sat beside Rina’s bed. Rina insisted that she
needed to be at the hospital to check on her newly operated patient but her friend averred.
“Via, please listen to me”. She pleaded and got up from her bed reaching for her
glasses. Via sighed to her friend’s stubbornness. She was determined to defy her orders though
she was not well.
“Okay, off you go.”
She went out of Rina’s room and headed to the kitchen. Rina immediately changed her
clothes and glanced at her reflection on the mirror. She was not the same woman the last time
the world saw her. Her eyes with a shape of an almond, peered out like those of untamed
animal with a color of steel gray, a wavy ebony hair. The features of her face were described by
people as sculpted, and she too often smiled mentally with that compliment. But behind that
appearance, was a lady dressed in scars and dwelled in nether world.
“Don’t forget to drop by later.”
Rina nodded to Olivia and headed to the hospital. Patients, nurses and others slightly
bowed down as they meet her halfway. She noticed the two interns in the Neurosurgery
Department were chilling at the nurse station as soon as she arrived on their floor.
“I heard so. But I don’t think that is true”, Kevin, one of the interns in his second year told
the rest.
“Would that be alright for Doctor Rina?”
“It is not alright to see you chatting here instead of doing your jobs.”
 They were startled upon seeing and hearing her with her cold voice. The two trembled
and shook down their head in front of their Professor. They thought she would be out today
since it was Sunday and that was her routine, but they had the wrong idea all along. The whole
Departments would be surprised to see their boss today.
“Kevin. Paul. Come with me.”
The two walked behind Rina and accompanied her to visit her patients. They highly
respect their boss not just because she was their superior, but the fact that Rina’s skills and
leadership were exceptional. The hospital they were in was built six years ago but had made the
whole nation admired it. “PEREZ MEDICAL CENTER”, the hospital Rina put up was a living
proof of the determination she had in the past, the evidence that she had escaped already from
her dark past. Yet, only the board of Directors and other stakeholders knew her status in the
infirmary.
**************
“Doctor Cameroon will be back.”
Rina couldn’t find the right words to respond. Hanz Cameroon was back. She shrugged
mentally and thought about her life without him. It was great. She did great.
“So, are you going or not?”
She took a sip of her coffee and stared lankly at it. Karen, of the resident doctors that
had the personality Rina couldn’t handle. She knew the answer to her own question, but she
needed to hear it from Rina for confirmation. Rina herself, desired to see that man however, she
feared that their conversation would bring everything into an abyss and would remain
unanswered. She discerned also that Karen wanted to see her how feeble she was and she
would not grant it.
“There’s no specific reason why I wouldn’t greet him”.
She stood out from her seat and was about to ignore and passed by at Karen when she
nudge Rina’s shoulder and smirked.
“What he had felt for you the last time is not going to bloom anymore, Rina.”
“And don’t even dream he’d turn his eyes on you”.
Rina glared at Karen and shut the door behind her back. No matter how hard Karen tried
to provoke her from getting into an unreasonable argument with her, she still managed to deal
with Karen’s evil-possessed personality.
“What’s with that long face?”
She lifted up her head to only see who’s in front of her. Her body quivered and at the
same time, she wanted to excuse herself. She had no idea of what the intent was of this man’s
presence. However, she has a lot to ask him and she hungered certain and understandable
answers. Funny how he came back at this instant knowing she had moved on from the
agonizing past. He wasn’t even there when she looked-for him the most. She thought at that
moment that he could be the only person who could dwell with her in this universe, but he was
absent. He lodged on his own world and perhaps had forgotten about Rina.
 She was on her way to her main office to take a nap for a while when the person she
ahd expecting to see some other day was across her.
“It’s good your back. Had they shown you your office?”
Hanz didn’t expect Rina would be so formal. He anticipated for something more, but he
was just disappointed. “Not yet”, he answered half-gloomy, half alright. He had this notion that
Rina would show it to him and a little spark emerge in his sense.
“Oh, I’d ask Kevin to do so”.
Rina was about to walk away when Hanz aggravated her with the threaded words she’d
definitely despised to hear.
“Didn’t you miss me?”
She dared not to look back to see Hanz’ reaction. Seeing him would remind her of what
she had gone through. She had summoned all the strength and courage she could to make her
firm. Her lips tightened grimly and filled with dismay.
“There’s no need for your cold aura, Rina. We used to-“
“Used to be friends, that’s it Hanz. We are now completely strangers.”
She cut off Hanz by dropping a bombshell. The explosion just happened to quick that he
didn’t know how to regain his consciousness and live with the reality that the damage had been
done. Rina had changed and Hanz didn’t even caught a glimpse the girl he once knew. The
woman she was talking to was from another dimension and it was his entire fault.
“Doctor Hanz!”
Out of nowhere, Karen was walking toward their direction possessing that infuriating grin
and a victorious feeling on her face.
“Hey, Karen!”
Rina left without even saying a word. The news’ of Hanz presence in her hospital made
her anxious already, and talking to Hanz a while back felt like she was in an endless battle. She
didn’t regret spilling out what she had inside, because that was the righ thing to do. Pretending
would do nothing to her and Hanz.
“Ma’am Rina! The patients are on deck already.”
She was back to reality when Paul arrived beside her. She looked around only to find out
she was standing at twelve o’clock of the Intensive Care Unit.