Sweet Escape

The sky just turned dark. The sound of sirens wails in the distance. An ambulance passed two young girls as they walked towards the bus station. Then suddenly, a phone rings. “Mae, is that yours?", asked Reina while trying to see if it was her phone that was ringing. She reached for her phone in her bag and peeked at the screen to see who's calling her. She was a bit puzzled since she doesn't normally get calls from her mother. Reina answered, "Mom? I'm on my way home, do you have any—" Confused, she hears her mom crying over the phone. "What happened?" she yelled. Mae, her best friend, who was surprised, looked at Reina, and immediately knew that something was wrong with her stressed and confused face. "I need to run to the hospital", Reina said while she hurriedly runs to the hospital, leaving Mae, worried and dumbfounded by what happened. "Call me later!", shouted Mae, as her friend ran further. Minutes later, Reina arrives at the hospital, barefoot. Carrying her shoes that got ripped in the middle of her marathon, she then asked the front desk "Uhm. I am looking for a patient named Louie Kim?". The nurse told her after looking at the records and pointed her to where her father was. She looked around, looked at every bed, and finally saw her father. He looked like he was in so much pain. His face was full of wounds, and his right arm was wrapped in bandages. She quickly wiped the tears budding from her eyes, thinking that it may worry her father more if he saw her crying. "W-what happened?" Reina asked, but her father only looked at her, he couldn't speak well. "Don't… c-cry", he replied. "I'm not, I can't...", answered Reina as she wiped her face of the tears that she thought she could hide. "Hey sweetie, it's okay, I'm okay," says her father, worried about his precious daughter. “Look at yourself! You don’t even look like you’re okay”, Reina shouted at her father. “I know you’re only saying that because you don’t want us to worry”, she sobbed. “No, I just really need some rest. Can you please close the curtain?” his father replied. As she closed the curtain, she saw her mom right outside, talking to the doctor. “Mom?” she called, just after the doctor left. “What did the doctor say?”, she asked her mom, curious if her father is okay as he said. “I... I don’t know what to do!”, her mother cries. “What would happen to us? Your father…”, she paused, her face went blank as if she lost all hope. “The doctor says he cannot go to work for months or maybe a year until his arms are fully healed.” “Don’t cry, mom. It’s okay…”, Reina replied with a soft voice trying to comfort her mother as she held her tears back. “I will take care of it.”, she knows that she can’t, but she can’t stand her mother crying in front of her. “You should go home mom, I’m sure Rona is crying right now. I will take care of dad.”, she said while she gently pushed her mom away from the ward. “Oh no! You’re baby sister! I just left her with your brother as soon as I got the call from the hospital.”, her mother shouted, as she was so worried about her 3-year-old baby and her 12-year-old child left in their apartment alone. “I’ll bring you clothes and food tomorrow morning. I need to check on your siblings. I will text you when I get home.”  “Okay mom, take care!” Reina shouted while waving her hand to her mother.  As she was getting back to her father’s bed, a lot of thoughts came into her mind—will my salary suffice? If not, what should I do? How will I make it? While she was in deep thought, her father suddenly spoke with a sad voice. “I’m sorry dear, for making you go through this”. Reina stared at her father. It hurts her to see her father looking so down and in pain. She was thinking that her father made too many sacrifices for them, so an additional worry about their needs while in the hospital would be too much. So from that moment, she made her decision. “No dad, it's okay. No one wants this.”, she replied while touching her father’s hand.  “But how are you going to—” her father couldn’t complete his sentence as he was so ashamed of himself not being able to work. “I’m all grown up now, dad. Of course, I can do it.” Reina replied with a confident tone.  Her father laughed. “Oh. I haven’t noticed, because you are still a crybaby”, her father teased her like old times, when she was still his young little princess. They would talk until she fell asleep. Her father would put a blanket on her shoulders and think—"How could someone like her be my daughter? I’m so blessed to have her in my life." He smiled as he remembered watching his princess sleep like an angel.  He thought to himself— "Even though we don’t have wealth, I still have a wonderful child in front of me, willing to take care of everything for our family." He felt sorry for his precious little daughter for making her go through this situation. "If only I could be so competent in life, you wouldn’t have to experience all these hardships." The next day, she woke up and heard her mother calling her name. “REINA! Sweetie! Wake up! You have to get ready for work!” her mother shouted. She checked her phone. It was already past 7 am. She needs to get up quickly, or else she is going to be late. She quickly ran into the hospital’s bathroom and washed up. As she faced herself in the mirror, she thought—"What kind of other jobs can I handle after work?" She asked herself, "How can I manage two jobs when I'm already tired from one?" She shrugged it off for now and decided to think about it later since she's running late. She ran back to her father's bed and said, “Mom! I have to go. I’m late.” Her mom agreed and insisted on taking some of the food she prepared for breakfast, but she didn't. She knew that it wouldn't be enough for them. She figured that she could just grab something to eat on her way to work. When she arrived at work, she saw Mae walking towards the building. “Hey! Hey! Mae! Wait for me.” Reina yelled while running towards Mae. “Hey! What happened to you last night?! I was so worried. Who is in the hospital?” Mae replied with a loud voice. “Oh, I’m sorry. About that, dad got into an accident,” she replied. “Oh my god! Is he okay now?” Mae yelled out of worry. “Shhh. Keep it down. He’s okay now. He needs to rest for a few months. Ugh! I need a side job, Mae.” she replied with a sad voice. She is still problematic about where and what side job she’ll take that fits her schedule. “Hmm. I will ask my colleagues for recommendations, and oh! I almost forgot. Chris, message me. He’s asking me about you. He’s probably worried. Text him when you have time.” Mae said as she was walking away from Reina. “Okay! I will. See you later! Byeee!” She yelled as she waves her hand to Mae who’s walking away from her.  As she was walking towards her office, she checked her phone and saw a missed call from Chris, her boyfriend. She was going to text him when suddenly her co-worker called her. “Hey! Reina, the boss is looking for you. He needs a file, and nobody can find it. You better hurry.” her co-worker shouted like she was the boss. “Okay, I will.” Reina hurried to her table and looked for the file, and before she could find it, she saw her boss already reading it. She was so afraid that her boss might scold her. So she swiftly opens her computer and pretends to be busy working.  It was past 12nn when her co-worker called her. “Hey! Reina! Can you buy us this for lunch? Here’s the list and the money, you can buy yourself a meal too, if you want.”, her co-worker said with a bossy tone. “But I...”, before Reina could finish her sentence, her co-worker walked away as if she didn’t hear anything. She felt like she didn’t have a choice. She’s afraid that they will spread rumors about her attitude if she refuses. She has too much on her plate to argue with anyone, so she let it slide. On her way to the restaurant, she saw a student from behind. He is smoking in the alley, near a convenience store. She thought—this guy, he has a nice build, flawless skin, and nice hair. He is almost my type, but why does he smoke? What does smoking benefit him? I don’t understand. Before the man turned his head in her direction, she noticed a job post in the convenience store.