"Danaya Navaro, you won't believe the news I just heard," Suzie came running to her friend.
"Will I be happy with that news that you're bringing me, Suzanae Cruz?"
Suzie sighed, "Hmm, that I'm not sure."
"Suzie, we're at the hospital right now, make it quick. I still have rounds to do, you know."
"Naya, my dear friend, give yourself a break, have you had your lunch today? It's past 2 p.m., you're a doctor, you know that, right?" She said sarcastically.
Danaya and Suzanae, have been friends since they were fetus as they say since their mothers have been friends since high school, so they don't have much choice but to be together. This friendship is composed of three ladies. Their mother wanted to keep the friendship for generations and so they all planned to have babies at the same time and luckily it happened. They were raised as sisters.
"Naya and Suzie, you both are here I need to tell you both something," Hevn came running as well.
"Here comes another trouble," says Naya.
"You heard, too, Hevn?" asked Suzie as a matter of fact.
The people are starting to gather in the lobby of the hospital since Hevn arrived since she just won the Model of the Year in Men's Magazine in Suzie's company. They were trying to ask for some pictures in which she indulged. As they were planning to leave the lobby, they noticed media people outside the hospital.
"Hevn, there's media people outside maybe they are going to ask you why you're here."
"Stop it, girls. I'm not that famous." She said shyly. Then they heard Naya phone rang.
"Go ahead, Naya. Answer your phone." They say in unison.
"But you haven't tell me the new yet." She said.
"Our news can wait, go ahead."
"Doc, we need you here. 1 patient incoming." Says on the other line.
"I need to go," she mouthed.
"Do you think she will be happy with the news that we brought?" Hevn asked.
Suzie shrugged her shoulder as a response.
The double doors burst open.
"Motorcycle accident—male, mid-thirties! Possible fractures, head trauma!"
The gurney rushed in, wheels rattling against the hospital floor. Blood streaked across his sleeve, dried in places, fresh in others. His helmet was gone. His breathing came in shallow, uneven pulls.
"Stay with us," a nurse urged, pressing gauze against his temple.
His vision flickered white lights, shadows moving too fast. Voices overlapped, sharp and urgent, but none of them made sense. Not yet.
Until one did.
"Clear the hallway!"
That voice.
It cut through the chaos like something familiar something he hadn't heard in years but somehow never forgot.
His eyes struggled to focus as they wheeled him forward. The ceiling lights blurred past in long streaks, but then—
A figure stepped into view.
Still. Composed. In control.
Her.
For a second, he thought the accident had finally knocked him into some cruel dream.
She stood there in a white coat, hair tied back, eyes sharp with focus but when they landed on him, everything changed. Just for a fraction of a second.
Recognition.
Shock.
Then it was gone, replaced by professionalism.
"Vitals?" she asked, her voice steady too steady.
"BP's dropping. Pulse weak."
"Prep the ER. Now."
She moved alongside the gurney without hesitation, but he saw it the slight stiffness in her shoulders, the way her hands hovered just a moment too long before touching him.
He tried to speak. Her name sat heavy on his tongue, tangled with pain and disbelief.
Only a broken breath came out.
Her gaze flickered to his face again.
This time, it lingered.
"Don't talk," she said quietly, softer now. Not the doctor. Not entirely. "Save your strength."
But her eyes betrayed her.
Years ago, he had memorized that look.
The one she wore when she was trying not to feel too much.
As they pushed him into the emergency room, the doors swung shut behind them, sealing them in a space filled with urgency, machines, and everything left unsaid.
And just like that—
After years of distance, silence, and whatever had broken them apart ...
Fate had brought them back together.
In the worst possible way.
"On my count ... one, two, three."
They shifted him onto the narrow hospital bed. He groaned, the sound low and strained, his body protesting every movement.
"Possible rib fractures," someone said.
"Left arm, not responding," another added.
She didn't look away from him.
"Cut the sleeve," she ordered. "Let's get a clear view."
Fabric tore. His arm lay at an unnatural angle, already swelling.
"Start an IV. We need fluids running now."
Her voice was precise, controlled but inside, everything was unraveling.
Of all people.
Of all places.
Why him?
"Hey! Hey, stay with me," a nurse said, tapping his cheek lightly.
His eyes fluttered open again.
And found her.
This time, there was no mistaking it.
Even through the haze of pain, even with the room spinning and voices pressing in from every side—
He knew her.
Her name finally broke free, barely more than a whisper.
"...You..."
The word hit her harder than it should have.
She froze.
Just for a second.
"Doctor?" the nurse prompted.
She inhaled sharply, forcing herself back.
"I'm here," she said, but her voice had changed .. lower, softer, almost trembling at the edges. "Focus on me. Can you hear me?"
His lips parted, like he wanted to say more. Maybe her name. Maybe everything they never got to finish.
But the pain stole it from him.
His body jerked slightly as they examined his ribs.
"Easy," she murmured, placing a steady hand against his shoulder. "You're safe."
Safe.
The word felt like a lie between them.
Because years ago, she was the one who walked away.
"BP is stabilizing."
"Good. Let's prep for X-ray. I want scans on his chest and arm rule out internal bleeding."
She stepped back then, just enough to breathe.
Just enough to remember how to be a doctor instead of—
Whatever she used to be to him.