RIX P.O.V

The man beside me said, "Would he be just fine if this man killed me?

I want to shout at them, but I am too afraid because they're holding a gun right now. I can feel that I am too powerless and that I am just a small prey standing between them.

"I will shoot her." Said the man in front of me again.

No, please… Don't shoot me! Please! Don't do this to me; I am innocent!

"I told you I don't care if you shoot her, so do it."

The man beside us points the gun he is holding at the man in front of me.

What is he doing?

Isn't he supposed to help me? I didn't do anything wrong to deserve this!

I look at him with pleading eyes, but he seems not to notice me because his attention is directed to the man in front of me.

"Shoot her; I will kill you no matter what anyway." The man in front of me looks hesitant. He looks mad, but there's something in his eyes that shows that he is having a hard time shooting me.

Please don't shoot me!

I close my eyes, as I don't want to see this anymore. I could not understand what was going on here, but why do they have to let it out on someone innocent? I don't know what to do anymore. I just continued closing my eyes, but then I heard a loud bang on the floor, as if something heavy had been dropped from above.

I open my eyes, but the man in front of me is no longer there.

My eyes landed on the man beside me. He is now putting his gun in his pocket.

What happened?

Then my eyes landed on the floor, and my eyes widened when I saw the man who was pointing his gun towards me just a while ago now lying on the floor.

Blood is flowing from his head while his eyes are still open.

W-what…

I heard the man beside me leave the restroom. I followed him with my eyes because my body couldn't move.

When he was not here anymore, my eyes turned back to the man on the floor. That's when I realized what had happened.

"Ahhh!"

I started screaming as if there was no tomorrow. I ran outside, shouting that a man was lying on the floor because he had been shot.

Nurses and other people gather around me, asking what happened. I tell them what happened, and they immediately call a guard.

They asked me to come with them because I am a witness, but when we reached the restroom where the shooting happened, the person lying on the floor was not there anymore.

"You said there's a person here?"

Asked the hospital's guard.

"There is!"

I'm sure of it!

"He even pointed his gun toward me!"

How did this happen?

There's not even a blood stain here!

"But there's no one here, Rix." Josefina, Andrei's nurse, tends to me.

"But-"

"I think you're just stressed because of Andrei; I think you need to rest first." I couldn't get myself to talk.

I know what happened! I know what I saw! It was just here a while ago; they even want to kill me!

People started to gather around us.

They are whispering about what happened, but I can hear them talking about how insane I am to shout like that, but it turns out that I am just lying.

No! I am not lying. I am telling the truth!

I wanted to explain to them what happened and that I was not fooling them, but then Josefina came to me.

"Should I accompany you to Andrei's room, Miss Rix?"

I still want to talk to them and explain my side, but I can't get any strength from my body.

I feel like any time now, my body will fall.

So instead of debating, I decided to go back to my room.

"Yes please…"

I told her, and she guided me to Andrei's room.

No one's talking while we're walking, but when we get to his room, Josefina taps my shoulder.

"I know that you are stressed right now, Miss Rix, but don't worry because the doctors are doing their best to treat your brother. Trust your brother; he is strong like you, so you should rest for now."

I nodded my head.

I couldn't understand what was happening.

As soon as she got out of the room, I collapsed on the floor. There is no strength in my body anymore, but I can still feel my body trembling.

Is that just a dream? But that looks real—the feeling and their faces. I could still remember it. I could still remember their voices. How come that's just a dream? Did I hallucinate? I closed my eyes. I don't know anymore.

I want to go and wait for Andrei outside the operating room, but now I can't stand it. There is so much that has happened to me, and I don't know if I can still face it when something happens to Andrei.

I don't know if I could still stand it if he chose to leave me.

I couldn't contain my tears. They started falling again. I am so frustrated about everything around me that it made me cry.

Everything is a mess.

But all I can do right now is pray.

Please… Don't take my brother away from me.

Please… Let him live with me. I still need him, please.

**

After a few minutes, I went back to where Charis was.

"Charis… He's still not okay?"

Why is the operation taking so long?

I started to be teary, and the sob spontaneously came out of my mouth.

Charis comforted me and hugged me. I didn’t hear a word from her, but I could feel her little cry. The woman probably didn't even know what to say.

How many times has this happened? I felt discouraged. I no longer knew where else I would get the courage to continue. It seems that my brother is the one who gives up on his own. The pain...

We waited another hour before the doctor finally came out. We immediately stood up after seeing him.

"Doc"

I prepared myself for whatever he would say, but I prayed it wasn’t bad news. Full of hope, I looked at him.

I just breathed a sigh of relief as it smiled.

"He's safe now."

Charis and I smiled simultaneously when we heard, "Thank you, Doc!" We are grateful.

As in the past, he told us what we needed to do before he left.

We first waited for Andrei to move into his room before entering it.

He's just like the first time he had surgery. His skin grew even paler in the little time we didn’t meet.

"Andrei..." I called him.

I held his hand but had no reaction. Charis handed me a handkerchief. I didn't realize that I was crying.

"Charis…"

I couldn't take it anymore. I'm longing for a hug from Charis, and she immediately gave it.

"Rix…"

She hugged me tightly.

"It's okay, Andrei is okay... " He will wake up soon."

After a while, Charis couldn't hide her tears either. We cried for a few hours before settling down.

Charis stayed in Andrei's room until nightfall.
I decided not to go home first because I would be with Andrei.

I paid Andrei's bills before midnight. My last funds had vanished. I took a deep breath since Madam's bonus had also run out.

That whole night, I could not sleep.

"ARE YOU SURE?" I am now facing Madam Glo in her office.

Though hesitant, I nodded.

"Yes, ma'am, I need it," she said, giving me a sincere look.

The next day, I went to the bar an hour before my shift. I talked to Madam Glo about the extra services here at the bar. I need money now, and my income as a waitress will not be enough. The periodic VVIPs that will be given to me are even less rare.

I'm worried that I won't have any money if something happens to Andrei again.

"All right, since it came from you, but don't worry, I won't put you in harm's way." It touched my hand.

I was thankful for it before leaving. There was still time left before I could get ready for my shift. I sat on the edge of the windowsill. Now that I had told Madam that I would receive extra service, I could no longer back down.

Madame won't put me in anything that might hurt me at the bar. I just took my time to calm down.

"RIX, table number 5!"

"Coming!" I immediately returned to the bar counter and picked up the wine orders before bringing them to table 5.

It was ten o'clock at night, and the bar was vivacious. Some make out on the side, and some are just drunk but dancing.

After I took the order, I went back to the counter. I saw Josefina, a stripper, here at the club.

"Hi, Fina!" I greeted.

"Hi, girl!"

We were screaming because the music was loud.

"What happened to your eyeshadow?"

"Huh, why!?"

She moved her face a little closer to me and said, "Unequal! You look like a zombie!"

We laugh at each other.

"Oh my!"

I just laughed before saying goodbye and going to the dressing room.

The dressing room is at the end of the bar, so a pretty long walk was all I had to do.

"That's why other customers looked at me weirdly before. Maybe they think I'm weird."

As I walked, I wondered why I was not well positioned.

I was close to the dressing room when I saw a giant's shadow. I closed my eyes a little, thinking I could see it better. The light in the hallway was not that bright, but with the help of the bright moon, I could see a little of its bulk. It was big.

I suddenly felt terrified. Isn't it a folkloric giant? And is he here to get girls? I slowly approached it. I tried to silence my footsteps. I hid on the side; my body was small, so I was not noticeable. I’m sure it’s not from here. No big people work here at the bar.

I glanced at the shadow. The folklore giant was not carrying any tobacco. It moved and walked, its direction being towards the back of the bar, just next to the dressing room. Every step of it is my next step. I'm following that creature.

Where is he going?

Before leaving the corridor, I brought several sharp objects with me; they stated it was alright to be safe, 'right?'

I followed it slowly. It twisted, so I hastened the step a little, but I couldn't see anything when I arrived at the corner.

"Where is that?"

Frustrated, I turned my head, terrified again. Maybe that's not human! How can it disappear immediately when the distance between me coming here and his turn is not far?

It was dark, and you couldn’t hear a crackle or footsteps. Assuming it wasn't a human, I decided to go back inside the bar. Let go of that eyeshadow. I'll fix it next time.

I quickly turned away, but my fear seemed to leave my soul in my earthly body. Standing now in front of me is the bulk I follow. My body stiffened. I cannot talk. It just stood where it was while I gaped.

It moved as my brain processed it. My mouth was ready to scream, but it quickly covered it with its big hand, preventing me from shouting.

To my nervousness, my feet seemed to soften, but I suddenly felt like my body was floating in the air as the dark welcomed me.

When I opened my eyes, I saw the ceiling of the bar.

"Are you alright?" Madam Glo was the one who spoke to me.

"What happened?"

She told me that she found me lying outside, and then I remembered how I got there.

I told her everything I saw last night.

"Alright, I will look into it, but you shouldn't do anything like that again, understand?"

I nodded.

I know that it's dangerous, but I'm just concerned about the bar and its people.

What would happen if that strange man did something here while there were so many people?

Not only the people inside working will be affected, but the reputation of the bar will be affected as well if any of the customers get hurt.

This is a newly built bar. It hasn't been long since it was established, but it is making a name now, but the trust of the people is still not solid enough to defend the bar if something like that happens.

After talking to my mother, I decided to go home because I felt like I needed to rest.