Hunting for Shadows (JaThea Fanfic)

Missing

San Martin Outskirts. 7 a.m. December 2. Day 33 as a volunteer.

------------------------------------

It was a gloomy Thursday morning. Althea savored the cool breeze as she walked across the grasslands. It was her day off and she's finally going home. Although still within San Martin, the Guevarras' residence was far from town, just like the hospital (which was built on private land donated by a rich widower to the local government). Their house however, stood on a small patch of land which her father inherited from her grandparents. There were only a few houses in that area and was full of large old trees. The place was already near the mountains and there's no other way to get there aside from riding a tricycle (which was rare) or by foot. 

The stoney pathway lead Althea to a gate. She opened it, went inside and hurried to the main door then into the dining room where her family usually stayed around that time. Althea raised an eyebrow. 

"'Tay?.."

"Migoy?.."

There was no one there except for her.

A pot of water was left boiling over the gas stove. She turned it off and poured the hot water in a cup to make some coffee. 

Minutes passed and she already finished her coffee, there were still no signs of Tatay and Migoy. Althea was getting worried. They're not returning her calls or text messages either.

She called Ate Linda's phone.

"Relax Althea, maybe they just need to run some errands in town. You know your Tatay, he forgets things sometimes. They'll be back. "

"Alright, maybe they're just busy and haven't noticed my messages? How's Jade?" 

"Not talking.. but atleast she ate her breakfast."

  Ate Linda paused and was hestitant at first. "You know what Thea? Her wounds are healing fast! Even Doc's surprised. Now don't you worry about her, okay?" 

"Really? At last some good news!.. Okay see you on Saturday then, Thanks Ate Linda." 

"Bye dear! Get some sleep!"  Ate Linda scolded and ended the call.

Althea happily collapsed in her bed. Fatigue from all those stressfull events finally took a toll on her body. She slowly drifted into a deep slumber as she recalled her conversation with the lovely patient before she went home.

--------------------------------------

That Morning at the Hospital.

--------------------------------------

"Al-thea?.. What time is it? " Jade groggily rubbed her eyes to shake the sleep away. She saw Althea sitting on the hospital bed beside hers. The nurse's aide was writing something on a notebook.

Althea glanced at her watch. "It's 5:30 a.m. Still early, go back to sleep." She was drowsy but was able to force a smile, then she continued writing. Althea snoozed for an hour while Jade was asleep but decided to stay awake so she can easily wake Jade up incase the nightmares start.

Jade snapped her fingers which caught Althea's attention.

 "You need to rest. Go home, I'll be fine." Jade said calmly.

"Hmm?.. Did you..did you had that dream again?"  Althea barely understood what Jade said. She was so tired and was trying to keep her eyes open.

Jade shook her head.

 "No." 

"See? There's no nightmares when we're together."  The nursing assistant handed the paper to the patient. It was a doodle of a girl in a garden.