Eluding Facades

Chapter 8

The dark burgundy mazda moved through the country road as the occasional potholes jolts Gail's car every now and then. She fixed her gaze straight ahead as she grasped on the steering wheel. The peaceful scenery of the countryside stretched out in front of her. Quaint swathes of rolling green hills that rose and fell under the serene blue expanse of the early morning sky as soft wispy clouds gently sailed across it. The sun hovers above the vast velvet canvas like a majestic sphere, blanketing the land in its warm glow. Gail had left her windows opened and the air was crisp, also bringing forth a cooling relief to her skin.

She barely had time to register what was happening before something crashed against her car with a loud thud, making her abruptly stop the vehicle. Her eyes widened as the bull in front of her car stepped back before ramming into the car again. Her ears could make out the sound of her bumper being smashed, already surmising that there was a sizable dent forming in front of her mazda.

.

.

Nate was flipping through the pages of the patients' records, scouring through information that had to be kept up to date and assessing the vital signs of those still in their care when his phone suddenly buzzed inside his coat's pocket before the tinkling sound of his ringtone blared through its speaker, alerting him of a call. He automatically tapped the screen to answer said call, bringing the phone close to his ear, still engrossed with his task.

"Hello?" He immediately answered it, eyes still tracing over the words in the records.

The response he got from the other line had made him abruptly stop in the middle of flicking to another page of the record as he paused.

"What?"

"Okay, I'm on my way," He sputtered, hastily shoving the records inside his drawer as he hurriedly took off towards the exit of the clinic, making sure to grab his car keys that were sprawled on his table.

Dr. Rydemond had cocked a brow upon seeing the resident physician scurry through the hallways, urgency evident in his hurried steps, " Dr. Cantellou, where are you going?"

"There's an emergency," He took a moment to look back at the older physician, before dashing towards the glass doors," I'll be back after!"

He had clambered into his car before driving off to the place with a growl of his engine.

When he had arrived, he had quickly bolted out of his car after turning off the engine. From the corner of his eyes he caught sight of a bull and a cow grazing the nearby grass with the former being tied to a tree. Mr. Henderson from the close by farm was watching the two animals from his perch on the rickety fence and had greeted him upon noticing the resident physician to which he had responded with a quick yet polite greeting of his own.

The dark burgundy car with a smashed bumper and headlights with a dented hood didn't escape his attention. The once intact bumper was cracked so badly and was practically torn from the car, barely hanging from a small piece that was connected to the vehicle.

Gail had been gripping the steering wheel so tightly that he surmised her nails were rigidly digging into the vinyl surface. She had lowered her face to said steering wheel so it had been impossible for him to see the expression on her face. There was an unmistakable slump to her shoulders as if something was weighing her down.

She had practically jumped from her seat when he had pulled open the door to her passenger seat, automatically looking up with a guarded expression. However, she eventually relaxed when she realized it was just him.

"Are you okay?" He had climbed into the passenger seat and closed the door from beside him.

"Aside from being attacked by a bull and have my car severely damaged?" A forced chuckle escaped her lips and he couldn't help but notice the way her words wavered at the end," Yeah, I'm fine. Great. Just Great."