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What a beautiful laughter on such a pretty face...

"Van, that's terrible," she said as she looked at the photograph together with Pen, after they both received the posted photo album from their friend. It was unique to say that Jennifer was the only person who called him by the name of Van.

At hearing what Jennifer just said, Pen frowned. "Terrible?"

"Your face in this photo." She looked at him, smiling. Pen's grinning face looked like he had food stuffed in his mouth that he had not swallowed but still tried to be covered up by showing his full capped teeth as he smiled, of which, he was not even eating anything at the time the picture was taken.

"How could you say that?? I look handsome in here! Like the most handsome guy ever seen in a photo! And you, you're like an angel with your beautiful smile... though, you're dressed in black."

Jennifer laughed. "Okay, my face looks good, not yours." She shook her head with a smile. "Honestly, keep admitting that you're handsome..." Again, she laughed.

Looking at her laughing, Pen grinned wide. Love your laughter... "Well, it can't be helped, since I AM like the cutest guy alive."

She raised her eyebrows as she took a few steps backward, away from Pen who was the one holding the photo album now. "Give me a break already..." She began walking away. "Gotta run from your obnoxious attitude. I'm hungry anyway."

Pen was sorta drifting in his own world, not realising what Jennifer just said. He kept thinking about her smile and smiling to himself as he kept looking at the picture of the two of them, taken in a cafe near to Sussex University.

"...Van? I'm going to eat..." Jennifer took a look at him before leaving his house, when he did not respond to her but only smiled all by himself. She smiled, although she felt weird about him. "I thought you're gonna eat lunch with me like you said you would. See you, then."

Ahh... you're beautiful. "Funny black dress though, what you wore in this photo." Pen looked away from the picture to say something more to her, only to find that she was no longer in his sight, and the door of his big house was open.

"Later!" Jennifer said out loud from outside, walking away.

Eh? When did she leave?

He closed the album and put it on the couch near where he was standing. Then he ran out - wanting to chase her and go where she was going, first saying goodbye to his maid who was far away in the kitchen. It was what he had always been doing before leaving the house - where his parents and his three younger brothers live in (plus his younger brother's dog named Maxi). He might not look like he was loaded, but he definitely came from a wealthy family.

"Hey wait up there! I'm coming with ya!"

Suddenly he felt a painful hit at his stomach - waking him up from sleep.

"You're asking me to wait now? Are you really coming this time?" Matsumoto asked him just as he opened his big hazel eyes to look at the one standing by his bed. He got hit by Matsumoto, yet again. As always, calling out his name never worked to wake him up, so it had to be hitting him or shaking his leg or things like that, to get him out of his slumberland.

Oh damn. Matt instead.

"I'm not going... don't touch me." He yawned as he turned his body over to the left, away from Matsumoto. "Need sleep..."

Matsumoto sighed. "Fine." He left Pen's room with his door left open, as he was in a hurry and he was late to go to class. Usually it was the two of them going together, as they both had the same schedule, either by his motorbike or Pen's car, but this time he had to go alone. It was not the first time, though. Pen had skipped classes more often than any of his friends ever did. It was something that his housemates had all come to be accustomed to.

Pulling his dark blue blanket to cover his whole body underneath it, Pen whined to himself. He was cursing Matsumoto deep in his heart for waking him up from what he thought was a "wonderful dream".

Let the dream continue, please! I wanna see her again.

"..awake.. awaken... she's awakened," a young blond girl's voice spoke to him as he stood still anxiously.

"Conscious. She's conscious, my friend," said another guy he recognised from his lecture hall, or so, he thought.

"....waking up! She's waking up!" He could hear that voice clearly ahead of him, sounding all so excited. Matsumoto was standing by the side of the bed with the the doctor, nurses and of course, Ethan, who was looking too hopeful to say anything - only getting closer to the bed hoping she would wake up soon.

From where he was standing, Pen knew something big was going to happen. Something he thought was hopeless to ever happen after such a long time.

Jen...

Not realising it, he was beginning to have water in his eyes. Seeing the excitement by Matsumoto ahead of him, he ran over to them - he could not wait to see Jennifer wake up. But just as he was going over toward them, all of them turned around to look at him with serious expressions on their faces - slowly, started to vanish into thin air before he could get to them.

Pen opened his eyes wide and threw his blanket far away from his bed. Thinking back, he had not waken up so peacefully from weird dreams like he did this time (such as yelling things, etc). He had a strange, different feeling today. Remembering the detail of his dream, he felt like something had already happened at the hospital with Jennifer. He knew he had to be there.

He changed his clothes and reached for the car keys. At that, he left the apartment and left for the hospital without wasting much more time.

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"Hi there!"

Nisa was stunned from reading a magazine, not realising that someone entered her ward, who suddenly said hi to her. It was 3 pm on a Tuesday afternoon, and she had been better than before. She was speaking more words than the previous days she was there, and her weak body was getting healthier.

"Didn't mean to surprise you," Brian said. "I'm here with Sarah. She went to the toilet. She'll be here in a while." He sat down, barely smiling. "We just finished class. How are ya now?"

She stared at him, speechless. That was the first time Brian came over to her ward, and the second time she ever met him. Getting nervous at that, and also because her hair was still open and not covered, looking messy, she put the magazine over her head and simply smiled.

I don't think you're okay... he thought, knowing what had happened so far with her as explained briefly by Sarah a few days earlier.

"Em.." She took the magazine from top of her head and put it on her lap - it looked weird and still, it was not like it could hide her long, thick, messy hair. "Sorry bout that."

"You didn't do anything. Just relax for the moment."

"Maybe." She tried to sit up straight. "But you know something? I can smell smoke from you."

Brian was kinda surprised at that remark, but not too much. It was just that he did not expect that to come from someone like her.

"Yea? I just took a smoke before I came here," he replied stiffly. "Just another shitty day in class, really."

Nisa just nodded her head. "If you can believe me, I really understand that feeling."

He looked at her, confused. Strange way to put it, I'd say.

"If you would allow it, can you give me one of your cigars?" she asked.

That question really put him in a big surprise. "Say what??"

"It's strange but, I can pay you for it... once I have my purse back."

He leaned closer to her. "Lady, for one thing, you don't smoke. Second, this is a hospital and you're in it so no smoking here. Third, I don't charge people for cigars-"

The door was opened and Sarah showed up. "Hey guys!"

The two looked over at her for a second before looking at each other again. Brian was with his usual no smiley face. "... and fourth, Sarah should be furious if I gave it to you. You'd know that a whole lot better," he said almost in whispered voice. Nisa did not respond to that but just kept quiet.

Nuts. Why would she ever wanna try that? She's not that kind of girl who likes such thing.

Sarah stood by the bedside, all sweaty and almost out of breath. "Did I miss any hot topic or anything?"

"You kidding? I don't know what we've been talking about, really," Brian said, pretending to laugh. Nisa turned her attention to Sarah, wanting to ask something.

"Have you been able to contact Joey?"

Sarah was puzzled on how to answer that question as she did not know where he was. Joey had been unreachable ever since the day Nisa last saw him outside the restaurant with a backpack across the street, and apparently nobody seemed to know where he had been to and for whatever reason that he went away.

Looking at her silence, Nisa already knew the answer to her question. "Can't believe this. What's happening?"

"Nisa, look here," Sarah sat by the bedside, "I'm sure we'll know something soon."

"I don't know..."

"We'll keep praying, ok?"

Sarah leaned closer to her and hugged her as to give her support, while Nisa was beginning to cry, yet again.

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"I'm here with you."

Joey smiled (without knowing he was doing so). There he stood in front of her, after looking for her for two days, getting lost up here and there trying to find where she lives. There he was, tired and sleepy yet he felt glad now that he had found her.

She got out from her house, running to get to him. "You found me!"

"Finally. Like, so damn hard."

"Great! I haven't seen you in a long time. Miss you."

He stared at her for a while... and walked off ahead to her house on his own.

"Aren't you gonna say you miss me back?"

"No. I'm thirsty. Your parents aren't home, right?"

Rina followed him from the back. "No... hey, wait!"