She sank into the sofa, tired. Her eyes slowly closing while her mind drifted far away. Click. The door opened without another sound. A masked woman stepped into Lucia’s home with a pistol in hand. She took one quick look around and spotted her prey, slouched over in the sofa with her mouth wide open allowing drops of drool to escape. In a split second, there was a gun pressed to the judge’s head. The stranger then grabbed Lucia’s throat and began to squeeze. The lack of air caused her to awaken with fear in her eyes. She tried to scream for help but to no avail. All that escaped was a desperate rasp of air. This was it. She had been warned about the dangers of justice but paid no real attention. “Lucia?” someone called in the distance. It was her neighbor, Matthew. Aware of the situation, the stranger squeezed harder until all that she saw was complete darkness and felt the brunt of a metallic object slam into her head. As she lost consciousness, she heard a frantic but distant calling of her name. He had arrived.
It was raining when they arrived at the hospital. Upon opening the ambulance doors, the environment flooded his senses. It was all too much. The rush of wheels on ceramic tiles, nurses’ calls for gurneys and the fluorescent lights that shone from the hospital windows and doors.
They hurriedly entered the city’s most prominent hospital, the Angels of Mercy Hospital, situated in the heart of the city amidst the hustle and bustle.
“She was found passed out on a chair in her home due to asphyxiation and there’s a contusion on her head from what looks like the barrel of a gun,” the paramedic reported to the doctor as they strode down the hallway with the patient. “Thank you,” the doctor replied as she disappeared behind a set of heavy swing doors. The paramedic held Matthew back indicating that he was not permitted to go beyond this point. He stared into the hallway behind the doors and sighed.
That night, the rain had pelted outside of the hospital and left a chill in the air. Matthew sat in the waiting area of the emergency room, worried. After five hours of sleep in discomfort, a nurse approached and tapped him on the shoulder, waking him up. It was like the prick of a needle on your skin. He sat up groggily but immediately. “Your friend is awake. You can see her now,” the nurse said slowly. Matthew looked around the room at the sleeping bodies slouched over in chairs as he was only a few minutes ago, then followed the nurse. Lucia sat in the hospital bed covered in white like an angel. For a moment, he thought that he was dreaming then she spoke, “What are you staring at dummy?” He took a good look at her then they both laughed. Immediately afterwards, she clutched her head in pain. The nurse rushed to her side then warned the two of the damage that had been done to her head. Matthew looked at Lucia sadly. He had warned her to take precautions for her safety but Lucia was as hard-headed as a teenager. She had gotten a death threat approximately two weeks ago but believed that like all the others, nothing would come of it. It was surely a lesson learnt but that was not the end of her worries. Suddenly, she felt small droplets of water on her head. Confused, she looked up to see a brown, wet spot on the ceiling. Matthew’s eyes followed hers and immediately, he went to alert the nurse. When he arrived, it was too late. The ceiling had collapsed and Lucia had disappeared. The pelting of rain drops haunted him from that very day. On rainy days, he felt Lucia’s presence, playful and daring him to venture after her.
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