| Fan Fiction |
by Acc.
Hebe sucked on her bubble tea as she stared at the computer screen with her blood-shot eyes. It was a quarter past nine on a lonely Friday night. She was among the few who were still working when everyone else are preparing for a relaxing weekend with their loved ones. Hebe was an editor for a popular entertainment magazine, and that was probably the only thing she is proud of. Sure she should be, promoted from a ordinary journalist to the editor she is now all in a matter of a year is something not many others can achieve. Other than that, well, that's about all...
She was quite a loner and does not seem to have much close friends. It could be the result of her unfortunate childhood. She was an orphan brought up by her Aunt. She never knew who her real father was and her mother committed suicide shortly after she was born.
"Hmm...umhmm...I miss you too, dear. Sorry I can't be with you tonight, but I promise I'll make it up to you tomorrow?" A giggle followed. "Love you too, honey..." The sweet-nothings came from the other partition beside Hebe's desk. Hebe pouted her lips and covered her ears with both hands. How disgusting can this people get? Can't they live one day without love? Do they have to keep reminding her about her 'love-less' life? She frowned and went back to her scripts.
'He lowered his head and kissed her lips, his hands caressed her cheeks and-'
"AAAAAARRRRRRRR!!!" Hebe let out a long high-pitched scream and buried her pale face into her hands. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!! Can't authors these days write about anything else? Anything else at all?!! "LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!!I HATE LOVE!!" Hebe screamed into her hands. From the other side of the partition, her colleague stood up and peered over the wall with her phone still at her ear.
"What's wrong with you? Scaring the hell out of everyone. People who doesn't know this weird habit of yours will think this place is haunted."
"Why do I have to be in charge on the Love & Horoscope column?" Hebe complained for the n-th time ever since she became the chief editor for that pull-out guide in E-Weekly magazine.
"Now that's a question I've been asking myself too..." Her colleague mumbled matter-of-factly. "Everyone knows you've never been in love before, BUT Boss still gives you that column..." She teased, but changed her tone almost immediately when she caught Hebe's glare, "Hey, don't glare at me, you don't know how lucky you are to have that column, everyone of us wish so much to be in your place..." Her colleague hid back into her cubicle and continued her lovey-dovey whisperings on the phone.
To HELL with love! She can live life happily with or without love! Hebe thought and sucked hard at her bubble tea, choking on the pearls.
- - -
Hebe got down the bus and walked into the alley leading to her apartment she had rented ever since she moved out of her Aunt's place. She let the night breeze mess up her hair and looked up at the night sky above her head. It was clear and red, dotted with diamond-like stars. She was so engrossed in her star-gazing she did not notice what was in front of her. Her feet tripped over somethingm causing her to fall face down on the ground.
"Arr..." She let out a shriek as she felt a burning sensation on her face. "My face.." She moaned and supported herself up using her bruised hands and sat on the ground. She took off her glasses and examined them. The left lens had cracked due to the fall and the frames were crooked. Bearing the pain, she stood up and brushed the dust off her faded jeans.
Suddenly, she heard a groan from below, then a hand grabbed her ankle.
"ARRR!!Let go!!" She kicked the hand away and took a few steps back and examined the thing on the ground. She could see the faint shape of a human under the moonlight. The body was motionless but was still breathing faintly. Judging from the length of the body and the broad shoulders of the figure, Hebe knew that that was a body of a man although she couldn't much make out his facial features. He had bruises and injuries all over his face and body. Meticulously, she tiptoed towards the body, as if afraid that he would spring to life if she made too much noise.
"Hello?Sir?.." She squatted beside him. "Excuse me, Sir?Are you okay?" Hebe reached out a trembling finger and poked his arm. Seeing no reaction from him, she started to shake his shoulders. "Sir?SIR!!!" Finally, the man seem to regain consciousness. "You're awake? Are you okay?Do you need me to call the ambulance?"
Ignoring her cries, the man shifted his gaze to something dangling in front of him. He followed its motion as the thing swayed left and right on Hebe's neck as she shook him. He opened his mouth to say something but no sound came out. He summoned all his strength and raised his hand to grab the thing hanging from Hebe's neck.
Hebe watched in shock as a bloody hand reached forward and grabbed her jade pendant. The man grasped it tightly in his hand and tried to tug it off her neck.
"What are you doing?!STOP IT! Let go!!" She shrieked and tried to grab the necklace away from his hand. The metal chain cut through her skin, the painful feeling made her panicked even more.
"Mi..mine.." She heard the man mumbled as she bent lower and lower towards him.
Frantically, she waved her knuckles at the man's face and hit him on his left cheekbone where a bruise had been. The man let out a groan and released his grasp on her necklace before slowly slipping back to unconsciousness. Hebe rubbed her bruised neck and stared at the man.
What is he doing here?Lying on the ground with injuries all over the body? Hebe took out her mobile phone and dialed for an ambulance.
- - -
Hebe followed beside the nurses as they wheeled the injured stranger through the glass doors of the hospital.
"Is he okay?" Hebe peered at the man's face. She was able to see his features more clearly now that they were in a brightly-lit environment.
"We'll know only when we examine his injuries." A male nurse answered as he pushed open the doors of the operating theatre. He looked at Hebe, then motioned to one of his colleagues, "Dress her wounds."
"Ah?No,no need...Just some scratches..." Hebe shook her head furiously but the nurse led her into another room anyway.
Hebe followed reluctantly into the room and walked towards a mirror on the wall. Her jaw dropped open the moment she saw her own reflection in the mirror.
"My goodness!!My face!!What happened to my face!?" She stared in horror at her bruised face. The rough surface of the ground had rubbed against her skin and caused them to blees on her forehead,nose and chin. The bruises formed a neat straight line that divided her face into equal halves. The nurse snifled a laughter and ordered Hebe to sit still as she dressed her wounds."Why am I so unlucky? I'm already not very pretty and something like that have to happen to my face!?" Hebe mumbled to herself and touched her cheeks.
"Okay,done!" The nurse said a few minutes later. "It's just an external injury, remember to change the bandage regularly and keep them away from water. Don't let them leave a scar on your face..." The nurse reminded Hebe as she led her out of the room.
"Er, may I know which ward the guy I came with is in?"
"Erm, that I'm afraid you might have to ask the receptionist at the lobby..."
- - -
Hebe walked through the corridor and looked for the no. 318 ward that she was told the man was resting in. She stopped outside the ward. There were voices coming from the room.
"How did this happen? Wasn't anyone with him when he was attacked?Did he made any enemies recently?I want you to find out who his attackers were..." The voice sounded agitated and worried. Hebe peeped into the ward through the small glass window. The voice belonged to a very young man, probably in his early 20s. He was talking to another man in black in his 30s. "And...I want you to keep this away from Grandpa and Grandma..." The young man shifted his gaze onto the patient on the bed and sighed. The elders are probably going to go crazy if they ever knew their beloved grandson was attacked.
Hebe backed away from the ward. She'd better not go in. His relatives are here to take care of him now, why should she care whether his injuries are serious or not? It's none of her business now.
By the time, she reached home, it was already way past midnight...