Caroline woke up slightly light-headed this morning. She had been feeling sick for a week now. Maybe she contracted some flu caused by being over fatigue. She badly wanted to call for a sick leave at work but she couldn't bare to do so.
If she stopped working even for a day, her mom who was lying in a vegetative state for a year and a half now might die. Therefore, taking a day-off at work was not in her vocabulary.
So she did her usual morning routine and fixed herself as she got ready for her day to officially start.
When she saw Tim, the cafe attendant who was on dayshift duty entered the door, Caroline then grabbed her bag and was about to leave when Tim greeted her. Tim was also the nephew of the cafe owner. He's such a fine looking man. Twenty-three years old. With masculine build body and beautiful and attractive green eyes. Well, he's okay aside from the deep ugly scar on his right cheek. His curly hazelnut colored hair was tied in a short ponytail behind his back.
"Good morning Carol."
However Caroline didn't answer him back. Like her usual response whenever he would greet her, she would just looked down and walked away. It's not that she hated him. She just felt uncomfortable around him. Caroline was sure that it was not because of his scar bit because of the air around him.
Also, after the things that happened to her family, Caroline never dared to look on everyone in the face except for a few people.
Caroline went to her usual route going to the hospital. It had been a year since she left her life in the city and moved into this peaceful town where no one recognized them. She had also transferred her mother into the best hospital here which service was not inferior to her former one.
Her mom had been declared in a vegetative state for a year and a half now and only the life-support kept her alive.
The doctors advised her to let her mom go so that she won't be burdened by her hospitalization expenses.
However, Caroline would always say no every time. She was hopeful that her mom would turn the tables and beat the odds.
She could not bare to let go of her mom. She's the only family that she had left in this world. Her father died in prison, her paternal grandparents abandoned them. And her mom was said to be an orphan from this town.
Caroline was then greeted by the guards on duty by the entrance of the hospital. Particularly this senior guard.
"Good morning Carol." The guard on duty said.
"Good morning Chief Ron."
Ron was one of the few people whom she would exchange a few words.
Ron was the chief guard in the hospital who was living on the house beside the internet cafe she was working at night. He was also the one who recommended her of the job. So she owed him a lot.
"Visiting your mom again?" Ron asked her.
"Yeah."
"I hope your mom will wake up soon sweetie." Ron said.
"I hope so too, Chief Ron."
"Here." Ron then handed her a cup of hot chocolate for Caroline to drink.
"Thank you. I'll pay you later after my shift is over." Caroline accepted the cup and then turned around and leave.
This was how her morning would usually start.
Caroline then looked at her watch and saw that she only had thirty minutes left before her shift in the coffee shop would start.
As she stood in front of her mother's room, Caroline heaved a huge sigh as she opened the knob of her mother's room.
Caroline slowly walked towards the empty space beside her mom's hospital bed and sit down there.
"Mom." Caroline softly called hoping that her mom would open her eyes every time she would call her.
"Mom, you know what? Chief Ron once again gave me a cup of hot chocolate. You should meet him Mom. He always reminds me of Dad when he's still alive. He's always been good to me though I am literally a stranger to him."
The door opened and the nurse holding a basin and a clean towel entered her mom's room.
Her name's Judi. She's the nurse who had been in-charge of her mom's needs since she arrived here.
Judi was Ron's daughter. And she treated Caroline like her younger sister.
Caroline was only nineteen and would be turning twenty next month. However, she looked like ten years older than her age because she had barely no time for herself.
Her long blonde hair was tied in a low ponytail like the usual and she's wearing the usual set of clothes she would usually wear everyday before changing into her coffee shop uniform. Though she looked simply and neat, she had a very attractive beauty which captivated the hearts of the young lads in town.
Rosario was a the Northernmost town of Bridgestone Province of Country Z.
It was such a small town that almost everyone knew each other. The people here were very friendly and very welcoming. It was such close knitted community. They would not ask the new comers in this town about their life before they came here. This town was dubbed as a town of new beginning.
Well, most of the people living here were mostly victims of their pasts and had found their new life here.
This was one of the reasons why she decided to continue their life here aside from the fact that her mom had once lived in an orphanage here.
Compared to the Capital City where she had come from, Rosario was so peaceful.
"Are you okay?" Judi worriedly asked Caroline when she saw how pale she was today.
"I'm fine. I'm just slightly under the weather these days." Caroline timidly answered.
"Are you sure? Do you want me to phone your workplace?"
"No! Don't. I'm sorry Judi but I have to go now. I'll be late if I'll stay more. Please take care of my Mom for me." Caroline felt sad when she saw that she only had nine minutes more to go. She wanted to stay more but she couldn't.
"Don't worry. I'll take care of Mrs. Lopez." Judi reassured.
"Thank you."
"You don't have to thank me. It's my job. However, Carol, please take a rest if you're tired. Your body must be complaining to you now. Even a machine would overheat sometimes. What more us? Mrs. Lopez would be fine. You already paid at least one month worth of her hospital billing in advance. If you'll get sick, you could not go to work for days, worse for a week and worst, a month." Judi adviced her.
"I understand." Caroline said as she planted a soft kiss on her mother's forehead.
"Mom, I'll comeback again tomorrow okay? I love you."
Caroline immediately wiped the tears in her eyes as she didn't want her mom to see that she's crying.
Caroline left the hospital with a heavy heart.
When she arrived at the coffee shop which was a few blocks away from the hospital, her colleagues were already there.
"Oh...good morning Carol!" Laura, the one in-charge in the cash registry greeted her.
"Good morning." She answered back.
"Hi pretty Carol. How's your day." Jimmy, her active suitor for a year now greeted her with a big smile in the face.
However, Caroline had ignored him instantly.
"Jimmy, dude! Are you still pursuing Carol? It was as clear as day that she didn't like you." Mark, who was the barista in the counter interrupted him.
"It's none of your business whether I'd keep on pursuing her or not!" Jimmy refuted him.
"Chill. I'm just giving you a piece of advice. Don't take it the wrong way." Mark defended himself.
This two men were also good-looking. However, Caroline was not interested to any of them.
She felt like her heart had become numb with the pain that she could not afford to accept another person in her life.
Caroline immediately went to the ladies room and changed into her staff uniform. She tied her hair in a bun and wore a hair net. She also wear her blue apron and tied it in place behind her.
She looked at her haggard-looking face in front of the mirror and forced her tired face to smile.
Caroline took her first order of the day.
It was a black coffee being served on the table by the glass wall close to the sidewalk.
"Here's your order Mr. Timothy Blake." Caroline read on the note being stuck on the paper.
It was the first time that he had seen this man here. He must be a tourist who's probably staying on the nearby inn.
He looked good. No rather very attractive. He had that quite familiar green eyes. His face was shaved clean and his facial structure was somehow masculine but not to the point that he would have distinct square facial shape.
He was wearing a beanie but one could see few strands of black hair poking from it.
"Thank you, Carol." The man simply said as he read her name plate.
"You're welcome sir. Enjoy your drink." Caroline said her spill and left since Mr. Timothy had no other orders.
On her 3rd order, Carol suddenly felt dizzy that she held on the nearby chair.
She thought that the dizziness would pass but to her surprise, she felt like her world was spinning and her vision turned black.
Everyone panicked when they saw Caroline passing out on the floor.
**Thud!**