Rachel lay in her pool of blood, bleeding profusely, and she had been bleeding for more than thirty minutes, but pedestrians who were passing by glanced at her and walked past her without stopping by to help her.
After thirty more minutes ticked by, a 16-year-old blonde young girl clad in a blue jumpsuit who was coming from her tutor job glanced at Rachel and stopped to check on her.
Squatting down beside Rachel, she used two fingers from her right hand to check if Rachel was still breathing.
"Thank goodness, she's still alive. Which son of a bitch did this to this pretty young lady? I have to call for help." The young girl muttered to herself while sighing heavily in relief as she brought out her phone.
Unlocking her phone with her face ID, she clicked on her phone icon and dialed 221, the emergency hotline of the Gilead Police Force.
"211, what's your emergency?" A police dispatcher's voice came from her phone as soon as the call connected.
"Well, I ran into a lady who has been involved in a hit-and-run accident. She's bleeding profusely..." The young girl said anxiously as she looked at the bleeding Rachel.
"What's your name, Miss, and what's your location so that we can send help your way?" The police dispatcher asked from the other side of the line.
"My name is Kira Barner...Erhm, I'm in front of... The young girl's voice trailed off as she looked around her surroundings.
"Miss Barner? Where are you, Miss Barner?" The police dispatcher asked from the other side of the line.
"I'm in front of house number 20 Zarx Street. Please hurry." The young girl said with a hint of urgency in her voice.
"Alright, I'm calling for an ambulance now, and the ambulance will arrive at your location in twenty minutes if there's no traffic, so hold on, okay?" The police dispatcher said from the other side of the line before disconnecting the call.
Keeping her phone back into her pockets, she turned her gaze to the bleeding Rachel and felt a pang of sympathy bubbling up in her heart as she waited for the ambulance to come.
After waiting for twenty-five minutes with no sight of an ambulance coming, she sighed deeply as she bent down to carry up the bleeding Rachel while saying, I don't think you can wait for the ambulance any longer."
Placing the bleeding Rachel on her back with difficulty, she wobbled for a while, then took a deep breath and mustered all her strength since Rachel was too heavy for her and started running to the nearest hospital.
She ran through several streets as fast as she could for thirty minutes without stopping to catch her breath until she finally arrived at Shen Hospital, OA Avenue, River City.
Outside the entrance of Shen Hospital, four nurses who were chatting and laughing happily gasped when their gaze fell on the young girl carrying an unconscious and bleeding young lady on her back.
"Korra, Tasha, you two bring the stretcher over. Sukie, come with me; let's help her out." One of the four nurses said to her colleagues before running towards her to help her, with the nurse called Sukie running behind her.
Removing the unconscious and bleeding Rachel from Kira's back, Sukie and the other nurse immediately placed her on the stretcher that was brought by nurses Korra and Tasha before hurriedly rolling Rachel inside the hospital, straight to the Accident and Emergency Department, while nurses Korra and Tasha brought out their phones and started calling the doctors and surgeons on call duty as they ran after the other nurse and nurse Sukie, leaving behind Kira, who was trailing behind them and trying to catch her breath.
As soon as the other nurse, Nurse Sukie, Nurse Tasha, and Nurse Korra, arrived at the Accident and Emergency Department, they placed Rachel on a bed while waiting for the doctors and surgeons on call duty to come.
In no time, two young doctors and two surgeons clad in their lab coats walked into the Accident and Emergency Department and sprang into action as soon as they saw the unconscious Rachel and the four nurses who had anxiety on their faces.
"Where's the guardian?" One of the doctors gazed at the four nurses and asked after he finished checking Rachel.
"The guardian?" Nurse Tasha asked before saying, "Oh, there she is," as soon as her gaze landed on Kira, who just walked in.
The two young doctors and two surgeons turned their gaze to Kira before asking if she was the guardian of Rachel.
"Guardian? Nope, I'm not. I saw her in front of house 20 Zarx Street, bleeding profusely and lying unconscious in her pool of her blood on my way back from the house I went to tutor in. I only stopped to help and brought her here because I felt sorry for her." Kira replied to the two doctors and two surgeons wearily.
"Nurse Tasha, please check the patient and see if she has her phone with her. Also check for her National Identity Card." One of the doctors said to Nurse Tasha, who swiftly searched the unconscious Rachel and brought out her phone and National Identity Card.
After trying out multiple passwords that were wrong, nurse Tasha finally unlocked Rachel's phone on her twentieth try. Without wasting time, she clicked on the phone icon and tapped on the contact "OWNER OF MY HEART," which had four heart emojis added to it and was sitting on the top of the list of Rachel's outgoing calls.
Taking a deep breath and mentally preparing what to say to the owner of the contact, she dialed it immediately, but the dial tone rang for a while and ended without anybody picking up.
She tried again, and again, and again, but after the dial tone rang for a while, it ended without anybody picking up the call. Feeling frustrated, she called other contacts that were available on Rachel's outgoing call list, but no one picked up after calling many times.
Seeing the helpless look on Nurse Tasha's face, one of the doctors couldn't help but ask what was going on.
Turning her gaze to the doctor, Nurse Tasha sighed and said, "Doctor Tim, I tried calling her most recent contact, but no one picked up."
"What?! No one picked up? Try calling other contacts instead then." Doctor Tim said to nurse Tasha in a suggestive tone.
"Well, I tried that, but no one picked up. I don't know what's going on." Nurse Tasha, replied Doctor Tim, her voice laced with frustration.
"This is serious." Doctor Tim muttered softly, his face etched with worry.
"Doctor Tim, what should we do?" Nurse Tasha and the other three nurses asked, their faces etched with anxiety and their voices laced with worry.
Sighing deeply, Doctor Tim massaged his temples, turned to Kira, and locked his gaze on her.
"Miss what?" He asked softly while looking at Kira inquisitively.
"Kira. Kira Barner." Kira answered warmly while staring at him and frowning as she stood akimbo.