The weather had worsened.
The clouds above grew darker, thicker, almost suffocating the sky.
Those who had been outside quickly rushed indoors,
for the rain was bound to fall at any moment.
Yet, inside the walls of the infirmary,
another storm raged....
quieter, heavier, more merciless.
Wee lay unconscious in her room.
Outside, Lamai sat silently on a bench,
her face pale, her eyes hollow,
as though she were mourning someone's death.
Beside her sat Suda.
The usual brightness on his face had faded,
replaced with a solemn weight.
His phone buzzed endlessly.....
friends calling, messages coming in.
But he ignored them all.
He could not leave.
Not when Lamai was sitting there,
fragile and broken.
Minutes passed in silence.
The only sound was the faint hum of rain beginning to fall against the windows.
Finally, Lamai broke.
Her voice was trembling,
her expression etched with despair.
"I've known Wee since childhood," she whispered.
"I know her friends, her relatives,
what she loves, what she hates.....everything.
At least… I thought I did.
But today… hearing her cry that name,
seeing her like this…
I realize I know nothing. Nothing at all…"
Her words cracked.
Her hand shot up, covering her mouth,
and she began to sob quietly.
Grief and fear poured out of her all at once.
Suda stared at her, stunned.
He wanted to comfort her,
to ease her pain,
yet his heart trembled....
because he knew something she did not.
That name.
Yim.
The name that had spilled from Wee's lips,
again and again, like a desperate prayer.
It was no ordinary name.
It was a name the entire institute knew.
A name etched deep in its history.
Suda clenched his fists under the table.
So Lamai truly didn't know.
Then how.....how did Wee know?
Lamai herself had said it.....
they had only recently heard of this place.
They had come here merely days ago.
There should have been no way for her to know that name.
No way at all.
Suda's chest tightened.
The weight of mystery pressed heavily upon him.
He drew in a long breath,
forcing calm into his restless heart.
There was only one answer.
He would wait.
Wait until Wee opened her eyes,
and then ask her directly.....
how she knew of the one they all called…
the Elder Mother.
(If you want something with all your heart, the whole universe conspires to make it happen for you.)