"Aren't you going home?" Alex looked at his watch. It was way past their official shift.
"I was planning on heading to the hospital..." Jayden replied.
"Oooh, to see Dr Tricia?" Alex teased.
"To see Kaela." Jayden corrected.
"You can see both Kaela and Dr Tricia then." Alex stuck his tongue out and ran away before Jayden could hit him with his pen.
"Hi Nurse Rose, have you had dinner?" Jayden approached the nurse station.
"Yes I have. What brings you here today?" Nurse Rose smiled.
"Kaela. Thought I had to apologise for the other day..." Jayden gave Nurse Rose an awkward smile.
"She just finished dinner. You can head in if you like." Nurse Rose pointed to the ward that Kaela was in.
"Thank you. Have a great night." Jayden bowed slightly before heading to the ward.
"Mr Policeman?" Kaela tilted her head when she heard Jayden knock.
"Hi Kaela, may I come in?" Jayden asked for permission, stepping in only after Kaela nodded.
"Did you find my friends?" Kaela asked the second Jayden came closer.
"Not yet...but we're working hard. We want to save your friends as much as you do." Jayden assured Kaela.
"Oh..." Kaela's face fell.
"I wanted to give you this, to say I'm sorry for making you cry..." Jayden handed a paper bag to Kaela.
"What's this?" Kaela took the contents out of the bag.
"A colouring book and colour pencils. You can colour the pictures in any colour you like." Jayden explained as he showed them to Kaela.
"Can I draw too?" Kaela was excited.
"Of course you can." Jayden was glad that Kaela liked his present. He'd contemplated for a long time and even asked for Joshua's opinion.
"Thank you, Mr Policeman!" Kaela reached out to hug Jayden.
"You're most welcome, Kaela." Jayden was a little taken aback by the sudden hug, yet he couldn't help but melt at the sweet gesture.
"Do you want to see my friend, Rocco?" Kaela held up the toy from Tricia.
"Rocco?" Jayden let out a small chuckle.
"Trishie gave it to me!" Kaela boasted.
"Trishie? You mean Dr Tricia?" Jayden smiled at the way Kaela called Tricia.
"Uh huh! Trishie says Rocco is my friend whenever I feel scared." Kaela hugged the small toy tightly.
"I see...do you feel scared now?" Jayden asked.
"A little bit...but the boat, the big car and the cage was scarier." Kaela frowned.
"What do you mean by boat, car and cage?" Jayden probed as he recorded the conversation.
"The scary men made me sit in a dark car for a long time. Then they brought me on a boat that was so shaky, my stomach felt sick. The cage was where Jack, Lily, Anna and I stayed..." Kaela recounted.
"How long were you in the car and boat for?" Jayden hated to push Kaela but she was the only link they had.
"Very long...there was a small window at the top of the boat. It went from day to night 5 times..." Kaela held her fingers up.
"5 days...What about the cage? What was it like?" Jayden decided to go a little further.
"It was cold...We each had a blanket but it was still cold. We stayed in the cage unless we had to go to the toilet." Kaela was visibly getting distraught.
"Kaela, we don't have to continue if you don't want to..." Jayden didn't want to repeat his mistake.
"If I tell you what you want, will it help you find my friends?" Kaela was a smart girl.
"It definitely will...but you don't have to push yourself." Jayden assured.
"I want to. I want you to find my friends before they disappear." Kaela was insistent.
"Disappear? You mean there were other children?" Jayden furrowed his eyebrows.
"There were 3 more friends. They got to leave the cage for a while everyday. They came back and taught me how to count with my fingers! They also knew the ABCs and what a circle, a square and a triangle was! But one day, the scary men put them in nice clothes and they never came back..." Kaela squeezed her toy. She remembered how these friends would always teach her and the others whatever they'd learned.
"So you mean the men not only taught them how to read and write? They gave them nice clothes before taking them away?" Jayden summarised whatever Kaela had just told him.
"Yes...Do you think my friends are safe?" Kaela wondered out loud.
"I hope so...I'll do my best to make sure all your friends remain safe. Thank you for being such a brave girl, you're doing a great job helping us." Jayden gave Kaela a warm smile.
"Really? I..." Kaela suddenly broke out into a cough.
"You okay?" Jayden gently stroked Kaela's back as the cough died down. The girl nodded.
"I'm used to it..." Kaela pouted. Night time coughs were a common occurrence for the girl.
"Did you tell Dr Tricia?" Jayden asked worriedly.
"Jack told me not to tell anyone if I was sick..." Kaela shook her head.
"Why?" Jayden was confused.
"Because sick children are thrown away. No one wants sick children." Kaela repeated what Jack had told her.
"It's not your fault, you don't have to hide it when you're sick..." Jayden's heart broke.
"But what if I tell Trishie and she doesn't want me anymore?" Kaela's lips quivered.
"I will never not want you, sweetie..." Tricia's voice was heard from the door of the ward, making Jayden and Kaela turn.
"Trishie!" Kaela called out.
"Nurse Rose said you weren't on duty today..." Jayden was equally surprised to see Tricia.
"Well, I was called in to settle some stuff when Nurse Rose told me that you were here." Tricia explained.
"Is it true, Trishie?" Kaela asked.
"What is?" Tricia questioned.
"That you won't throw me away even if I'm sick?" Kaela looked at Tricia expectantly.
"I won't. I'm a doctor, sweetie. My job is to make you feel better." Tricia stroked Kaela's cheeks.
"Promise?" Kaela held her pinky out.
"Promise." Tricia hooked her pinky with Kaela's.
"You too, Mr Policeman?" Kaela turned to Jayden with her other pinky. Jayden looked at Tricia, who only gave him a knowing smile.
"Promise." Jayden promised.
"Sweetie, it's bedtime...come on, let's get you tucked in." Tricia pointed to the clock on the wall.
"Okay..." Kaela obediently lay down and covered herself with the blanket.
"Good night, Kaela." Tricia and Jayden said in harmony.
"Good night, Trishie. Good night, Jaydie!" Kaela gave the two flying kisses.
~
"I never knew Tricia and Jayden were so hard to pronounce..." Jayden chuckled as he and Tricia stepped out of the ward.
"Get used to it, Jaydie. Not gonna lie, the way Kaela says Trishie is starting to grow on me." Tricia smiled.
"But Trishie suits you more than Jaydie suits me...at least that's what I think? Alex will have a field day teasing me once he finds out." Jayden trembled at the possibility of Alex calling him Jaydie.
"I think Jaydie suits you perfectly..." Tricia stifled a laugh, making Jayden hang his head low in embarrassment.
"Also, Kaela was complaining about a persistent cough at night? Did you manage to check that out?" Jayden raised the issue with Tricia.
"I did. That's what I was here for actually...The report just came out and Kaela has asthma." Tricia had noticed that Kaela always let out chesty coughs at night and sent her for testing.
"Is asthma curable?" Jayden frowned.
"Unfortunately no...but we can help alleviate the symptoms and reduce the frequency of attacks." Tricia sighed.
"Maybe that's why..." Jayden connected the dots.
"Why what?" Tricia was confused.
"I think the asthma was the reason why Kaela was left on the streets." Jayden explained.
"What does asthma have to do with this?" Tricia couldn't see the link.
"I can't say more than what I'm allowed to but I'm sure you're aware that we're chasing a child trafficking syndicate and Kaela's suspected to have been one of the children they were planning to put up for adoption. But based on what Kaela said earlier, the group only benefits from children that are fully healthy." Jayden broke down the links.
"So they left Kaela on the streets because of her asthma? Since there was a low chance that anyone would adopt a child with a chronic illness like asthma?" Tricia understood the link immediately.
"Bingo." Jayden nodded.
"Is that supposed to be a good or bad thing?" Tricia bit her lip.
"I don't know either...but at least Kaela's going to get the proper medical treatment she needs here." Jayden shrugged.
"But you said there's a high possibility that she's not Filipino right? Which means her medical bills may not be subsidised..." Tricia interjected.
"And not to mention her immigration status and identity is still unknown..." Jayden realised.
"God, this is more complicated than we thought, isn't it?" Tricia ran her hand through her hair.
"We're working hard on our side to get a proper identity on Kaela. Hopefully we find a match with the information given to us by the other countries..." Jayden pursed his lips.
"The hospital hasn't said anything about bills yet so I'm taking this as a good sign. Do let me know if you find anything?" Tricia let out a long breath. Jayden nodded.
"Are you done with work already? Should I send you home?" Jayden looked at his watch.
"You sure? I can go back myself..." Tricia didn't want to trouble Jayden.
"Come on Trishie." Jayden teased.
"Stop it, Jaydie." Tricia retorted.
"Other than the asthma, is Kaela doing okay?" Jayden asked as he drove.
"I sent her for a psych evaluation and the results are pretty mixed...She's a little lacking in terms of some educational milestones but otherwise, they actually said that she's doing well in terms of emotional and communication milestones. Although it's not always a good thing..." Tricia puffed her cheeks.
"Well, considering what she's been through at the tender age of 4...one can only imagine." Jayden understood what Tricia was feeling.
"Anyways, I need a sticker update!" Tricia remembered the deal she had with Jayden.
"Uh...my book is in my backpack on the backseat." Jayden looked at his backpack through the rear mirror.
"May I?" Tricia asked for permission.
"Sure." Jayden nodded as Tricia stretched her body to reach for Jayden's backpack.
"1, 2...3? You gave yourself 1 more sticker in the last 2 weeks?" Tricia raised an eyebrow.
"Uh...I couldn't find a reason to give myself stickers." Jayden reasoned.
"If you've done any of the following, say yes." Tricia took a deep breath.
Have you initiated or joined conversations not about work with your colleagues? Once every 2 days.
Have you asked your colleagues out to lunch at least once a week? Yes. I actually did it twice a week.
Have you done something to make someone smile? I made Kaela smile earlier. And I made Sir smile last week when I offered him Choc Nuts.
Have you told yourself it's okay to be on the receiving end of favours? Uh...I think so?
Have you put yourself first at least once this week? Uh...I guess?
Have you told yourself that it's not your fault when something is not in your control? Uh...I...
"Well, at least we got 3 out of 6? That means you deserve way more than 1 extra sticker." Tricia counted the number of stickers based on Jayden's answer and chose the exact number of stickers. She pasted them one by one with a smile on the book.
"Isn't that too many? I don't think I did enough to deserve so many..." Jayden was surprised to see how the number of stickers had multiplied so quickly.
"You deserve it. You have to tell yourself that whenever you start doubting." Tricia was firm.
"But..." Jayden still couldn't convince himself.
"Remember, you can only love others fully when you love yourself." Tricia reminded Jayden.
"I...know..." Jayden admitted.
"It's okay, we'll get there slowly." Tricia comforted Jayden.
"Thank you." Jayden was genuinely appreciative.
"By the way, you've got 15 stickers. I owe you one present." Tricia counted the stickers.
"There's no need, really. Your encouragement is more than enough." Jayden assured Tricia. He didn't want to burden Tricia.
"I promised you." Tricia insisted.
"That was before I realised you were so good at giving stickers!" Jayden protested.
"That's because you're doing well!" Tricia argued.
"How about we make it every 30 stickers instead?" Jayden suggested.
"For a bigger gift." Tricia bargained.
"If I get to decide what big means." Jayden pushed back.
"Fine." Tricia pouted and gave in.
"You've got yourself a deal, Trishie." Jayden grinned.
"Just don't change your mind and make it 50 later, Jaydie." Tricia crossed her arms.
"That sounds like a good idea." Jayden joked.
"Don't you dare." Tricia warned as she unbuckled her seatbelt.
"Bye, Trishie." Jayden called out as Tricia got off the car.
"Shut it, Jaydie." Tricia walked backwards as she stuck her tongue out at Jayden.
"Careful not to trip!" Jayden reminded Tricia just in case. Tricia waved one last time as she turned back and walked into the lift lobby.
"Did Jayden send you home?" Aika asked as Tricia entered the house.
"How did you know, Ate?" Tricia was surprised.
"You have that smile on your face everytime he sends you home." Aika pointed out.
"No I don't. I smile like this everyday." Tricia refuted.
"Yeah right, but your dimples only appear when you're with him." Aika teased.
"I can't control my dimples?" Tricia argued.
"I'm sure you can." Aika gave Tricia a knowing smile.
"What?" Tricia pouted.
"Nothing." Aika gave her sister a grin before heading up to her bedroom.
"ATE! IT'S NOT WHAT YOU THINK!" Tricia called out to her sister to no avail.
A/N:
don't ask me why kaela has to call them trishie and jaydie <3