11 - CALL FROM HOME
1064 Words
FIVE missed calls.
Exhaustion left her body altogether when she noticed that all of them came from one number.
Normally, he would leave her phone inside the locker whenever she joined a medical mission. A gadget was a distraction for her or any of the staff.
At the moment, she was in a medical mission sponsored by the organization that Emil represents.
It was their last medical mission in this town for the year. Luckily, in the dates that he mentioned, she was available except for the first two days of this three-day medical activity.
“Everything alright, V?”
She glanced at the person behind her.
It was Emil.
Unlike her, the stethoscope was still hanging on his neck. Hers was already stashed inside the box beside her feet.
“You have your thinking face at the moment.” He made a gesture with his hands over his face.
From the years that they have been working together, somehow, Emil knew her behavior. The ‘thinking face’ that he was talking about was whenever she had this frown on her face while being quiet.
“Yeah,” she responded before returning her attention back to the phone. “I just got a call.”
“Are you alright?”
“Yes.”
“You know where to find me if you need anything.”
“Thanks, man.”
“By the way, if you’re not busy, we’ll be having dinner later. ‘Twas sponsored by the company.”
She nodded, but her eyes remained on the phone’s screen.
She heard his retreating footsteps, but she had never wavered her eyes from the phone.
Five missed calls.
All of them came from Julian.
The first call was made after lunch and the last one was half an hour ago. All in a span of four hours.
There was no text message. Just the five missed calls.
It was not Julian’s character to call her more than twice in a day, if it was not important. This call was definitely something. Not just important but rather a serious matter.
She did not like it one bit. Rather, it scared her.
Violet exhaled when she noticed the hand that held the mobile phone. It was shaking. She grabbed it with the other.
She calmed herself before she went out of the staff room.
She steered past a few trees behind the tents. She took the phone out and dialed the number that had called her five times in half a day.
She could almost hear the loud beating of her heart. Violet did not appreciate where her thoughts were going, especially when the call had not been answered.
It was not her nature to swear when rattled. She was the type of person who was calm during the storm nor in a disaster. She was trained that way.
The being inside her whined. Worry embraced them both.
“I’m fine.” She thought but she knew that she was far from being fine.
She was answered by a howl.
She cannot blame her. She, too, wanted to drop to her knees.
Just when she was about to call again, her mobile phone rang.
“You called.” She said without preamble. Her voice sounded very cold and detached.
“We need you here, V.”
“What happened?”
“The pack was attacked last night. We have a few casualties, but we have more injured members that need your expertise.”
“Tell me.”
“The family is okay.”
Finally, she was able to breathe better. She already heard what she needed to hear.
“I’ll be there in the morning.”
Just like that, the call ended.
Violet’s knees shook in relief. She had to hold onto the tree to steady her legs. Her grip on the mobile phone loosened.
This was not the first time that the pack experienced invasion from other packs. For a shifter like her, it was a normal occurrence to assert dominance. However, when it comes to pack, attacking another means showing power and superiority over other packs, especially the smaller ones with even smaller territory.
In this case, Julian would not request her presence if the damage was not on a great scale.
Personally, she would want to know who was responsible for the damage and death in the pack.
No more than five minutes, she went back to the tent to bid goodbye to Emil. She also informed him that she will not be joining the team for dinner.
She went in the direction of Mia’s apartment.
Compared to where she was stationed as a physician, the location where the medical mission was held was comparably near. In less than half an hour, she will be with Mia.
The detective sent her a message this morning that she will be staying at home to do the laundry and some cleaning. It was the woman’s day off from work. The criminals took the day off, too, since Mia was not called to report to the precinct.
When she arrived at the apartment building, instead of going directly to Mia’s unit, she composed a letter directed to her immediate boss stating that she would take a leave of absence due to a family emergency.
This will be the first time that she will utilize the benefit of work leave and family matters as an excuse. This will be a first since she took a job ten years ago.
Violet also booked a flight home. The earliest that she got was after midnight.
She also made a few calls to some friends.
Almost an hour inside the car, she was finally able to climb out and head to Mia’s unit. This time, she would inform her so-called girlfriend that she would be leaving in a few hours. She did not want to have a repeat of what happened last time.
Besides, Mia was ‘upset’ the next day after they made up. In order to appease her girlfriend, she needed to make it up to her for sleeping ‘early’ the night before. Apparently, exhaustion was not an excuse to get to bed early after reconciliation.
The breakfast became brunch. It was all worth it though.
A smile formed on her lips when she saw the door to Mia’s unit.
Perhaps, quality time before leaving ain’t bad, right?
- Writer
