It beca Martin’s routine, stationed near the school every morning until the final bell rang. Each afternoon, he followed Dominic ho from a distance.
For five days, there were no signs of any mysterious presence around the school.
But then, on the sixth day, just as Dominic and his friends were playing on the field, a figure appeared.
Martin sat with his legs crossed, pretending to read the newspaper. From his position, he caught sight of a woman standing close to the school fence. Her fingers clung to the wire.
Her back turned toward him. She couldn’t stand straight, her clothes dirty and worn as though she hadn’t changed them in months.
Martin glanced around. There was no one else with her.
The children scread and hurled their shoes, flew into the fence before dropping to the ground.
Unluckily for her, one struck her on the head, forcing her to stagger back. She lifted a hand to rub the spot, but she didn’t leave.
"The ghost is here!" Dominic cried.
"That’s a real person, not a ghost!"
Other students started arguing back.
The children grew louder, shouting over one another as they argued, until a teacher rushed in and managed to calm them down.
The teacher waved her hand dismissively at the woman.
"Please go. You’re frightening the children."
"Hey! Get out of here!" the security guard shouted as he strode toward the fence, waving his baton as he tried to shoo her away.
The mont the guard approached, the woman hurried off, limping away barefoot.
Martin folded the newspaper and slowly walked from the opposite direction. He deliberately bumped into her, slipping a tracker without her noticing. Then he let her go.
...
Back at the hospital, Lyra’s phone rang several tis, but she did not hear it. She was busy dealing with Ivy.
At first, when they entered, she behaved, but suddenly she started running. Everyone had to chase her, and Ivy tried several tis to catch Lewis.
Lewis used the big, burly security guard as his shield.
"Lewis, assist the guard instead of hiding!" Lyra said, rubbing her forehead which already throbbing.
"We can’t continue the treatnt like this. Just co back later, when she’s asleep," Lewis suggested as he dodged Ivy’s dangerous hands.
Ivy wasn’t even holding anything, but Lewis was still afraid of her.
Minutes later, all of them escaped from Ivy’s room. Lewis leaned back against the wall, rubbing his chest as he tried to catch his breath.
"If every day like this, I’m going to grow a lot of gray hair," Lewis muttered with a sigh.
Everyone turned to look at him with puzzled expressions because his hair was already completely white.
Lyra straightened once her exhaustion eased. She smoothed down her dress and ran a hand through her hair.
Treating Ivy like this feel like she’d been thrown into a cage to catch a wild chicken.
She turned to the nurse. "Just call if anything happens."
Lewis also straightened as he got to his feet and added, "Just call her." He pointed at Lyra. "Don’t call ."
Lyra planted her hands on her hips and stared at Lewis. This ti, Lewis didn’t bother correcting what he’d said. He only waved lazily at her and walked off.
Lyra went to the nearby nurse’s counter and picked up her things, then headed for her office.
In the hallway, she swiped to unlock her phone, several missed calls from Martin lit up the screen.
One other hand fumbled in her pocket before her fingers found her office key. She unlocked the door, stepped inside, and went straight to the chair as she called him.
Lyra leaned back and adjusted her position comfortably, and Martin’s rough voice ca through.
"Hello, ma’am."
Martin pulled over to the side of the road and lit a cigarette.
"Martin, did you get anything?"
"Yeah. Everything Dominic said was true except for the ghost part. She’s a real person. So what do you want to do next?"
He heard Lyra gasp. "Did she really look like my mother?"
"Yes but she looks pretty rough. She didn’t seem to be in the right state of mind."
"You an... she looked like a mad woman? Crazy?" Lyra guessed.
"It’s better to confirm first whether she’s really your mother or not," Martin suggested.
"Can you bring her to ? Will you do that?"
"I’ll try. I’ll call you back once I have her."
The call ended.
Lyra cupped her face and rubbed her cheek several tis. Martin said she looked like her mother, which made her heart race.
After she cald down, she left her office, headed for Elean’s ward.
Elean was scheduled to be discharged at noon, and Monica and Albert were coming to pick her up then.
Lyra didn’t want to miss the chance to see her, even though she knew Elean didn’t like her.
She didn’t really mind. To her, Elean seed fine. Just adorably grumpy at that age.
Lyra stopped in front of the ward door and took a breath before knocking. She pushed the door open slowly, and Monica imdiately walked toward her.
"Lyra, you ca just in ti. We’re about to leave," Monica said as she hugged her, then took her hand and led her toward Elean, who was sitting on the nearby sofa.
"Hello, Grandma. It’s good to see you doing well," Lyra said with a genuine smile.
Elean only snorted in response, turning her head away and refusing to et Lyra’s eyes.
But a mont later, she turned back and studied Lyra’s face.
Lyra looked just like the kindhearted doctor who was treating her. She had the sa eyes, the sa blond hair, and even the sa gentle presence.
Only her face resembled Avelina, and that was the part Elean didn’t like.
The knock at the door pulled her from her thoughts. Alex pushed open the door and walked in. He ca to give the prescription and explain what to do after she went ho.
"Oh, Lyra. You’re here," Alex said as he entered.
Lyra stepped toward him and gave him a light hug as Elean watched them with a puzzled expression.
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