The taste of seperation

At a random mansion far from the outskirts of magic city

"So you mean you saw her and you couldn't do anything?" A young man in his early 40's was scolding 3 hefty looking men. He threw the glass of wine in his hands on the floor, shattering the glass to pieces and making an annoying sound.

"We are sorry boss but there was really nothing we could do. We were on another assignment and Mia, well she was with a police officer in the hospital. If we had even tried as much as to touch her hair then we would have been caught '' one of the men showed a lot of remorse towards his enraged boss.

"Yes he is right, there was really nothing we could do" another of the men supported him.

Their so-called boss who had been backing them earlier on suddenly turned around and grabbed the collar of the first man that spoke with both of his hands.

"You are so useless. If you couldn't use your hands to hurt her, at least you should have used your brains to find out what she was doing at the hospital and why she was with the police. You could have tried to get me some valid information and not come here to tell me this nonsense" he was almost strangling the young man.

"Boss please stop, you will kill him" one of the men who was quiet all this while finally spoke up.

"Now you better leave this place and go get me some information. If not I will chop your fingers off and feed them to you before I separate your head from your body" he let go of the man's collar roughly, making him stumble and almost fall to the floor.

At the orphanage

"Mia, what's wrong?" Rebecca found herself asking against her will but as expected Mia didn't say anything to her, she just sat on the bench outside.

"Ever since we came back from the hospital you have been acting really strange. For instance, you didn't even go to see Miss Melinda where as you were the one that insisted we pay her a visit" Rebecca kept on talking, she knew that if she kept on saying things then it would surely push Mia into saying what the problem was.

"I mean, Miss Melinda kept on asking after you. The officer also told us what you did, that was very brave of you" Rebecca complimented and advanced to taking a seat beside Mia.

"You know I'm going to keep talking until you finally give me a reply" Rebecca tried to make herself comfortable beside Mia.

"What did she say?" Mia turned to look at Rebecca.

"Who?" Rebecca asked Mia back.

"Miss Melinda, what did she say?" Mia was quite attentive this time.

"Nothing much," Rebecca shrugged.

"But you just said she was asking about me? So you were lying?" Mia turned away from Rebecca slowly.

"I wasn't Mia, she really did ask about you" Rebecca tried to defend herself but Mia zoned off from their conversation.

"Lunch is ready" a lady working at the orphanage announced cutting their conversation short, the lady had been working in the orphanage for a while but she had taken a short vacation but returned when she heard what happened. Rebecca feeling guilty ran inside the house.

Mia was about to follow suit when she felt someone passed. She turned around thinking that someone might be behind her but she saw no one. She thought she might have just been overreacting because of the incident today but she had the feeling again, as if someone was walking up to her from behind.

"Common Mia, you have to come too" the lady approached Mia, Mia turned around and she didn't see anybody.

"I'm not hungry," Mia declared, trying to escape lunch.

"I know you are but you don't want to eat with the rest, that's not a problem, you can have your lunch outside" the lady rushed in and came out quickly with a plate of food. She offered to feed Mia but she rejected and began to feed herself.

"Miss Joyce, do you ever get scared?" Mia suddenly asked.

Miss Joyce who was lost in a world of her own even though she sat next to Mia, finally came back to herself.

"What was that Mia?" She shook her head and blinked her eyes.

"Fear? Do you experience fear?" Mia repeated but she chose her words carefully.

"Of course Mia dear, everyone gets scared sometimes" Miss Joyce gave a smile.

"So what do you do when you get this feeling?" Mia questioned again.

"Well sometimes it might be good to face your fear while other times it is just in your best interest to forget about what makes you scared as it is always the easiest way out" Miss Joyce parted Mia head.

"Well, what if you can't forget ? What if that thing is always in your mind!" Mia dropped the food so she could pay all her attention to Joyce.

"Then you are left with no other option than to face your fear, most times what we are scared of always aren't as scary as they seem" Miss Joyce answered her and walked away maybe to avoid any further questions.

If only Miss Joyce knew that this fear of Mia's wasn't something she could forget about it or something she could let go, this fear was from her past and it would hunt her for as long as she lived.

Melinda's POV

At the hospital

"Please mom, I don't want to hear any of it. If you don't have something else to say to me then I suggest you leave, let me have my rest" I was semi scolding my mum.

"And what could you possibly mean by that?" My mum raised an eyebrow at me and I blinked my eyes slowly and turned to the other side of my hospital bed.

"Melinda I don't know what exactly I am saying that is getting you offended. I am only looking after you" my mom was being dramatic, maybe she wasn't but I certainly felt that way.

"Please mum, don't even start with your drama right now. You are asking me to leave the country just because of a little incident that happened in the orphanage. Mum, common that is preposterous and obviously you are just over reacting" I was trying my best to make her see reason.

"Am I overreacting? Melinda you got shot on the leg and you are telling me I am overreacting?" My mum stood up from her chair beside my bed.

"Yes mum you are. Ouch '' I winced in pain, I was having a painful headache and the last thing I needed was for my mum to be yelling at me.

" Melinda look at your condition, why can't you just understand where I am coming from. I am your mother and obviously I am concerned about your safety that is why I am asking you to leave the country just for a while at least until things settle down" my mum sat back down and was massaging my head gently, this time her voice was more calming and soothing.

"And when will things finally settle down?" I took her hands off my head and faced her.

" Maybe, three to four years from now" my mum shrugged and looked away from me.

"Three to four year?" I raised my voice.

"Yes darling, by then this people who attacked you would have forgotten about your existence" my mum held my hand in her palms once again.

" No mum, I can't. I just can't leave the country, not even for twenty four hours" I looked away from her this time because I knew where she would drive this conversation to.

"Don't even tell me it is because of those homeless kids you are harboring?" My mum was clearly being sarcastic and self centered.

"Mum, those kids have a home and I would appreciate it if you don't call my children homeless" I tried to defend myself.

"Oh please be quiet. You are not married, not to talk of having kids. The sooner you realize you are wasting your time, the better it would be for everyone especially for you" my mum rolled her eyes in disgust.

All this yelling and arguing was really getting to me and I felt something clustering my chest and it made it very difficult for me to breath. I began to gasp for air, opening my mouth and seeking for air.

My mum hurriedly went to get the doctor that was on his night shift, he immediately put me on oxygen, using a non- rebreather mask.

"Madam I'm sorry but you will have to leave the room for a while" the doctor instructed my mum while he went to get a nurse.

I could see the pain and fear in my mum's eyes, although I was the one gasping for air, she was the one suffering it. When my condition had stabilized they finally let her back in the room but this time the room was dead silent. None of us wanted to speak to the other person.

I did want to speak to her , but I just couldn't take my mask off, so she broke the silence herself.

" If you have ever loved me as your mother and if you even have the slightest pity for me then you would do as I have instructed you" my mum cried out before she rested her head on my bed while she spent the night with me at the hospital. Growing up without a father, my mum had always been my only support and she knew just how much it hurt to see her break down. She always used this method to get me to do whatever she wanted but I wasn't sure about this particular request of hers.

I had dedicated my life to that orphanage for many years and I just couldn't bear the thought of being separated from those kids. They mean the world to me and not having parents, I just wanted to fill that void in their heart. I had always managed to get through each and everyone of them except Mia and I always wondered why.