Chapter 239 - The Islet Mystery 55

The nurse stared at what Yanyan wrote. Her brows pulled together as she compared it to the informant's name. According to the incident history, Mr. Ryan Yu and Miss Shiela Ferrer met the boy at the shore while he was selling shells for souvenirs. Then, heavy rain came, and they had no other choice but to shelter themselves under the boulder together with him. It was then that they found out that he had a high fever.

Mr. Yu also admitted that he met the boy before this on an island where he did voluntary community services, but the meeting was only short. It was because of this meeting that they recognized him while selling island souvenirs.

However, if the meeting was only short, did Mr. Ryan Yu introduced his complete name to the people? Did he repeat his introduction many times, or did he left a document with his signature on it that this boy imitated his signature? Or, could it be that the people's admiration on him was so strong that even the children idolized his name?

"Yanyan, is that really your name?"

The question itself and the suspicious way the nurse stared at Yanyan confused and made him guilty.

"Why? I know how to write my name," Yanyan explained, thinking that this lady did not believe his claim. Perhaps, she must have understood that he was only lying about his school.

The nurse saw his innocence through his eyes and in his childish reaction but to rule out her suspicion, she tried to ask another question.

"What is the complete name of that "sir" who brought you here?"

Yanyan scratched his head, and the sudden frown he mused suggested both his impatience and frustration. Most children hate repeated questions. "I don't know, but we call him 'Sir Ryan'."

"By the way, I also need your parent's name, so I could also write it on this paper."

Yanyan sighed and rolled his eyes, frustrated at the nurse's obvious doubts at him. He turned abruptly to his side, bouncing his body against the mattress to show his disgust.

"My parents are... Mr.& Mrs... Albert... Yu," recited Yanyan in a rhythmic and mocking tone, twisting his lips and rolling his eyes, making a derisive face.

The nurse understood that Yanyan's behavior was due to his embarrassment that she doubted him.

Children may tell some lies, but they are weak in carrying non-verbal cues. Their actions would always give them away in the presence of pressure or threat, making them confess readily.

"Okay. Stay there, and do not move. I'll just take care of something for a while, and then I'll be back."

The nurse thought that this coincidence seemed unusual. She stared at the boy from a distance and concluded that if it were not for his tanned skin, bronzed hair, and his ragged clothes, his built and some facial features could be a little replica of the adult Mr.Yu. The conclusion she drew from the pieces of information she gathered together made her excited and she ran out to find Ryan and Shiela. The thrill of what she thought as discovering a piece of truth gripped her and she couldn't wait to tell the couple about it. Her impulse topped over her years of training and education that the patient's safety should be among the first.

She heard that they were going to get food so she went to the restaurants in the hotel but they were not there. She tried on the coffee shops; perhaps, they loved the coffee better there than at the restaurants.  Of her years of service as a company nurse, she knew that the most crowded place during mornings and siesta hours were always the Myrtle Shade coffee shops.

She then came panting at the reception desk when she did not find them in any of those food outlets. Only when her air got scarce that she remembered using the phone, instead of draining her strength in running around.

"What's wrong?" the lady receptionist exclaimed with her makeup-enlarged eyes expanding.

"Did you see Sir Ryan and Miss Ferrer here?"

"I did not."

"Can you please connect me to him, or, can you please tell him that I need to talk to him?" 

The lady receptionist connected a call to Ryan's room and Shiela picked it up.

"Is it about Yanyan? Is he having a fever again? Or, in pain?"  Shiela's worried voice waved through the line.

The nurse chuckled and replied, "I think this is good news, ma'am, and yes, it's about Yanyan."

"Oh, okay. Sounds wonderful. We are going down in ten minutes. See you then."

___

As soon as the nurse went out, Yanyan jumped out of the bed. With moves as swift as a mighty wind, he unstrapped the splint from his hand, stripped out the adhesive sheet which anchored the IV cannula on his vein, then pull out the catheter. Remembering the instruction from the nurse, he pressed the injection site until it no longer bled.

He then threw the IV tubing away,  sprinted toward the bathroom and looked around.  To his relief, he saw the window on the upper side of the wall. Without wasting a second, he hurried up and climbed on top of the toilet bowl. A vinyl indentation on the wall that served as a space to place the bathroom user's things or bags served as a stepping space for Yanyan to peep out. Alas! Just outside the window was the undeveloped, back portion of the hotel and a few meters from it was already the sea. However, the window in the bathroom was so small. It could never fit him no matter how he would mold himself.

He thought hard; if there's a will, there's always away. He ran back to his room and opened another door which is facing the sea. Just as his head popped in, a blinking, red letters at the top of another door  met his eyes. 

EXIT. 

He moved his eyes from left to right, locked the door behind him, then sprinted toward the exit. Pausing in front of the exit door, his heartbeats started to pound louder and quicker. His thoughts went to his parents and to the kindness of the couple. He got confused. 

If he would ran away, sir Ryan would get angry. Perhaps, he would withdraw his offer to let him stop working and help him go to school. 

On the other hand, if he allow them on their home, their lives would be at stake. 

Note: unedited