JOANNA’s head ached badly that it disturbed her sleep once again. Her eyelids felt heavy that she can’t open them completely. She groaned and turned to the side, but something in her hand is preventing her from doing that. Joanna’s brows furrowed. What the f—

“Joanna, Joanna, are you okay now?”

It was Che’s voice. But what is she doing in my room? She asked in her mind.

“I think she’s awake,” a man’s voice who seemed to be standing on her side said.

Joanna lifted her eyes opened and looked on the people talking beside her. She gasped as soon as she saw Che and Philip looking at her. They looked like as if they watched her sleep. “W-what are you doing here?”

Che’s brows furrowed. “Here you go again, Jo.”

She knotted her forehead and looked around. All she can see is white walls and green curtains as if she was in the hospital. Then she remembered she fainted in the library a while ago. “Oh, my gosh.” She covered her mouth as she sat up straight.

“Am I in the hospital?” She looked at her hand and saw the IV attached to her wrist. “Oh, my gosh! What happened to me? Why do I have this terrible needle on my skin?”

“You don’t remember?” Philip asked her.

She looked at him in surprise. “W-what are you doing here?” She tucked her hair behind her ears. “Are you worried about me?”

“He helped me brought you here,” Che said with a roll of her eyes. “You collapsed in the library because of high-fever. The doctor said that it’s just because of the climate and that you’ll be okay later.”

“Then, why do they have to poke me with this?” she said, looking at her IV disgustingly.

“They can’t give you oral medicine for your fever because you’re unconscious, so they give you paracetamol shots,” Che explained. “Your temperature hit forty-degrees, Joanna. What did you do last night? Did you play in the night rain?”

She drew her brows together. “I hate the rainy season. Why would I play in the rain?”

Philip cleared his throat. “I’ll just buy you lunch, Joanna. I’ll be back shortly.”

Joanna smiled from ear-to-ear. “Thanks, Philip. I owe you a dinner date because of this.”

“You don’t have to,” Philip replied and left.

Che laughed at her failed proposal. “He’s really not interested in you, Joanna.”

“But he cares for me, and that is enough for me to know that he likes me,” she said, brushing her hair with her hand, then she remembered about Rowan and the book she wrote. “Che, about what I told you a while ago.”

“It’s impossible, Joanna,” Che said casually. “Are you saying that your fictional character Rowan came out from the book?” She laughed. “We’re living in the millennium year, Jo. That kind of sorcery doesn’t exist these days.”

Joanna heaved a sigh. “Maybe you’re right.”

“I am right,” she said and touched her arm. “That man is just pretending that he’s Rowan just to get near to you. And the book that you saw, he just printed it out straight from the writing website where you posted it before. And, he’s just using it to scare you.”

Joanna didn’t answer. It was impossible too that Rowan has a perfect look-alike in the real world because Rowan is a pure product of her imagination. She doesn’t have any portrayer for him. But, that man resembles Rowan in every aspect.

“Don’t think about it okay?” Che squeezed her shoulders. “I’m sure he’s just one of your mad fans.”

“I don’t think so, Che,” she said. “Because I saw the book. Its front and back cover was perfect, and the insides, it was as if a professional editor did its layout.”

“Maybe he hired a professional to make it look like a real book,” Che replied. “The technology nowadays is incredibly fun.”

She heaved a sigh. Che has a point, maybe that man who looked like Rowan is just a poser. Right, she better think of it that way for her own peace of mind. After a few more minutes, Philip came with take-out lunch packs in his hand. He smiled when their eyes met, and Joanna felt like melting.

“What the two of you is talking about? I can still feel the tension in the air,” he said as he opened the lunch pack for her.

Che looked at her as if asking if they should tell it to Philip. But, for the sake of her peaceful life, Joanna shook her head.

____________________________

“I REALLY appreciate your effort to take me home from the hospital, Philip,” Joanna told Philip when they stopped in front of her apartment. “You’re a blessing to us in the library. You always came to our rescue.”

Philip laughed and reached for her helmet. He helped her unstrapped it under her chin. “I will apply as the security guard in the library soon.”

“Really?” Joanna asked, then laughed. “You’re kidding. You can’t leave the gym.”

He chuckled. “Right,” he said and walked her towards the gate. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Don’t forget to take your medicines.”

“Are you leaving already?” Joanna asked. She didn’t even hide the disappointment in her tone. “Don’t you want to have coffee inside?”

Philip shook his head. “I might be caught up in the rain if I stay longer,” he said and put on his helmet. “Go inside and locked your door.”

Joanna pressed her lips together. “Okay.” She stepped inside the gate and waited for him to leave. “Drive safe.”

“I’ll leave when you’re inside the house,” Philip said, still not starting the engine. “Go inside, Joanna.”

“Okay!” she said with a roll of her eyes. “It seems that you won’t let me watch you driving away.” She pouted her lips and turned her back at the gate. She took out her keys and pushed open the door. Before she stepped inside, she looked back at Philip and waved at her. “Goodnight.”

But as soon as Joanna closed the door behind her, she suddenly felt the urge to go back outside. She knotted her forehead. Why did she feel as if she forgot something outside her house? As if she needed to go back and get it.

“It’s weird…” she said but ignored her instincts. “I’ll just watch TV.” The rain poured when she opened the TV and her chest suddenly hammered in worries. “Oh, my gosh.”

She ran towards her door and opened it. She looked at her gate and what she saw shocked her even more. Rowan is standing in front of her house. He was soaked in the rain and looked as if he’ll pass out at any moment. Without a second thought, Joanna took the umbrella and ran outside her house.

“What are you doing here? It’s raining!” she said as she approached him and shared the umbrella with him. Because he was tall, she has to raise her hand just to make him fit in the umbrella. “Are you insane?”

Rowan slowly turned to her. And, the moment that their gazes met, Joanna felt something was reunited inside her.

***