Roger, honey

The Sun In the Wind

　　The sun was different today, shining brightly and harshly. It casted a golden glow over the entire city, dispelling the murky blue waters and causing the palm trees to sway gently under the influence of the wind.
　　 
　　Lieutenant Bonifacio Mendoza and Sergeant Herman Romero were on leave from the military. They felt a tremendous sense of relief after returning from a significant mission and took the opportunity to explore the serenity and beauty of their surroundings.
　　 
　　"Where do you think we should go?" Herman asked. He eagerly pulled out his phone and showed Bonifacio a list of places they could visit. "I think you'll be interested in some of them."
　　 
　　Bonifacio, however, was more inclined to savour the peace and quiet. He didn't want Herman to follow him, but Herman was insistent.
　　 
　　"Hey, Herman," he said when he noticed that Bonifacio wasn't paying attention. "Are you listening to me at all?" he asked.
　　 
　　"Sorry, Herman," Bonifacio replied offhandedly. "I wasn't paying attention. What were you saying?"
　　 
　　Herman huffed, annoyed that his friend had chosen to ignore him. "I was showing you the places where we could hang out during our time off," Herman said, pointing to his phone again.
　　 
　　Herman stopped walking and turned to show Bonifacio his phone. As he bent over to look at the screen, his eyes briefly scanned the images, but a distant commotion caught both their attention. Their heads instinctively turned, and they quickly scanned their surroundings to understand what was happening.
　　 
　　A petty thief was attempting to rob someone. They watched as he failed to grab a skateboard from a child and tried to hastily escape through the market. Startled pedestrians jumped aside, clutching themselves in shock as they observed the unfolding scene. Herman swiftly moved to the side to avoid the fleeing thief, but Bonifacio couldn't bring himself to ignore what was happening. He raised his leg and tripped the thief, causing him to fall face-first onto the hard concrete ground.
　　 
　　There was a distinct snapping sound as the thief's body collided with the rough terrain of the ground. It was evident that he had broken something. Bonifacio walked up to the man, hands in his pockets, and bent over to inspect him. He flipped the thief over to get a better look at his face, which was contorted in pain. His nose appeared bent at an odd angle, clearly indicating a break.
　　 
　　"Ouch, ouch, ouch!" The thief screamed repeatedly in agony.
　　 
　　Herman walked over to them, bending down to take a closer look at the thief's face. He looked up at Bonifacio, annoyance etched on his face. "What did you do that for?" he said. "You know we're not supposed to interfere in civilian matters. I just hope this doesn't get back to our boss."
　　 
　　Bonifacio rolled his eyes. "Oh, please," he said. "You're too much of a scaredy-cat." He prodded the man's ankle again, causing him to scream in pain. Spotting some nearby rope, he tied the thief's arms to prevent him from escaping. Then he turned to the onlookers, who were watching with wide eyes. "What are you looking at?" he said. "Call the police!"
　　 
　　Bonifacio took a good look at everyone around him. It seemed these people hadn't witnessed a robbery in a while, judging by their behavior.
　　 
　　The police arrived shortly after. Impatient, Bonifacio and Herman decided to walk over to a nearby restaurant for lunch. Herman's plans for lunch had been ruined, given the time it took for the police to resolve the issue.
　　 
　　Herman pouted, upset about the change in plans. "Bonifacio, we could have gone where we planned initially."
　　 
　　Bonifacio stared at him. "Are you really going to pout about this?" he asked, and Herman huffed, turning away, not wanting to continue the conversation.
　　 
　　"Alright, alright," Bonifacio said, conceding. "Let's go where you want for dinner. Show me your list."
　　 
　　A grin spread over Herman's cheeks. “Rodger that, sir!” He reached into his pocket to grab his phone to show Bonifacio. However, his hands met with the empty feeling of his jacket—his phone was gone.
　　 
　　 
　　 
　　 
　　Dr. Davis Blythe had had a long day—an exceedingly long one. She had attended to a multitude of emergency patients, each presenting their own unique complaints and requests. Someone had even reported her to her supervisor, accusing her of negligence and insensitivity. All in all, she couldn't wait to return home.
　　 
　　"One of the ER nurses, Mary, shouted, "We have a new one!" with a dramatic sigh. Dr. Davis grabbed her stethoscope, stood up from her chair, and walked into the emergency area, designed to welcome incoming patients.
　　 
　　She walked out to see a young boy, not looking a day older than 20, writhing in severe pain. Intriguingly, his hands were tied. "What's going on?" she asked, looking up to Mary for an explanation.
　　 
　　Mary raised a brow, signifying that she had absolutely no idea. "I'm not sure how he came in this way," she said. Dr. Davis gave a sign; this was yet another strange occurrence she had encountered throughout the day. She grabbed a pair of scissors from the tray and quickly cut the bindings from his hands. The area had turned purple from the lack of blood flow.
　　 
　　"Change him into a hospital gown and place him on one of the three beds. I'll come to check on him soon. I need to finish up the checkup and analysis on the patient I was talking to."
　　 
　　Mary nodded and set to work.
　　 
　　Dr. Davis completed attending to her current patient faster than she had expected. She dusted her hands, removed her disposable gloves, and disposed of them in the trash bin.
　　 
　　Walking over to the next room, she was surprised to find the bed empty.
　　 
　　Approaching the nurses' station, she called Mary's attention, who was busy filling out a form. "Mary," she said, "where's the new patient?"
　　 
　　Mary gave her a puzzled look. "He's supposed to be in bed. What do you mean?" she asked. Dr. Davis pointed to the empty bed. "There's no one in the bed."
　　 
　　"What?" Mary said, shocked. She truthfully dropped the clipboard and rushed to the room, letting out an annoyed puff of air when she realized that the patient had disappeared.
　　 
　　"Maybe he went to the bathroom," Mary suggested.
　　 
　　Dr. Davis shook her head. "I don't think so. He left his phone behind."
　　 
　　"Oh," Mary said. She handed the phone to Dr. Davis. She looked at the screen, and it coincidentally rang.
　　 
　　The name on the screen read "Boss Bon."
　　 
　　Dr. Davis raised an eyebrow at the name. Was this related to the gang that had attacked her patient?
　　 
　　"Hello?" A man's voice came through the phone.
　　 
　　"Hello," she said. "This is Dr. Davis from the ER department of Seane Hospital. Who am I speaking with?"
　　 
　　The voice on the other end switched to another man. It wasn't as deep as the first man's voice.
　　 
　　"Hi," he said. "You're speaking with the owner of the phone."
　　 
　　Dr. Davis was puzzled. She lowered the phone away from her ear, stared at it, and then put it back to her ear. "What?" she said. "The owner of the phone is younger than the voice I'm hearing. Can I know who this is?"
　　 
　　"I'm sorry, I can't really tell you who I am, but I would like my phone back," the voice on the other end said.
　　 
　　Dr. Davis clicked her tongue, a motion she made when she was very annoyed. "Look," she said, "I don't know who you are, but if you want your phone back, you're going to have to come to the hospital yourselves. We do not do delivery services here." With that, without giving them a chance to reply, she pressed the end button, ending the call.
　　 
　　Herman looked at the phone screen, confused. "Who on earth was that woman, and why was she so vicious?" He turned to look at Bonifacio. "Did you hear what she said?" he asked.
　　 
　　Bonifacio gave him a pointed look. "Well," he said, "good luck on getting your phone back. I think I've tried. I'm going to enjoy what's left of my holiday." He turned around to leave.
　　 
　　Herman grabbed him by the collar. "Not so fast. You're the one who decided to meddle in the happenings at the market. You're the one who got me into this unfortunate mess. I'm not the one who got pickpocketed. With all your years in the military, I would have expected you to be more aware of your surroundings and not get stolen from by a petty thief who couldn't even escape properly."
　　 
　　The two men glared at each other before, finally, Bonifacio sighed and said, "What's the name of the hospital so we can go there and find your phone?"
　　 
　　Seane Hospital was larger than the two of them could have imagined. The building was enormous, with a very tall main structure and multiple attachments.
　　 
　　"Oh, wow," Herman said.
　　 
　　They walked up to the reception and were given directions to the ER department. When opening the department, they asked for Dr. Davis and were soon directed to her.
　　 
　　They stood behind a very beautiful woman with brunette hair falling in loose waves over her shoulders. She was attending to an elderly woman, and Bonifacio couldn't help but stare.
　　 
　　The nurse was soon done and turned to look at them, raising an eyebrow. She asked, "You've been staring at me for over five minutes. Can I help you?"
　　 
　　Herman and Bonifacio exchanged nervous glances. She looked much more stubborn and troublesome than they would have imagined.
　　 
　　"Umm," Herman said, stepping up. "I'm here for my phone. I called, and you asked us to come to your hospital."
　　 
　　She looked at them, raising an eyebrow, and said, "Oh, so you guys are the gangsters that beat up that poor kid?"
　　 
　　"What?" Herman and Bonifacio said in unison. "We did no such thing," they protested. "We didn't hurt him. In fact, he was a thief, and all we did was stop him from robbing and getting robbed."
　　 
　　Dr. Davis raised her arms and crossed them over her chest, staring at the two of them as if they were idiots. "Do you honestly expect me to believe that?"
　　 
　　They both gave her shy smiles. "But it's the truth," they said.
　　 
　　She rolled her eyes. "I think it's best for you to leave here before I call the cops on you for assault," she threatened. Bonifacio looked surprised, and Herman appeared dejected.
　　 
　　"What about my phone?" Herman asked. She glared at him and pushed past him as another emergency patient arrived. Together, they felt like the woman had dismissed them casually, and they almost robotically walked out of the hospital, stopping when they reached the outside. They turned to each other.
　　 
　　"Are we really just going to leave like this without the phone?" Herman asked.
　　 
　　Bonifacio raised his shoulders, signifying that he was just as perplexed as Herman. He couldn't help but feel a sense of frustration and disappointment. He was a soldier, a protector, and yet, in the presence of this doctor, he felt powerless.
　　 
　　Suddenly, Bonifacio turned to Herman, and his eyes gleamed with what looked like a plan. Herman didn't like the look of it, as Bonifacio's plans had almost always ended badly for the two of them.
　　 
　　"What is it?" he asked cautiously. "What are you thinking?"
　　 
　　"Remember, she said we shouldn't come back if we aren't patients, right? Well, how about you have an emergency?" Bonifacio suggested.
　　 
　　"What?" Herman said, but before he could finish, Bonifacio punched him in the stomach. He doubled over in pain as all the air left his lungs. "When you groan, act like it's cutting," Bonifacio whispered, instantaneously letting them into the hospital, shouting, "Help, my friend is in pain!" Herman gasped again, pretending Bonifacio had squeezed the sore area.
　　 
　　"You'll pay for this," Herman said to Bonifacio as he gasped for air. But Bonifacio ignored him and said, "Don't you want to get your phone back?"
　　 
　　The nurses quickly helped Herman into a bed in the emergency section, while Bonifacio left him to look for the nurse.
　　 
　　Dr. Davis was annoyed to see them again. "What are you doing here?" she asked. "I thought I told you to get out of here."
　　 
　　Bonifacio gave her a sly grin and said, "Well, my friend had an accident, so we're back here." She rolled her eyes and walked around him.
　　 
　　Lieutenant Isabel Ortiz was frazzled. She had recently heard that her boyfriend was at the hospital. She couldn't think straight and immediately jumped into a car to come and see him. Nearly tripping over her own two feet, she managed to make it to the reception and asked them to show her where he was.
　　 
　　As you may know, Isabel spotted a girl that she knew from her college days beside him. It was Blythe, Dr. Davis.
　　 
　　"Hello," she said, walking up to them. Dr. Davis looked at her, immediately recognizing her. She had a flashback of her time in college and quickly suppressed it. Those were some of her worst times, and she wasn't in the right frame of mind to recall those memories.
　　 
　　"Hello, Isabel," she said, her tone cold. Isabel gave her a cold reply: "Hello, Blythe."
　　 
　　Bonifacio and Herman looked at all of them, puzzled.
　　 
　　"You know each other?" they asked. Unfortunately, Isabel said, "We were in college together."
　　 
　　She pushed past Dr. Davis and walked over to her man. "Are you all right?" she asked. "What is wrong? What hurts?" Herman grabbed her hands awkwardly and pushed them away from him. He had broken up with her previously, but it seemed like Isabel was not willing to accept it.
　　 
　　"I'm fine," he said. "What are you doing here?" he asked her.
　　 
　　Isabel gave him a hurt stare at his indifference. "I came to check on you. I heard you were hospitalized."
　　 
　　"I'm fine," he repeated. "You can go now."
　　 
　　Isabel looked at the man that she loved, her eyes becoming a little teary. Herman had broken up with her because he felt inferior to her and her family. He felt like his family was in a much worse state, and he said he was not willing to continue. She understood that her father had done a lot of things to try to get him to break up with her, but she had expected him to at least fight for her.
　　 
　　Herman said to her, "Wait." She turned around, expecting him to ask her to stay or to apologize. But then he said something that broke her heart even further. "Could you please verify my identity with the doctor here? She refuses to believe that I'm in the military and says my ID card is fake."
　　 
　　Isabel looked at Dr. Davis with teary eyes and said, "He's a fake," and she turned to walk away.
　　 
　　With teary eyes and already feeling embarrassed, she turned and walked out of the hospital.
　　 
　　Herman looked sad and turned to Dr. Davis. "She's in a bad mood, so that's why she said what she said," he explained. He opened his mouth to continue talking, but Isabel had already gone, so he put his hands in his pockets and walked away.
　　 
　　Bonifacio and Herman walked out of the hospital, the phone in their hands, but strangely feeling like they had lost a battle.
　　 
　　Bonifacio couldn't resist getting the doctor out of his head and eventually decided to come back to the hospital to speak to her. "I have to clear up the misunderstanding," he thought. "She probably thinks we're huge jerks after seeing what happened to Isabel."