Yono, usually so easy-going, now regarded Havi with quiet curiosity, "If she was the first person you thought of upon waking, don't you think that means something?"
Diana exhaled sharply, a barely audible hiss escaping her lips. Her gaze was distant, veiled with emotions she struggled to name.
"I don't care," she murmured at last, her voice cool, though the faint tremor in her words betrayed her.
Mr Ridho cleared his throat, an attempt to reclaim control of the moment, "Havi, how do you feel?"
Havi did not answer straight away. His head throbbed dully, his thoughts thick with haze.
He strained to recall what had happened before he lost consciousness, but the memories remained elusive, slipping like water through his fingers.
He could remember only a touch, a warmth upon his skin and a voice, soft yet insistent, calling his name.
At last, his eyelids fluttered open. His vision swam, slowly sharpening as he took in the faces around him.
His gaze settled on Diana, who stood motionless at his side. Yet something was amiss.
There was no relief in her expression, no quiet joy at seeing him awake.
Instead, there was something far more difficult to decipher, a mix of anger, sorrow, and disappointment.
"Havi, you're awake," Mrs Saras breathed, her voice thick with relief.
Havi tried to smile, but even that small gesture felt exhausting, "I… I'm fine," he murmured.
Before anyone else could speak, Diana took a step back, "I need some air," she said abruptly, turning on her heel and striding towards the door.
Havi watched her go, a strange unease curling in his chest. Something was wrong. Something had shifted.
Yono, observing the moment with quiet amusement, gave a slow shake of his head, "You've really done it this time, Havi," he said with a wry chuckle.
Havi turned to him, frowning, "What are you talking about?"
Yono merely shrugged, "That's not for me to explain."
Havi said nothing, his mind still clouded with uncertainty.
But his gaze remained fixed on the door through which Diana had disappeared, a feeling of unease settling deep in his bones.
*****
Outside, Diana walked briskly towards the hospital's main entrance, the night air cool against her skin.
She had not realised she was crying until she felt the damp warmth of tears upon her cheeks.
The moment in that room had been unbearable. The man she loved had called another woman's name. How could she not feel wounded?
She stopped just beyond the hospital gates, her arms wrapped tightly around herself as she stared into the glow of the streetlamps.
"Should I let Havi go?" The thought came unbidden, slipping past her lips in a whisper.
A voice, unexpected yet unmistakable, answered her, "There's no need for that."
Diana turned sharply. Standing there, in the pool of golden light, was a woman she recognised at once.
The very woman whose name had echoed from Havi's lips while he lay unconscious.
"You," Diana breathed, her voice edged with disbelief.
"Yes," Nuriana said simply.
Diana's heart clenched, "Why are you still here? I thought you had left."
"I was about to," Nuriana admitted, "But my mind is still filled with thoughts of your boyfriend."
Jealousy flared, hot and unwelcome, "What do you want from him?" Diana demanded.
Nuriana did not answer at once. Instead, she extended her hand, "I suppose you already know my name. Havi was right. I'm Nuriana. Nuriana Salim."
Diana hesitated. For a moment, she merely stared at the offered hand. Then, inhaling deeply, she reached out and clasped it.
"Diana. Diana Galuh," she said, her voice quieter now.
Nuriana smiled faintly, but there was no warmth in it. Only something unreadable, "Today has been strange," she murmured.
She exhaled slowly, then continued, "My car lost control earlier. I don't know why. I almost crashed, into your boyfriend's parents, no less."
Diana stiffened, recalling the near-tragedy all too vividly.
"But the strangest thing," Nuriana went on, her voice low, "Was what happened after that. When your boyfriend slapped me hard. I thought, for a moment, that I might actually die from the force of it."
She paused, as if replaying the moment in her mind.
"And then he looked at me, looked at me as if he had seen a ghost. He screamed my name. My full name. The thing is… I've never met him before."
Diana frowned, "What are you trying to say?"
Nuriana's lips curled into a wry smile, "Think about it. Your boyfriend slapped me, then stared at me as if I weren't real. And then... he apologised to me. Over and over again. And later? He thanked me."
"I don't understand!" Diana burst out, frustration lacing her voice.
Nuriana let out a sharp breath, her expression darkening, "It's simple. Your boyfriend doesn't just know me. He knows me as if I were the most important person in his life."
"As though I were the one most accountable for your beloved's very existence. Though when or why that might have been, I cannot say," Nuriana murmured, her voice laced with quiet bewilderment.
Diana remained still, her head bowed, lost in the labyrinth of her own thoughts.
The distant hum of traffic, the wail of an ambulance siren outside the hospital, once so intrusive, now seemed to fade into nothingness, swallowed by the weight of her contemplation.
At length, she raised her gaze, her expression unreadable, "Nuriana… do you believe in reincarnation?"
"Reincarnation?" Nuriana repeated, an edge of incredulity in her voice. "I cannot say I do. Such notions have always seemed like little more than fanciful tales. Why do you ask?"
"Havi… he has told me, more than once, that he was... reborn," Diana confessed, her voice barely more than a whisper.
"And if I think back to what he did to you earlier… he did the very same thing to me. Three days ago, when I first set foot in his home."
A gust of wind swept past, carrying with it the sharp chill of the night.
And yet, between the two women, there was no cold, only a strange, growing tension, thick with unspoken truths and unshaped possibilities.