A/N Hello everyone. I'm sorry I'm a bit late. It's just that last week I got a very unpleasant news that my husband had the virus. And still has. At that time my mind went blank, my brain froze and I couldn't do anything. Literally. But thank goodness he is better now, normal saturation, all vital signs are good, the colour of his face is back and he is recovering. And now that my brain has melted, I have written a little to continue this story. I hope this isn't a disappointment. Thanks to those of you who have left a review and I have answered it in the review column because it is too long to be put in here. Thanks for the support, and let me know what you guys think about this story by leaving a review. Enjoy !!

"Hey, Charlie! The usual, please."

"Oh. Hi, dr. Red! The usual is coming right away."

Jack was so deep in thought that he didn't really care about his surroundings. After ordering two cups of cream coffee to one of the employees at a beverage booth in the hospital lobby, his eyes kept staring on the row of jars filled with various types of coffee, chocolate and spices arranged on the front booth.

Apart from thinking about Elsa and Gerda, he couldn't help but think about why this happened. As Elsa said this afternoon, that Gerda suddenly behaved strangely. She had absolutely nothing to do with this case then why suddenly she asked Elsa to drop this case? Various scenarios swirled in his head so that he didn't realise that someone next to him noticing him. And he only realized it when suddenly a finger tapped his shoulder. Three times.

Jack looked up and his blue eyes met the blue-green eyes of a girl he thought he'd seen. Light blue scrub, white coat, white sneakers and strawberry blonde hair. He was about to ask her when the girl beat him to ask first.

"How's your girlfriend?" The girl asked.

Jack's eyes narrowed while his brows furrowed, confused with the question. "My girlfriend?"

"Yeah. Platinum blonde hair, dark grey sweater, shorter than you but slightly taller than me, Mrs. Larson daughter?" She tried to describe who she meant.

Oh, she meant Elsa.

Jack chuckled, trying to think of the answer. He wanted to justify the assumption of the girl in front of him that Elsa was his girlfriend, but sadly, the reality was not like that. Even so, he didn't want to explain who Elsa was to a stranger.

"She's fine, for now. She was quite shaken when she heard about Gerda's condition, but I think she will get better with time. And hopefully, Gerda will recover soon." Replied Jack politely. In fact, he wanted to confirm that Gerda was not Elsa's mother, but that was not his story for him to tell.

"Oh, don't worry. She will get better. She is in good hands. Dr. Hunt may look fierce and scary, but she is very competent." The girl giggled while her hands didn't stop moving as long as she spoke.

"Yeah, thank you though."

"Ah, no problem. I can understand how your girlfriend feels. I lost my mother once so I know what it feels like when you are faced with the worst possibilities. And she looked really devastated earlier. That's why I asked you how she is doing right now." The girl told her story, but this time she didn't move her hand, instead she put it in the pocket of her white coat.

Jack confused what to answer. He actually wondered how this girl could tell her story so easily with a stranger. But maybe she was someone who made friends easily. And then the voice of the man behind the counter made the two of them turn their faces toward the beverage booth.

"The usual one for dr. Red and two cups of cream coffee for Mr..." The man behind the counter tilted his head because he couldn't clearly read his friend's writing. "Jack." He smiled when he could read it.

"Thank you." Jack took his order as did the girl next to him. He was getting ready to leave when the girl called him back.

"You know what? Take this." The girl handed Jack her cup, making him frown.

"Excuse me?" Jack didn't understand what the girl meant.

"This is hot chocolate. With cinnamon, cream, a pinch of chili powder and a pinch of salt-"

"Chili powder?" Jack cut the girl off because he found it weird with chili powder in a hot chocolate.

"Yeah, pay attention. Coffee is not good for your girlfriend's current state. She needs her sleep while coffee will make her difficult to sleep. Chocolate and cinnamon, they love each other. Just the right amount of chili powder will warm her body without making it taste spicy, and salt will elevate the flavour. This will calm her down even more. Trust me. She will love it. I need this kind of soothing beverage when I'm in the nearly-end my round shift. Like this time." The girl kept handing her cup of hot chocolate and her convincing explanation made Jack think maybe this girl was right. Even though they were just talking to each other, there was no way someone who might work in this hospital, had bad intentions. Right?

"But I already have two cups."

"I'll take one of yours. Don't worry, the price is not much different. You have nothing to lose." The girl then took a cup in Jack's hand and handed over her cup, smiling broadly. "Take care of your girlfriend. Bye!"

Jack chuckled and shook his head as he watched the girl walk away. "Girlfriend, huh? I wonder when that will happen." He muttered, leaving the beverage booth and heading for the elevator.

Jack sighed softly when he arrived at the ICU ward where Elsa was still standing staring through the glass wall. Her shoulders were still tense and she folded her hands in front of her chest. Her teeth regularly bit her lower lip. Her long platinum blonde hair was tied up in a messy bun. She was no longer crying but in her eyes he could still see the restlessness radiating from it.

"Hey, I brought your drink. Come on, let's sit down first." Jack said after previously putting his cups on the row of seats in the waiting room not far from the ICU door. He tenderly grabbed Elsa's elbows and led her into the waiting room. He felt a bit of resistance when he did that, but his gentle determination made Elsa finally comply.

Jack prepared Elsa's drink while watching her from the corner of his eye. He saw how she rubbed her face and let out a deep breath. Maybe she really needs this hot chocolate, he thought.

"Here. Try this." Jack said, handing over Elsa's cup.

"Thank you." Elsa said softly, and without another word, she brought her lips to the cup and began to sip its contents. Her forehead creased when the liquid that came out from the cup touched the tip of her tongue. "What's this? I thought you bought coffee?" She asked, looking up at Jack

"That's hot chocolate. Someone told me that chocolate is way better than coffee for you now. Do you like it?" Jack sipped his coffee and smiled at Elsa.

Elsa took another sip, tried to understand better the hot chocolate which she thought had an unusual taste. "It's a bit weird, but I like it." She kept sipping the hot chocolate, as did Jack with his coffee. The two of them didn't speak to each other for a moment.

"Any news from them?" Jack asked after he finished his coffee.

Elsa shook her head slowly. "No. No one has come out of that door since after you left."

"You're not serious about staying here, are you? You won't sleep properly in this chair." Jack patted the four-seat stainless steel chair that he and Elsa were sitting on.

Elsa seemed to be thinking for a moment before finally opened her mouth. "What do you think, Jack? Do you think I will be able to sleep comfortably on my bed while my thoughts are drifting over here?"

"I think you can't help but think of Gerda. But at least you give your body the rest it deserves. You know, Gerda is surrounded by professionals and I'm sure they'll let you know if things change." Jack gave his most veridical smile to Elsa. "Do you trust me?"

Elsa stared straight into the blue eyes she had been failing to notice, then switched to the smile she had thought of as just a side-lip movement that didn't really matter to her. Were that still so? It made her think.

We come into this world alone

From the heart of darkness

The infinite unknown

We're only here a little while

And I feel safe and warm

When I see your smile

Elsa took Jack's hand and let her fingers intertwine with his. She inched closer to Jack and leaned her head on his shoulder.

Baby don't move away from me

Baby don't pull away

"I do. I do trust you."

Jack smiled, feeling a hint of Elsa's affection. He then patted their intertwined fingers and let out a sigh of relief because Elsa had complied with his request to come home tonight.

"Miss Elsa, you didn't touch your breakfast at all?" Olina asked in surprise when she put the glass filled with water for Elsa. And not only that, she felt that Elsa was really deep in thought that morning.

As for Elsa, what Olina said brought her out of her reverie. She let out a deep breath and gave Olina a small smile. "I'm not that hungry this morning, Olina. I don't feel like eating. Please tell Kai to get the car ready, okay? I'll be leaving for the office in a few minutes."

There was nothing Olina could do but obey Elsa's orders. Still hesitating, Olina nodded and hurriedly looked for Kai, leaving Elsa who was now starting to prepare with her belongings.

There were some things that were still lingering in Elsa's mind. She couldn't breathe a sigh of relief if there was no news about Gerda's condition and the reason why all this happened. There were too many whys swimming in her head.

Why did Gerda ask her to leave Iduna's case? Why did Gerda want to come to her house, while she could just call her? What was so important that she had to meet her in person? Why did she seem so nervous that she had to rush over to her house? Why did she say something about her mother? Why did this accident have to happen? Is it only because Gerda's carelessness in driving, or is it because there are external factors that make her hurt?

All those thoughts didn't leave Elsa's mind all the way to the office until she finally felt Kai slowing down the car and finally stopped the car right in front of the main entrance of her office building.

"Good morning." That's the first thing Elsa heard when she got out of the car. Unlike Kai's voice, causing her to look up and realize that it wasn't Kai who opened the car door, it was Jack.

"Jack." Said Elsa between her surprised breaths. Her brain was actually running a marathon causing her awareness of the surroundings to diminish considerably.

"Yes, it's Jack." Jack hugged Elsa from the side and led her into the building. He realized the emptiness in Elsa's eyes and he could only guess what Elsa was thinking. "Any news?"

The question prompted a long sigh, and Elsa was only willing to answer it when Jack opened the door to her room. "I called the hospital first thing in the morning. Gerda is still unconscious." She replied, putting her bag on the table and settling down on her armchair.

"I'm confused thinking about all this, Jack. I keep thinking about this. The thing is, Olaf said that Gerda wanted to come to my house late at night, why didn't she just call? And he also said that Gerda was very worried." Said Elsa, putting her hands together in front of her face and resting her elbows on the table. Her fingers moved restlessly

"Did Olaf say the reason why Gerda had to rush to your house?" Jack put his hands on the table in front of Elsa.

Elsa stood up when something seemed to come into her mind, she didn't care about Jack's question. Her face turned serious as she thought that, this might be the reason behind the incidents that had happened recently.

"Jack, have I been guessing right?"

"Which guess?"

"Yes of course, that Manny is behind all this. Now you see, Gerda, she was very worried and wanted me out of this case. Then, she rushed to my house and wanted to meet me in person while she used to communicate with me by phone. She initially didn't mind me working on this case. Then why did she suddenly change her mind? I'm sure there must be something that made this happen, Jack."

Jack tried to keep his expression as neutral as possible, even though the thought had crossed his mind too. "I won't say that your guess is wrong, Elsa, but if it is true that Manny is the person behind all this, it is not impossible for his men to reach the prison and meet Iduna. Have you met her again? Has anything changed from her?"

Elsa frowned at Jack's words and then shrugged her shoulders slowly. "I don't know about that. We'll go to police station later, okay? I want to meet her."

Jack gave her a sympathetic smile and stood up straight. "Alright, I'll take you there. But maybe I just dropped you off because I have a client appointment this afternoon. You can call me when you're done from there and I'll pick you up right away. Is that okay?"

"Yes, Jack. Thank you."

"Miss Elsa, when will my case go to trial?"

That was the first sentence that came out of Iduna's mouth when she met Elsa that afternoon. From the first time she entered the interrogation room, she sensed something was different from Elsa. Unlike usual, Elsa only smiled a little and did not start the conversation first. The two of them were just lost in their own thoughts until finally, Iduna felt the need to break the silence.

Even so, her attempt to start the conversation seemed unsuccessful. Elsa still stared blankly at something in front of her while her fingers fidgeting with her pen. Her forehead frowned, she didn't like Elsa in this kind of state. Is there something wrong? Or, is she not feeling well?

"Miss Elsa?"

Iduna couldn't take it anymore when Elsa still didn't respond to her call. Slowly, she got up from her seat, walked around and sat beside Elsa. Her hand hesitantly touched Elsa and a single touch on the shoulder succeeded in bringing Elsa back to her senses.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Ms. Iduna." Said Elsa. She realized that Iduna was sitting next to her and no longer in front of her. And she felt bad for ignoring Iduna.

"It's okay. Are you alright? You're not quite well today." Iduna asked quietly. She could sense that her daughter might be thinking about something that was bothering her. And that something was nothing small, she could tell.

Elsa gave Iduna a less convincing smile. She weighed whether or not to tell her, because in the end she needed someone to talk to, at least to reduce the burden on her shoulders.

"I'm fine. It's just that, recently I was faced with a bizarre situation." Said Elsa, her head still staring at the pen in her hand and only occasionally stared at Iduna.

"Bizarre?" Iduna wanted to know more what kind of bizarre situation her daughter was facing. "Do you want to talk about it?" She asked carefully and to her surprise, Elsa nodded her head and gave her a little smile.

"It's Gerda, she is the owner of the orphanage where I grew up. Yesterday, she suddenly asked me to drop the case and leave you. I don't understand why she behaved like that. She has nothing to do with this case, then why should she bother?" Elsa paused for a moment and kept staring at the pen in her hand, so that she didn't notice the drastic change in emotion on Iduna's face when she mentioned Gerda, drop the case and leave

What happened, Gerda? Why do you want my daughter to leave me?

"Last night she insisted on coming to my house and meeting me in person. What was so important that she couldn't talk about it over the phone? She mentioned about my mother when she was about to go to my house. She was in such a hurry that she had an accident and until now she is still unconscious-"

"What?!" Iduna gasped and brought her hands to her mouth. "Oh my God, Gerda."

Elsa snapped her head towards Iduna in surprise at her reaction. She stared at Iduna for a moment who seemed to notice that she was looking at her with a strange gaze. Iduna cleared her throat and tried to compose herself.

"Yes, I know you will never escape. But rules are rules, Ms. Singleir." Said detective Morris firmly. A while ago, Iduna asked for time to meet him and asked permission to get out of prison because she wanted to see someone.

"I beg you, sir. I beg you, I have to meet her." Iduna said pleadingly.

The news from Elsa made her really want to meet Gerda. She had to know how she was and there was so much more she wanted to know. She had a bad feeling that what was happening was only a start. Once she had entrusted Elsa to Gerda, but now that Gerda started to behave unnaturally, she began to worry what had caused all this to happen.

"Who do you want to meet, anyway? You don't have any relatives in this town, do you?"

"She's my old friend. Please, Sir. Please."

When Detective Morris saw Iduna's teary eyes, he felt a little uncertain. On one hand, he did believe that Iduna would never escape, but on the other hand, he had rules to obey.

"I'm sorry, but the answer is still no.

Hearing the decision from detective Morris, Iduna felt deflated. She could do nothing but remain in her cell.

Alex continued to watch Jamie through the rearview mirror while still concentrating on driving. He wanted to try to convey his anxiety because he was still haunted by the events of that damned night.

He realized who he was working for, and how powerful his master was. But only this time he had been involved in taking someone's life away. Since the first time he worked for Jamie's father, he'd been assigned to be Jamie's driver and that's all. Well, he knew what was going on in that house of Manny, what transactions were going on, and what kind of business his master was running. But this was the first time he was involved in murdering someone.

"Master Jamie." Alex glanced at Jamie in the rearview mirror.

"What?" Jamie answered carelessly, keeping his gaze out of the window.

"We'd better just admit it."

Alex words managed to stop Jamie from staring out the window and looking at him. "What do you mean?" Fear and nervousness could clearly be heard from his words.

"We'd better admit about the murder. That we were involved." Said Alex, making his point clear even with his words, it was obvious that he was very uncomfortable and afraid of their little secret that was still haunting him.

"What?" Jamie leaned closer, unhappy with what Alex was saying. "What did you say, Alex? Do you want to go to prison? If you want to go to prison, don't take me with you." He pushed hard on the back of Alex's head.

"It is better to go to prison, than to be constantly pursued by sin." Said Alex slowly. Regret was evident in his words

"How can you say that? You know for sure right, what would be the consequences if I said this to my father?"

"I know that. I just-"

"Shut up, Alex!" Again, Jamie pushed hard the back of Alex's head.

"I just-"

"Alex! Once again you talk about it, I'll beat the crap out of you!"

"WHAT?!"

Manny slammed the fall board of his grand piano when he heard Jamie say that Alex was planning to confess his crimes.

"He wants to confess his crimes? Is that so?" He approached Jamie and asked in a low, dangerous voice that made the hair on Jamie's nape stand up.

"Y-yes, Dad. H-he, he said it this afternoon." Jamie replied, stuttering. Before he met his father, he already knew how his father would react and he had prepared himself, but still, he felt very small and insignificant in front of his father.

Seeing this, Scar who was also with them felt embarrassed. He felt embarrassed because he was the one who asked Alex to work for his master. This incident made him think of Alex as a threat and felt responsible for it.

"Excuse me, sir. I'm the one who brought Alex to work here. I'll take care of this problem." Said Scar, lowering his head slightly.

Manny's eyes narrowed at Scar. He took a new cigar, and lit it. "You take care of Alex. Don't let him confess." Scar was just about to leave the room when he remembered something. "Scar. We don't have to wait anymore. Come to that orphanage and find out who that crazy lawyer is." He approached Scar and gave him a murderous glare.

"You are the person I trust the most. Don't let me down."

Scar's body stiffened. What Manny had just told him might sound like a compliment, but to him it was Manny's attempt to warn him that if he didn't do his job well, he already knew what the consequences would be.

"I won't let you down, Sir."

"When do you think Gerda will wake up, Jack?" Elsa asked from the passenger seat in Jack's car. The two of them were on their way back to her mansion.

"I don't know, Els. Let's hope for the best, yeah?" Jack gave Elsa a sympathetic smile and refocused on the road ahead.

Elsa, dissatisfied with Jack's answer, did not respond. She was lost in thought once again, thinking about many things that disturbed her peace of mind. One of the things that came back to the surface of her mind was the reason why Gerda wanted to go to her house and what made her even more curious was why Gerda mentioned her mother.

"All these things just keep messing up my mind." Elsa said in low frustration voice, because all these things began to taking its toll on her. She took a deep breath and continued to look outside through the window.

"And your appetite too. I don't know about your breakfast this morning, but your lunch and dinner combined, isn't even enough to fill me up, Elsa." Jack said seriously. There was a hint of worry in his words. He turned to look at Elsa and the two pairs of blue eyes met. It didn't last long though, because Jack had to stay focused on the wheel and the road.

"Tomorrow morning I'll pick you up and make sure that you eat your breakfast. So, please tell Olina to prepare my favourite toast and a glass of warm chocolate milk."

Elsa chuckled upon hearing that. "I wonder who eats a very heavy calorie toast plus a glass of chocolate milk in the morning."

Jack pretended to think. "Uh, everybody?" He smiled seeing Elsa shaking her head slowly and a small smile rose from her lips. "Listen, the most important thing for me right now is that you eat properly, Elsa. If your eating habits today continued, you would be as thin as a chopstick."

Although it sounded as if Jack was just kidding, Elsa could sense the seriousness in Jack's words. And concern. She took some time to understand more deeply about the figure next to her by staring at him intensely.

Have you been that caring about me all this time, Jack?

The gear in her brain worked hard to think back to the moments they had been together and Elsa's lips curved a smile when she realized that Jack had cared about her all this time. For the first time in the day, she pushed her problems out of her mind and let her brain release a burst of serotonin that produced feelings of affection and attachment.

And her heart was blooming because of the feelings that arose, making her unable to stop smiling. She decided to enjoy it now and she would take care of all her problems later.

"Boss will be very happy to see this."

Scar held a piece of paper in his hand and he smiled slyly as he read the information on the paper. It was almost midnight, and at that time the residents of the orphanage were mostly asleep. First of all, he had come as a visitor so that Olaf let him inside. But when he asked for information about who Elsa Winters really was and Olaf refused to provide information, he had to use his evil side, which was the real him.

Olaf was lying unconscious on the floor after one of his men managed to knock him down while Gerda's room looked more like a broken ship, hundreds of papers scattered all over the place and binders containing information of every single person who had lived there also scattered on the floor.

In the paper he was holding was information about Elsa Winters, who at the time she was given to the orphanage was only named Elsa, information on when she was given and who gave it to the orphanage.

Scar tucked the piece of paper that was almost like a treasure with a great care into his leather jacket. He looked around the room and clean up was certainly not in his dictionary at the moment. He motioned his men to leave the place with only one simple movement of his head.

Wait until you see this, Boss.