A few days passed, but Alice still couldn't get over everything that happened to her recently. Komba has community service hours, Klaus doesn't work here anymore, and Dylan—

Suddenly, the elevator stopped and opened at the thirteenth floor already. That was faster than usual. Just as she was about to exit, a metal ladder appeared from nowhere. "What is this?!"

"Did I hit somebody?!" The speaker placed the ladder down and saw a very shocked Alice hugging the elevator door. "I didn't mean—"

"I'm fine! I was just shocked to see a ladder walking by itself." She finally exited the elevator and extended her hand. "I'm Alice."

"I'm Shadow, the maintenance guy." He pulled his glove off and shook the radio host's hand. "You speak on air, right?"

"That's me! I've never seen you around before. The only maintenance technician I've seen is an older man."

"Huh, don't know him. Mister Anubias hired me just recently. I fixed the elevator this morning. Anyway, time for my next task. Nice meeting you, Alice!"

Alice waved the technician goodbye and reported to work, only to see everyone gathered around someone's desk. "Good morning, everyone. What's the occasion?"

"Alice, meet our new coworker!" Julie dragged the redhead over and introduced her to a tall blond guy. "This is Gunz Lazar, the new office assistant. Gunz, this is Alice Gehabich, owner of the lovely voice you hear on the radio!"

The redhead smiled and offered her hand. "Welcome to the work family, Gunz!"

"Thank you!" Instead of returning a handshake, Gunz grabbed Alice's hand and kissed the back of it. "I'm one of your biggest fans! So glad to meet you in person! I look forward to meeting Dylan as—"

Runo cleared her throat very loudly. "He's officially fired, meaning that we need to change the name of the show into something better."

"Already fired?! Wow! Ever since that accident on-air, I've heard people call him very nasty things. First he got suspended, and now he's out. I hope he learned his lesson, although I doubt anyone will hire him in the future."

"Wow..." Julie gasped. "You think exactly like we do! Accident or not, his behavior will cost him his job anyway. But his stuff is still here, so he still needs return someday to pack."

Accident or not, what's done is done. Alice looked around the studio and asked, "Do we have any empty desks left over for Gunz?"

Everyone glanced at each other until Runo suggested, "Gunz can use Dylan's old desk since all the tables are around the same—"

"Sounds like a party back here!" All eyes faced the door as Dylan appeared at the double-door entrance. "Was I bothering something? Keep going! I just came back to pack since the show is now all yours,Alice."

"I sincerely hope you learned your lesson," was all she said.

"Oh really? Finally showing your true self to everyone now?" As Alice spread her hands to protect her coworkers, Dylan continued walking and purposely shoved the redhead. "You made me lose my job, so I'm going to make you blacklisted from all multimedia!"

Alice only partially stopped her fall and landed on her side quickly, with the pain radiating from her hip to everywhere else. Not again...the pain...in my stomach... Why can't it just end already?

Rafe placed his finger under Alice's nose. "Alice looks passed out. Her hands and feet have some scratches. Jack, call an ambulance! Gunz, help me carry her to the elevator!"

"Got it!" replied both employees.

"I'll grab Alice's belongings." Julie rushed over to the redhead's desk and stuffed the most important items into Alice's purse. "Runo, are you coming or staying?"

"I'm staying. I don't trust Dylan alone here."

"Sounds good. Also..." The Australian lowered her voice and asked, "are you thinking what I'm—"

"We are not planning anything until you come back from the hospital, especially since Alice told me what you wanted to do with your keys last time."

Julie crossed Alice's purse over her own shoulder and walked backwards out of the studio. "Whatever you say, Runo. I'll keep you updated."

-x-x-x-x-x-

"Do you think she'll agree to it?"

Joe sighed and wiped the bar counter repeatedly in thought. "Shun, this has never occurred to me before. I know my mom performed some psych evals on Lync Volan back then, but I don't think she remembers him that well anymore. It was a short-lived task, so I don't know if she has any say about visiting Lync at all. Why so urgent?"

"You probably know about Alice already. I was able to get some information about Lync and the locker room case from her, but other things aren't adding up, so I thought it would be best to speak with Lync himself."

"Shun, I've heard a lot. Lots of gossip and small talk take place at my bubble tea bar. Although...are you doing this for your mom? Or for Alice?"

The raven-haired student finished his drink and stared blankly. "What do you mean?"

"You modified your academic track drastically because of your mom, but stop using her name as an excuse for everything."

"But it's not an excuse! Mom's notes said that Lync was a gentle person and incapable of violently assaulting people, but Alice insists that he was...basically a monster. How else am I supposed to approach this?"

"Well...you're describing two extremes." Joe cleared Shun's empty drink cup and cleaned up. "I'll talk to my mom in person when it's convenient, since I moved out a while back. Don't keep your hopes up, though."

"Anything helps. See you later." Just as he left the café, Shun received a call from Julie. "How come you're directly calling me instead of texting me?"

"Because Alice is in the hospital again!"

"Seriously? I'll be there soon."

The Australian hung up first and faced her coworkers. "The three of you should go back to work. I can wait for Alice by myself. Dylan probably finished packing, but I just realized that we left Runo all alone up there. Rafe and Jack, you two should teach Gunz what to do."

The three coworkers nodded and left as Shun found his way to where Julie was. "What even happened that required four people to bring Alice to the hospital?"

"It's Dylan—again. Just when we thought that things would be get better when he's fired, Dylan come back to pack and purposely shoved Alice. Rafe said she passed out, so we brought her here."

Suddenly, the curtain pulled open as the nurse escorted Alice into the hallway. "Miss Gehabich is all better now. Full-body x-rays revealed no major fractures, and we've treated all the wounds on her hands and feet."

"Thank you!" Julie took control of the wheelchair and pushed Alice to the waiting area. "You had us worried, Alice! What took them so long?"

"I didn't feel well, so the nurses watched my vital signs for another hour." The redhead put on her jacket and saw Shun on her right. "You came too."

"Julie called me over. I was in the area—"

"Sorry to interrupt," said the nurse from earlier. "but could one of you come with me to fill out the discharge paperwork?"

"I got this!" volunteered Julie.

Shun finished where he left off. "I was at Joe's bubble tea place when Julie called. Anyway, did Dylan really push you?"

"Yeah, but—" She groaned in agony and held her hand to her forehead. "I don't know why my head still hurts. The doctor ruled out any concussions and—"

"Don't think about it." The raven-haired student kneeled to Alice's level and held her right hand. "He's not here to hurt you right now. Also, why did they x-ray your entire body? Where did you fall?"

"I landed hip first, but that pain...came from nowhere...and just spread everywhere."

"You're recalling when you were stabbed in the stomach in the locker room, aren't you?"

The redhead sighed and faced away, despite holding onto Shun's hand. "I guess I'm still not over it."

"I never said you were. That's why I'm—"

"Shun? Is that you?" Approaching the pair was Hydron with a stethoscope around his neck. "It's me, Hydron? Alice is here too? This is déjà vu."

"You're Alice's classmate." The raven-haired student pulled his hand away quickly and stood up, much to Alice's dismay. "Alice is almost discharged from the ER."

"Again? This is like the third time or something." The PA student ran over to Alice's left and asked, "Did someone throw dangerous objects at you from the roof?!"

The radio host stared at her right hand and wiggled her fingers slowly. I shouldn't ask for more than what's already given to me for free. "Luckily, no. The police already solved that mystery. I was at work this morning when Dylan pushed me."

Julie came back with papers in her hands. "Wow, we have a full house! Alice, the nurse needs your initials and signatures on these papers..."

As the redhead went through each form, Hydron asked, "Are you going to report Dylan to the police?"

Alice signed the last form and handed the stack back to Julie. "I'd rather not. It's not a big issue that caused major harm. If I do report, then he'll think that I'm purposefully targeting him. I'm just grateful that Anubias finally fired Dylan. What more can I ask for?"

Just as Julie left to find the nurse again, loud heel clicks approached the trio before a voice said, "Hydron, I need your help."

The PA student looked up and saw his colleague from last time. "Katie, why are you wearing loud shoes? It's disturbing the patients."

"Hydron, you know her?" Alice asked, although her question went ignored.

The intern pharmacist giggled and explained. "I was going to tap dance for the kids in the pediatric ward, but I need you to help me retrieve—" She glanced at Alice and changed her diction. "—some medications from a storage bin on the same floor first."

"I'll be there soon." Now Hydron kneeled to Alice's level and explained, "Katie's an intern pharmacist and has her rotations at the same time as mine. She's a great friend to have around since we're the only students here of similar age."

"Great...friend..." Those words lingered on the redhead's tongue as her former classmate stood up again. At least you moved on.

Shun pushed the wheelchair to the side before saying, "I can take Alice and Julie back to the radio station since Katie needs your help, Hydron."

"Sure. Thanks." Hydron waved everyone goodbye before walking off with Katie. Instead of leading him to the pediatric ward, the intern pharmacist exited the building and entered a courtyard. "Katie, what are you doing?"

"Who was that?"

The PA student held his hands up confusingly in defense. "What are you talking about? You mean my friends from earlier?"

"Specifically, the female patient."

"Oh...that's Alice. She used to attend Wardington School of Integrated Health Sciences with me before she graduated early. The other people are her friends. Alice was here last time when you asked me to help put an IV bag away. Katie, why are you asking me this?"

"You seem really close with her."

"She's friends with a close friend of mine from back then, so we all know each other to some—"

"I also heard you tell her that you and I also just 'great friends'."

"Well, aren't we? I find it hard to believe that we're the only two non-nursing students on rotations here, so—"

"Forget it." Katie backed up as her shoes clicked loudly after each step. "I just wish you could see us as more than just that."

With that said, the intern pharmacist ran back inside the building as Hydron stood in place in utter confusion.

-x-x-x-x-x-

At home, Alice was working at the dining table when the doorbell rang. "Hi Julie! I didn't think you were serious about stopping by my place."

"Well, I just thought we could follow up on how you're doing and work on a new project!" the Australian replied. "I brought Shun, by the way. He drove me here."

"Julie wouldn't stop texting me unless I agreed," Shun clarified. "Feeling any better, Alice?"

"I'm okay, although I lost a lot of work time. You two can keep your shoes on." Alice entered the kitchen and grabbed some water glasses. "Julie, what are you planning?"

The Australian already seated herself on the sofa and typed furiously on her laptop. "We are going to make a fanpage dedicated to you!"

"I thought we already had an official account on—"

"Yeah, but that's for us staff to log in and post updates as administrators. However, I can manage the fanpage as a diehard fan so that all your fans will have a single place to gather.

The redhead handed Julie a glass of water. "I think I'd be less concerned if Runo were in charge." Then she handed the other glass of water to Shun, who was still staring around the living room. "Please tell me that Julie's not insane."

"Hey! I heard that!" screamed the Australian.

"Sorry, you were talking to me?" The raven-haired student saw Alice with his glass of water and Julie waving her laptop like crazy. "A fanpage sounds nice. If Julie's running it, then my only concern is exposing too much inside information since you're also a paid employee."

"I know what to do, Shun. Originally, I was supposed to work on this with Runo, but she has family obligations tonight. We also renamed the show from 'Down with DJ Dylan' to 'AOA: Alice On-Air'. What do you think?"

"They came up with this without my knowledge, by the way," Alice clarified.

Shun shrugged slightly and set his glass on the coffee table. "As long as everyone at work and in the audience agrees, then I'm fine with it."

While Julie resumed typing with earphones on, the redhead commented, "You look more disoriented than me, Shun. What's wrong?"

"Your residence is void of your personal items—just like your work desk. All I see are your aunt's belongings."

Alice gripped her glass tightly and walked away. "I'll never get used to anything."

"That's not what I meant." He followed her to the kitchen where the redhead added ice cubes to her water. "I have a week-long break coming soon. I want to speak with Lync during that time."

"Suit yourself."

Julie took off her earphones and asked loudly, "Alice, what do you like?!"

"Uh..." Alice sat next to Julie and saw the progress so far on the laptop screen. "I like books, movies, TV shows...what are you trying to ask?"

"Just anything to put on this page!"

"How about something you don't like?" Shun asked.

"Hmm...oh! I don't like flies, mosquitoes, and most bugs, but I especially hate cockroaches. They freak me out. One of my college classmates was an international student from Macau, and she actually brought an electric racket and bug-zapping lamps with her here!"

Julie burst into laughter while typing. "That sounds like something your grandpa would use, Shun!"

Suddenly, the front door opened, and a blond woman walked inside with grocery bags. "Alice, I'm back. Looks like you have friends over."

"Hi, Aunt Clara." The redhead helped move some bags to the kitchen counter. "We're making a fanpage for me since I have the show all to myself."

"Sounds great! Take your time, everyone. I need to go the backyard."

Julie clicked SAVE and closed her laptop. "Done for the day! I don't want to do too much without Runo's input. Shun, you don't mind taking me home, right?"

"We are never doing this again," he emphasized. The Australian already left the house, but Shun finished his water before returning the glass to Alice, who stood with her arms loosely crossed. "Call me if you need anything."

"Why?"

"Why not?" They stared at each other for a moment, and Alice slowly uncrossed her arms. "A lot of things happened today, but it's over now. Don't stress too much. See you tomorrow."

Recalling what she told him last time after giving egg tarts again, the redhead smiled softly and escorted Shun outside. "See you tomorrow."

-x-x-x-x-x-

"Julie, don't look down at your phone while walking!"

"But Alice, I want to see all the hits and likes on the new fanpage!"

The redhead unlocked the office doors and turned on the lights to start a new day of work. "You said there was a package for me?"

"Oh yeah!" Julie placed a box on Alice's desk. "It arrived even earlier than we did. Kato signed for it today and told me to pick it up from the security office."

"Really?" Alice grabbed a paper knife and cut the tape loose. She lifted the lid but screamed immediately and retreated to the wall as her purse fell off her shoulder. "Oh my god!"

"Are you okay?!" The Australian finally put her phone away and looked inside the cardboard box. "Are you serious?! How dare someone send you dead cockroaches?! And why?!"

And we only set up the fanpage a couple days ago, thought Alice as she slid down the wall.