I stopped at a crossroad. Now what?? I tried to rack my brain. How could I not know which way the bus went each morning?

My phone rang in my pocket. I froze, then took it out with trembling hands.

“Wei?”

“Wei? Are you Kalyn?” A female voice asked me.

“Yes. And-“

“I’m Dr. Ling,” the voice replied. “I just wanted to let you know I have both of you parents here in the ambulance. They are in critical condition, but they most likely will survive.”

Relief flowed through my veins as she kept talking. “They are very lucky, you know, since they are the only known survivors of the area. Your mother was able to call the emergency number. That’s how I called you. We will be at Shen Ling hospital.”

“Okay.” As I hung up, I just realized I didn’t know where the hospital was.

Something caught my eye and I turned to see a man step out of his banged up car from my right. As he looked at me, the cuts on his face gleamed in the sunlight. When I looked down, red covered his entire left arm.

I took off my jacket and wrapped it around his arm. Once I was done, I took up my backpack again and Yin Yang, and brushed off the dust.

He looked at me, surprised. “Thank you.”

“No problem sir. Do you know where Shen Ling hospital is? We should get you there.”

He smiled. “I know where it is from here. Let’s go right away.”

So we started to walk through the rubble. Even though the city was in total destruction, my heart was weightless with hope for the first time.