Ellie woke to a text message as she fumbled in bed and checked her phone.

  "You have received a fund transfer of RM200 to your MCIB a/c ending with 8888 from the mobile number ending with 7272 at 7.45am, 17th November 2024. If unauthorised, call MCIB Customer Service."

  "Huh? Who send me money?" Ellie rubbed her eyes and re read the message only to find it was Isla. She instantly dialed her number.

  Isla was having her usual breakfast before English lessons at the coffee shop near the tuition center where she worked. There were several vibrations before the phone call from Ellie made it to her.

  She managed to reply to her pet student, Jill to inform where she was as Jill liked to join her for a cup of hot tea before class.

  "Yes?" Isla answered the call. "Why did you send me money for?! What the heck?!" Ellie sounded very furious and shocked as Isla chuckled.

  "Stop saying it out so loud. Isn't Luna there? I'm sure she will eat off you more knowing I have sponsored some..." Isla said sarcastically as she waved at Jill to her table.

  "There's no one here..." Ellie groaned recalling the drama she had to face last night. Isla snapped and put down the newspaper she was reading abruptly right when Jill arrived.

  Seeing Jill being shocked, Isla pulled the phone away to apologise to Jill. "Sorry, sorry... Order first." Isla instructed as Jill nodded and sat skeptically before making her order to the waitress.

  "What do you mean?" Isla continued asking Ellie for clarifications.

  "She just decided to head to another of her bestfriend's house and I had to drive all the way there which is at another district before I head home..." Ellie grumbled.

  "District? What the heck? Where?" Isla frowned. "You guess... Near the federal highway..." Ellie gave away the answer before yawning.

  "What the...! Ugh! Yet you live northeast part... Is she dumb?" Isla was trying not to curse in front of her fifteen-year-old student.

  "Chill... Got used to it. Anyway, I got to catch up on a bit of work. Will tell you more later. Why don't you and Jazzie come over tonight? I can whip up something for everyone's dinner since I got rich when I woke up?" Ellie offered as Isla laughed.

  "Alright then! See you!" Isla said before hanging up and Jill's hot tea came. Isla quickly paid for her.

  "Oh, no you don't have to, Ms. Isla..." Jill protested as Isla ignored and still handed a ringgit note to the waitress. "Enjoy your tea, don't worry about it!" Isla said before continue reading her newspaper.

  "Was that your friend?" Jill asked curiously as Isla nodded.

  "She seems to be upsetting you..." Jill said randomly as Isla frowned before putting down her crumpled newspaper again.

  "Nothing much to worry... How's your school grade lately?" Isla tried distracting the topic to her studies instead.

  "It's alright. Who can beat my English marks with everyone speaking an alien language these days..." Jill commented before rolling her eyes leaving Isla laughing.

  "No cap brothaaa... My marks are queen in this generation but yet I could speak their language. I just chose not to." Jill shrugged as Isla sipped her tea with a wide grin.

  "Good job, little one..." Isla praised as Jill continued to sip her tea and chatted for a bit with Isla before they headed back to the tuition center and were greeted by a bunch of Generation Alpha children trying to impress each other in their alien language.

  That evening, when Jazzlyn finally received the text message from Ellie about dinner, it was just the end of her morning shift. She felt like a huge weight was lifted off her shoulders as she sat by the bench at the park wanting to lie down for a minute and take a breather from a whole day of rush at the emergency ward.

  The view of the sunset was stunning though her heavy eyelid began to get droopy as the days' rush rewound in her mind effortlessly. She wanted to sometimes have short-term memory loss and forget all about the traumatic sessions she had gone through as she blinked away her tears on deaths she wished she could save them all, trauma and injuries she wished she could fix them with just a magic wand.

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  Fortunately, a phone call from Isla woke her from further drifting asleep.

  "Yea?" Jazzlyn asked before yawning. "I'm on the way to pick you up... I knew you would fall asleep and leave us. Didn't you read our messages? Ellie's cooking a storm sistaaaa!! You gotta help me!" Jazzlyn laughed at Isla's comical voice.

  "Love you, life savior! I'm so tired and I'm so hungry... Starvation!" Jazzlyn said while still closing her eyes.

  "You mean you're dry as hell and could compare to the desert?" Isla tried to tease Jazzlyn as she could not help it either after being around this alien language the whole day.

  Jazzlyn burst out laughing.

  "Isla! Are you sure you taught English?" Jazzlyn sat up from the bench before seeing her senior doctor walking up to her.

  "Tell me about it man... Alright, lobby in ten minutes! I will see you!" Isla said before hanging up as Jazzlyn hung up and stood.

  "Hello, Dr. Wang..." Jazzlyn greeted politely as he smiled and handed her a can of coffee.

  "Mind to share a drink?" Dr. Wang asked.

  "I uhm... I got to go soon. My friend is at the lobby soon." Jazzlyn said awkwardly as she knew Dr. Wang's intention. His sad disappointed eyes gave him away.

  "Sorry... Another day. Thanks for this!" Jazzlyn said before running off to the lobby and hopping into Isla's car before sighing heavily.

  "What's up sista? Coffee at this hour?" Isla asked while driving.

  "Oh, tell me about it... I don't know what I want anymore..." Jazzlyn said as she leaned onto the window and looked outside.

  "Oh... Dr. Wang was it? He had been trying to chase after you quite a while now..." Isla teased.

  "How is it even going to work? If it didn't work out with Benjamin back then, it would never work with another doctor..." Jazzlyn pointed out.

  "Not so fast my dear... Benjamin was a surgeon. Dr. Wang is a pediatrician. One is heaven while the other is earth... Perhaps you should give it a chance..." Isla encouraged as Jazzlyn did not want to think much about it since her career on a contract basis was not stable at the moment either.

  "Speaking of which, what happened with Luna? I thought she was supposed to stay over at Ellie's place or something..." Jazzlyn asked in annoyance as Isla shrugged.

  "Luna being Luna... A drama queen... Her divorce might even be fake. Would you like to spare some time to read the messages? But honestly, I don't even want to care about her if it weren't for Ellie. Ellie is just being too nice." Isla complained as Jazzlyn rolled her eyes.

  "You're right. Ellie always felt upset but she never showed it. She holds a huge emotional baggage. As big as her lungs when she breaths out." Jazzlyn laughed together with Isla before reaching the carpark of Ellie's condominium.

  As they walked into Ellie's home, they could smell a variety of fragrances wafting from her kitchen. "Oh boy, aren't you busy with work? What are you busy with in the kitchen?" Jazzlyn asked while half helping Ellie stir-fry some vegetables.

  "Stop stealing food!" Ellie scolded Isla who was stealing a prawn from the stir fried asparagus as Isla laughed.

  Isla then thought of making a song before she sang it to them both from the dining table:

  We are in a Barbie world~~

  With a delusional friend~~

  She thinks Jazzlyn and Isla are rolling in money~~

  And Ellie is a walking ATM machine~~

  So oh yeahh everybody what do we say?

  Chorus:

  Ka ching ka ching here~~

  Ka ching kaching there~~

  Flex it baby flex it oh yea~~

  Buy all the ber blings you want in the world~~

  Feed all the poor you need to for God once said~~

  May you be blessed and blessed others~~

  And everybody says?

  AMENNNNNNNN~~~ ONE MORE TIME EVERYBODY

  "Isla!!" Ellie laughed so badly that she dropped a spoon on the floor.

  "Aiyo*, control yourself missy! Come, come let's serve and eat now!" Isla helped her out as they tried to calm down and dig in the meal.

  "Hmm, the prawns are so juicy! Good job Ellie!" Jazzlyn praised while munching.

  "Thanks, thanks... eat more! By the way, I heard... Dr. Wang yes?" Ellie teased as she checked Isla's update via message while cooking earlier. Jazzlyn nearly choked but quickly drank some water as Isla and Ellie laughed.

  "I think she should really give him a chance. After all, Benjamin doesn't mean everything honestly. Unless she still has feelings for him..." Isla said while eating her rice.

  "No, I don't... I just... I really can't trust you with this can I, Isla?" Jazzlyn sighed.

  "Just how fast were you updated?" Jazzlyn asked in Ellie's direction as she put down the cup.

  "Take your time... It's your life. We are just giving you advice." Ellie comforted as Jazzlyn sighed again suddenly feeling overwhelmed by the pressure of her problems at work.

  "If it's that easy I would have been grateful. You know working in this ward, the pressure is tremendous like every second counts, and failing to save the inferno seriously takes its toll on your spirit..." Jazzlyn explained while Ellie served her some soup.

  "Yes, some chicken soup for the soul... Here..." Ellie served her as Isla chuckled.

  "The reason why this division is so traumatic is because it's the first line of defense to rescue. To life. I know everyone says eventually you get used to death and we shouldn't be taking it too personally. But we doctors are still humans man... I want to save everyone but I also understand sometimes that things just get out of my control and it's fate... There are days I wake wishing I might be in a different work line of death..." Isla began to refill her cup while Jazzlyn vented and sipped her chicken soup.

  "Surgeons do surgeries all the time... Specialist focuses on their expertise... how often do they get blue codes emergencies? All of that was preventing and detecting. See, trauma cleaning is the aftermath. Full of respect and returning comfortable life to the living ones. Funeral parlours, even mortuaries, are facing aftermaths. But in emergencies, you're dancing with the in-between. It's mentally and physically draining... Yet the freaking hospital is not appreciating their staffs and still maintaining our contracts though we had been residents for years!" Jazzlyn finally blinked back her tears as both Isla and Ellie gently patted her shoulders.

  They both knew she was worrying about her career future given she was fending for herself after her huge family fallout many years ago. All Jazzlyn had been Isla and Ellie to hold on to and pull through all these years.

  Glossaries:

  Aiyo: means "oh no," "oh dear," or similar interjections conveying disappointment or sometimes regret, often used in situations where something unexpected or unfortunate occurs