Forgotten and Lost 10

Dr. Ordonez. Dr. Vincent Ordonez, the chief of the trauma and emergency medicine department of GSU's hospital and somewhat of a fanatic of Eric Ong. That name was enough to shut the man up. Ordonez was a surgeon who did more than just surgery on trauma victims. A few days after the incident, the man learned that Ordonez had removed "Pinkie's" pituitary gland as well as those of several other cultists. They would suffer from panhypopituarism for the rest of their lives.

He was walking down the corridor to the special arrivals area for EOGC personnel and noticed that the cardinal was walking ahead of him. He wanted to speak to him but they had already reached the end of the corridor. Other people were waiting there to meet incoming personnel. There were family members, co-workers, superiors, subordinates and many others. A broad white line on the floor was the only thing that separated the greeters from those who were arriving. They were not allowed to cross the line, but those on arrival could do so. It was different from the regular arrivals section, where arrivals were separated from greeters by  a low fence and there were designated exits. There was discipline enough to show that the processes were orderly.

Presently, Lord Ethan arrived; a small man with a big smile on his face. "Zhang Mingshi, wanshang hao!" he said as he approached the cardinal.

"Wo hen hao, Lin Wenyong," the cardinal replied, extending his right hand. His expression unchanged.

"You look terrible," said Lord Ethan as he shook the cardinal's hand. "You didn't have to come all the way here to pick me up. I came here to see you!"

"And I came over to show you that I'm not as frail as I look."

"Lord Ethan, sir," said the man, taking a step forward. "I'm in charge of you security escort."

"Ah!" said Lord Ethan. "Well then, let's get my luggage and we'll be off, then!"

As they went along another corridor with Lord Ethan leading the way, the man walked a little faster in order to be at the cardinal's side.

"Eminence," he murmured. "I-"

"It's alright, Johnny." said the cardinal, his eyes still fixed forward. "There are things that are beyond our control and the only thing left for us to do is act."

"But-" 

"You were at GST. Your job was to keep the two crowds apart as best as possible," the cardinal continued.

The man smiled wryly as the cardinal went on, "You had a duty to fulfill. And although violence did break out in the end, it would have gotten worse if you didn't act."

"Does this mean I did the right thing?"

The cardinal paused for a moment ant looked at the man. "Johnny," he said, a faint smile appearing on his face. "You're in the security department; your job is to protect. And that job carries many risks with it. But if it weren't for the risks you have to take, would there be anyone left to protect? I'll admit I don't know everything, and life throws questions at us that we have no answer for. We have to give those questions the best answers we can ever muster. Life is not an illusion; we have to face it. And those who run away and hide behind strange self-proclaimed messiahs who promise an end to suffering by denying its very existence are the ones who are truly forgotten and lost."

The cardinal resumed his walk and continued, "'I should have,' 'I wish I could turn back time,' 'this isn't real,' This is all just wishful thinking. We can't fix the past; but we can learn from it to make a better future."

The man halted for a moment, awestruck at the cardinal's words. For a moment there, time stopped and all things fell into place. The man looked down and smiled.

"Hey, hurry up, slowpoke," said the cardinal, who was already more than twenty feet away -and behind Lord Ethan, who was even further ahead. "We still have to help Ethan get his baggage."

"Uh, right," said the man as he hurried to catch up with the cardinal.