I started finding the second Betty who was just here for consultation. She was the one to leave the premises first. As soon as I arrived at the pediatric ward, I searched for her and found out that she had already gone.
                              
            “She left minutes ago with her mother,” Dr. Sia told me. He was that Betty’s physician. But I decided to leave already when he said that, “She’s just nine months old, Maisen.”
                              
            I ran to the other wing, to the seventh floor; even used the escalator because there was a thick line of persons to the elevator. The other Betty was part of the Heart Center. But I discovered that she was a thirty-year old woman with coronary heart disease. There was one Betty left. I felt hopeful knowing that I had great chances of seeing her because there was only one more of the Bettys left. But I somehow felt scared. Because the Betty in the list was part of the Cancer Institute. Why was she there? Of all the places in this hospital why the Cancer Institute?
                              
            Even with the foreboding that I had inside me, I still ran to the fourth floor to find her. My heart was beating fast and I was hoping that she should be all right. That what I was thinking was not true. The hospital was the biggest one that we own and it was very tiring to run from walls to walls. But I did not surrender. What if the Betty that I was finding was the right one?
                              
            Just as I reached the room where she was in, I took a step back. I was afraid to open the door. What if she already looked like most of the patients here with cancer? I was used to seeing sick, weak, and dead bodies. But in Betty’s case? I did not know if I could handle that.
                              
            “Hi.”
                              
            I looked at my side and found a woman with deep eyes seated on a wheelchair. She had a bandana on her head, which was probably a sign of hair loss when one was taking chemotherapy. “Hi,” I greeted back.
                              
            “Do you need something?” she asked with a smile on her face. She was obviously weak yet she could still pull that sweet yet simple smile.
                              
            “A-Are you… Betty?” I asked.
                              
            “Betty Isidore Lamanza. Yes, I am,” she answered. I glanced at her shirt and knew that she had leukemia. Her face lit up when she noticed that I was looking at her shirt where there written the words, “I’m not afraid of leukemia. I’m afraid of a life not lived.” And I suddenly remembered what Betty told me that beautiful night when we lay under the stars and when my heart learned to beat in a wondrous rhythm for the first time. I felt relieved knowing that Betty was not part of our Cancer Institute, but I also felt upset because I was not able to see her today.
                              
            The day ended and there was no single Betty that I knew. I even searched for people who pronounced their names as Betty but had different spellings. But she was still not there. I tried to call the investigator but he was still out of reach. I just went to the floor where my Dad’s office was, still, I had in mind that Betty could be there, but I was only disappointed in the end. It was locked. I forgot that he attended a conference outside the country and he would be gone for days.
                              
            With my shoulders dropped and my face wasted, I just sat on one of bleachers in front of his clinic. I leaned my head on the wall at my back and closed my eyes. It was a very tiring day, not just physically but emotionally. My hopes were high, I would see her today. But all of them crumbled down when I failed in the end. I knew there were still many days to find her, but I felt so weak already and that I did not want to do anything today but close my eyes.
                              
            But I would not surrender. The world knew how much I tried to find her even though I failed. But I still had high hopes. Time would come and I would see her like how we met the first time. I could clearly see in my closing eyes how we would smile at each other once that time came. I would search the world to find her and I would never let her go.