Hydrogen is the lightest and most abundant element in the universe.

-

"Bitch! Congratulations!" Her friend, Dianne screamed at her ear.

She laughed, "Thanks, babe."

"Totally knew you would get that promotion."

Reinne worked her ass off with overtimes just to be promoted as the Chief Chemist of the brewery. She is now working on her final thesis for her Doctorate. Being a chemistry graduate and to be away from her family was no joke considering that she has never been away from home this long.

"I knew too," she laughed while hanging her laboratory gown on her chair.

"So when will you visit us again?" Her best friend whined. "It's been five years already."

"Maybe after my Doctorate, Yan."

She heard her scoff at the other line. "Last you said after you get that promotion and now after your doctorate? Let’s set something straight, Ivy. Are you hiding from me or do you even plan of going home?"

I laugh with her questions. "Yan, I'm not hiding from you and yes, I still have a plan to go home."

"Are you avoiding somebody?"

She nearly laughed at her friend's imagination, "No."

"Then why won't you come home?" Her friend asked her again. "You keep on making excuses."

"Because I can't," she sighed. "I want to go home too, Deanne, but you know I can't. And I'm not making excuses."

"Hush!" Deanne exclaimed, “But be here on my wedding day. This bride needs her maid of honor."

"Wait, you’re getting married?!" She screamed on the phone. "When? How? Why? With whom? Not to offend you or anything but who is brave enough to put up with your shit?"

"Hold on. One at a time," Rienne heard her friend laugh. "Well, you know him and-"

"Shit. No way," she cut her off, "Keith?"

"Yes!" Deanne squealed.

"Why didn't you tell me?" She felt offended that her friend didn't tell her about her ongoing engagement.

"Well, maybe because of your past with the name Keith?" She thought about Deanne's answer and she understood where she's coming from.

"Shush. That was college, Yan. I felt betrayed," She faked a pained voice, "I am your best friend."

"Be my maid of honor?" She could sense her friend winning. "Please...pretty, pretty, pretty please."

"Not so fast, Missy! I'm not through with you just yet!"

"Aw, come on. Please let it go and be my maid-of-honor?"

"No-"

"Miss Lacson?" She looked up from her phone to see her secretary standing by the door.

"Yan, hold on for a second," she said on the line before facing her secretary. "What is it, Drew?"

"You have a meeting with the other PHOs in less than thirty minutes," he reminded her. "The new CEO will be there, too."

"It must be big, since the new CEO will be there," she nodded. "Give me a second."

Drew nodded in understanding before leaving her office.

"Yan, you still there?" She brought the phone back to her ear.

"Yeah, I heard everything."

"I'm so sorry," she said while grabbing her lab coat.

"It's fine. It's way past midnight already, anyway. I should head to bed."

"Yeah," she closed her door with one hand. "I’ll call you again later. Maybe we can video chat via Facebook?"

"Yeah. That's a date. Bye, bitch."

"Bye." She passed by Drew's table and gestured him to follow her. "Bring your notebooks, pencil, phone or whatever."

"Why?" He asked while they waited for the elevator.

"I have a feeling that something different would happen," she said as the elevator ascended.

"You want me to record everything?"

She sent him a smile. "Precisely."

"I have a bad feeling about this," she heard him murmur.

Me too, bud, She thought. Me too.

The travel to the top floor took five minutes with the constant pit stop per floor. The corners of the elevator started to close in on her and making her chest squeeze. Damn, she thought, I should have taken the stairs. But considering the floors to tackle, the elevator was the easiest solution when you were already a few minutes late for a meeting.

"Miss Lacson, we are five minutes late already," Drew said as they headed to the conference room.

"So?" She fixed her shoulder length hair while gesturing for Drew to open the door for her.

"Just saying," he said before entering the room with her as she shrugged on her coat.

All eyes bore on her as she fixed herself. "Sorry, gentlemen, for being late. There was just a little problem in the lab." She said as she made her way to the available chair.

"Then you should have notified someone."

She turned to her left and saw a handsome stranger. The word handsome did him no justice. His pale, stormy eyes bore to her as if trying to get a reaction out of her. And of course he did, the way he looked at her made her squirm and hide underneath the table.

"I'm sorry," she gathered her being. "Who are you?"

She heard murmurs around her. What is going on? She glanced at the person on her right and saw that it was the Finance head.

"Kev, what is going on?" She whispered while glancing at the man sitting at the chair where the CEO should be.

"That's the new CEO."

"Ah... What?"

"Are you going to gossip or let the presentation continue?" His loud voice made them stop talking and he turned to her. "And I want to talk to you after this."

Something in his voice made her shut up and nod without a question. The rest of the department head stared at her transfixed. She always had the last say in everything.

"S-sir sho-should I continue?" The Production chief asked.

The stranger nodded and she focused on the graph on the board. After few boring slides, she saw something that captured her attention.

"As you can see in the graph, the sales are increasing comparing to the graph last month."

What the fuck? She stared at the graph. There was no increase. The stranger stared blankly at the graph as the Production head stepped aside.

"Wait," she spoke up. She saw the Production head glance in his friend’s direction for help. " You said there was an increase this month, am I right?"

Mr. Reymond nodded, waiting for her attack. "Well, then look at your graph again," she gestured to the presentation. "As the head of your department, are you satisfied with this kind of graph?"

"What do you mean, Miss Lacson?" Mr. Don, the Plant incharge asked.

She sighed and leaned back in her chair. "Look at your mode and median. The shift is on the right. My right. Is that a good sign?"

The stranger stared at her, waiting for her point. It was obvious the people in the room were scared at her. Majority of the people avoided eye contact with her.

"I suggest, you figure out if you’re satisfied with this kind of graph, because I'm not," she said and glanced at Drew, who was frantic to capture her attention.

"What?" She mouthed to him. He held up his phone as if saying 'check your phone'.

She discreetly glanced at her phone and saw five missed calls from her In-charge and a single message. “CODE RED!”

She quickly jumped up her seat, causing everyone to stare at her. She simply glared at Drew for not informing her earlier.

"Excuse me, ladies and gentlemen, but there is a problem in the laboratory and my presence is needed," she left without a second glance.

"What was it?" She asked Drew as they stepped into the elevator.

"Don't know. I can't contact Jubileen or anyone working in the lab right now."

She cursed out loud. As the elevator stopped in their laboratory, she immediately grabbed a face mask and gloves before gesturing Drew to stay put.

"What is going on?" She asked.

"There was a minor damage, and it was controlled right away," Jubileen, her friend and right hand, said.

She nodded, "Good then--"

"Miss Lacson, there is a leakage on the gas pipe." A worker told her.

"Which pipe?"

"Carbon dioxide, ma'am."

"Shit. Since when?"

"We found it not a minute long," the worker rambled.

"Was it already leaking when you found it?"

"Yes, ma'am," he said.

"Shut down the plant according to protocol," She turned to Jubileen. "Follow him to the pipe and find a way to secure it. Make sure to wear your PPE and control the situation according to manual."

She headed out. "Drew, get everyone to evacuate the building and not to enter unless I said so."

"What should I tell them?"

"Only the heads must know about the situation, let them handle the rest." Drew nodded and followed her boss's order.

The moment that spiteful petite woman had left the room, the tension in the room had lessened.

"Mr. Sarmento?" He looked up when his name was called.

"Give me the revised report of your presentation and repeat the survey," Hayden Sarmento said with a stoic face. "I don't like your report."

The presenter nodded in understanding. Hayden stood up and fixed his coat, moving to leave.

"Code red," a panting man occupied the door.

"What?" One of the chiefs exclaimed.

"There..." he panted, "There is a leakage in the carbon dioxide pipe. Ms. Lacson advised that everyone in the building should be evacuated."

The CEO nodded at him and turned to the rest of the people in the room, "Advise everyone in your department to evacuate according to protocol and tell them not to panic," they nodded. He turned to the man standing by the door. "Where's the laboratory?"

"Sir?"

"Where is the laboratory?" He gritted his teeth.

"You can't go there, sir," the man explained. "The laboratory is being shut down right now. No one can come and go."

He sighed. Why did he want to go to the lab? Right, that woman went there.

He left without a word, ushered by the panting man. "Who's the laboratory in-charge?"

"Miss Jubileen?" The man answered him, unsure.

"The one who attended the meeting."

"Oh. Miss Lacson, our Chief Chemist," the man said proudly.

He quietly stared at man, hating the way he said her name. The fuck? He thought. Where did that thought come from?

As they stepped onto the main floor, Drew's phone rang. "Drew speaking."

"Drew, call 911, now," his frantic boss said.

"Miss Lacson?" He said, not understanding. The guy beside him unconsciously leaned in to eavesdrop.

"Drew, I said fucking CALL 911," His boss yelled.

"Yes, ma'am," he dialed the emergency number.

911? He thought. What for?

"Mr. Sarmiento, please follow this way," a security ushered him to a door but before he could enter he heard sirens in front of his building. He shook them away, and saw the spiteful woman kneeling on the stretcher, doing CPR. Her lab coat and clothing were smeared with blood.

She continued pumping the body in front of her.

"29. 30," she counted. "Checking for pulse." She placed her forefinger and middle finger at the base of the neck of the collapsed man and checked for a faint pulse, but there was none.

"Continuing CPR," she said while the paramedics wheeled the stretcher towards the lobby.

The sweat and the stares of the people around her didn't bother her at all. Just a faint pulse, she pleaded. Please.

"The AED," She gasped to the paramedic, who quickly set up the portable device.

"You two," she referred to the two paramedics. "I'm responsible on whatever happens today."

The moment she got their answer, she started to unbutton the man's shirt. Quickly, she placed the electrode as said on the instruction.

"Clear," she said as she pressed the button. She watched as the paramedic placed an oxygen mask on the man. "Pulse?"

"None," the paramedic replied.

"Again, clear."

"None."

She groaned. "Continuing CPR."

He watched as she tried to revive the man. It was the second time she amazed him in one day. He immediately took off his coat and loosened his tie.

"Sir?" The security asked as the coat was passed to him.

"Check on the other personnel," he said before heading straight to her.

"Pulse?" She asked.

"None still."

"Clear." She felt someone kneel beside her. "Pulse?"

"None, ma'am."

She positioned herself, "Continuing CPR."

"Let me," she glanced at the stranger who kneeled beside her.

"What?"

"You're tired," he explained, pushing her gently towards a paramedic. "Let them check on you."

"But-"

"One collapsed man is enough for the day," she heard him say before he started pumping. She watched his back, confused.

"Miss?" She turned to the paramedic, who gestured for her to sit on the vacant stretcher. She suddenly felt her energy drain out and the room starting to spin as she walked towards the stretcher.

"Positive!" She heard the paramedic say before she completely collapsed on the stretcher.

-

PHO - Plant Head Officer

CPR - CardioPulmonary Resuscitation

AED - Automated External Defibrillator

CEO - Chief Executive Officer

Helium is a chemical element that is colorless, odorless, tasteless, nontoxic, inert, monatomic gas.

-

After seeing her collapse right in front of him, he completely forgot about the dying man and turned his attention to her.

"What happened?" He asked the paramedic, kneeling beside her making sure that she's at least breathing.

"She fainted," The paramedic glanced at the device that he placed on her finger. "117, 47"

No shit, he thought as he watched them wheel her inside the ambulance while placing an oxygen mask on her. So much for his first day at work.

-

He went back to check on the revived man first before going to visit her. Her room was on the next floor. When he reached the room, her door was slightly ajar. He heard voices coming from inside the room.

"How can you be so careless?" He leaned by the wall to hear the conversation. He doesn't want to eavesdrop, he's simply waiting for them to finish talking. It's not his fault that their voices were loud and can be heard from where he is.

"I'm fine, J," she answered her brother in a tired voice.

"Fine? You call this fine? Being in a hospital is fine?"

"J, I'm fine. I really am. You don't have to call mama."

"Of course, I won't call mama. She would probably demand you to grab the next flight back home if she heard of this." She gave her brother a glare. She was finally regretting having arranged her brother to work with her here and adding him to her emergency contacts.

"A guy could have died if I didn't intervene," she said, exasperated.

"And you could have died."

She flinched and shut up when she heard his brother's voice lower when he said those words. Hayden stood stiff when he heard the guy named J said those words. How could she have died? he wondered.

"Ever since you left home, you have been pushing yourself to the point that you are no longer taking good care of yourself. You barely eat on time. You haven't even sleep for six hours straight!" He reprimanded her. "Just for what? The promotion? The money?"

"Stop it, CJ," she whispered.

"No," he firmly said to her. "You had an attack an hour ago. This will just continue if keep on pushing yourself."

"J, if I don't work those overtimes, how will you and Adrian pay your college fees?" She made her point. "How can mama and papa have their dream house and farm? You couldn't graduate as an engineer and Adrian won't be the lieutenant he's always dreamed of being."

"Yes. But we graduated and it's time for you to stop," he moved his arms around helplessly, "How old are you? Twenty-seven, probably a virgin and a NBSB."

"Hey! I'm not a NBSB."

"All I'm saying is that, me and Adrian have graduated already. Mama and papa had their dream house and farm."

"What do you mean?" She stared at her brother like she grew two heads. "What are you implying?"

"It's about time you give mama and papa grandchildren. Adrian's engaged, I'm happy with Claire," She could see her brother's eyes light up when he uttered his girlfriend's name. Her brother sat beside her, "Don't you think about your love life at all?"

"Well...actually," She scratched her forehead. "Mama and papa are pressuring Adrian for grandchildren, for you to get married, and for me to find a boyfriend."

"Precisely!" Her brother exclaimed, not seeing anything wrong with this. "You don't even have a boyfriend."

Hayden decided to make himself known now. He watched her sit up and the guy- presumably her brother- helped her.

"How are you feeling?" He asked.

She gave him a faint smile. "A little better. How's Mr. Ramirez?"

"He's fine. Thanks to your quick response, he didn't die."

"I see. And the leakage?" She can't help but ask.

"The maintenance team has taken care of it. Can I talk to you?" He turned to the guy beside her. "Alone?"

She glanced at her brother and nodded at him for assurance.

"I'll be in the canteen," he patted her back gently. "Ring me if you need anything."

She watched her brother leave the door slightly ajar, as a safety measure, before turning her attention to the handsome specimen before her.

"How may I help you, Mr. Sarmento?" She asked.

He sat at the chair her brother left vacant. "How are you feeling?"

"Better," she glanced at him. "Well rested."

He nodded. "Seems like your brother is very strict and protective."

She chuckled, "Yeah. I'm starting to wonder who the elder one is."

"Well, I'm pretty sure he's only looking out for you."

A sudden knock on the door interrupted them. She looked up to see the doctor enter with a flustered nurse, who kept glancing towards Mr. Sarmento. Rienne couldn't honestly blame her, but Hayden just ignored the nurse.

"I'm glad you're up," the doctor said, before glancing at her chart, which the nurse gave to him. "Are you her guardian?"

"No," she answered quickly. "He's my boss."

The doctor nodded. "Well, Miss Lacson, you're healthy as a cow. You can be discharged tomorrow."

"Thanks, doc," she nodded.

"I also advise you to sleep at least six hours straight and eat healthily on time," he looked at her and at her boss. "Your vitals are fine, your CBC's normal but you need rest."

"Excuse me?" Her boss suddenly asked.

"Oh," she ignored Hayden.

"Aside from that," the doctor said. "You are free to go. Drink vitamins."

She nodded and thanked the doctor. She heaved out a sigh before leaning back on her bed, suddenly feeling tired.

"Take a month's leave."

"What?" She looked at him, or his back rather, since he was standing up and glancing out her window.

"One month leave, with pay," he turned to her and his dark eyes paralyzed her.

"Why?" Her boss was being generous today.

"You heard the doctor," he placed his hands inside his pocket. "The same with Mr. Ramirez."

"Oh," Maybe he did that out of charity, she thought. Didn't want the company to have more problems, did he?

The sound of the door opening snatched her from her thoughts. She looked up to see her brother carrying brown bags. She could smell her favorite Vietnamese sandwich in the room.

"What did I miss?" He asked while removing the sandwich from the bag.

"I have to go," her boss said heading for the door. "I mean what I said about the leave."

She quietly watched his back before glancing at his brother.

"What was that?"

She leaned back with a sigh. "It seems like I'm going home after all."

-