As a Psychologist, Kole is well-versed in the actions and reactions of his patients. He is well accustomed to the ways of dealing with an emotionally broken-hearted person.
Psychologists and psychiatrists are two different things. The psychiatrist provides medication but the psychologist provides psychotherapy or talk therapy. A sounding board for the people who experience the lowest point in their life.
With Sky, the first thing that comes to mind is that this person badly needs someone to pester him and listen to him. At least someone who is sincerely willing to listen and not someone who will thwack him of how pathetic he is. The first step for Sky is to slowly open his heart and accept proper consultation.
Seeing the wedding photo, the gloomy and soiled house, and the thin and dejected appearance of Sky, it's enough for him to conclude that Sky's husband left the mortal world.
Testing the water, he uttered the forbidden question, "Sky, how did he die?"
Sky, who is pouring the hot water into the freshly washed cup, froze after hearing the question. Then like a box suddenly appear around him, he said, "It's time for you to leave doctor." retorted Sky.
Kole understands then how deep sky buried himself in grief. It's not yet the right time to open such a dark and painful story.
"I'll leave after I bury this poor rat. Tsk, Sky, can you lend me gloves and..." Kole said with a worried tone. "...maybe find a box? Let's give this little one a proper burial." he smiled from ear to ear, eyes turning crescent.
Sky felt awkward. He thought that the doctor is asking about Kai. Embarrassed by what he said, Sky hastily took the gloves and give them to Kole.
"I'll... I'll look for a box."
He walks head lowered and in a balled fist. He looks around the house for an empty box but all he can see is garbage, garbage, and garbage. "Doc- doctor, I can't find a box," he said in a small voice.
"Oh! no worries, our friend here will make do with the soil." Kole smiled and take the paper placed near the frame and scoop the poor little rat.
They both went to the back of the house to bury the poor rat who might have died one or two days ago. The back of the house is full of scraps like a wild jungle with very little space left to see the earth. Kole digs a small hole, enough for the rat to fit in. Seeing that it was enough he called Sky.
"Sky, come, put our friend in," Kole said in an unhurried manner.
Sky is startled once again. His hand is placed on his left arm obvious that he is anxious; he lightly shakes his head in rejection.
Kole moves toward him and points at the rat, "but our friend would love for you to bury him." This might be too much but Sky has to do something to let go. With a pleading tone, Kole tried to make Sky bury their little friend, after a few exchanges of NO and PLEASE, Sky agreed to bury the rat.
Sky slightly shivers while walking slowly to the small hole and holding the rat in a small piece of paper. He carefully squats down and places the rat in the hole.
A memory of him during Kai's funeral overlaps while burying the rat.
It was a rainy afternoon. Rain damps his white suit and slacks; the mud was all over his white shoes. Yes, Sky was wearing his wedding suit at Kai's funeral same as Kai wears his wedding suit.
The coffin was gradually lowered but Sky only stared at it. No tears, no sobs only plain expression on his face. His mother looks at him with pity, she knew her son felt terrible but why didn't he cry? Why is he suppressing his pain?
However, Sky, in his mind, keeps on cursing at himself and the gods who didn't even spare him some pity. He hates himself for living instead of Kai. He should be the one who died not him or it would be better if both of them died that day.
"Wait for me, baby. I will follow you soon."
"Sky?"
Kole taps him on the shoulder noticing him lost in his thoughts.
Sky looks at him, his eyes lock on Kole's eyes. "Baby, have you come back for me?" he said with longingness.
His eyes a little red and blurry, he bites his lower lips and lifts his hand to touch ‘Kai's’ face. "Why didn't you bring me with you? Why did you leave me?" his voice is hoarse while tears flow from his cheeks, and he jumped to embrace the man in front of him. Sky placed his head on ‘Kai's’ chest and wrap his hands around ‘Kai's’ back.
Sobbing he said, "Can I follow you now? Can I die to see you now? I miss you so much, baby. Please take me with you."
Kole can only hug him in return and pat his back to calm the crying man. He can only listen for now until Sky is willing to open up and talk about his pain. This is just the first day and he is determined to help Sky find a reason to live again.
Sky should realize that Kai wants him to live a better life and not be in misery. That Kai wants him to feel love again and no heartaches.
"Sky, I'm Dr. Kole," he said softly.
As much as he wants to indulge Sky in his pipe dream, he is here with one purpose, to cure Sky, and pretending to be Kai is not the help Sky needs. Painful as it is, he must wake him up from his mistaken vision.
"Sky. Let's go back inside." Kole speaks again.
Sky loosens his embrace, raises his head, and quickly lets go of the hug. He wipes his tears and moves three steps away from Kole. "I'm sorry," he said faintly.
"It's okay. You can always talk to me and cry whenever you want. I'm all ears for you, Sky" Kole said in assuring tone.
"Doctor, can you - "
Kole already knew what he will say "Doctor can you leave now?", how many times did Sky say that in one day? He lost his count.
"Sky, my water? I'm so thirsty."
Kole didn't let him finish talking. Sky is the first person to tell him to leave for the nth time and he is amused because of it.
"Oh! water." Sky runs inside to get the now lukewarm water. Kole follows him smiling in fascination.
After drinking the water, Kole bids Sky goodbye. He doesn't want to overstay or Sky might not accept him on his next visit. Pushing Sky's limit will only result in failure and he will shut off himself from the world completely.
It was already, lunchtime and surely a lot of patients are waiting for him in his office.
Before leaving, Kole asks Sky an important question. "What food do you want to eat?"
~~~
Mini story:
Mr. Rat's life journey
Once upon a time, Mr. Rat, the tenant in Sky's house decided to chill and roam around. As he roams around the house, he saw a plate full of bread. He was happy and excited. He runs as fast as he can to taste that deliciously looking bread but poor Mr. Rat bump into a pile of books. The books fell straight to him and Mr. Rat died without tasting the bread.
We will miss you, Mr. Rat.
Sky: I don't remember having a tenant named Mr. Rat.
Mr. Rat: ( O . O )
Kole went directly to his office, upon arriving he was greeted by his lady assistant estimated to be in her late twenties. There was only three staff in his office, he likes to keep his circle small especially since all of the patient's cases were confidential. "Hey! you're twenty minutes late today. That's rare." his lady assistant commented. Kole never did once come late to the office. It was his golden rule A TRUE AND COMPASSIONATE PERSON WAKES UP EARLY WITH THE WILL TO ALLEVIATE PEOPLE'S SUFFERING. He smiled at his assistant and responded jokingly, "Spare this old man a time to date." "Date? who is the lucky one?" Yara asks with bulging eyes, she looked at Kole with so many questions in her head. Since when did Dr. Kole have an interest to date? The doctor who was devoting his life to healing people, who do not have any interest in blind dates and night out's, friends that can be counted on fingers was saying that he's been on a date? What sorcery was this? She must know the
Upon living the office, he went straight to his favorite restaurant to order easily digestible food. Sky had been eating bread for so long and giving him hard-to-digest food will only upset his stomach. It took him thirty minutes to get his takeout. Kole was a regular so calling in advance for his order was just one of his many perks. After receiving his order, he went back to his car which was parked outside the restaurant. Starting the engine, he merrily and quickly drives to get to Sky's house. It was a twenty-minute ride from the restaurant. There were few cars on the road at nighttime, they were in a rural area so houses and establishments were usually near each other. With both hands full of food bags, he marches towards Sky's door. Knock! Knock! Two knocks, no answer. "Sky?" Still no answer. "Sky? Are you awake?" worry starts to creep into his heart. "Sky!" Was he not at home? Impossible. He was afraid to leave the house surely, he was inside. Did he faint? No! He wasn
He wanted to follow Kai's wishes, he wanted to try living by getting help but how? Every time he sees Kole, he reminded him of Kai, that perfect visage."Doctor, tell me... can you cure me?" Sky's tears streamed down his face blurring the image of the man in front of him.He clasped Kole's hand with both his cold and bone-skin hands. He held on to it tightly and gradually brought it to his now drenched cheeks, caressing his face as if the person in front of him was his lover."Tell me that you can cure me, I'm in too much pain. I lived in an illusion of my husband, I can see and talk to him as if he is here. As if my husband... as if my husband is beside me." He continued telling everything to Kole. Everything that he closely kept in his heart for the past long years.Kole watched him with so much care, this man, who had a beautiful heart and soul was grieving over a deceased beloved. How many people can love this much? How many Sky was there in the world? How many were those who stop
Like a magnet pulling him back with much force, Kole quickly turned back to look at Sky. His eyes contain anticipation, and his heart was expecting something from those words but... what he saw was a sleeping man.It was only a dream. A dream he badly wanted to know. For now, he could only hope that one day Sky will get better and continue to live his life so he could live his life too.Kole closed the door of the house double checking if it was safely locked before leaving. He was thinking of what to cook for breakfast that will suit Sky's taste and will not trigger his memory of Kai."Kole?" Just when he got out a voice in her fifties called out.Kole froze in place. That voice was too familiar, his heart pounded so fast and his throat moved up and down sending tense feelings to his stomach. This was one of the voices he did not want to remember nor wanted to see."Is that you?" asked the woman.Kole did not dare to look back nor dare to make any sound. He wanted to move but his fee
“Did… did we lose them?” Sky asks the person heavily panting beside him. They have been running for so long.“I don’t know… let’s find somewhere to hide first,” answered the person. His face was blurry and his whole body was drenched with sweat. Both of them ran towards the thick bush to hide their slim figures. It was around six in the evening and they were cornered in a forest away from the city.The two boys were nervous and helpless. They had been running for nearly two hours now. They barely escaped from the black van that took them in front of their school if not for the tactics used by the boys.“Sky, even if you are feverish, we have to leave here alive, okay?” the boy said in a commanding tone with no room to debate. He was determined to save Sky and himself. He still wanted to go home and eat his favorite hot pot and stir-fry bullfrog. They needed to survive and surviving means taking risks. If the worst scenario happened, at least Sky should leave here alive.They were out
It was around eight in the morning when Kole arrived at Sky's house. Sleeping was not his best friend; he was always forcibly woken up by his mind. "Sky, I brought you breakfast." He had his unabashed smile hanging on his face while waving the wrapped food in his hand. "Doctor, I... I already had my breakfast." Scratching his head lightly, Sky answered him honestly. "Oh?" For the past few days, he noticed that Sky was not fond of eating breakfast, "then, I have an idea. This food should not go to waste." Kole said in high spirits. He can take advantage of this situation to slowly open Sky's closed heart and the food should not go to waste, last night was enough. "Can I come in?" asked Kole cheerily. Kole has been standing outside the whole time. The first time he visited, he let himself in. This time he wanted Sky to invite him in or to allow him to come in. This will help him assimilate if Sky was ready to accept people in his safe zone. Kole caught the uneasiness lurking in Sky'
Sky's physique can be described as skin and bone, his cheeks and eyes sunken, and his lips have few cracks even his wrist can be encircled by one's thumb and index finger. It was the result of years of eating unhealthy food. Despite this, the beauty he had can't be denied. This past few days, Sky's mood improved, and his eyes had little light in them. Unaware of his action, Kole slowly approached where Sky was. His eyes fixed on that sweaty-innocent face. Bit by bit he lifted his hand planning to remove the hair sticking near Sky's eyes. Kole stared at Sky full of yearning, his eyes nostalgic and his head muddled. The air around them feels humid, adding spice to the scene. "Doctor?" Sky called out. He didn't know exactly what happened to the doctor. Sky was befuddled by the situation. Does the doctor need anything? Was he going to take the box from him? But he can carry it on his own. Sky felt a little awkward seeing the doctor get closer and closer to him. Kole continues to sta
What's fulfillment, what's the meaning of happiness, and what's... love? Was it seventeen years ago that he first met Sky? The image of the boy in the dinosaur cosplay was still vivid in his memories. The boy in a dinosaur outfit was standing outside the closed store waiting for a taxi to come but as though luck wasn't on his side, the rain suddenly poured and the poor dinosaur seeks shelter. The only shelter he saw was the black RV parked in front of him. The dinosaur was left with no choice, he ran towards the RV and knocked as if his life depended on it. Knock! Knock! "Let me take shelter, please." the dinosaur boy said. The boy wearing a minion outfit hurriedly open the door for the dinosaur boy to enter. The dinosaur boy barge in and quickly finds the khaki color sofa to sit on. His hair was slightly damped and his outfit had some traces of rain. The minion boy was standing in front of him, dazed, staring at him without blinking. "Are you okay?" the dino boy asked. The mi