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 details. She must!
"Tsk! It's a joke, okay? I came from a patient's house." Kole immediately cleared the misunderstanding.
"Since when did you do house visits?" Yara throws her question again.
This was getting fun. Kole was now doing a house visit? What made this man change in twenty-four hours? Definitely need to investigate, women's instinct was never wrong.
Kole said before, it's not good to do house visits, although other doctors were doing it, he won't. The reasons were, he doesn't want to create rumors for the house owner, and seeing a psychologist visiting someone's house was such a taboo for him.
Another reason was, he once visited a patient in their house and he was chased out with a knife because the patient thought he was a burglar. That was one hell of an experience.
Lastly, patients need to see the outside world and one way for them to see it was to get out of their houses. A few minute's rides to the office will give the patients time to see life, at least that's what he thought.
But why did he change all of a sudden, Yara was dumbfounded but she will surely know the reason, after all, she's a psychologist.
Kole enters his office and wears his white coat. Sitting in his big rotating chair, he glanced at a picture frame on the left side of his table and uttered, "I'll do better today."
"I'm ready to take patients, call the first one," he called out to Yara who was still deep in her thought about the shocking changes in Dr. Kole.
Kole's day was spent talking to patients one after another. Patients who do not respond, patients who cried from start to end of the session, and patients who keep on asking for free coffee.
If he encounters patients with severe psychological disorders he will immediately refer them to a psychiatrist. So far, it's only a few. Most of them were depression, anger management issues, anxiousness, and speech problems.
"That was the last patient, right?" Kole asks.
He was stretching his body, he's been sitting for six hours, his joints wear aching and his back was sore.
"Yes! Where should we eat?"
Since all of the staff were single, they always eat outside together except for important days. "I want deep-fried pork. Let's eat in the usual place," he said brimming.
Suddenly a figure flashed in his mind, a thin and sad figure of a one hundred eighty-one-meter man. With his condition, did he take his dinner? The house condition is bad for him, is he breathing fresh air?
Before he left, he asks Sky what food he wanted to eat.
~~~
"Sky, what do you want to eat?"
Sky stared at him, blink twice, and pointed at the air-tight box, "I have bread."
"Oh! aside from the bread, is there anything you want to eat?" Kole repeats his question.
"Nothing," he answered lazily.
"Are you only eating bread?" Kole was astonished. How could he survive with just bread?
Was this why he was this thin? How he remains alive by just bread alone was already a miracle.
"That won't do. I'll bring proper food next time. Okay?"
~~~
"Yara, I won't be eating with the rest I have an urgent thing to do."
Taking off his coat, he glanced at the picture frame and said, "I'll do better." Then he stormed outside.
On the other side, Sky was all alone and lost in his own world again. "How did the doctor's visit go, baby?" Kai asks lying down on the bed.
Sky was beside him, facing the ceiling. After Kole left he went to lie in the bed and he's been lying for six hours straight now. Kai only appeared at this time.
"He asks for water and buries the rat," Sky replied.
He turned to face Kai and embraced him, placing his head near Kai's chest.
"The doctor did that?" Kai laugh so loud, he could not believe that Sky made the doctor bury the rat and drink the water, he drinks the water? Kai pondered on this.
"He saw the dead rat, I felt awkward and ashamed that the house is..."
"Baby, we can clean the house if you want."
Sky felt awkward and ashamed, that was the first time he said that after ten years. Before it was always about Kai, Kai, and Kai but Sky felt awkward because of another person. Awkward in a positive way.
"Really? Shall we clean now?" Sky smiles at him.
"Wow! the enthusiasm. Sure. Let's go."
What happened during the doctor's visit? Why did Sky... Kai could only wonder, besides he was only living in Sky's illusion, his thoughts, his words, and his action all belongs to Sky's illusion of him. Wasn't it good? The minute changes were refreshing to see but he's afraid that these changes will soon be the reason for his total farewell.
They were preparing to clean, however, what Sky can see now was a neat and clean house. So different from the gloomy and soiled condition that the doctor saw.
"How can I clean if this is what I see, baby?" Sky murmured.
Suddenly, the house changed back to its original state, and Kai disappeared.
"Sky!" a deep voice screamed from the outside.
Who will look for him at this hour of the night? But the voice was familiar to him, only one person comes to mind. He opened the door and sees the all-grinning man in red holding a lot of plastics with food.
"Do- Doctor?"
~~~
Mini theater:
Valentine's is coming, what will you give to your lover?
Kai: two big bouquets!
Sky: I'm not a goat...
Kai: *pouts his lips
Dr. Kole: Perfume... three perfumes.
Sky: Does that mean I stink?
Dr. Kole: .......
Sky, answer the question, please.
Sky: My love for them is enough.
Kai & Dr. Kole: *blushed
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
The brilliant sun continued to illuminate the earth, blinding the eyes of the person in front of Sky. For a moment, Kole saw flashes of happy memory he had kept hidden in his heart. For a moment, he saw tears and agony in those memories. The scene that Sky saw was too blurry to identify the boy in his mind. It could be considered a complete Deja vu but Kole instead had his hand frozen in Sky's head. Forcing himself to act natural, he asked Sky, "What? What do you mean?"His face turning pale, he was thinking of the perfect alibi to every possible answer that Sky will give. At most, he can't let him remember him or all these sacrifices will be in vain.He got everything planned out; he will cure Sky and completely vanish from his life after. However, now, Sky's question was troubling him. Did he become the trigger?"Just now, I saw a blurry image that I didn't remember at all," he said scratching his head with puzzlement.Hearing his response, Kole breathed a sigh of relief, "oh. May