Dusk
had fallen. Tristan was back at his dingy office, staring sullenly at his desk.
With the other patients, he’d done a good job, as expected, but his concern was
more for Reeya.
The patients inside the secure ward
are the ones far from being better and the ones outside are on their way to
recovery. Gradually, yes, but they’re on the path. That’s why he chose to work
with a patient with a severe case – he didn’t just want to help someone who
could do with more capable hands than his, he wanted to really bring back a person. Away from the bottomless depth they’re
lost in. Essentially, every patient to him is just lost. But Reeya had gone
more astray than anyone he’d handled so far.
And how could he begin to help her if
his mere presence makes her so aggravated? He could only see one tiny ray of
light in his current predicament, and it’s from Mrs. Hall. Her exact words
were, “This isn’t one of her best days.” Also,
Kate had said that most of the time, she’ll be quiet and not so aggressive. He’ll
just wait for the day when she won’t be so…lost.
A knock sounded at the door and
Tristan muttered a come-in. Doctor Gabriel Redwood sauntered through the room,
carrying two cups of hot coffee and an even warmer smile. Some of the weariness
left Tristan’s shoulders when he stood up as Gabriel reached is desk.
“Thanks, Gab.” he said, reaching for
the coffee. “It’s been a hall of a day.”
“So I’ve heard,” his friend replied in
an upbeat tone. How the doctor could be so cheerful in a place like this for a
long time was a mystery to him. But he didn’t mind. In fact, he craved for the cheerfulness
while at work and he could only find it in Gab. It was one of the qualities
that made them fast friends, including their close ages.
“Heard what?” he asked suspiciously after
taking a sip. He was sure that he’d confided in nobody what had happened, but
the twinkle in Gabriel’s baby blue eyes had him thinking.
“Nurses are very informative when it
comes to you, you know. They could pull out information from their minds faster
than our mainframes.” His devilish smile accented his oval face and buzz cut.
Tristan was mystified. As always.
“What did they say?”
“Nothing of importance. It’s just a
fascination to know that they’re aware of who you’ve dated for the last, uhmm,
maybe two years?” he shrugged as if to say it didn’t matter, but Tristan was
even more taken aback. He blinked him confusion.
“But I wasn’t here two years ago. I was
in medical school.”
“Exactly,
my friend.” he nodded, “I’m so proud of you. Macquarie never had some fun ‘till
you came along. Of course the nurses were thrilled.” Tristan didn’t bother
replying as he drained his cup, giving his friend the dissatisfaction of being
ignored. He was used to Gab chattering and sprouting surprising information. It
was an everyday phenomena.
“Hey. No reaction? No I’m-sure-the-nurses-were-just-being-friendly
lecture?”
He had to smile at that. He gave that
lecture everytime they were straying to the particular topic, but not now. He
was bone-tired. Physically and mentally.
“No, you’ll get it tomorrow. Today
wasn’t that…” he thought of Reeya screaming and hurting and the words spilled
out of his mouth, “Today was fucking disaster.”
Gabriel’s eyes widened and a huge grin
appeared on his face, “Did you just curse? You never curse.”
“I do now. Listen, Gab; do you know
patient 572? Secure ward?”
“Your assignment, right? Man, I had to
use the tranq on her last night and it wasn’t pretty. She kept screaming
murder.” he shook his head and wiped his brow. The both of them were deep in
thought as they stared at nothing of interest, just mulling over problems.
“Do you think I can help her?” Tristan
asked casually, but no matter how he tried to hide, the question had more
weight to him than he let on. Gabriel pretended he was ignorant to this and
replied just as casually, “If it was me, I’d find another one. But you’ve got
more backbone, heartthrob.” The use of the nickname pierced the gloom and made
Tristan chuckle. He’d been called ‘heartthrob’ by Gabriel on occasion and the
name stuck. Neither of them really wanted to not use it, as the word gave them a sense of familiarity.
“Thanks, Gab. You going for the night?”
“Nah, I’m on overnight duty. I’ll see
you next evening.” He started to exit the room and tossed his empty cup on the
bin.
“Right. And hey, thanks again. I owe
you one.”
“You owe me hundreds!” he called out
and once again, Tristan found himself alone in the room.
He leaned on his desk and stared
blankly on the floor. It was just the beginning and he was hopeless already.
Had he been expecting too much? Was he overestimating himself? He’d never felt
any lower in his life, and above anything else, he felt so empty.
You’re
got more backbone, heartthrob.
He smiled slightly.
Encouragement worked like magic on
tough times. As always.
Starbucks, 1 hour later
In Tristan’s personal opinion, nothing
could take away your foul mood more than a trip to Starbucks and a single sip
of Tall Two Pump Peppermint, Two Pump Mocha Blended Cream Frappuccino.
He licked his lips, tasting the
glorious liquid. It’s been a while now since he’d visited the place, and so as
he walked past a few minutes ago, the timing seemed too perfect and he couldn’t
bear to let the opportunity slip. How could he pass up something as uplifting
as this frappuccino? The idea seemed too preposterous.
He huddled himself to his tweed jacket
and took a long, leisurely sip. He resisted the crazy urge to sigh. He could
survive on this, and he wouldn’t have to cook at all and have burnt hands.
Speaking of hands, he held up both of
them and splayed them on the empty table. The burns weren’t that bad anymore,
and he had the intense relief to remove several of the Band-Aids. Several, but
not all. Still, it’s a vast improvement.
“Would you like more frappuccino, sir?”
asked the blonde waitress at his side. His brow creased, and he was confused
for a moment; he’d been quite sure that she was several tables away earlier, but
then she materialized to his side like air…
Maybe
she’s just quick, he thought, aren’t
waitresses supposed to be?
She was smiling sweetly at him, and she had so obviously
applied more make-up before approaching, but Tristan was oblivious to all of
this.
“No, it’s okay. Thanks for asking.” He
sent her a smile that turned her to marshmallow and she hobbled away,
tongue-tied.
Tristan wondered if she’s okay. She
was walking unstably.
All other thoughts fled his mind as he
faced his drink and bliss took over his mind as he took another sip.
“Hmm.” he said absently. Maybe he
should learn how to make one himself.
Several more minutes passed as he
continued to sit there, making calls once in a while – to Gabriel, and then to
his mother – and just savoring the peace and quiet he’d been longing for all
day. He still didn’t forget about his responsibilities back at the hospital,
though. All the patients and Reeya.
It’s just the start; there will be lots
of days after this one and more opportunities to help her. Tomorrow should be
more fruitful than today. He found that an almost certain assumption. Exactly how can it be much worse than what
happened earlier?
And another good thing is that she
managed to fall asleep without the use of tranquilizers. She must’ve been
really tired, but that’s just as well. She didn’t need any more chemicals in
her system. Before he signed off from curfew, he gave another visit to her and
found her sound asleep. But he didn’t go in. That would have to wait tomorrow.
Tomorrow. He exhaled a determined
breath. He can’t expect much of a change, but he’ll tackle everything step by
little step from now on.
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