So
far, it had been the weirdest and most baffling day for Tristan.
Nothing
was out of the normal that morning. He went to the mall early, as planned, and
took his time with the painting materials, and after going back to his house to
drop his groceries, the only slightly exciting thing that happened was the traffic
on the road.
Then
came the weird part.
As
he was putting on the customary white coat, the delivery man of the hospital knocked
twice, and stuck his head in after Tristan muttered a confused assent. He rarely
got mails; his parents preferred to be called and to call by themselves.
“I
actually don’t know where this came from, sir. It just appeared in my pile with
your name and office number. Probably them nurses sending you a gift, eh?”
Tristan
managed to greet the man a chuckle and a word of thanks, in spite of his racing
pulse. When he was gone, he didn’t open the package just yet. It was just a
normal envelope, not even that thick, but he hesitated.
“Might
be damned dangerous…” he’d be a fool to think otherwise, considering what
happened yesterday. Still, he knew very well that he wouldn’t be able to keep
his mind from what it might be when he’ll be with Reeya.
Reeya.
Even
her name makes him nervous. He rolled his eyes at himself. Steeling his
posture, his hands sought the envelope and laid the contents on his desk, one
by one.
“What
the…”
His
credit cards. All of his important papers. They were the very ones missing
after he found his room in such a sorry condition, Tristan was sure of it.
With
his lips parted in confusion, he put all the items back into the envelope and
stashed it inside a random drawer.
What the hell is going on?
He
leaned back, his head pounding with questions. He didn’t even know which one to
search answers for.
If only I could have a break from
this world. After another minute of amazed
confusion, his topaz eyes landed on a shopping bag on the couch. Inside were
dozens of brushes, a set of paint, and a canvas.
A
break it is.
“I
told you, Devon. It’s a no.”
“Come
on, Pete. Surely, you don’t think she’ll really hurt me intentionally at this
point – ”
“Not
intentionally. Accidents happen,
okay, lad?”
Within
the several minutes of argument Tristan and Pete Johnson were having, the older
man switched from, ‘sir’ to ‘Doctor’, then to ‘Devon’, and finally, ‘lad.’
Tristan didn’t think this was really something to be happy about – he could
tell the in-charge wouldn’t budge. If only
he had his license already, it would be easier to access rooms without the
complications.
Soon, he
told himself.
“Pete,
please? It’s just paint – ”
“Chemicals.
And they’re toxic, too, have you read the label?”
“
I wasn’t really – ”
Then
suddenly, a voice called out, “Pete!”
Both
men turned to the new voice and saw Nika Georges among the people milling
around. She was making her way to them with a smile on her face, but when
Tristan met her gaze, he got the message: It’s
cool. I got this.
When
she was near them already, she said, “Pete, what’s the matter? You know, you
two are attracting an awful lot of people.”
Tristan
looked around to see for himself. True to her word, he saw several of the
employees already muttering among themselves about the little scene.
“We’re
fine, Nik. This lad was just trying to get in with chemicals.”
“Paint,” the
young doctor repeated, almost pouting, “they’re paint.” He turned to the nurse,
“Reeya told me she wanted to paint.”
Unable
to resist herself, Nika gave a huge smile, but clamped her lips together when
she saw the look on Mr. Johnson’s face. “Of course. Okay, Pete, here’s the
thing – Doctor Devon’s really making excellent progress with Reeya – ”
“572?”
“Yes,”
Nika and Tristan answered in unison.
Pete’s
eyebrows drew together, “That girl.”
“Yes,
what about her?” Tristan said automatically, prepared to defend Reeya. He was
utterly perplexed by his sudden reaction, but he didn’t like the way Pete said
those words – as though she’s a problem. Tristan will have none of that.
Pete
Johnson seemed to sense that as well, because he quickly amended, “Nothing,
nothing.” He sighed wearily, “You sure you won’t fall asleep again?”
“I
won’t.” A radiant smile started to dawn on Tristan’s face.
“You
won’t let yourself get choked again?”
“Reeya
won’t do that anymore.”
“You’re
the doctor, I guess – or trainee.” He opened the door to the ward with slight
dissatisfaction, “Just come back okay, Doctor, and we’ll both probably still
have our jobs.”
Tristan
couldn’t stop the laugh that escaped him and the said, “Thank you, Pete.
Really.: He grinned at Nika, “You, too.”
She
just winked her response before walking away. Tristan strode inside and after a
few minutes, was at the front of the room. Her room.
Ridiculous, he
thought as he felt his palms sweating, I
shouldn’t be nervous.
While
he tried to convince himself that he was in complete control, he went inside.
Reeya
turned to him instantly, and with slight confusion, asked, “I used to think
doctors have a day-off. Am I wrong?”
“I
– uhh – ” Tristan’s response died in his throat. He hadn’t expected her to be
so…normal. And was it him, or was she becoming more and more improved?
She
smiled at his lack of answer, dazzling him.
Improved. Definitely improved.
“I
just wanted to surprise you with something.” He closed the door and went to her
bedside with ease, not even hesitating. Now since when did that happen?
“You
told me you loved to paint, so I, well…” he laid the canvas, brushes, and all
the other things he shopped for earlier this morning on the bed.
Reeya’s
eyes widened with every item pulled out. With her pretty lips parted slightly,
she touched the empty canvas with the tips of her fingers. Then the paint.
Tristan noticed she was specially eyeing the bluest hue.
“Thank
you.” she whispered.
He
smiled. It was more than enough for him to see the happiness in her eyes.
Smiling wider this time, she raised her brown, delighted eyes up to his, “Can I
use them now?”
“Of
course. Anything you want.” Suddenly, a thought occurred to him, and he blinked
in uncertainty, “What will you paint? Surely, you want to stay outside instead?”
She
pursed her lips, thinking, and Tristan was mesmerized. He wondered what those
lips felt when pressed against his.
Then
he realized what he was thinking, and he wished he could slap himself to
coherency.
“Outside
would be nice. I really liked those blue bells when we were walking the last
time. I still remember where they are.” She perked her eyebrows up, “Can we do
that?”
“Of
course,” he replied in a haze, “anything.”
Again,
she pursed her lips, though this time, it seemed that she was holding back a
laugh. Tristan had never felt more self-conscious than ever.
“Did
– was it something I said?”
“No!”
she chuckled, “It’s just that you said the same sentence more than once for the
last minute.” She started gathering her new materials as Tristan fought the
shudder of embarrassment running through him.
Too
keep his mind off his lack of suave, he asked, “Why bluebells? There are honey
blossoms there, too, you know. And bunches of others. Bluebells are common to
the garden.”
Afterwards,
he wished he had just kept his brilliant mouth shut.
Reeya’s
hand froze in mid-air as she reached for one of the brushes, and her eyes
widened, as though in alarm. Slowly, her hands went up to her ears, like she
was hearing voices. Whatever the voices were saying, it wasn’t good, because
she started muttering.
Heart
hammering in his chest, Tristan reached out to pry off her arm from the side of
her face, but her muscles were tight.
“Reeya?
I’m right here. It’s Tristan. Tell me what’s happening,” he placed his hands on
her shoulders and tried to be in her line of sight, but he was positive she
wasn’t really seeing him. “Reeya, tell me – ”
“I
– I just remember that you – blue – ” she whispered the word, then squeezed her
eyes shut, as though an image inside her mind frightened her, “You forgot – you
were gone – you weren’t there. I was waiting for you, but you were gone.” Then
she sobbed.
Tristan’s
chest tightened. “Shh, I’m here.” He put his arms around her trembling figure, “I
won’t be gone. I won’t leave you.” He smoothed her hair as she continued
crying, her sobs reverberating on the small space.
“Help. Help me – ”
“yes,
I’m here.” He said for the dozenth time, his eyebrows knitting together in
extreme worry, “I’ll help you. No one will touch you while I’m here – ”
“I
just remembered how blue you were – I miss you so much.” She sobbed again.
Not
knowing what to do, Tristan kissed the top of her head. Eventually, after his
endless murmurs of comfort and soothing things, Reeya became tired and she
quieted, her head just resting on her chest.
Tristan’s
mind was on full gear. He knew for certain that one way or another, Reeya won’t
be spending one more night here in the ward. He couldn’t bear the thought of
her having episodes alone, with no one to comfort her, no one to hold her.
So
what if it was difficult? So what if it takes a lot of work?
Ha
had to.
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