Chapter 2: Breathing Method
The box continued to sit on the empty desk.
They pretended not to notice it, but after weeks of the glaring reminder, the nurses began to whisper. The other doctors clucked their tongues. Why didn't he put it away? Why not bury it forever from his mind?
But he kept it, allowing dicussion and speculation to run wild.
"Poor Dr. Sohma. All of her things packed up, but not quite gone..."
"It's sad, considering the change she brought in him. Remember when we were interns?"
"How could I forget?"
"She was so lovely, too."
"I never met her. What was she like?"
"Cheerful and pretty, with the softest brown hair. That was the first thing to go; once the chemotherapy sessions began."
"Oh no..."
"They found it a year after they were married, and by then it was too late."
"Imagine being a doctor and not being able to save your own wife..."
The chattering nurses were suddenly silenced by the familiar staccato of Dr. Sohma's shoes.
"Good morning, ladies."
"Good morning," came the chorused reply. Ashamed, none of them dared to look into his listless eyes.
He turned and left; his footsteps fading as he gradually disappeared into the bustling hospital crowd.
...Click-click-click….
…..
"...Think he heard us?"
Hatori shut his office door. He went and opened a pack of cigarettes. He had quit smoking when he started dating Kana... But after what had happened... It relaxed him.
Bad habits die hard.
He lit one and stuck it in the corner of his mouth, taking a long, calming puff.
Lunch.
Revised July/17/2011
