Hello there! :D
I've managed to finish this chapter, although it was quite challenging to do it, since sometimes I just lack the confidence and motivation to continue the story. I think the other authors of fan-fictions must have felt this same kind of feeling too, at a certain point of time.
To Mei Wen: Ouch, I have felt that kind of pain before. I feel bad for making you laugh while you were drinking. xD I'm sorry, and I hope that you feel better now. :) Yes, your Hokkien is right. You can speak Hokkien too? Haha, yes, my late grandmother also used to say things like that when she was mad. xD Thanks for your review again, Mei Wen. :D Glad that you thought the previous chapter is funny, and I wish the same for this chapter too.
I don't own any of the Half Prince characters by the amazing Yu Wo. I hope that Wolf wouldn't be too OC here.
Please don't forget to review once you have read this chapter. I'm quite worried about this chapter but I just post it up anyway, hoping you guys can still enjoy reading it... xD
Chapter 27 – Doctor Wolf
When I was growing up through the period of adolescence, my mom enjoyed preaching to me on how my future husband should be like.
He would be someone who isn't too good-looking that the whole female population would chase after him like he was the last man standing on earth, neither he should be too bad-looking that your eyes would hurt and bleed to the point of blindness after living with the same man for just an hour of marriage.
According to my wise mother, my future husband-to-be also needs to be as tall as a ziraffe, or at least taller than my late father, whose height was already about 186 metres.
Another criteria of my mom's future son-in-law is he needs to have a professional qualification. That means he can be a righteous lawyer, a prudent accountant or... of course, a noble doctor.
Doctor Lee Tian Lang has all the features of my mother's ideal man.
He is not that handsome but is still nice to look at. His height is about 2 metre. He is a clinic doctor.
Pass. Pass. Pass. But...
I don't think that I would marry until I turn thirty-five.
I still have my own dream to pursue, my own ambition to achieve, and my own reality to realise. There is no way I want a boy (or in this case, a man) to be an obstacle in distracting me from fulfilling my goal. Having a steady boyfriend is like facing a persistent goal-keeper, who keeps blocking your way so that you couldn't kick your ball straight into the goal towards a momentous victory.
Besides, I felt nothing towards Doctor Lee. No heart beating wildly, no body heating up, no knees melting down, no what-so-ever.
He is just a cool person to me. I guess that's that.
"So... how are you today?"
The tall doctor suddenly talked after a few minutes I was sitting on the bed. I could feel that he was actually waiting for me to say something, but there wasn't anything much to tell him, except for my intense desire of wanting to leave the room as soonest as I could.
The air was still smelly with strong medicine and dead specimens (I could see a large wolf's head with its red eyes glowering at me. Not sure whether it was still living though). I scrunched my nose tight, trying to block the nostrils from the strong invasion of the pungent odour...
"Everything's good, Doctor," I was wearing my best (although failing) smile, "I'm doing just great."
Not really paying much attention to me, the doctor pulled the window curtain up and pressed the cute red button on the wall. The glass window rolled up slowly like a smooth machine, letting some gentle sunshine rays to reflect on his stylish blonde hair, his large white-rimmed glasses, and some of his other distinguishing features, such as his long perfectly-curved jaw, thin sharp eyebrows, and most distinct of all, his kind caramel brown eyes.
He smiled back.
"Do you feel better, Student Yang?"
I just stared at him with amazement. People tend to bluff that doctors can read minds. I've begun to believe that.
"Yes, I feel so much better," I laughed with much relief, "Thanks, Doctor."
If he opened the window, that would mean that he wouldn't examine my body or do anything lewd like that. Not to say that he was a pervert, but... I sighed.
It must have been that perverted dream that had been corrupting my mind to think such silly and awful things.
"I was once a teenager so I know it's hard being one. Please do let me know if there are any issues that are troubling you. Remember you're not alone, Student Yang."
Both my brain and heart froze at the physician's words.
"How does he know what I'm thinking of? Is his sixth sense really that powerful?"
"Thanks for your concern, Doctor," I spoke with some awkward gestures, "I really don't have any issues so far but if I have one, you'll be the first person to know."
The clinic doctor, who was already standing next to his mahagony desk, began opening up the drawers one by one, as though he was searching for a syringe to jab me with it and anaesthetize me to sleep. When he couldn't find for whatever that he was looking for, he knelt down instead.
A dragging sound could be heard, perhaps the sound of an old wooden box being scraped against the flat floor, then came the sound of things being ransacked and lifted and removed... just for one small syringe that I truly wished was no where to be found in the room.
My fingers were gripping harder and harder onto the bed that I was sitting on.
Other than pork liver and medicine, I also hated needles very much. The word itself was already painful to listen to.
Imagine the real pain!
"I understand that it's a rather a delicate subject to talk about. It's fine if you wish to remain silent about the matter," I could feel another assuring smile coming my way from his direction.
"Your lecturer, Professor Gui has told me about it."
Is this some kind of punishment bestowed upon me by Prof for sleeping in his class? He thought that I was a lesbian, so he asked for Doctor's help to 'cure' me by injecting some female hormones into my body?
This really can't be happening to me...
"Doctor, you got it all mistaken! I accidentally dozed off during his lecture time and I became a boy in the dream! That led me to saying..." I mentally hit my own forehead with a lethal hammer, "That certain stuff that I said."
"Wait while I'm going to look for... Ah, here it is! I've found it!"
"Doctor, I can assure you that I'm a very straight person!"
When a pair of large hands appeared and placed a very-dangerous-looking black box onto the table, I quickly added, "As straight as how a woman loves a man!"
Still ignoring my words, Doctor Lee stood up to his feet and opened the box in a calm manner.
I was hoping it wasn't the calm before the storm...
"Let's do a quick test with this," The doctor spoke.
He unzipped the suitcase (I just realised that it wasn't a box) and took out something that looked like a watch and... a long cord which looked like a belt but wasn't actually a belt. I wasn't sure what or how to call it, but I was totally relieved that it wasn't a thing that was sharp and thin. I avoided saying the exact word, because really, it hurt just by thinking the six-letter-word in my head.
After ensuring that those gadgets still function properly, the clinic doctor held them in his hands and walked towards the confused me.
"Student Yang, could you please wear this heart-rate watch and..." He turned his reddening face away, "This chest strap too."
I stared at the thin 'chest strap'. Figuring that its function should be for checking my heartbeat rate, I tried curling it around my chest area. I tilted my face further to the left, in order to catch a glimpse of the doctor's hidden face for his clarification.
"Is this supposed to be tied like this, Doctor?" I said, slighting shaking the strap around my ribcage.
"Erm... Yes," His face immediately turned to the right just to avoid my face, "You can wear it behind the curtain at the bed."
With that, the doctor merely pushed the wavy blue curtain close.
And I thought all doctors have to be thick-skinned, in case they need to treat and operate on patients of a different gender. *sweat*
Knowing that the doctor was just being a shy gentleman, I lifted my dark blue collared shirt up and coiled the strap around where it was supposed to be coiled. There was no need to fasten it, since the endings were automatically connected with a soft 'click' sound once I held them together. There was also a small white button at the centre of the buckle. I assumed that it was pressed to unfasten the cord, so I chose to ignore it for a while.
I lowered down my shirt (to prevent any untoward accidents) and unfastened my original watch from my left wrist, which was then tied by the most cool-looking watch. It did remind me of the watch worn by Ben from the show 'Ben 10', but I wasn't looking forward to transform into an alien at any time soon.
Once everything was done, I opened the curtain to see...
A large hologram screen was flashing in vibrant blue that made me giddy when I stared hard at it. It was standing on the wall at the other side of where I was sitting.
"Where the heck did that screen come from?"
"Are you ready, Student Yang?"
Doctor Lee was already standing next to me, his dashing face smiling with that kind of pure confidence and concern that a doctor could have for his patient's good health. I gulped.
"What do I have to do, Doctor?"
"You don't have to do anything," He shook his head, still with that gentle smile which didn't exactly make me feel any better, "Relax and just enjoy the show."
"Relax and just enjoy the show? Are you kidding me, Doctor? What kind of test is this? IQ Test? EQ Test? PE Test? Argh, this is making me nuts!"
I was squinting hard at the blank blue screen, as if trying to burn a hole in it with my super-sonic glare, as though preparing for any terrifying monster that would suddenly come into the screen... and my test was to have both my eyes fixed onto the screen without making even a single blink. Just like a staring contest, except that it wasn't with a friend. It would be someone uglier, so ugly that it would be painful just to look at that horrifying face of the beast.
When that screen changed colour, I had my eyes widened and strained and focused, not going to look away when I saw... Brad Pitt?
"Doctor," I pointed blankly at the famous Western actor like how an innocent child would point towards a strange-looking animal at zoo, "Isn't that Brad Pitt?"
"What do you think of him?" The doctor asked.
I was feeling more muddled than ever, "What do I think of him what?"
"Do you think he's an attractive person?"
"Well..." I shrugged, "He's okay."
Doctor smoothly pressed a button on his remote control in his hand, although his nose was suddenly lined with pink embarassment.
"How about this one?"
This time, a picture of a familiar female artist graced the screen. She looked like one of those big-chested bikini models that Chong Ming had always idolised like supreme goddesses. I winced.
"I like Brad Pitt more."
I turned to stare at my 'Ben 10 watch' with a mixture of boredom and tiredness. My heart rate was going at a steady rate.
I already knew what kind of test I was going through.
O O O
Half an hour had passed.
My fingers were tapping impatiently on the clinic bed. Every now and then, my eyes would dart from my watch to that picture being displayed on the screen, and then back to the heart-rate watch to check the rhythm of my pulse. It was pretty constant, no matter whose picture was being projected for me. From Jay Chou to Second Life's Blood Elf Prince, there was no photo of handsome men and pretty women that had not been shown in front of me.
My heart's reaction towards beautiful people must have been awfully slow... I have no complaints though.
"Student Yang, don't you like bishies?" The doctor finally asked.
"Hmm..." I folded my arms on my chest, making a long pause as though it was a very difficult question, "Not really."
"I see. Then there's no use for us to proceed with this test."
The tall man smiled warmly, as he switched off the blue screen by using the remote control. I watched him heading towards some tiny colourful buttons on the wall, perhaps to erase the high-tech screen since there wasn't any real purpose for it anymore.
I pressed my hands together, thanking Buddha in silence for brightening my golden pathway for my safe journey back home.
More than ready to call it a day, I jumped off the bed and stepped towards the door. It was waiting just for me to open it, looking forward for my hand to turn its knob when...
I saw Hei_Psycho's poster pasted on the door. I stopped in my track.
"Who the heck pasted it HERE?"
"Xue sheng, deng ze! (Student, wait!) You haven't returned the watch and-"
By the time I had gotten rid of my shock, the doctor was already holding my wrist, his brown eyes studying the mentioned watch thoughtfully.
"Your heart is beating drastically fast when you look at him. How strange..."
"It's not strange at all, Doctor!" I immediately pointed at my avatar's face with a sweaty forefinger, "Don't you think he's very... hot? Hahaha..."
Oh god, I really know how to flatter myself... *Double sweat*
"I guess you're just the same like her," The doctor's gentle smile brightened both his face and eyes, as though they were filled with some kind of overflowing happiness.
Then the man lowered his eyes down when he noticed my befuddled stare at him.
His face went red, "Sorry, I was thinking about my wife."
"Your wife? Are you married, Doctor?"
"Just virtually," He smiled with a polite touch, "I haven't had the chance to meet her in real life yet."
"Oh, that. It must be tough marrying someone that you just met online," I grimaced.
I still had not forgotten how the gullible avatar of mine had made a promise to one certain gay 'bishie', whom I wasn't sure of how to deal with if my avatar were to bump into him again. It had never crossed my mind to have an online commitment with anyone, be it a boy or a girl...
"That's very true, Student Yang. In fact, I was hesitating to commit myself into the marriage but now..." The doctor was staring into the space, before releasing a contented yet longing sigh softly.
"I just couldn't imagine not meeting her in Second Life."
Okay, now that's the kind of face which exudes the persona of a loving husband...
He also seems to be very close to Professor Min...
Last but not least, his last name is Lang, which also means 'Wolf'...
"Please correct me if I'm wrong, Doctor," I paused a little before saying, "Are you Wolf-xian sheng from Odd Squad?"
The clinic doctor became stunned for a short moment, as though wondering how on earth I got to know his name...
When I had not actually really met him in Second Life.
"You know me in Second Life? We must have met somewhere in Infinite City before. What's your screen name?"
Basically, I was just trying to dig my own grave. Back to my third point of view again.
"As a matter of fact, I haven't played the game before," I laughed as naturally as possible, "But my boyfriend told me much about you."
Doctor's eyes went wide with surprise.
"You already have a boyfriend? Then why did that Gui-"
I did not dare to say a word. My gut feeling was telling me that Prof had mistaken me to be some kind of a bisexual.
From a gay, I had turned to a lesbian and then right in that clinic, I had become someone who was interested in both genders. I sighed.
The doctor also sighed, "He's always worried over nothing. I guess you can sign your attendance now."
I borrowed a black ball pen from the doctor and drew my signature on the logbook, while reminding myself to return those heart-rate gadgets to their rightful owner...
However, I wasn't going to leave yet. Not when I had this question that kept bugging me to no end since that very morning.
His answer may be the one and only solution to that problem that I was currently facing in my Second Life.
"Doctor," I sucked my breath in, "There's something I want to ask you concerning how things work in Second Life."
"Please ask. I'll do my best to answer it," The doctor nodded with a helpful smile.
"Once I get married to someone in Second Life, can I get a divorce?"
