Vigil-David Ross Lawn
"Doc. You're gorgeous. You have pretty hair," she said while lying on the examination bed.
Ryuu's hand on the stethoscope halted under her clothes. He slowly withdrew his hand and stepped back. He didn't even make eye contact. "Thanks," he said and sat on his chair. It wasn't the first time the patient flirted with him. But that didn't mean he was used to it. He quickly wrote down the hypertension symptoms to distract himself.
Chione sat back before his desk. She said with a ghost of amusement on her lips, "You don't remember me? I used to call your hair pretty."
Ryuu looked up from his work. He displayed a puzzled look. "Pardon?"
"Please read my name carefully," Chione tapped her name on the paper.
Ryuu frowned and read her name. He didn't fully pay attention before. When the nurse announced her entrance and conversed about her sickness, he examined her shortly.
Chione Thessaly.
Yes, Chione was a pretty common name here. But Thessaly? Wasn't it one of the family names from the Perseus descendant?
Ah.
It rang the bell. Ryuu's eyes round in awe. He said, "You're that Chione? You're back!"
Chione grinned and nodded, "Silly Ryuu. Long time no see."
Ryuu put down his pen and leaned his back on the chair. He took a good look at her as he caught her new transformations. Her short-bob signature hair that she kept for years now flows elegantly over the bust. He recalled how charming she was when she had more baby fat. But now, she was taller and had a slim figure. It was kind of strange to find her becoming an adult.
Ryuu trailed his eyes to her face and rested on her bright smile. Did she always have that captivating side? As Ryuu could recall, Chione was a lively kid. Her age might be four years older than Lucka. But sometimes, she loved to pretend to be her younger sister when they were around. Does she still like to act childish?
He shook his head and said, "Why did you leave without explanation? Lucka was broken-hearted."
The smile on her lips faded. "My deep apologies. We left in a hurry. There was something urgent to be done."
Ryuu didn't say anything for a beat. Chione's departure was such a great shock for Lucka. And it was her who deserved an apology. He said, "Shouldn't you say sorry to her? I can call her here."
Chione shook her head and said quickly, "No. Not today. I can't meet her now. You know, whenever I met her, my mom made a cover for us?"
Ryuu frowned. "What do you mean?"
"Well." Chione glanced at the clock on the wall. "Do you wanna catch over a coffee tonight?"
Ryuu blinked. He didn't understand why she avoided Lucka, but it seemed she had something important to tell him. "Sure thing."
The bright cafe's surroundings where they hang out for the first time washed down into a pitch-dark tunnel. Ryuu ran aimlessly with an uneven breath. His feet didn't touch the ground, yet he felt so exhausted. He rubbed his eyes when something came into his sight. And he knew his sweet dreams had changed into a nightmare.
It was that damn Friday night.
Ryuu was finally able to go home, just after he finished pulling out an all-nighter at the hospital for two days. It happened because he had to tend to his critical patient at the hospital outside office hours. If Loui, the bastard Hospitalist, didn't take a sudden leave, surely he wouldn't need to do that.
Ryuu glanced around the living room with a grimace. A pile of dirty tissues, some cardboard of leftover pizza, and a snack crumb were spread over the floor and couch. There were also some broken pieces of a white-blue bowl in the corner of the room. It was his favorite China. His eyes trailed some shreds of fabric on the rug until they rested on their oil painting portrait that hung above the fireplace. There was a wide, long slice on his face.
What a sight.
He'd anticipated it, though, so he wasn't that surprised. Lucka had thrown a tantrum because yesterday he didn't keep his promise to celebrate her eighteenth birthday together.
He sighed and went to the hallway to check on her. After he knocked on her bedroom door and there was no reply, he decided to go to his room instead. Perhaps she was already asleep.
When Ryuu took off the white coat, his eyes caught a ball of flesh curling around his grey blanket. He sat on the bed's edge and murmured, "Lucka, why are you sleeping here? Let's move to your room."
Lucka stared up with a frown, a trace of drying tears glued on both of her cheeks. She mumbled gruffly, "Ryuu? You're home."
"Yes, I'm home," he said and picked her up, "let's go."
Lucka screamed and flipped over, clutching the bedsheet with her steel hand. "No! I don't want to go! Why are you always pushing me away? Do you loathe me that much?!"
Ryuu gritted his teeth. He just noticed the reeking smell of alcohol coming from her. Fucking rascal. Did she believe he'd condone her getting drunk just after she hit the legal age?
Lucka kept wailing. And a sharp ache piercing the half side of his head. If he hadn't had a sleep-deprived and whining brat, he wouldn't feel so worn out.
He uncurled her grasp on the sheet and hauled her across his shoulder. He put her down on her bed and ignored her muffled rant behind the closed door.
Ryuu hurriedly drank a tablet of 100mg of Sumatriptan and changed into a sleeping attire. His head sank on the soft pillow after the pain slowly subsided, and the drowsiness took over him.
He'd thought he was already in the middle of a dream. A wet dream. Between his heavy eyes and the colorless light surrounding him, a hot breath caressed his chin, followed by their lips pressing against each other. He found his hand groped a soft breast and felt something slippery between his thigh. Had it not been more than a decade since the last time he made out with any girl, Ryuu would never have raised suspicion because he thought it was just a dream. But the vivid, familiar voice that turned into a luscious moan called his name over and over was conveyed otherwise.
Ryuu's narrowed eyes found a shape of a half-naked girl grinding her moist pussy against his shaft. It took him a moment to recognize who she was.
A rushing of shame and unbridled outrage slammed into his frozen body. No words could describe the moment his cock was about to enter her.
And as the sunrise shone so audacious as if it insulted him, it became the first day he'd given Lucka the silent treatment for a good, whole month.
Ryuu could still remember after that day he'd wake up in the middle of the night with a pounding heartbeat. His back would drench in a cold sweat, and a dread that filled his lungs would suffocate him. While in the dawn, his gaze would always gravitate to the image of the girl from his nightmares.
She was so bright in the daylight. She had always been. But just like the sun, the scorching beams would only blind him. And he hadn't had the heart to welcome her warmth yet. Such torture persisted until Ryuu found a river of blood flowing out of his wrist. He thought the long-awaited salvation had finally come. The brief darkness had entered to embrace and comforted him, assuring neverending peace.
But Ryuu had decided to strive back. The sun, although it could burn him alive, he'd relished it rather than the vast, void, and leaden night. He'd never say farewell to the lonesome sun until her solar zeal perished first. Then he could become one with the somber celestial amongst thousand stars, for eternity.
It was the first and last time he'd given her such punishment. Despite she'd never remembered a thing, and he should live in constant agony, his affection could vanquish the trauma. And for such unconditional love, there would never be a chance for thriving hatred. So he'd devoted himself. For the burden, he'd willingly carried on his shoulder instead of her.
The image suddenly changed again. A stifling and blistering bright ambiance impaired all of Ryuu's senses. He tried to run again, but his body seized to the ground. And an immediate continuum of high-pitched sound pierced his ear, followed by a shadow of a man who rushed by his side. The echo of every step he took drew him deeper into the remain of familiar forlorn he instilled as poison.
Ryuu caught his fluttered long hair was the color of the blackest night sky. His back that cladded in a white coat, trembled as he supported someone's head from the ground. When Ryuu finally saw who it was, he was already in the man's shoes.
Ryuu tapped her clammy cheeks hard enough for a view times. But her stiff, cold body remained still. He checked on her greyish eyes; the pupils constricted. He checked on her pulse; it was barely there. Ryuu swallowed hard. He bolted to the hallway, snatched naloxone from the first aid box, and immediately gave her a shot. One, two, three, he waited. But nothing changed.
"Fuck!" he cried out and dialed 112 for an ambulance.
Ryuu moved her body to lay on her side. He still tried to wake her up, and eventually, his blurry gaze met hers. A streak of hope greeted him, but it shattered right after her bluish, strained lips worded, 'you've killed me, Ryuu.'
Ryuu jolted up from his bed. His chest heaved wildly while a warm stream trailed down his high cheekbones. Ryuu shoved his palms to the burning eyes as he drowned in a silent cry.
"Ryuu? What's wrong?!" Chione's angelic voice enter his ear. She curled her delicate arms around his shaken body.
A big lump choked his throat. Ryuu buried his head to her neck as he couldn't spell any words.
"Ryuu, It's okay. It'll be alright. I'm here, okay?" she said and kissed his head. Her small palms stroke his back.
Ryuu never replied to her. He couldn't. So they filled each other presence with silence before the dawn, and dreamless sleep took him away.