In Life and Death
Chapter 3: Ectopic WHAT?
Landic Hospital, 8:23 am, the next morning
She was running slightly late, as it was already after 8. Though she wasn't required to be there until 8 each morning, it was a habit to be there and ready at 7:30. She couldn't explain it really since this was the first and only hospital she had technically worked at.
"Veera! I was hoping to talk to you…"
She sighed slightly, not having to turn to see who it was. "I only have a few minutes, Blake." She turned slightly and offered him a smile. "What's on your mind?" She suppressed her growing urge to yell at the ignorant doctor. He must have been waiting for her on purpose. How else would he have known she was in the mailroom at that exact moment, picking through her box.
"It's about the patient I asked you to see today…" He started but stopped when she held up her hand.
"Blake, I don't have time now. I'm running late, okay?" She quickly grabbed her papers and moved past him. "You'll have to excuse my rudeness, but I will talk to you later, okay?" She was out the door and halfway down the hall when she saw him out of the corner of her eyes.
"I get the feeling you're trying to avoid me, Dr. Verse." He matched her pace step for step.
She slowed slightly and sighed. She didn't need to draw attention to herself like this. If anyone had any doubt about her and tried to look into her records, they could find out the truth about Veronica Verse. Veera didn't need that. "No, I'm not doing that and it's Veera."
"Right." He slowed to match her new pace and let his gaze drop to the tile as it sped past. "I wanted to thank you again for meeting with my patient…"
"He has a name." Veera snapped without meaning to. She didn't like the way Blake kept referring to him as 'the patient'. Zing did the same thing whenever they discussed Sora and his friends. Their faces didn't have names in his eyes, like they weren't humans. Like we aren't playing God and toying with their lives… She pushed the thought away as quickly as it had come and smiled at Blake.
Thinking she was just playing, Blake returned the smile and nodded. "Yes! Of course! Sora then." He paused and opened the large blue doors that marked the beginning of the wing Veera worked in.
That was another thing she hated about Blake. He was too damn courteous for her liking. She didn't need a man holding doors open for her. Like her need to be there every morning at 7:30 in the morning, this was another feeling she couldn't quite explain. Pushing the thought away, she slipped inside and turned to smile a thanks at the blonde man.
Blake didn't follow her inside. Instead, he stood with the door still open and shifted a bit nervously. "I doubt you will… but if you were to need me for anything, Dr. Verse, I'll be here on duty until four today. You can have me paged. I'm very curious to see if you find anything wrong with the kid."
"It's Veera." She said on impulse, but doubted he would catch it. She told the other staff daily to call her Veera. It felt wrong for her to use the name Veronica Verse. She wasn't her. Not yet at least. Damn! That was twice in the past few minutes she had thought about her. Shaking her head slightly, she glanced back up at him. "I'll make sure to keep that in mind."
He nodded sharply and turned to leave.
"Blake, I do have a question." She stepped closer to him so the secretary behind them wouldn't hear.
"Yes?" He turned back around expectantly.
Veera tilted her head to the side as she studied his nervous twitches. It still quite amused her that a lot of the staff found her intimidating. "Who else spoke with Sora yesterday? Anyone?"
Blake seemed confused for a moment before he finally answered. "No one except myself and the nurse. Why?"
"Which nurse?"
Again, Blake looked confused as he answered. "Nash Baxter."
Veera nodded and offered him a smile. "Thank you Blake."
"Her name's in the file."
"Huh?"
"Nash." He poked at the file Veera held tight against her chest. "Her name's on a few papers in the file. She ran a couple of the tests and took some measurements."
"Yes! Of course I know that." She turned quickly and silently cursed herself. Of course the paperwork would say who had done it. "I… I was just inquiring if all the correct paperwork was done, Blake. I don't want any mistakes."
His eyes widened nervously and he nodded. "Yes! Of course. I wasn't trying to imply anything, Dr. Verse."
Veera nodded slowly and motioned towards the door. "You can go now, Blake. I'm sure you have work to do."
"You'll call me if you need me?"
"Yes. Certainly."
-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-
Room 41 at the Starlit Inn, 9:43 am
Sunlight began to stream in under the heavy curtains as the air conditioner flicked on, causing them to flutter. The light cast a line on the single bed in the small room and its only occupant.
With a groan, Sora pulled the covers further over his head and rolled over. The pain in his stomach caused him to suck in his breath sharply as he did so. Curling up in a ball, he suddenly remembered where he was. In a hotel. On the mainland. Waiting to go to the hospital again.
With a sigh, he pushed the heavy blankets from the bed and sat up. The sudden chill that struck him felt good on his bare chest. He hadn't realized that he had been sweating under the blankets.
He rubbed the sleep from his eyes as he rose and moved towards the small bathroom. Just as Blake had said yesterday, the Starlit Inn was pretty nice. The room was roughly 12 feet by 14 feet. Its single bed was a queen sized one and while the mattress was not as comfortable as his own, it was a suitable substitute. Beside the bed was a small nightstand where the phone sat, as well a lamp. In front of the bed was a large dresser with many drawers and sitting on top of it was a 27-inch television. Beside the dresser, on the floor, was a small refrigerator. It wasn't home, but for a few days, he could enjoy it.
He stepped out of the bathroom with a towel around his waist. That's when he noticed the blinking light that came from his cell phone sitting on the dresser. "I forgot to call Kairi…" He had called his mom and told her he'd be spending the night, but he had completely forgotten about Kairi and Riku. He had promised to call.
With a sigh, he picked up the phone and pressed it to his ear. "You have three uplayed messages." The automated voice said.
"Hey Sora! It's Kairi. You've been gone all day! Where are you? Is everything okay?"
"Sora! Where are you? Call me!"
"I just got off the phone with your mom and guess what she said? That you called her and said you were staying! And you didn't call me! When you get back mister, you're going to be in a lot of trouble! You shouldn't make me and Riku worry like that! It's just mean! You better call me! Bye!"
Sora smiled slightly as he deleted the messages. He could imagine Kairi worrying, but somehow he doubted Riku would worry that quickly. He had only been gone a day. He punched in her number and pressed the phone to his ear again.
"Sora!" She squealed on the line.
"Hi Kairi." He glanced at the clock quickly, and then sat down on the edge of the bed. "Before you get started, I only have a few minutes."
"Why?"
Sora smiled slightly. "They couldn't find anything wrong yesterday so I have another appointment today at one."
"Not until one? You still have a couple hours then. You can talk to me!"
"I can't." He fingered the fabric of the towel, wishing he could just go home. "I have to go shopping."
"Shopping?"
"Yeah." He let the towel fall from his fingers and leaned further back on the bed. "I wasn't planning on sticking around so I don't have any clothes with me."
"Eww! You're naked!"
Sora laughed and shook his head slowly. "I have to go Kairi."
"I can't believe you're going shopping without me!"
"Bye Kairi." He quickly slipped back into the clothes he wore yesterday and headed to the nearest department store.
-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-
Dr. Veronica Verse's Office, 12:10 pm
"So what am I supposed to tell him Zing?" Veera paced about her small, white office in the only hospital on the main land. She took two steps before she came to the edge of her desk and had to turn around. It was another two steps before she came to her door and started over. "He's going to start asking questions and I'm going to have to answer. How the hell am I supposed to answer those questions?" Her tone betrayed her desperation.
"I don't care about his questions Veera."
"You did this!" She yelled into her cell phone. "You should be the one here and not me!" She pounded a fist against her desk as she passed it.
"Correction, Veera. You did it. You're the doctor. Just make sure the baby is fine."
"And what about Sora? What do I tell him?" She turned again at her door. "What if he asks how it got there? Or about the other father?"
"For all I care, make it up. The kid is not of my concern." The line went dead on his side.
Veera had stopped pacing and stood in front of her desk. She sighed as she shut off her cell phone and let it drop into the pocket of her white coat. Her eyes scanned the still foreign office and lingered on the framed diploma that hung on the wall.
"Veronica Verse..." She read the name printed there and shook her head slowly. The name on the door read Veronica Verse, as did the nameplate on her desk. "If I was really you..." And not your Nobody... she added silently to herself, "How would I explain this? How would I explain how a normal teenage boy became by another normal teenage boy? And how it will develop…"
A thought suddenly occurred to her and she turned towards the single bookcase in the small space to her right. Various medical, pregnancy, and fertility books that didn't exactly belong to her lined the shelves. She scanned the titles before selecting a particularly thick book on abnormal pregnancies. She thumbed through a few pages and then nodded as she placed it back on the shelf.
"Well… maybe this could work…" She smiled slightly. "Hopefully the damned kid is as naïve as Zing seems to think." She muttered to herself. Feeling a bit more confident, she moved towards her desk and sat in her chair. She took a deep breath as she reached for the phone. She pressed the intercom and lowered her head. "Connie, is he here yet?" She lifted her finger and waited a moment. When no answer came, she repeated her question, anger lacing her voice.
"Who?"
Veera shook her head slowly as she pressed the button again. "Sora, Connie. My patient."
"Oh! No Dr. Verse. He's not here quite yet."
Veera glanced at the clock. The appointment wasn't for a few more minutes. She nodded to herself and spoke into the intercom again. "Tell me the moment he shows up, okay Connie? The SECOND he walks in." She said, speaking slowly. "It's very important, Connie. The exact moment!"
"Sure thing Doc."
Veera rolled her eyes as she imagined the secretary painting her nails and completely ignoring her duties. Closing her eyes tightly, she leaned back in her chair, wishing she were anywhere but there at that moment.
-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-
Front Entrance of Landic Hospital
Sora had arrived a few minutes early for his appointment but the kid at the front desk looked busy, dealing with an aggravated patient. When Sora had inquired, he was waved off and asked to wait. "I can find her office." He had said to himself and moved towards the map that hung on the wall. But the more he stared at it, the more lost he seemed to get. He sighed and stepped away from it, his hands on his hips. "It can't possibly be that hard to find it. How many doctors' offices can there be?"
Five minutes later and he was still wandering around the halls. He would have turned back to the main desk, but he was lost. He was here just yesterday but to him, every white corner looked just like that last.
"Sora?"
Turning, he spied the nurse he had spoken with yesterday walking down the hall towards him. "Nash!" He smiled and stepped towards her. "I'm glad to see you!"
She smiled and tucked a strand of her black hair behind her ear. "I'm flattered but surely you aren't here just to see little old me, huh?"
"I'm here to see Dr. Verse." He tried to keep his voice steady, but he feared it cracked a bit.
Nash nodded sweetly. "Certainly! But you're in the wrong wing."
"Oh. Sorry!" He smiled and ran a hand through his hair. "Guess I got lost."
Laughing slightly, she nodded. "Yeah. It took me a while to get it all down in here." She tapped the side of her head and grabbed his arm. "Come on. I'm on break so I'll show you the way."
"That would be great!" He said relieved as she led him through white hallway after white hallway.
"There are signs." She said as they passed one that hung on the wall. "Veera's name is on that one."
Sora glanced back but they were too back away by then for him to read it. "Veera?"
Nash nodded. "Dr. Verse goes by Veera. Some childhood nickname, I believe she said." She shrugged slightly as they turned down another corridor. "She hates being called by her first name. Or by her title. Only doctor I've met that doesn't go out of their way to prove they are better than everyone else." She laughed.
After a few minutes, she stopped in front of two large, blue doors and smiled. "This is the wing Dr. Verse works in. Her office is right through those doors. The secretary on duty can direct you further."
Sora nodded with a reluctant look at the doors. He had hoped that Nash would take him directly to Dr. Verse's office. He was nervous enough as it was.
Nash peered at him a moment and gripped his shoulder. "Don't be scared. Everything will be fine. Dr. Verse is nice enough and she's an expert in her fields."
Sora smiled thankfully at her then tilted his head to the side. "What exactly would those be?"
Releasing his shoulder, Nash pointed towards the doors. "I believe you're late. You better hurry." With a wave, she headed back down the endless halls.
"Thanks!" He called after her before turning back towards the doors. The silence seemed deafening as he stared at those doors. Sighing, he pushed them open and stepped slowly through them. Yet another white hallway faced him. "The decorator should be shot..." He mumbled as he followed the small hall. It opened up into a large waiting area. The wall to his right was lined with windows, chairs, and magazine racks. The one to his left was lined with three doors with names he didn't recognize on them. In the center was a large desk piled high with papers and folders. Beyond the desk was yet another hallway.
"Can I help you?"
Sora shook the daze away and glanced at the person sitting behind the desk. She appeared to be a bit older than him but the headphones and the sucker stick hanging out of her mouth, along with the fact that she didn't look up, reduced her age to twelve in his mind. Her long blonde hair hung loose and perfectly straight past her shoulders. Her nametag read Connie Bland. He offered her a smile and stepped closer to the desk. "I'm here to see Dr. Verse."
"Your name?" She asked, not looking up from the file she pressed to her nails.
"Umm... Sora..."
She waved him off, interrupting him. "Take a seat please." Again, she didn't look up.
Nodding slowly, Sora turned and took a seat in one of the empty waiting chairs. It was a faded green color and the cushion on it was worn to nothing. He shifted slightly in it, attempting, and failing, at getting more comfortable. He glanced quickly at the clock that hung on the wall above him. 1:05 pm. He was already five minutes late for his appointment. Sighing softly, he lowered his gaze to his lap and waited.
After what seemed like forever, he glanced back up at the clock. 1:17 pm. He looked once again at Connie as he leaned back in his chair. She had stopped filing her nails and was now painting them an odd shade of neon pink. Her sucker had been discarded as well. He watched her a few moments before looking back at the clock. It now read 1:23 pm.
He sighed as he got up, feeling slightly annoyed. "Excuse me."
She gave an over-exaggerated toss of her blonde hair before raising her gaze to look at him. Then giving him a fake smile, she screwed the top back on her bottle of nail polish. She slowly removed the headphones from her head and placed them beside the MP3 player Sora hadn't seen before. "Can I help you?" She asked in an overly sweet voice.
Sora caught the sarcasm in her tone and he returned her fake smile. "Yes. I believe you can. I'm here to see a Dr. Verse and was told that her office was back here and that the secretary on duty would be able to direct me as to where I might find that office."
"Why yes it is! Just one moment please." She bent over and grabbed her purse first, dropping the polish in. Then she sat up, combed her fingers in her hair, and reached for the intercom. "Hey Doc. You still there?"
"Yes Connie." A tired voice answered.
"Someone's here to see you, Doc."
"Who is it?"
"Just some kid." She leaned back in her chair, twirling a piece of hair around her finger.
"Who Connie?"
Rolling her eyes, Connie glanced over at him. "Name?"
"Sora." He had the sudden urge to reach across the desk and strangle the obnoxious girl.
She leaned forward, closer to the intercom. "Some kid named Sora."
"Sora? Hold on a moment."
"Sure thing." She turned towards Sora and flashed him another fake smile. "Take a seat please. She'll be with you in a moment."
Sora crossed his arms and didn't move. "I think I'll stand."
Connie rolled her eyes and reached for her headphones once again. "Suit yourself sir."
I really hate hospitals... he thought as he watched her. If she hadn't ticked him thoroughly off, he might have found her attractive.
"Sora! I thought you weren't coming."
He glanced towards the hallway just beyond Connie's desk. A woman dressed in a white coat stood with a clipboard in hand. Her red hair was pulled back in bun and her green eyes seemed to shine. He let his arms fall to his sides and offered her a smile. It hadn't occurred to him that this complete stranger seemed to know him enough to recognize him by sight.
"I'm Dr. Veronica Verse." She said, striding towards him and holding out her hand. "But you can call me Veera."
"Nice to meet you." He shook her hand. "Sorry I'm late. It couldn't be avoided." He resisted the urge to throw Connie a glare.
With a nod, Veera turned towards Connie's desk and reached out to rip the headphones from the young girl's ears. "I told you this morning, no listening to music or doing your nails when you're on duty." She could still smell the distinctive scent of the polish. "And I distinctly remember telling you when my patient came in to tell me at once!" She grabbed the MP3 player and placed it along with the headphones into her pocket. "You've wasted twenty minutes of my time." She straightened up; ignoring the glare Connie was giving her, and turned towards Sora. "Follow me to my office." She turned down the hallway. "Get to work Connie." She called over her shoulder. "I believe you have some filing to do."
Sora couldn't help but smile as he followed Veera back to her office.
Once in her office, Veera sat down behind her desk and opened the file she had be carrying. "Have a seat."
There was a chair in the corner of the small office. Sora grabbed it and pulled it closer to the desk before sitting down.
"Next time we have an appointment Sora, just come on back, okay? If for some reason I'm not here, just come on in and wait."
He smiled and nodded as he leaned back in the chair. Great! She's already planning more visits. "Sure thing." The nervousness he felt earlier was beginning to abandon him, despite his feeling of dread.
"Good. Believe me, if I was head of this wing, Connie wouldn't have lasted a day here, let alone a whole week." She glanced down at the papers in the file. After a moment, she raised her gaze back to Sora and laced her fingers together. "I've been over your file, blood results, x-ray, and ultrasound and have come to a very interesting and perplexing conclusion."
"What?" Sora leaned forward, curious.
Veera held up her hand. "I want you to promise to be open minded, okay?" She started slowly. "You completely stumped Dr. Trippin yesterday, and you nearly stumped me. But I think I know what's going on inside you and I can either take it out or leave it there. Either way, I need you to stay calm and keep an open mind."
Sora's face dropped as the feeling of dread became greater and his nervousness returned. "Okay, fine. Just tell me already."
"In a moment. First, I have a question to ask. It may sound strange, but just answer it for me truthfully, okay?"
Slightly disappointed, he nodded and leaned back again. "Shoot." He hooked his fingers together behind his head.
Veera paused a moment, replaying the speech she had come up with moments before he came in. Clearing her throat, she started. "Have you ever heard of an ectopic pregnancy?"
"A what?"
She smiled. That had been the reaction she had expected. "As you may or may not know, I am an expert on abdominal and intestinal anomalies, which is why they sent you to me, but I've done a lot of research in abnormal pregnancies. I'm the closest thing to an expert in that that this hospital has." She smiled and leaned slightly on her desk. "An ectopic pregnancy is a pregnancy that occurs outside of a woman's uterus. Around 96 percent of them occur in the fallopian tubes but it can happen in the abdominal cavity. It can be a life-threatening pregnancy for both the mother and the baby. About 1 in 66 women will have an ectopic pregnancy but about 25 percent of the pregnancies resolve themselves before being confirmed." She paused a moment as she caught the blank look in his face. "The body naturally aborts the fetus, meaning no more baby. Ectopic pregnancies are hard to diagnose and usually by the time they around found, the baby is already a couple of months along."
"Dr. Verse..."
"Call me Veera."
Sora nodded. "Okay, Veera. This is all very interesting, I'm sure, but what does it have to do with me?"
Veera sighed. "I'm getting to that. See... most women don't know they are pregnant with ectopic pregnancies. They come in complaining of prolonged severe abdominal pain, shoulder pain, dizziness, irregular bleeding, and bladder or rectal pressure."
Sora nodded again, still not quite understanding the connection.
Veera sighed again and leaned more heavily on her desk. "Sora, do any of those symptoms sound familiar? Because I believe all of them are mentioned in your file." She drummed her fingers on top of the file.
"I... uh..." He crossed his arms and tilted his head to the side, thinking. Then he smiled and started laughing as he finally got what she was implying. "Are you trying to tell me, Dr. Veera, that I'm pregnant?"
"Well... yes actually." She answered with a straight face and leaned back. "I had asked you to keep an open mind, but I hadn't expected this open." She smiled.
Sora stopped laughing immediately, realizing she was serious. "Wait... you said yes?"
She nodded.
Shaking, he stood up. "Okay, I admit that the symptoms do sound familiar... but in case you haven't noticed... I'm a guy. I can't get pregnant!" His voice rose and wavered slightly.
Again, she nodded. "I know that, Sora. I'm simply telling you what your ultrasound yesterday confirmed."
"You saw it?" Sora's eyes widened slightly as he stared at her in disbelief.
"Yes."
"And it's a baby?"
"Yes." She answered again.
"And it's inside me?" His voice was close to cracking as he stressed the words.
"Yes Sora. It can be removed…"
He shook his head, interrupting her, and turned towards her door. "This is a bad joke. I'm leaving."
"Sora wait!" She leapt up from her seat and reached the door before he could. "I understand if you don't want to believe me, okay? Take some time and think about it, okay? Think about what your body is telling you."
Sora's eyes narrowed. "It's not telling me anything!" He snapped loudly.
"That may be…" Her expression softened. "But I will be here tomorrow at 9 am and I'd like to do another ultrasound and prove it to you." She reached into her coat pocket and withdrew a card. "This is my office phone number, okay? And my cell phone is on there too. Call me if you just want to talk later. And I hope I'll see you tomorrow."
Sora yanked the card from her grip and pushed her aside as he ran out the door.
Veera crossed her arms and leaned against the wall. She shook her head slowly as she watched until he was out of sight. With a sigh, she pushed off the wall and moved back into her office. Her door slid shut behind her as she moved to her desk. She pressed the intercom. "Connie?"
"Yeah Doc?"
Veera sighed. "Connie, I have told you. Either call me Dr. Verse or Veera, okay? Doc doesn't work for me."
"Certainly Dr. Verse." There was sarcasm in the voice.
"If anyone calls or stops by for me, take a message. Unless it's from Sora, okay?" She reached for her cell phone.
"The kid you had that appointment with?"
"Yes Connie. That's the one. We have another appointment tomorrow but if he happens to come by or call tell me at once."
There was a pause before Connie answered. "Is he, like, dying or something? He was like... crying when he ran by like a second ago."
"Connie, get back to work."
"Sure thing Doc."
Veera switched the intercom off and leaned back in her chair, fingering her cell phone. "Fuck..." She muttered as she picked up and dialed a number. She pressed it to her ear.
"Did you see it?"
Veera sighed into the phone and lifted her hand to massage her temple. "Not exactly."
"Not exactly?"
"No. The ultrasound that was done yesterday didn't really show anything. Dr. Trippin didn't know what he was looking for." She stifled a yawn as she leaned against her desk.
"Then do another one! I need to know if it's progressing fine."
"Tomorrow."
"Tomorrow? What's wrong with today?"
She scoffed. "Zing! A 17-year-old boy just found out today that he's pregnant. I think he needs a night to think."
"To think about what?"
Veera shifted slightly in her chair. "I... told him that... he could get rid of it."
"You WHAT?"
She flinched at the tone of his voice. "Calm down, Zing. I don't think he will."
"You don't think? Exactly! That's the point Veera! If you've fucked this up, I swear..."
"Zing." She interrupted him. "He won't get rid of it, okay? Trust me."
There was no answer as the line went dead.
-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-
At a Drug Store down the street
"Your total comes to 890 munny."
Sora dug around in his pocket and produced the correct amount. He didn't care of the cost. He would prove Veera wrong at any cost. And munny wasn't really a concern of his at the moment. He had spent a long time battling heartless and nobodies. He had collected quite a bit in his travels. Granted, munny had never matter much to him, but he had it now.
The elderly man pushed the bag towards him and smiled. "Think ya got someone pregnant, huh?"
Sora's head snapped up and his eyes widened. A slight pink hue spread across his cheeks as he grabbed the bag. "No!" He snapped.
"Then why ya need all dem pregnancy tests, huh kid?" The man laughed. "No need ta be ashamed.
Sora rolled his eyes as he pushed his way from the store.
-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-
Room 41 at the Starlit Inn later that night
Sora sat on the edge of the bed in his hotel room. He stared blankly at the wall before him, unable to focus on anything in the room. He had left the drugstore and headed straight for the Starlit Inn. That had been over an hour ago. On the counter in the small hotel bathroom laid 6 discarded pregnancy tests of various brands. All of them had the same response, positive.
"Pregnant? Me?" He was grateful now that he had said no when Riku and Kairi offered to come with him. There was no way either of them would believe him, though he didn't blame them. He didn't believe it himself. It had to be a mistake.
He pushed the thoughts from his head as he reached for his phone, which sat on the nightstand beside the bed. Maybe it was all just a bad dream. Maybe he would wake up tomorrow and be back in his bed on the island. Or maybe he would go to see Dr. Veera and she would announce that she made a mistake. Maybe tomorrow, everything would go back to normal. Or at least as close to normal as a Keyblade master could get.
He held the phone in his hands for a long while, staring at the numbed keys, before he dialed the number that was on his mind. Sora sighed and leaned back on the bed as he heard the phone ringing.
"Hello?"
"Hey Riku. It's Sora."
The End of Chapter 3! Stay tuned for Chapter 4: Another Visit
What did Sora say to Riku? Is the baby okay? What will Sora decide to do? How will the next appointment go? What will Veera tell him? Will Zing's head explode? Will the damn files ever get filed? And will Connie get her MP3 player back? Please stay tuned for the next chapter.