"Have you checked your phone, Dr. Yue?"
"What?"
Yeah, that's the problem.
She has been busy with emergency cases. One of her coworkers had to bring their kid to the hospital, and she had to sacrifice her phone for the kid to play Triple Triad Online.
Speechless, she tells me to wait in the room while she retrieves her phone. A few minutes later, she comes back with both her phone and Pumpkin's medicine.
"I'm sorry," she smiles awkwardly.
Oh, how I love that smile!
If I remember correctly, Keannu once said that if a woman says sorry to you, you should marry her. Again, she's no ordinary woman. If she were, I would have lost her by now.
"No worries," I say. "That happens. I thought you ignored me..."
"Yeah, makes sense," she nods. "Do you drive?"
"Drive? Yeah, I have a rental car," I answer, confused.
"Give me a ride, and I'll let you and Pumpkin stay at my place," she makes a surprising offer. "When he gets better, which I think he should be by tomorrow morning, we can go moon gazing."
It takes me a moment to digest what she just offered. If my ears still work, she just asked me to come home with her. Is it a test?
"Okay, if you don't mind," I reply reluctantly. "But really, I don't want to bother you that much. Don't worry about us. I can totally find some place…"
"Okay, yeah, no pressure. It's up to you..."
"I'm still giving you a ride."
"Oh, thank you. I really appreciate that."
"What happened to your car?"
"Eh... You should know the answer, right?"
It turns out that Trepie #12 had gone a little too far by destroying her car's engine before we kidnapped her. It has been months and she couldn't get it fixed.
"I'm too busy with work. I managed to take one day off to see a mechanic, but they gave me a five-figure estimate," she explains. "These bastards see a disabled woman as easy prey, you know."
Huh? Lucky her, no, lucky me, I'm a mechanic.
"I can fix it," I say.
"Do you know how to fix a car?" she rolls her eyes.
"I'm a SeeD, and my family owns the only gas station in Balamb. I've been fixing cars since I was eight."
"Do you know how to fix a Tempest?"
Classics.
"I'm specialized in Tempests. One of our instructors had one," I can't tell Instructor Aki how much I love him right now. "Although I'm surprised you choose that old model."
"It's my mom's."
"Oh... It's precious then."
"It is, to me." She smiles. "And you know mechanics don't go easy on billing an old car."
"You just haven't met the right one yet," I reply, and she chuckles.
Scores!
"Lucky me," she says, glancing at her watch. "It's 11 PM already. I'm done for today. But it's too late for fixing an old horse, I guess."
Think, Raddie, think.
"If your offer still stands, I propose we stay at your place and I'll take a look at your Mom's Tempest tomorrow morning."
Her eyes light up. "And I'll keep an eye on Pumpkin."
"Win-win!" I exclaim.
"Indeed," she nods.
"See? Not bad for a last-minute plan, yeah?" I scratch my head.
"Not bad at all," she smiles. "Thank you for keeping your promise."
We walk to the hospital parking lot together.
"I don't see your cane today," I ask.
"Don't worry, I'm still a disabled gal," she chuckles. "I just had a physical therapy session yesterday. It's like getting new legs for a short while, but then I need the cane more frequently until my next session next month."
"That sounds like magic! What prevents you from having it weekly?"
"Money," she smiles.
She may realize I'm slow to catch on. As far as I know, she gets a hefty paycheck as a Head of Oncology.
"Experts aren't cheap, and they have a long line of clients. I could afford more sessions, but I also want to give spots to people who need them more."
"I see."
She's not a total jerk.
"I'm a jerk," she blurts out.
"What?"
"You look confused, so I'll confirm one more time: I'm a jerk. It's not a controversial statement. That's how I am, and how most people see me."
"Please enlighten me," I scoff amusingly. "Most people would say, 'I'm not a jerk,' or 'I'm a nice guy.' But doesn't it usually mean the opposite?"
"True."
"But you say you're a jerk. What does that mean?" I ask.
"It means I'm perfectly honest with myself and comfortable with who I am," she explains. "After all, the labels people give you don't matter. It's the actions, the output of your existence on Earth. I like to think about it that way."
"That's an interesting take," I nod.
"What about you? The 'nice guy' who took advantage of my memory loss and flirted me into a dark alley for your perfect kidnap plan. How do you gauge your niceness honestly?"
"I would definitely leave out examples from my job," I say, trying to tiptoe around it. A nice guy and a mercenary don't exactly go along with each other.
"Sadly, you seem like a person who identifies yourself by your job."
She's not wrong, but I'm confused about what she's trying to get at as I sense disappointment from her tone.
"What does that mean?"
"Nothing," she shrugs. "Sorry if I've turned this walk into a therapy session…"
"Not at all," I say. "That's my rental car. Do you need help getting in? It's a bit high."
"No, I can do it on my own. Thank you."
I quickly put Pumpkin in the back seat and offer to take her heavy backpack while she climbs on the shotgun before securing Pumpkin's seatbelt again. He seems to be doing much better than he was just an hour ago.
"Luluna! Luluna!" he shouts.
"Yeah, we're staying at Dr. Yue's," I reply to calm him down despite not understanding a word. Literally. What does 'Luluna' mean?
"Huh?" Dr. Yue looks back from the shotgun seat.
"What's wrong?" I ask, worried she might change her mind about us staying at her place.
"He's not asking where we're going. He wants to face his head to the left."
"Really?"
I'm confused. She must be kidding—getting all of that from his 'Luluna' nonsense.
"Luluna!" Pumpkin continues, addressing Dr. Yue instead of his master.
"Yeah…" Dr. Yue nods at Pumpkin and then looks at me. "That way he can look at the stores on the right."
I frown and switch my gaze back and forth between Dr. Yue and Pumpkin, both fixated on me like I'm a slow student unable to understand a math problem.
"Alright…" I loosen the seatbelt for Pumpkin to switch sides, which he indeed happily follows. "Care to explain how you translate all of that from Quistis's kid's name?"
She shrugs. "Top secret…"
Angelo. Of course.
I sigh. "Please…"
"Yes, I won't tell anyone. I promise…" she laughs. "I've got to say, this is the best gift ever. Do you know how many tricky diagnosis cases I've solved thanks to it? I discovered it a week after the incident…"
Looking at her genuine smile when she talks about the new lives she has saved thanks to this newfound Dr. Dolittle ability, I'm certain she isn't the big jerk she thinks she is.