Chapter 17: Clinic Day
2019 Words
Lynn
At ten in the morning a cab dropped me at the Hunt memorial hospital. I saw Kai already waiting at the reception reading a newspaper in a figure four lock position probably fuming with rage I refused to let his guards fetch me. Wasn't he the one who said he likes my defiance? I was dressed in a black empire waist dress with a matching black sling bag and black doll shoes. He seemed to be happy to see me, frozen, just looking at me with a mixture of love and lust. Scratch that, admiration and lust.
"Sorry am late, I hate being late" I said and kissed his cheek.
"It's okay, haven't been here for long"
"There is nothing okay with being late, timeliness is next to Godliness being late means you don't care!"
He just looked at me and grinned with satisfaction, got on his feet and adjusted his coat. I noticed his tie and collar were looking out of order.
"Use a mirror next time, will you?" I said adjusting his tie and collar, "Perfect, ready for that checkup?"
"You have no idea how much this means to me"
"Hey, relax, I haven't done anything yet. Can't take credit for what I haven't delivered"
"Okay, let's go then" he showed the way.
We walked through the natural-lit white as snow tiled hallway filled with doctors in white dust coats and blue scrubs, patients in their white and blue spots robes being pushed around on wheelchairs. The smell of medicine was evident in the air. After taking a quick left we stopped in front of a brown wooden door, with a black and gold plate at the lintel. It read "Dr. Mason, MBchb, MMed, PhD psychiatry". He knocked once and he was answered by a soft “come in" voice.
"Mr. Watson" the secretary said leaving her seat.
"Good morning, is the doctor in?"
"He is expecting you sir" She said shaking his arm gently and quite long, I felt a tinge of jealousy.
We went ahead to the doctor's office. A slightly bigger square room with a mahogany desk in the middle, a shelf of massive books and a chart of the human skeletal system and of course two client seats. Seated in the chair was a man with a shiny egg-shaped bald head with some grey hair around his ears. He had a pair of circular, heavy framed glasses hanging loosely on his nose bridge.
"Welcome in sir" he said also leaving his seat.
"Thank you doctor, am a bit late"
"Things don't go as planned, and you must be his cure" he said stretching his hand to shake mine coyly.
"That's what he says am here to see how and why I can help" I said flashing a quick smile at a comfortable Kai.
When I sat down he held my hand and I felt that jolt of electricity hit my body bringing a tingly feeling. I didn't even get his open remarks.
"Kai here has a problem with his circadian rhythm"
"English please doctor" argued Kai.
"Sleep-wake cycle except that he seems to not get any sleep at all. He told me however, you guys linked up and he fell asleep for the first time in a long time"
"In fact I sneaked out of his bed and he didn't even realize" I lightened up the mood a little, we all laughed off the tension in the room.
"He has been my patient for a couple of weeks and am telling you his case is nothing we've seen before. His past doctors have tried everything, CBT-I..."
"What's that?" I asked genuinely.
"Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia" Kai said confidently, and it got me looking at him wearing surprise like make up on my face, "When you're too sick for too long you become a doctor somehow"
The doctor chuckled and cracked a sad smile. He fidgeted on his seat and cleared his dry as a nun’s nasty throat.
"They have tried relaxation, sleep masks and even a white noise machine that cancels any disruptive sounds but none has worked. If indeed you can be the reason he sleeps then it's worth a try"
"Is it scientifically possible?"
"Yeah, let's get to the lab and run a few tests" He said sliding out of his C-suite chair.
The medical laboratory had a patient’s bed in the middle surrounded by a number of bleeping electronic devices and a huge screen with multiple colored pie charts and bar graphs. There were a couple of specialists in there. Dr. Mason led me to a waiting area, raised and separated from the lab with a sheet of glass, from which I could see everything going on down there. Kai went to a secret changing room and emerged in robes, lay on the bed and they connected a number of tiny wires on his chest feet and head, then they injected him with something.
The bleeping things took a rhythm and the pie charts and bar graphs on that huge screen changed, Dr. Mason explained a few things, step by step breaking down the rocket science into something a model like I could understand. He then made a comparison of the results with those they had done before we met and there was a slight discrepancy that even I with no medical background could understand.
"This is incredible, I think with Kai's permission we can start research in this field of science" Mason said as we waited for Kai to dress up.
"Not now doctor, he is hurting maybe some other time in future" I said brushing past him to meet Kai and I just hugged him, he looked and acted like he wasn't expecting that, "Am sorry I didn't believe you the first time"
Finally he hugged me back encircling his arms around my back, stroking it gently.
"Am just glad you came with me" he said.
"You hungry?"
"Super"
"You know a joint we can grab something to eat, my treat"
Kai
She was just different no pretending, down to earth. Her independence, defiance and how she stuck to her annoying but reasonable principles was something rare, I had not seen in quiet a long time. Honestly, never seen in my lifetime.
"Yeah, somewhere I used to go, nothing high end. They have the best burgers"
"After you" She said tagging my hand, and we walked together holding hands to the car.
From the hospital to the CBD was a roughly five minutes’ drive. Four of which she spend on call, talking happily to a female colleague with her right hand tickling me, playful like a child beautiful like an angel. I was starting to like her personality and it got me eager to know her. How comes she had no one in her life? Models can't escape men's radar for that long, unless they don't want to be found. But she seemed like a guy who’d have made it easy for a random passing dude to hit on her.
"That was my short term assistant Mona, she missed me"
"Lucky you, no one misses me" I said sadly.
She chortled looking at me. Perhaps hoping I was going to brush it off as a mere joke.
"You're serious, no one misses you?"
"Nope, not even my dad. We kind of fight all the time"
"That's why, you don't give people a reason to miss you"
"But it doesn't add any value doesn't it?"
"You need to feel some genuine company, trust me, it hits different than forced paid company"
Arthur parked by the roadside. The small joint had no parking and I chose it because I was slowly adapting to her needs and preferences. She wouldn't have wanted a classy restaurant, just a simple place she could feel comfortable.
"Arthur, grab something to eat" she said rummaging through her purse, he wanted to say no but I winked at him, "Don't stay hungry out here" she fished out a hundred dollar bill and gave it to him before dragging me inside.
The moment we walked in all eyes were on us. Others stole a glance and looked a way as we walked across the room to an empty table for two. There were around six lovely square white plastic dining tables surrounded by painted black metallic chairs, the open kitchen was at the entrance on our left.
"Guys please, nothing special just Kai and I trying to grab something to eat! She said to the perplexed crowd squeezing my hand, I just waved and cracked a smile. Impressing those lowlifes who spoke ill of me every moment they got. Didn’t like it, but what option did I have?
We took a table by the window. From there we could see the road, cars and people moving in different directions. A waitress in a white top and red skirt came to pick our orders. Her hair was in brown and black curls and she had that customer care smile, genuine I could tell.
"Hi, get me a burger, French fries and mango juice" She said happily.
"And you sir?"
"The same" I mumbled.
"Coming right up sir" she said and bowed her head a little before she left.
Lynn went back to scrolling on her phone and I used that time to check her out secretly inhaling her scent that was sending my wolf nuts. Thank God I could control him with a little help of a dose of wolf's bane in my system that separated the two of us for some time. She raised her gaze and our eyes met, too late to turn back I maintained my gaze until she shied away.
"Will you say something? Let me guess" she kept her phone away and leaned closer her eyes roving across the entire joint, "This place is too small for you huh?" She whispered.
"No" I whispered back and she burst into a restrained laughter.
"You suck at whispering, seriously, why are you looking at me like that?"
"It's romantic I guess"
"No it's an offensive stare, glare actually" the waitress brought our orders and left, "makes you look like a serial killer"
"Well at least you know am not...so sweet" I said burying my teeth through the patty.
"Sweeter than s*x" she whispered.
"Not with you"
"i***t" she said looking all prudish, hit me lightly on the shoulder and flinched painfully looking at the point of impact. I had to laugh at that look on her face.
"Am sorry, I shouldn't have laughed" I said holding her hand, she froze and looked at me as I raised her arm and planted a light kiss on the back of her hand, "how does it feel?"
"Better" she smiled beautifully and I realized she had coerced me into doing that.
"Next time am not falling for that" I said and went back to eating, the meal was actually delicious, it was my first time eating in that small eatery and I had no idea their meals were that great.
After lunch she cleared the bill and suggested a stroll around the block. Arthur was driving slowly behind us. That was the most exposure and interaction with the public I had ever gotten. The people couldn't just stop looking at me, some were bold enough to take photos. We stopped at a street performer playing his guitar and singing with a group of people surrounding him. Lynn was hugging my arm tightly. And it was fun, it was fun getting out of my own head and actually living on God's green earth. After his performance we joined the dozens of people in filling his basket with dollar bills.
"You've made me feel like a stranger in my own city"
"We still have a lot to explore"
"Does that mean..."
"I'll stay, but on a few conditions" She said walking in an ice cream shop.
What conditions? You guys have a wind of it?
#Authors note
Which conditions do you think Lynn is going to give Kai? And do you think Lynn staying is a good idea?
- Writer
