07

Something cold and damp was against my forehead, my fingers crawled up to feel what was. I pulled the cold cloth off my head while sitting up, my eyes glanced around my room till they landed on Laurie who was sleeping on my chair in the corner. Memories of last night’s events flooded my mind, I softly touched my lips remembering how good his lips felt against mine.

« You’re such a lightweight. » His voice appeared slightly annoyed.

Laurie’s eyes suddenly fluttered open staring at my lips, I couldn’t help to think he wanted to kiss them again.

« Sorry, I don’t know what happened. I normally can handle my liquor. » I told him.

This was awkward

My body was naked under the sheets and my hair was puffy, I held the sheets tighter around my body.

« No I’m the one that’s sorry, last night was unprofessional on both our parts. It can’t happen again. » He says.

I watched him carefully, there were sweat beads against his forehead, his breathing was uneven with his chest was heaving up and down, it was taking a lot for him to just breathe. Something wasn’t right, I could tell almost immediately by the way his chest moved and the lack of eye movement.

I stood up with the sheets still firmly wrapped around me, I set the back of my hand against the top of his forehead checking his temperature.

« How long have you been cold sweating for ? » I asked while lifting his chin so he could face me better.

« I don’t know. » He mumbled, his eyes started to shut as his body started to thrash around.

He was having a seizure, I grabbed him and gently lowered him on the floor. I sprinted over to my medical bag and fell to my knees in front of him injecting him with some medicine. His body stopped shaking, I was waiting for him to inhale some air.

He suddenly gulped a huge amount of air, my body relaxed once he started to breathe. I grabbed the back of his neck, lifting his head up from the ground.

Both our eyes met, mine were filled with relief while his were filled with fear.

« Have you been taking your medication ? » I asked, my voice came out soft and filled with worry.

He inhales deeply while wiping his forehead with the back of his hand before pushing me off, he roughly stood up almost losing his balance.

« Don’t look at me like that. » He states, angrily.

« Like how ? »

« Like how everyone else looks at me, with pity and sorrow. » He snaps, baring his teeth at me like a wild animal.

« I’m not some fragile piece of glass ! »

Frightened by his sudden outburst, I jumped back and on instinct covered my face with my hands. Memories of my grandpa coming home drunk to take out all his anger out on me flooded my mind, the room grew silent as my body trembles with fear.

My grandpa was a good man when he was sober but when he was intoxicated he became very abusive towards me, I reminded him of someone from the past that he never liked to mentioned.

« I’m just trying to help. » My voice came out shaky.

There was a silent pause between us, I didn’t even try lowering my hands I was too afraid.

« I don’t hit women, ever. » He touched both my hands to lower them down slowly, his eyes roamed my face for a couple seconds trying to read my thoughts.

« Of course, sorry. » I whispered, I fought hard with myself to put a smile on my lips acting like I was okay.

« Don’t apologize, Nimfa. » He says.

I listened carefully to the pattern of his breathing, it was calming to me. His hand remained on mine as his fingers softly rubbed circles across my wrist.

It was in my best interest to change the subject right now.

« You need to take the medication, it’ll slow the disease down. » I told him.

He glanced away before nodding, all my patients went through this. We like to call this stage the denial, this stage was the second hardest. There’s three stages, denial, depression, recovery or death. The hardest is depression, I’ve lost many of my patients to suicide.

« Be honest, Doctor, I’m I really worth saving ? » He asked, he sounded so serious.

Why would he ask such a question

« All hearts are savable even the darkest ones, the broken ones. » I whispered, my eyes softened while looking at him. « Everyone is worth saving, Laurie. »

He stared at me for the longest time taking in all my words, my legs crossed over each other. I meant ever word that came out of my mouth, I felt completely naked under his heavy eyes like there was no sheet covering my bare body.

There was a quick knock on my door before someone entered, I tucked a piece of my hair behind my ear while looking away. Reian walked inside with a briefcase laced through his hands, his eyes settled on us.

« Mr. Salazar is here to see you. » Reian tells him, Laurie grabs his suit off the chair before putting it back on. He hands off the briefcase casually to Laurie.

Laurie’s acting like he didn’t just suffer from a seizure a couple minutes ago, he glanced at me one last time as he tries to walk out the door.

« Don’t forget to take your medication. »

« Please. » I whispered.

Reian watched our small exchange, he looked even more shocked when Laurie nodded his head in agreement to my sentence. He exits the room leaving me alone with his best friend, Reian looked me up and down with curiosity.

He points his finger at me with a smile, my eyebrows scrunched up.

« He’s never acknowledge, or even given a girl a second of his time since the death of Mrs. Fraser. »