6 First meeting
Lucy went to the living room, dropping her Hermes handbag without a care on the soft bouncy sofa. She yawned yet again. Fatigue took over her when she went to the kitchen to grab some potato chips and sat down on the couch.
She had planned to play her games until she drop dead upon arriving home. And so she opened the 98 inches television, set up the console and turned on the PS4 device. She went online right after, playing Destiny 2 without even taking a bath or changing her clothes.
•••
Aubrey was at the west side of the hospital now. He ran without knowing a single way to go. And he didn't even have any money. He was penny-less. His personal property was seized by that man.
He only knew the credit card number and the password if he ever wanted to purchase things online. Now, he didn't want to use anything that man ever gave him. That man didn't give Aubrey things, he took it away from him. He took many things from Aubrey. Physically and mentally.
Aubrey ran and ran through the road. He didn't want to get any unwanted attention, so he went to take a long route to the nearby forest. Walking slowly in hope he would find some neighborhood across the small forest to get a rest for a while.
He walked without navigation, for an hour and a half. He didn't know where he should go. And then, he stumbled upon a house. Slightly dim from the inside but had the flashes of television. Indicating that somebody must be at home.
Aubrey felt like his head was going to break open if he took another step forward. His headache took over him. And what he didn't realize was he actually hurt himself when he tried to snap the choker earlier.
He felt hot suddenly around his neck. Then he touched the hotness, he felt some thick liquid on his hand before falling to the ground.
Thud- a sound of something falling made Lucy jump in surprise. She cursed. She knew that the area around her house was consisted of bushes since it was by far the most secluded property she had chosen. Looking at the clock on the wall, she played for almost two hours.
'Hm.. I'm not done playing yet..', she sighed softly. But she shut the console anyway. Getting ready to sleep.
'I'll play again tomorrow.', she thought while she went upstairs. Not minding the thud sound behind her house at all.
Lucy slept for four hours and she got back up. Feeling anxious all of a sudden. She didn't know what exactly happened with herself now that she was awake. She was supposed to sleep until afternoon. Why was she awake so early in the morning?
Lucy went downstairs in a hurry and she grabbed a drink to clear her mind. She went to the sink, brushed her teeth and wash her face. It was still dark outside. Only the color of dark blue could be seen across the sky. The sun was yet to show itself.
Lucy walked to the large windowpane at the side of her house. If she recalled back, this was where she heard that sound before going to sleep. But seeing that there were no trespassers in her house, she knew that the sound was nothing to be taken seriously for.
That was what she thought before she opened the large curtain. The dark surrounding made it hard for her to focus on what she was currently seeing. A minute passed by, she gasped when she saw a man, lying on the ground near her house!
Lucy was shocked to see the helpless man. Before she could gather her thoughts, she ran straight outside where the temperature was chilling her entire bone to the very stem. Approaching the man, Lucy bended down and as her per instinct as a doctor, she pressed her fingers towards the man's neck, to look for sign whether he was still alive.
She was shocked speechless yet again when she saw blood on her fingers, the blood was cold. And she too, began to feel her warmth dissipating from her body. Lucy grabbed the man's head and she carefully, slowly flipped him over for a better look.
'What is this?', her eyes went wide when she saw a black device circling around his neck, like a collar.
Looking closely, she knew that the choker was disfunction by the few cracks made. Lucy didn't know what to do. She was a psychologist, not a general doctor.
But her knowledge about medicine was far above other normal doctors. She knew that, so she forced herself to be optimistic and she carried the man inside her house for further medical procedure.
The man was now on her bed, unconscious. His pulse was gradually getting faint. He was in danger. Lucy proceeded with some basic medical treatments by attending to his wounds, checking his heartbeat using a stethoscope.
She found that there was something wrong with him when she heard his heartbeat. Lucy decided that it was best to get him to the hospital. He should get checked fully there, without missing any complications.
But then, she saw him mumbled something in his sleep. She went closer to see whether he was awake or not. Much to her surprise, Lucy saw him in his REM stages, and his muscle movements that were not normal for people with good mental health. He mumbled something in his sleep incoherently. Seeming so agitated by something.
"No... please.. don't do it.. Nooooo!!", he screamed. Startling Lucy in her chest.
'He has nightmare disorder!', Lucy went straight to sit on the bed, closing the distance instantly. She grabbed his hand tightly in order to soothe him back to calm down.
Her other hand went to his forehead, which seemed to have a stain of sweat. But to her surprise, her actions sparked another agressive behavior from the man.
"Get away from me!! Let me out!! Release me!!!", he shouted again. His voice sounded hoarse. Like he had never speak in a long time.
Lucy felt her heart broke when she heard the sound of him screaming for help. What had happened to him that it broke him to this point?
'PTSD...', she said to herself. Inching closer to the man, she hugged him tightly. The man still had the strength to get more aggressive.
"No.. don't do this!! Please!!", and he woke up. His face paled. Sweat ran through his head and also his body. He felt pain all over his body. His chest heaved up and down in an abnormal rate. He forgot how to breath.
"Calm down! I'm here! Breath properly.. everything will be alright.", she said. As a psychologist, she was worried, this man in front of her was a mentally ill patient. He needed help. Her help.
Lucy saw his feature awake for the first time. Although she was distracted by her worries, she still had a glimpse of his face.
Damnation.. he was hot. His jet black hair ran down steadily and was silky. He looked like a rich guy, seeing how fine his bangs were trimmed and his hair was styled. The most captivating was his eyes... violet in color. Deep purple did sound sexy for a guy like him.
Lucy was forced to be awaken to reality when she saw how wary he was towards her. He didn't speak a word. He further distanced himself from her. Now he was at the corner of the bed.
What was going on? Lucy was perplexed when she realized yet another sign of disorder.
'Avoidant Personality Disorder?', she thought to herself.
It was weird. If that was the case, this man would self-isolate himself from the world. But here it seemed that he ran away from somewhere.
What actually happened to this man? Realizing that her approach was hasty, Lucy coughed before strengthening her back. She wore a perfect- medical practitioner smile.
"Nice to meet you, my name is Lucy Kim. Just call me Lucy alright? I found you near my house, unconscious. So I got you inside and treated your injuries. Don't worry, I'm actually a doctor.", she explained herself slowly. Not wanting to create a misunderstanding.
Lucy kept on smiling softly in order to get him to trust her a little bit. She knew that people like him had a hard time trusting people. Many of her patients felt the same too. But it wouldn't actually work for just anyone. Every person was different. So each of her attempt to cure her patients vary.
Not getting any response from the man, Lucy got up from the bed slowly, and went to him by the other side. He flinched when he saw her getting closer. His mind was a muddle of mess. He could not think straight.
His head was still hurting. He thought he was over it already. Did he still hold on to the sadness and sorrow? And that was why he still had that nightmare when he was sleeping?
