10 QnA together

On the highest floor of Lee Group building, a day had passed but not a single news came knocking at the chairman's office regarding Aubrey. The man who was standing by the glass window, looking down upon the entire city was quiet. His stern eyes were close to fire every bullet towards his team of bodyguards.

"A group of incompetent bastards.", he said while he lighted up a cigarette in his hand.

He was known to be a man full of deceit, taking down whoever dared to challenge Lee Group. He was notorious for being cruel towards his enemies. Many of his achievements were acknowledge to be the most crucial to bring the group into the highest level possible. Even the previous chairman was not up to be his par.

The man faced the huge mahogany desk that was personally designed for the chairman. A glass plate sat on it, with a title of chairman and his name engraved upon the layer: Adamson Lee. He thought back to the old memories from the past, where his belief was shredded upon a single betrayal..

•••

25 years ago..

Adamson was nine years old, he was thrilled to know that he was going to become an older brother soon. His parents always wanted to have more children. Him being the only grandson of the chairman and heir of Lee Group might put him under many stresses. So his parents wanted him to have another sibling to help him out in the future. Or that was what he originally thought..

Adamson was a bright kid, he used to sneak out from the mansion to play around and went back home when it was late at night. He often got scolded because of his behavior that didn't match other heirs his age. He liked adventures, travelling outside and creating his own piece of piano songs.

And what he disliked the most was sitting at the desk learning some advance mathematics and the company's current finance. He really was not the typical rich kid one would fine. He didn't like ordering people to do his bidding, he instead preferred to do everything on his own. Taking the pleasure of getting his own work done.

When he was at his bedroom, he was composing one of his latest piece. It was late at night. A maid came in, knocking the door.

"Come in.", he said, his eyes were still on the paper.

"Young master, I'm here to check on you.", the maid said, bowing slightly.

"Oh, it's time.", Adamson went to his locked drawer, pull out a key and opened it. He grabbed some medicine in the drawer.

The maid walked to his side without saying anything, she poured a glass of water and handed it to the boy. Adamson swallowed about five pills and he drank the water. He had been doing this routine for as long as he remembered.

His parents said that he was sick when he was born, so they made him take the medicine everyday. He didn't question them as they were his parents.

He didn't know that what he swallowed was not medicine.. and he came to know the bitter secret when he accidentally heard it by chance.

•••

Back to present.

"Um so.. let's introduce ourselves again okay? I want us to be friends. Is that alright with you?", Lucy pictured a light smile. She really wanted to know Aubrey better.

She didn't know why but something told her that she should be as close to him as ever. Not for the sake of curing him as her patient, but curing him as a person.

His arrival upon her lawn was something that could not be described. She knew that helping a stranger was not okay, but she couldn't help it.

'To begin with, I'm not that nice to help people out of nowhere.', she said to herself.

Lucy had no idea why she wanted to get along with him. And why she wanted to know more about him.

'Maybe he sparked some curiosity inside me..', she thought.

Having a man appeared at the back of your house, bleeding of some sort, having PTSD and was emotionally unstable really did spark some curiosity..

Lucy didn't want to further complicate her own thoughts, so she decided to just go along with the flow. Sooner or later, she would know the real Aubrey. After all, her main job now was to help him. She then appointed herself as his personal psychologist. It was a self-proclaimed one.

Lucy was sitting right in front of Aubrey, they were now downstairs, at the dining table. She had some papers in her hand. Ready to write down anything during their so-called consultation.

"Like I told you, you can call me Lucy okay? Feel free to ask me anything.", she started talking.

Aubrey looked like he was contemplating on something but he didn't dare to voice it out. Lucy found it weird.

"Hm.. Oh! I know! Why don't we do it like this.. we'll take turns to ask each other one question at a time. And if the other party don't want to answer or don't have the answer then we can change the question.", Lucy said, looking eager to ask him tons of questions.

He nodded.

"You start first.", she said.

Aubrey took a paper and a pen on the table, he wrote something down. He then turned the paper for her to see. His words surprised Lucy. She never thought she would receive the answer already. It was supposed to be her first question she wanted to ask.

(I don't talk due to certain reason from my past. I will be writing on paper if we are going to have a talk.)

"If it's not too much for you.. can you tell me the reason?", Lucy asked her first question, she sounded quite nervous. She wasn't the type to ambush her patient with direct question like this, but she couldn't find herself to be professional around him.

He wrote again.

(There's a trauma.)

'Of course there is..', Lucy smiled wryly. Not getting her first answer. Perhaps she was too blunt.

She had come to the possibility that Aubrey wasn't able to talk since the first time he introduced himself. But knowing that he didn't talk rather that couldn't talk was a big hint for another sign of mental instability.

Aubrey took his turn now.

(Are you really a doctor? Can I see your licence?)

Another blow to Lucy. She knew he was a guy with mental disorder, but could he actually be smart as well? He took things seriously and was able to judge his surrounding. His question was a good one for Lucy. He might not believe her the first time she said she was a doctor, but seeing her actually able to treat him might make him curious about her certificate.

'Gosh.. I should stop judging people.', Lucy repented in her mind.

"That's alright with me.", Lucy went to her study for a minute, and she passed the document to Aubrey. After waiting for a couple of minutes, he nodded. She took it as a sign for her to ask her second question.

"When I was treating you, I found nothing on you, like your ID.. I need to know whether I have saved a criminal or not. Can you please assure me that saving you is the right thing I have done?", Lucy said.

It was a tricky question. She basically asked him about what happened through his ride until he found his way here. Aubrey found the question disturbing, but he knew he needed to gain Lucy's trust if he wanted to stay here for a while.

He started writing something in response. After careful consideration, he turned the paper.

(I actually ran away from home. I am not a criminal. I was locked up.)

Lucy's eyes went big. Ran away from home? Locked up? Did that make any sense? He was not a child for goodness sake.

Lucy thought hard for a while. She knew she shouldn't easily be swayed by his answer. Judging by his behavior, he wasn't lying. That was why she proposed the idea of having a QnA session. Because she could tell when someone was lying. The advantage was on her.

Lucy then tried to piece things up together.

'Oh my...', she started to get anxious when she saw how important his point was. She proceeded to ask him question.

"Could it be that you were locked up since your childhood? When that traumatize experience happened?", her question threw Aubrey in complete surprise. He didn't know how to react to such inquiry. It was not supposed to be a question, it was the fact.

Lucy saw his reaction, which further indicated that she was right.

'I hit the bull's eye..', she said in her mind.

If she was in the hospital doing some official consultation with her patients, she would already be jumping in joy when she was able to guess the patient's problem.

But this time, she didn't feel anything. What came to her was worry. Now she knew why he had nightmare disorder.. he was forced to live in the past for as long as he remembered. He didn't get the chance to treat his own illness. Not when he was constantly locked up in the same environment everyday.

'But to be so agitated with the past.. he wasn't that weak.. unless..!', Lucy was about to ask him another question when she noticed how pale Aubrey had become. He arised from his seat suddenly and was trembling slightly, though he tried to hide it.

"Aubrey?! What's wrong?", Lucy went to him and tried to hold his hand when he slapped it away. He was showing a sign of widrawal. A common occurrence when a patient wasn't able to let out the truth to somebody else. He wanted it to be a secret. He wanted no one to ever know.