Ang mga text message sa phone (26)

Pagkaalis ng asawa ni Lucy, muli niyang niyaya ang naiwan niyang bisita na

umupo sa sofa.

Malamig na ang kapeng inihanda niya kanina kaya gumawa muna siya ulit ng

panibago para sakanilang dalawa.

Masayang nagpasalamat si Lucy at noong sandali ring 'yun, bigla itong

naglabas ng isang business card at ibinigay sakanya.

Kinuha niya ito gamit ang kanyang dalawang kamay. Nakakaintinddi siya ng

English kaya hindi siya nahirapan na basahin ang nakasulat sa card.

Lucy, 31 years old, Psychologist.

Tinago ni Qiao Anhao ang business card at nagsabi rin siya ng ilang bagay

tungkol sakanya. Pero hindi pa man din siya tapos magsalita, biglang ngumiti at

tumungo si Lucy, "Regarding your text messages, I know all about them."

"Nian told me." Nagaalangang pagpapatuloy ni Lucy. Desidido siyang sabihin

kay Qiao Anhao ang lahat pero bago siya magumpisa, humigop muna siya ng

kape. "As for the misunderstanding I created, I offer you my apologies.

However, rest assured, Nian only came to find me purely for business."

"Uh huh..." Alam niyang baka hindi siya maintindihan ni Qiao Anhao kung

magpapaligoy-ligoy siya kaya inisip niyang maigi kung paano niya

maipaparating dito ang punto niya sa pinaka simpleng paraan. "Simply put,

Nian is my patient."

Si Lucy ay isang psychologist at si Lu Jinnian ay isa lang sakanyang mga

pasyente kaya ibig sabihin, kunektado ito sa mental health ni Lu Jinnian...

Biglang nanigas ang buong katawan ni Qiao Anhao at hindi niya makumbinsi

ang sarili niya na tama ang mga naririnig niya.

Naiintindihan ni Lucy kung anong tumatakbo sa isip ni Qiao Anhao kaya ngumiti

lang siya at mahinahong nagpatuoy, "Actually, this is Nian's private matter, and

I promised to keep it a secret, but you have this saying in China, something like

'Whoever hung the bell…"

Hindi na alam ni Lucy ang kasunod kaya tinulungan siya ni Qiao Anhao na

mabuo ang gusto niyang sabihin. "Whoever hung the bell on the tiger's neck

must untie it?"

"Right!" Masayang tumungo si Lucy. "I believe, if you knew about it, then it

would definitely be helpful for Nian."

Sa pagkakataong ito, hindi na sumagot si Qiao Anhao at tumitig nalang siya kay

Lucy.

"I met Nian five months ago. At the time, my husband and I were driving home

when we found him. He drank a lot, so he wasn't very conscious at the time. He

and my husband had known each other for many years and were very good

friends, so we took him home with us.

"He wanted to leave when he sobered up, but my husband desperately tried to

persuade him to stay. Finally, he agreed.

"He's really handsome, and a gentleman. Though he doesn't speak much, but

my husband and I like him a lot. Our Nini also likes him too. Nini is our beautiful

Labrador retriever.

"A week later, I realized that something was off with him. That night, I went out

to a party. It was already three in the morning when I came home. The lights in

his room were lit and his door wasn't shut. I was curious, so I pushed it open to

find that he wasn't asleep and his room was filled with cigarette smoke.

"At the time, I just thought that he was really addicted to smoking, so I tried to

persuade him to quit, but he didn't care." Lucy shrugged her shoulders, then

looked a little helpless. "Though we lived together, we rarely interacted with

him. My husband told me that was just the way he was, so I didn't think much of

it.

"Until one day, I came home from work. Nini saw me, immediately jumped onto

me and grabbed my leg, dragging me to his bedroom while barking at the door.

Nini's personality is very docile. We rarely see her like this, so I realized that

something was wrong. I knocked on the door, but there was no reply. Nini then

started to scratch at the door, and that's when I realized that something wrong,

so I hurriedly went to find the keys, and when I opened the door..."

Biglang natigilan si Lucy sa pagkwekwento at habang nakatingin sa mga mata

ni Qiao Anhao, gumuhit siya ng linya sakanyang pulso bago nagpatuloy, "He

had committed suicide."