Chapter 12

My ears rang when I woke. The clinic had this funny hospital smell about it which filled my nose and flooded my senses. My whole body was revolting. Memories before I passed-out slowly assembled in my head bit by bit like a jigsaw puzzle until one single image appeared as bright as daylight. Larry.

He wore a white lab coat talking to the school nurse in the far corner of the room. The nurse gestured with her hands as if she was giving some sort of instructions. She pulled out something from the cupboard and handed it over to him. He ran his hands through his hair and fixed it into a man bun. Everything was clear to me now; Larry was in a platonic relationship with his hair.

"Hey. How are you?" He asked, feeling my forehead with his knuckles.

"I'm good. Look, I gotta go. I still have an exam at 1:00 pm today." I said, avoiding eye contact.

"You're not going anywhere. Ms. Reyes already phoned your teachers." He asserted. What a tyrant!

"And...?"

"They've agreed to set you a separate schedule for special exams until you're fully recovered." He grabbed my hand and examined the IV dextrose. Patches of blood climbed up on its translucent tube. Warm touch. Electrocution. Burnt skin. Larry would be the end of me.

"You moved a lot, I need to redo it. There's a lot of blood mixing with the fluid." He explained with an air of confidence and expertise like he had been dealing with the goddamn thing all his life.

"Can Ms. Reyes, do it?"

"She's needed somewhere. I'm in-charge now." He sounded like he had no time to waste for my bullshit. I watched his hands intently as he traced my right arm like a map.

"Don't worry, I've done these many times. My dad is a volunteer doctor in remote villages. He is often short-handed with staff, so he'd taught me the basics," he assured.

"You're not plotting to kill me aren't you?" I joked.

"Not funny." He scowled.

He grabbed my wrist where the IV dextrose was mounted and carefully removed the needle. He replaced it with an alcohol-dabbed cotton ball. The needle-punctured skin felt itchy for a moment.

"Ball your hand into a fist. I need to find a good spot." He commanded.

"This is illegal!" I protested but whatever I said fell into deaf ears. I did as he told and felt the dry scabs on my knuckles broke.

"What happened here?" he sighed. With one swift move, he expertly injected the needle into one of the visible veins on my wrist. It was flawlessly executed. I did not even feel anything after he was done. He examined the IV fluid and snapped his finger twice in one swift motion on the translucent tube. "Good as new." He muttered. He then grabbed the IV stand closer. It made a screeching sound on the floor. We remained silent after that. I did not like this silence. Neither did my stomach. It meowed first. And then barked. And then growled. He looked at me and smiled. I smiled back bashfully feeling my ears burned. Then he laughed. And so, I laughed. And then we were laughing so hard until my lungs hurt because I was coughing and laughing at the same time.

"Let me go grab a bite. Don't go anywhere," he said.

"I'm not going anywhere," I said.

Larry was back as if he never left. He was holding a smoking bowl of Congee. Soon the smell of ginger, rice, and chicken covered the room. He closed the curtains which separated us from the clinic lobby and from rest of the world.

"It's raining cats and dogs outside." He said while he fixed his bun and wiped his arms with a white towel he got from the cabinet. His hair was slightly wet. He undid the top knot and combed his hair with his hands. He could easily book a deal with a shampoo commercial. He undressed his shirt and changed to a new one. His ivory skin complexion was perfectly illuminated by the white fluorescent lamp. Not a single baby hair on sight. Larry looked like an elf from the Lord of The Rings named Legolas.

"You need to sit on the bed so I can feed you." He commanded.

"What options do I have?" I asked.

"None."

"This is tyranny." I complained.

He climbed on the bed and sat cross-legged in front of me. I leaned my back against the wall. He was mixing the bowl of Congee using a wooden spoon and scooped a spoonful of the porridge, which he cooled down by blowing on it softly with his mouth.

Scoop. Chump. Chump. Chump. Scoop. Chump. Chump. Chump. He studied my face like a specimen on a Petri dish. I looked at his hand anticipating the next spoonful.

"You're not so hungry, aren't you? Ha-ha. When you feel better, I'm gonna take you to my favorite restaurant downtown."

Scoop. Chump. Chump. Chump. Scoop. Chump. Chump. Chump.

"They serve Congee?" I asked.

"They serve French cuisine, but Congee is not off the menu. Is it really that good?" He asked perplexed at how I looked so enticed by such a simple dish.

"Go ahead, try it and see for yourself." I urged.

"Taste plain to me though, and a bit gingery." He commented.

"You're supposed to eat it with bits of chicken and a sprinkle of fried garlic." I suggested.

He tried it once more with bits of chicken and fried garlic this time.

"Damn, that made a huge difference to the taste." He exclaimed.

"Told you. Mom used to make this porridge during rainy days. Or when I'm sick. It keeps the stomach warm." I retorted.

"Your mom sounds like a wonderful woman."

"She sure is." I scoffed.

He stole one spoonful of the porridge from me right when I was about to have my fill on it. I narrowed my eyes at him. He trolled me again with the next one.

"You're stealing from your patient's plate. You won't make a good doctor!" I complained.

"And you won't make a good friend!" He replied. Shots fired. Could not dodge that.

"Hey, I was just kidding." He lifted my chin and wiped the Congee smudge with his thumb. My heart raced at an abnormal pace pumping blood on my cheeks.

He took another run for the thermometer after I ate.

"How bad is it?" I asked, still lying on the bed, feeling my eyes burned.

"Not good." He held the thermometer above his head for a clearer view.

"Take your shirt off," said he, eyes still fixed on the device.

"Take my wuutt now???"

"Your shirt, take it off." He repeated.

"This is unethical." I objected.

"What are you talking about? I'm not trying to feel you up or somethin' I'm not a perv! We need to find a way to stabilize your body temperature. Aspirin's barely helping." Funny how Larry's emotions were registered on his face like receipts.

"I'll get some ice." My eyes trailed on him while he ransacked the fridge.

"Why aren't you taking your shirt off yet?" He looked confused.

I pointed my lips towards the IV stand.

"Oh, sorry I forgot." He scratched his head.

"I could use some help." I suggested.

Reluctance peeked from his eyes for a moment. Too soft.

"I really don't mind if you do it." I urged him.

He stood in front of me and arched his back to unbutton my polo shirt. We were so close that I could hear his rhythmic breathing. Sweats from his temple dropped down on his cheeks. He was a mess. A beautiful, charming heck of a mess.

I could feel a chill in my spine as Larry ran the ice-soaked towel carefully from my neck, then to my chest, and down to my tummy.

"So you wanna be a doctor like your dad one day?"

"That's still a long shot in the future but yes."

"Why though?"

"What do you mean why?"

"Don't you wanna be somebody else other than following your dad's footsteps?"

"Dad never forced it on me and like I said it's still in a distant future. Might change my mind. How about you Florante? What do you wanna be?"

"I dunno. Can't figure it out just yet. Is it bad?"

"We're young. That's pretty natural."

"You seemed to have figured it out though."

"Things change as we grow that's how the world works. Nothing is set on stone." He explained as he raised the pit of my arm where the IV dextrose was mounted and gently pat the towel on its crevice. I shivered. With his fingertips, he removed tiny bits of hair from my armpit which stuck on the fabric of the towel. I've never been so embarrassed.

I called Nana and told her I was okay. I expected a lot of convincing to do but she told me the school nurse already phoned her. She's still a bit worried but Ms. Reyes did a good job reassuring her.

"I'll fetch you later," said nana.

"I'm fine. I'll be home before 6:00 pm, I swear." I told her.

"Alright. I'll see you then." She said reluctantly as she put the phone down.

The ice did help. I was feeling lightheaded and refreshed. Larry was right. He's always right.

"Are your parents gonna pick you up?" He asked.

"They're dead." The bluntness of how I said it shocked him.

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"It's okay."

Silence…

"Do you wanna tell me more about it?" He inquired.

The rain was falling hard against the roof and the water from the gutter flowed spontaneously through the glass windows making hazy of the view outside. A thunder rolled faintly from a distance. I took a deep breath like I was about to lift a huge-ass weight from my chest.

"Dad died when I was six. My mom left us for another family a year before that. She never looked back since then. She's good as dead to me now." I flat out told him my wonderful life story.

If Larry was a normal person, he would've said cliche phrases like, I'm sorry for your loss, or I'm sorry to hear about that, yada...yada...but Larry was anything but normal so he did what he did best which was to paint the world with the colors of his emotions.

"Are you crying?"

"No." his voice cracked.

"You're crying."

"Can't help it," sniff. Sniff. I know, Larry. I know. Strands of his blonde wavy noodle-hair fell on his forehead. I fought the urge to comb it with my fingers.

"It's fine really. Death comes to all of us. It's the only thing that is definite in this world. One day we'll all die and the world goes on as if nothing happened. We will turn to dust, and nobody will remember what kind of life we lived, the things we did and still the world carries on as if nothing happened." I murmured.

"I dunno much about the world. What I know is you're important to me and I care about you. Always remember that," he said.

I stared at the misty world outside. The world sung a lonely song and we both listened. We listened and listened and listened until we fell asleep.