Fever (2)

"Clara?"

Raka was surprised to see Clara sleeping and sat beside him holding his hand when he just woke up, exactly at 3.02 pm.

"Don't you wake she!"

A woman suddenly appeared from behind the curtain. It was the nurse that Raka met to ask for Paracetamol.

"She was just sleeping," She continued. "She has been worried about your condition ever since and has not thought about her condition. I am confused about what to do and how to respond. She was so worried about your condition that she even forgot to go to her class. I've reported this to your tutors, so they know you're here. Take it easy, you're not skipping."

"T-Thank you," Raka responded and nodded.

"Let me check." She walked, approached Raka. Then, she checked Raka's body temperature. "It was still hot. Your body temperature is currently down, 38 degrees, but you still need to rest. You still have a fever."

"OK. Oh right, may I ask you something?"

"Then, if you want to ask something, I am at my table. I'll excuse myself first."

She decides to leave, not to disturb Clara and Raka. After that, Raka's eyes fell on Clara who was sleeping nearby.

"You'll catch a cold too if you get close to me, Clara."

After stroking Clara's hair, and after successfully releasing his hand from Clara's grip, Raka got up from the bed and carried Clara, and put Clara on the bed.

"Thank you for being with me."

Raka once again stroked Clara's hair. After that, he went to see the nurse, to ask a question.

"Sit down! I know you must be confused about what's going on at this school. You must want to ask about your girl too, right?"

"How did you know?"

"It shows on your face."

"My face?"

Raka quickly checked his face. He looked at his face in the mirror and found nothing out of the ordinary.

"Nothing in sight."

"What I mean, from your face that looks so curious about this and that. If you look in the mirror, you won't find anything. You'll realize that when you think about it. And, only other people can see that."

"Umm… I don't get it, but alright."

"Sit here!" She put a chair made of wood in front of him, for Raka to sit.

After Raka sat down, he observed the nurse for a moment, then turned to a photo showing several people in white uniforms.

"Um..."

"My name is Cindy. You can call me Miss Cindy."

"Oh. My name is Raka—Raka Pradana. You can also call me Mr. Raka."

"Are you kidding me?"

"No, I'm serious."

Raka was like that because he saw Cindy who looked so young. He estimated that Cindy did not deserve to be called Miss. He was sure that Cindy was the same age as him. Therefore, to be the same, he ordered Cindy to call him Mr. Raka.

"I'm twenty-five years old."

Those words took Raka by surprise. He did not expect that Cindy was 25 years old, much older than him.

"What? Are you kidding me?"

"No, I am serious."

Cindy attacks Raka back. Because of that, Raka felt a little embarrassed by what he had done earlier.

"All right, Miss Cindy, you can just call me Raka."

"Well, that's good, you seem so polite to people older than you."

"I understand."

"So, what do you want to know? About your girlfriend? Or, about something you're curious about?"

"Both—I want to ask both of them. Well, that's if you know."

"Are you underestimating me? I am a doctor, you must not underestimate the ability of doctors."

"You're a doctor? I thought you were the only nurse here."

"It is evident that you are underestimating me."

Once again, Raka was surprised to learn about Cindy. He was surprised a second time. First, when he found out that Cindy was twenty-five years old. Second, knowing that Cindy is a doctor.

"Sorry. I didn't mean it like that."

"Does not matter. Many people also underestimated me to become a doctor. However, in the end, I managed to prove that I could do that. I am currently here because of an assignment given by my superior, who is part of the government. I work here on behalf of the government. In other words, I work for the government. It was something extraordinary in my life. I managed to show that I can."

"Wow, cool. You're cool, Cindy—Miss Cindy."

"Thank You."

May I clap for her now?

It was an achievement that Cindy was proud of. Raka appreciated it even though he had thought of a joke in his mind.

"So?" Cindy asked again about the question that Raka wanted to ask.

"Oh, right. First, I want to say that I found a pill."

"Pill? Is it possible..."

"You know that?"

"Yeah, I know that very well. It was an ecstasy pill called Apajuloy. The Apajuloy Pill includes narcotics that are currently consumed by adults and teenagers. It is made up of 0,2 grams of Cocaine, 0,3 grams of Heroin, and 0,5 grams of mixed chemicals that can make people happy."

"Then it's a dangerous drug? You know, it's mixed with Cocaine and Heroin. So, it must be very dangerous."

"Yeah, it's very dangerous. Therefore, the police are currently investigating who is behind the manufacture of the pills. The effects of taking the Apajuloy Pill are, you will laugh, be happy, like you are dreaming, have a high appetite, increase adrenaline, can't feel pain, fly... and have high hallucinations. If you are addicted to the pill, you will want to continue taking it. It's like you're craving meth all the time. Although this effect is similar to smoking marijuana, the Apajuloy Pill is much stronger and lasts longer. Plus, every 1 gram of Apajuloy Pills contains chemicals that are harmful to the brain. For that reason, the Apajuloy Pill is forbidden for anyone to consume."

"If it's forbidden, then why did I find it here?"

"How did you find that?"

"Ah. I saw someone put the pills in a locker. When he left, I checked the locker and found a pill in the locker's owner's shoe."

Raka tried not to tell that what he saw was Danny. He didn't want to reveal it to Cindy.

"It's likely a courier."

"Courier? You mean the courier in charge of delivering that, right?"

"Yes. In this school, there is one person who is the dealer of the pill. The man ordered his juniors to be couriers, delivering the pills to his clients. That's why you can see someone putting the drug in one locker or another. It was the courier that person ordered."

"If you know that, why haven't the police arrested him until now? He's a dealer, but why didn't you tell the police?"

"I can not." Cindy's face suddenly became sluggish, looking down with her fingers.

"Why?"

"That person…he is a murderer. If you reveal his identity, he will kill you. Couriers who know his identity, most of them end in death. You know the news about Tommy, a student from Class 2-D, right? He died being a courier from that person."

"…Really?"

"Therefore, no one from the school dared to harass him. And until now, none of us have managed to find out his identity. The school and I only know that there is a student who is the dealer of the pill."

"Then, what about the arrival of that policeman, who arrested a student? Is that student the suspect?"

"Probably not. A few days ago, that person with a gang of other drug dealers was in a fight. Because there might have been a complicated matter, that person killed the gang leader. And to make matters worse, that person is playing with the police by blaming a student who has nothing to do with it. He's like a criminal who can manage at will."

"...Oh, I see. That's awful. Does the government know?"

"Yeah, they know. However, none of them are willing to deal with this."

"Why?"

"I do not know. It looked like they didn't care about what was going on at this school. They seem to be controlled by someone forcing them not to get involved in this case, just leave it all up to the police."

Raka was silent for a few moments.

When he wanted to ask, suddenly the door not far from him shifted.

"Excuse me, Miss Cindy."

A student came in with bloodshot eyes.

"Oh, it's you, Gibran. What is it?" Cindy asked and approached the student.

"I seem to have caught a fever from yesterday's rain, so may I rest here before the clock rings?"

Cindy made sure what he said was true. She examined Gibran's body and found that his body temperature was 38.7 degrees.

"You seem to have a fever. You just lay there!"

"Yeah, thank you, Miss Cindy."

As Gibran passes by Raka, Raka realizes something about Gibran. He realized that Gibran was that student, who teased him from the 3rd floor a few days ago.

"Excuse me..." Gibran opened the curtains, which turned out to be Clara lying there. "Oh, there's someone here. Wow, that turned out to be Clara."

Sensing that Gibran was approaching Clara, Raka reflexively got up from his chair and approached Gibran. Then, he patted Gibran's shoulder.

"She is my girlfriend. You shouldn't look like that!"

Raka managed to stop Gibran, who wanted to lie there too with Clara. Even so, Gibran responded and turned to Raka slowly.

"Your girlfriend? I just found out. I think she is Kevin's girlfriend. Did you snatch it from Kevin? You're so brave, man."

"I didn't snatch anything."

"Seriously?"

They looked at each other, seeming to hate each other. And what's worse, their body temperatures are both heating—Raka because of a fever, while Gibran's because… not a fever, but something else.

Cindy, who saw them staring at each other, immediately stopped them.

"You two! What are you guys doing, huh!? Gibran, you find another room. You know, Clara was sleeping. So you can't be there."

"Alright, alright, I get it," Gibran responded lazily. Then, he left in front of Raka.

After Gibran entered the room which was closed with curtains, Cindy told Raka to return to his chair.

"What else do you want to ask?"

However, Raka even refused it.

"No, I don't want to ask any more questions. I'll be here to look after Clara."

"Um, alright. You seem to care about her. You guys care for each other, it's just amazing."

"Thank you for the compliment, Miss Cindy. But, I'm doing this for her good. Well, it can be said that I care about her."

"That's good. When you have time later, come to me to ask again."

"Yes. Thank you very much."

After agreeing to that, Raka closed the curtains and sat beside Clara who was fast asleep.

"That person… he was drunk, not because he had a fever."