Metamorphosis

The first examination should have been nerve-wracking but after having put so much effort into staying afloat, Azil's brain finally shut down and he wrote down answers on auto-pilot. Most of it was route memorization so he didn't feel any sense of achievement but it did feel better than staring at a blank sheet. When he finally handed the paper in at the end, Professor Lyne locked eyes with him as if asking how he did to which he smiled slightly. It was the best he could do.

"Hey, how'd the exam go?" One of his classmates was talking to the person seated a row behind him. The two of them talked lightly about the exam and other things like that. At times, Azil felt the impulse to turn around and join in the conversation. He assumed it was because Rahey used to be like that in the past. 

"Hey!" Violetta ran up to him suddenly, her face brimming with energy, "So how did you do?" Compared to the first time they met, she seemed more enthusiastic and much happier too. 

"I did fine." Azil managed a second smile. "It was better than I thought it would be."

Violetta nodded, a hint of pride in her expression. "Uh..." She paused, hesitating before continuing her sentence, "If you have time then would you like to hang out after class? To celebrate our efforts?"

Azil's eyes widened. He had lived in the modern world for quite some time and yet, there was a lot that was unfamiliar to him. In his obsession with fulfilling his duties, he had ignored the many strange things around him. 

"Yeah, that sounds fun." He couldn't help but feel a surge in his heart. The thrill of discovering something new was something he could never pass up. 

"Great!" Her face was flushed when she responded and it occurred to him for the first time that the two of them were pretty similar. Both of them were filled with the awkwardness and anticipation of something resembling a first meeting. 

From the corner of his eye, he could see the uncertain looks his classmates still gave him. He decided he should eventually learn their names but he had a hard time reaching out to people and a harder time becoming close to them.

Well there was plenty of time for that later. Azil had something more important that he promised himself he'd do. 

***

"Doctor Neo!"

Emmy sighed as the new nurse suddenly ran up to Neo who was staring soullessly at the water filter. 

"That kid is back again!"

The kid in question was none other than Rahey. He had been visiting the hospital frequently for what were supposed to be check-ups but that eventually turned into just personal conversations with Neo. As much as Emmy liked the overflowing kindness of the doctor, she didn't see why the doctor allowed him to treat her like an older sister or some distant relative. The way he kept visiting was similar to those bossy aunts and uncles who keep bothering the family doctor. 

"Really?" There were dark circles under Neo's eyes. Emmy didn't think it was the workload alone because the hospital hadn't been extremely busy in the past few weeks. "Send him to my office."

"Hold on a minute." Emmy interjected before things could go any further, "This is overstepping a lot of boundaries, doctor. It isn't right for people to just come and go as they please. You do realize that, don't you?" She knew her tone was harsh but there was no better way to make the doctor understand her point. 

"Emmy." The doctor narrowed her eyes at her. "It's one thing if you interfere with my work but you're interfering with a personal matter. Isn't that 'overstepping boundaries'?"

"A personal matter?" Emmy didn't know why she was so annoyed. There was something about Rahey that threw her off. When she first saw him, she remembered feeling pity for him. His pale, empty face and uneven breathing made it seem like he was one step away from death.

She had been sympathetic but that was the end of it for her. Emmy did her best to be kind to every patient as a nurse and she truly admired Neo for being able to do that so easily but she was different. Inside, she was fairly insensitive so she would never go out of her way unless asked to.

On the night she took Rahey to his apartment, she felt a vague sense that he was nothing like the patient who first came to the hospital. Surely his memory loss played a role in that but can a person change so drastically? Emmy had seen plenty of cases like him before and cognitive impairment issues weren't uncommon for drug addicts but those who developed a physiological dependence wouldn't suddenly stop feeling that desire because they lost their memory. She didn't think the overdose was the first instance of him using drugs at any rate.

Yet the nagging in her head told her to not jump to hasty conclusions. She didn't know his story or past and the feeling that something was off was just a feeling. 

Neo was right. It wasn't appropriate for her to throw a fuss when there were more pressing matters to attend to but even so-

"Neo." She decided to use her own card.

The new nurse had already scuttled off after seeing the intense pressure between the two of them, leaving the hallway deserted.

"I suggest you recommend him to a psychiatrist if you really care about him. Don't just assume you're trained to handle all problems." 

Neo was visibly stunned by that because her eyes widened and then she sighed, relenting. "Alright fine. I'll tell that to him today."

"Good." Emmy continued staring at her fixedly.

The doctor glanced around unsurely. "Is there anything else?"

"Yes but you can tell me later."

The doctor seemed to find that amusing because she let out a slight laugh, "Tell you what?"

"Whatever it is that's bothering you."

And then Neo laughed properly- a loud explosive laugh- that made her fall forward, nearly slamming her elbow into the water filter. "You notice everything, don't you?"

"That's a nurse's job after all."

But it was enough to make Emmy smile too.