Ode to Aphrodite

Chapter Ⅵ

     "My boy! What are you doing there?"

     Dean immediately woke up to the loud voice directed towards him. His drowsy eyes immediately looked towards the still evening sky, before turning towards the man who called to him.

    "Do you have a place to stay?" The doctor asked.

     He hadn't answered, for he still did not understand what was going on. He slowly stood up from the stone stairs where he sat and looked at the wooden pillars where his head laid. There, he remembered where he was,

     "I'm sorry doc, I must've lost my mind."

     The doctor started shifting his deep pockets. Jingle, jingle.

    "You should have gone in before I locked the door. Berta didn't mention anything about you sleeping here."

     Dean chuckled in embarrassment, "Well, I tried looking for a place to stay for the night, but everything was full. Apparently, the debutante ball is happening right now."

    "Well, we are at the capital and it's already the start of the season." The doctor sighed, before, finally, the door clicked open.

    The doctor once more entered his clinic and flicked open the lights of its lobby.

     "You should stay here for the night."

     Dean was immediately flustered by the statement, "What do you mean? I wouldn't want to intrude. You would get complaints from your patients and that would be bothersome. I'll just take more time looking for-"

    "Ahh! Stop rambling. Just stay here, you're hired for the night."

    What?

     "Julia and Polly usually take the night shifts, but they're out to war. Plus, the only patient today is Barry."

     "Barry?"

     "The man you brought in today. I thought you knew his name."

     "No, I really did not, did he wake up?" He asked, happy there hadn't been any complications and that he had saved him in time.

     "Yes, he did, but I put him back to sleep. He needed the rest. Now, please go in. You can sleep in the beds beside him. I'll be back at six in the morning tomorrow." Immediately, the doctor placed the keys back into his pocket, turned around, and started to leave.

     "Thank you!" Dean exclaimed as he watched the doctor's hand raised to say goodbye to him.

     Dean couldn't help but smile at himself. Kindness was rare nowadays, and yet, it was truly unbelievable that some still remained so.

     The wooden floor creaked with every step of the way. He tried to keep his steps light, yet the noise still sounded loud throughout the quiet and empty hospital.

     Dean arrived at the patient's bed chambers and looked upon the clean white beds that lined the room. He looked at the man who he met today who was sleeping peacefully with every soft snore.

     He looked sickly and pale. Dean wondered where his family was, how they might've been worried or looking. If only he knew, and this man would've had someone by his side for the night.

     "It's good that I'm here." He muttered softly.

     His eyes wavered towards the thin window above on the walls. The moonlight shone through the glass. Dean put his woollen bag on the bed beside the man and, yet his eyes never left the view.

     Being close to the capital, he saw the closing stores lining the streets. Among the hills, that raised the landscape far across. A solely lit house among dozens of others, one who immediately captured the sight in his eyes.

     Beauty in the midst of darkness. Mesmerised by the light it had borrowed from that day's sun. Comforting the inner burrows of the cold room.