Better with you

Chapter 10

Alexis pov

It has been a couple of days since I got back to work. I bumped into Ray a couple of times but he didn't speak to me, or even look at me. It didn't bother me until I was trying to talk to him about his dad's health, but he kept using his phone. He wouldn't see me eye to eye for some reason. I think he's still mad about my mistake. Maybe I should apologise to him.
___

Today Samuel could sit up straight, so I adjusted his recliner bed so that he was sitting up. He was happy about it because he could sit up and read.
"Not a minute longer than 1 hour. I will be keeping a tab of it." I told him.

At a time he couldn't sit longer than one hour. He had to make sure he wasn't putting pressure on his lower back.

He was eating well now, but still not as much as he should. He was doing a little bit of physical rehab. I was still worried about him.
"Can I ask you something?" I asked him.
"Yes, you need not ask me if you can ask me anything, just ask away." He said.

"Oh god, okay. Do you *clears throat* or do you not want to get better?" I asked. Sometimes it's a person's will which helps them recover faster. No medicine can work better than a person's will.

"I don't know. What's there to live for?" He asked me in a somber tone. It shook me. I always feared that my patients would lose their will to live, and I didn't want the same for Samuel.

"We can only help you insofar as you help yourself." I said.
"The one person I wanted to live for is no longer alive. I tried to live for her as long as I could, but I don't think I can anymore. My children don't want me, so who should I live for? Tell me." I literally did not know what to say. My feet went cold, but I couldn't just stay quiet.

I sat on his bed beside him, and took his hand in mine. (Please not in a romantic way, but in a dad sort of way)
"Can you try living for yourself?" I asked. He contemplated before speaking.
"I don't know how to do that." He said. It was so sad.

"Well.. for starters, you can do the things the you love. For example, reading, which you already do! So you're already living for yourself." I said in an encouraging tone. He didn't say anything.

"What is something else that you have always wanted to do?" I asked. He took a long while to think.
"I have always wanted to see my children fall in love and get married, just like I did." He said. That is so adorable!

"Awww.. well, you have to live long enough to see that." I said.
"Yeah yeah fine, I will." He said.
"Not only that, but you have to live long enough to attend my wedding. Do you not want to see me get married?"
"Of course I do! It would be so lovely." He said, gaining a smile from me.

I continued to tell him things that I think he should witness before he dies, and it piqued his interest. I was so glad. I know he might've just been putting up an act, but still. I think Ray's sister could come and visit him once. Maybe that will make him want to live. I made a mental note of talking about this to Ray after dinner.

Dinner time

Knowing that he doesn't like speaking during meals is one reason I was quiet, but the other reason was Viktor being there. I did not like speaking in front of him, especially since he kept staring at me in a creepy way. I noticed that Ray was done eating before me, so I told him I had something to talk about. He asked me to come to his office once I was done, and he left.

Viktor tried to make small talk with me, but I ignored him. When I reached for the jar of water, so did he and he put his hand on mine which I shooed away instinctively. I knew it did this on purpose, because he was smiling at me. It made me so uncomfortable.