Project Time

Chapter 9: The Bad News

On January 02, 2038, Trisha and Paul went back working to focus on their next inventions. A week after it, Trisha was feeling a little sick and moody. When she observed it, she suddenly goes to the drug store and buys a pregnancy test. She kept it a secret first to her husband.

When she tests herself, the pregnancy test made her surprise.

"Oh... my..."

Trisha got tearful when she saw two little lines in the pregnancy test. She got excited and scared at the same time. After few hours, Paul got home early and was surprise to see Trisha in the house early.

Paul asked, "Trish? You're home early."

Trisha was laying in the sofa as she replied, "Oh, well, I didn't went to work today."

He said, "Oh, okay. I'll cook dinner, while you stay there, okay?"

She immediately added, "Actually, there's something I needed to show to you."

He got curious and anticipate what would it be. He asks, "Okay, what is it?" He sat at the sofa and puts down his bag.

She confidently handed the pregnancy test to him. Paul looked close and whispered, "That means positive?"

She answered, "Pretty positive!"

The two hugged together as they were joyful on the great news that they received. The anxiety of having another child got eradicate due to their excitement.

A month later, VISION released another device called "HoloCom", a holographic telecommunication device that looks like a smartphone, but everything was just glass and a small rectagular in the bottom of it. The device can be used to contact people around the world without using the signal of Wi-Fi as it uses satelites to connect with one another.

VISION also held an event the same time they released the device worldwide to give the consumers more information about the device, and to also show them how does it work.

Trisha and Paul was one of the assistants that were assisting people to the smartphone. Paul was happily teaching everyone who went to his desk and tried the HoloCom. She was also busy assisting people when she notices something. After assisting the consumers, she was constantly observing Paul, who were constantly coughing.

Ofcourse, she was getting worried when she noticed that his husband was coughing, so she immediately approached him.

Trisha handed a box of tissue and asked him, "Love, are you okay?"

Paul answered after cughing, "Yeah... I just... I think a bug flew in my mouth."

She added, "Are you sure? Do you need a break?"

He replied, "Y-yes, dear. I'm fine, don't worry about me. See, I'm now better."

She sighs and said, "Hm, if you need anything, just call me, okay?"

He flirtly answered, "I don't need anything 'cause I already have you."

She smiles and said, "Shut up... I love you!"

He answered sweetly, "I love you more!"

She went back to her booth as there were a line of people that wanting to try the device, and to also grab a photo and/or an autograph from her. Paul, on the other hand, gently sat down in his chair to take a break. He was not feeling okay that time, but he lied to her wife about it so she wouldn't be worried about her situation right now. As he was resting, she just watches her wife helping people.

In his mind, he said, "She really love her job."

After several minutes, he stood up and went back in his desk to assist people in his booth. From there, the mysterious coughing of Paul started. Trisha was an observant to everything. So, she noticed that something wrong with her husband. When she was asking him, he kept lying on it to made her not worry about it.

In the quiet corridors of their shared life, a subtle shft occured as Paul's once occasional coughs grew more persistant, disrupting the harmony that had long defined their days. Trisha, with an acute awareness born out of love, continues to obsevred the changes, the growing severity etching worry outs her face.

Unable to dismiss her concerns, Trisha gently persuaded Paul to undergo a checkup at the nearby hospital. He kept on insisting, but his cough was now severe. He ad no choice but to agree on his wife's decision to take a checkup at the local doctor.

So, Trisha immediately starts her car and drives her husband towards the hospital, which was only several minutes away from their home.

When they arrived, they stayed at the lobby while waiting for a nurse to assist them. The two talk about random thoughts from Paul, which he brings up while her wife was filling up a form that the lady from the counter gave them.

Paul sudddenly asked, "Trish? Do you remember our first date?"

She immediately got curious on his question. She replied, "I remembered it from our first meet. Why do you ask?"

He said, "Nothing... just a random question. Here's another one. If you were given a chance to go back in time, when you will go back?"

She added, "Why are you asking me things like tthat?"

He immediately said, "Okay then, silence it is."

Paul cough once again and suddenly grabbed a magazine. Trisha goes, "I would go to the day I met you."

He smiles and also asked, "Really? Why?"

She added, "I would rather go back in time than die and went to heaven-"

The nurse approached them and said to them, "Mr.Chrisler, the doctor will see you now. Follow me and I'll lead the way."

Trisha asked the nurse, "Oh, can I come with you two?"

The nurse said, "Oh, I'm sorry but the doctor says that the only patient is permitted to the room. You may stay in the hallway if you want to."

Trisha and Paul followed the nurse upstairs towards the room. Trisha was forced to stay in the hallway as Paul undergo diagnosis in a hospital room.

As the diagnosis echoed in the sterile room, the word "tuberculosis" hung heavy in the air. As Paul heard that he has it, he paused for a minute, while the doctor was talking. He thinks of his life, those who will left here when he's gone. The disease still has not yet curable. Time seemed to stand still as the weight of the news settled upon them.

As she eventually heard the news, Trisha, typically so resilient, paused quietly, her eyes silently locking onto her husband, who now faced an unseen adversary within.

Determined to be more than a bystander in Paul's battle, Trisha embarked on an emotionally charged journey to discover the cure. She went on her makeshift laboratory down in the basement to discover and create a cure for Paul. She kept all silent on what she was working on, even to Paul. The lab became her refuge, and each moment spent in puruit of a solution was a testament to her to her unwavering commitment to the man she held dear.