Temporal Pendulum (english)

Final

INT. HOSPITAL - DAY

"Wow, you're really amazing, Mister. Can you do that for me too? I heard my mom and my doctor talking, and they said I might not get better anymore."

The boy in front of a male patient continued speaking. The male patient quickly nodded and said with a smile,

"Of course! Didn't I tell you, I managed to spend more time with Eric. You want that too, right? You'll get better right away!"

The boy nodded vigorously, smiling from ear to ear and clapping while shouting, "Yay!" when the door to the room opened.

"Nurse! Nurse! Help!"

The terrified mother outside room 501 quickly caught the attention of the nurses.

"Why is that male patient here?"

The mother asked, trembling in fear. The nurses immediately turned their attention to the man she was pointing at. They slowly brought him to a corner of the room before giving him a chance to quietly leave the area where he didn't belong.

"We're sorry, Ma'am. This won't happen again."

The male nurse repeatedly apologized while the boy on the bed sobbed. 

"Mom! Why did you send Mister away? He said he could—"

"Shh, that's enough."

The mother soothed him. Before the male nurse could leave, he found himself recounting the life of the male patient who had just been in the room a few minutes ago.

"Hmm.. I've been seeing that man here in the hospital for months. What's wrong with him? Why are there patients like him on this floor? Shouldn't those kinds be in the other building?"

The male nurse looked at the mother's finger as she pointed at her left ear. A few seconds passed, and the male nurse still hadn't answered, so the mother decided to say something even more insulting, "Is he crazy?"

Should I smack her?

"Jiang Tian, 42 years old. He has pseudologia fantastica, also known as mythomania. He used to be a doctor here in this hospital actually."

At that moment, the boy stopped crying and fell asleep. The mother's face reflected shock at what she heard.

"His mental disturbance began when he had an accident with his family. Him, his partner, and their child. They decided to go on vacation before his partner's heart operation, but that vacation ended up hastening their death. Even now, whenever he undergoes shock therapy, all his memories vanish... perhaps due to the painful trauma he still cannot accept to this day."

The mother's shock remained, but mixed with pure curiosity that silently urged the male nurse to continue his story.

'Patient privacy who?'

"So he endlessly tells stories about the memories he desperately tries to piece together in his mind. Sometimes he's a famous dancer or an artist worldwide; other times, he's a wealthy politician from a country not even on the map, an angel descended from heaven, a street musician waiting for fame, a sad prince from a rich country, or a powerful being capable of controlling a person's time... just anything really..."

The male nurse shook his head while chuckling softly.

"I never thought his life story was that deep."

The mother replied sadly. For the second time, the male nurse prepared to leave when—

"You've been holding that scar on your arm for a while. Good thing it's not on your face!"

The mother noticed. The male nurse immediately removed his hand from the long scar on his right arm.

'Old habits die hard, they say.'

"Tim!"

Suddenly, another male nurse slightly opened the door—Jed. He was surprised to see the mother and his nurse friend Tim having a serious conversation.

"Oh, sorry."

Jed checked if the sleeping boy had woken up. Seeing that he hadn't disturbed him, he returned his attention to Tim. 

"The new uniforms are over there; you should get them. I rushed to call you because they've been calling letter 'J' surname for a while now. You're the only one missing on our floor I think.."

"Okay, I'll be right there."

Nurse Tim replied. 

The two nurses didn't stay long in that room and formally said goodbye.

As Nurse Tim walked past the neighboring rooms, he wondered, 'I wonder what version of Dad's story did he tell in one these rooms?'

FINAL.