Motion (Sequel to "Collide")

CHAPTER FORTY EIGHT

A/N: hey guys! A promise is a promise, here's chapter 48 :)
Also, I'm not too fond of AI, but I needed a visual for Faraji, so that you can see him the way I do in my head when I'm writing. Is this how you pictured him? I'm curious, let me know in the comments!

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August 24th, 1993

Bangkok, Thailand

Dear Diary,

Our touring adventure has officially begun after months of preparation. Saying goodbye to my family was probably the hardest thing to do. The only time I was separated from them for such a long period of time was when I was in coma. I know this time is going to be different, because thank God phones do exist in this reality, but it still hurt to say goodbye — especially to Grams. I know she worries, and she's getting older. I'm always scared something might happen to her while I'm away.

I made sure to turn in my biology and neonatal physiology papers before I left. These were the two classes that were the hardest for me back in med school, so I wanted to make sure I was up to date before I started looking for a surgical internship. This surgical prep year is important to me, and Carl has always understood it. He has been wonderful to me. Even though he has a lot to deal with lately, he's never failed to make time for me. I owe him a lot.

We've been in Thailand for the last four days, so we had time to settle down and acclimate to jet lag. Faraji is over the moon to be in another country. He asked questions about Buddha and why there were statues of him everywhere, and why there weren't temples like that back home... His curiosity and his thirst for knowledge never cease to amaze me.

Michael's finally kicking off the second leg of the Dangerous Tour tonight, and I couldn't be more excited about it. His last rehearsals are this afternoon, and Faraji insisted on going to see his daddy at work, so that's where we'll be headed.

The pain in his scalp seems to be bearable so far. I think the medication routine we've established combined with Sangye's meditation tips is working for now, which is a relief. Sadly, our appointment at the clinic in Amsterdam wasn't as successful as we thought it would be. The doctors examined Michael thoroughly, and though I expected them to talk about surgery to put Michael's pain behind him, they didn't. Instead, they advised him to go to a clinic for pain management, until someone, somewhere, has a better option for him. It isn't ideal, but what else can we do?

Michael left bright and early in the morning to get to a press conference, and though he asked me to tag along, I decided to stay at the hotel and prepare my visit of tomorrow. I'm visiting a Children's hospital in a small town, three hours away from Bangkok. The hospital's ER is apparently on the verge of closing down because of the lack of means they have, and they have a hard time relocating the kids. I know I'll have a lot of things to report back to the Foundation to evaluate what we can do and provide to help them, but I trust this project.

If I'm being honest with myself, I'm quite nervous about it as it is my first steps into this new job, but I can't wait to get started.

"Are you done, mama?" Faraji asked, as I put my journal and pen down on the coffee table in front of us.

"I'm done," I smiled, laying a gentle kiss on his frizzy hair as his head was laid on my shoulder. "Are you enjoying your cartoons?"

"Yes," he answered, before he looked at me. "I have something to ask you but I didn't want to distract you while you were writing."