Thorns Of Juliet

Symptom XIV

From the journal of Patient Sixteen written under the initials of CTL and H dated in 20 of July 2001; voice recorded by Dr. Quirrero

F O U R T E E N T H S Y M P T O M:

[Loud knocks on the door] [Pause] [Footsteps receding]

[Distant male voice] ❝Scusami, ma ho una cosa importante da fare ora e...❞

[Huffed] ❝Entri e la interroghi senza pietà. I'll be back.❞

❝Understood, partner.❞

[Heavy footsteps approaching] [Clears throat] [Shuffling papers] [Beeps of the voice recording]

1

CATALINA JULIET felt herself dissociating, her thoughts went haywire. The disembodied voices in her head sounds gibberish as if they are far away from her, or perhaps she is just at the far-flung corner of the closed space that doesn't feel real at all-she doesn't know. Maybe she is just dreaming, but then maybe she is not. The person in front of her looks wrong and strange added by the blurriness, looking like unnaturally sharp.

Everything around her feels unreal.

She closes her eyes, welcoming the abyss of uncertainties. All her worries and fear abruptly left her system, as if it were all just a fleeting moment-moments that somehow she used to abandoned.

"Juliet?"

Her blurry vision casted to direction where the voice came from. The voice felt like muffled, and she cannot understand the word that was uttered. She felt Julietta in co-con with her.

"Catalina Juliet? Are you dissociating?"

It took her a couple of minutes to get back to her senses. Dissociation finally subsides but her train of thoughts are still floating in the air.

"Catalina, it's okay. We will try to talk about things again next time. You are not feeling okay lately, aren't you?"

She starts to blink her eyes, recovering her vision from the mental fog.

"D-Doc?" She asks, her voice is uncertain.

A gentle smile was offered, just when her vision became seemingly clearer. Catalina Juliet's body is tired, exhausted from the thoughts caging her mind. She heaved a sigh, lifting her hands to her forehead. Maingat na umayos siya sa pag-upo, ang kanyang mga mata ay bumaba sa mesa kung saan may papel na malapit nang mapuno sa mga sulat.

"How are you feeling? Are you tired?"

Muling bumalik ang kanyang tingin sa doktor na nasa harapan. Mabagal na tumango siya. Yumuko ang kanyang doktor upang sumilip sa relo nito bago nagsulat.