A Doctor's Secret

Chapter 4: Murky Waters

"No, I'd rather keep it on for a while."

   Was the woman's response. She looked over to Alaric, who still stared at the woman. "I know a restaurant not far from here. They have great food at a great price!"

   Vevorinique took hold of the boy's hand and began walking off to a direction that led away from the "Hospital".

   "H-hey! Where are we going!?" Alaric sputtered, beginning to panic. He jerked his hand from the woman and held it close to him, glaring at Vevorinique. "I...I don't want to be forced into going somewhere I'm not familiar with!"

   Vevorinique looked down to her feet, shuffling slowly. She stuttered. Well...atleast she thought she stuttered. "Excuse me," she hid her hands behind her back. "I need to use the women's room."

   She speed walked out of Alaric's vision, slamming her back onto the cold wall, just beside the door to the restroom. She ignored the sting that set itself throughout her spine.

   Unbuttoning a few buttons on the side of it, Vevorinique managed to slide her mask off her head even though it was hardly done; placing it on the soft patch of grass beside her. She wrapped one of her arms around her while she chewed on the nail of her thumb in the other.

   "Gosh, I'm so stupid. Why would I do that? He barely remembers me. What to do? What to do?" She said, to no one but herself. Her raven hair fell over her face, casting a shade over green eyes. Her head perked up, a thought coming to mind.

   Inhaling and exhaling, she calmed her herself down and picked up her mask, not bothering to place it back on. The woman walked back to Alaric, who was crouching in front of a stone bench. "What are you doing?" The woman asked.

   Alaric pointed his long index finger at the bench. "Look," The woman crouched beside Alaric, following his gaze. There, at the side of the bench, an entangled vine and at the tip of it, grew a beautiful flower in full bloom.

   It was white, dusting the tips of its petals with a luminous mint color. The stigma was covered in yellow dust, most likely the pollen but the tip itself was black. It was a small thing, barely the size of a child's palm. "It's weird looking, but pretty." The boy spoke, looking at the woman.

   His eyes showed surprise in them. "You don't have your mask on..." he said. The woman offered a small smile. "It's nice to have more fresh air to breath in once in a while."

   The boy didn't return the smile, but instead turned his gaze back onto the flower. "It should be dead by now. Autumn is close."

   "Don't say that," Vevorinique said, standing up. "Why not?" Alaric asked, standing up as well. "You shouldn't say that something needs to die just because things like it also died. You should be happy it's still alive despite all that it's been through." The woman replied.

   "Why should I be happy? It's a waste. No one can bring happiness into the afterlife. It would just spoil my energy. Life is just an illusion for death anyway. It's a sick joke." Alaric said, turning away. The woman frowned.

   "Life is not a joke. And I won't lie and say that even if you suffer in it, it would just be easy to look over and move on. I lived long, and still, I don't know what my purpose is. Maybe it's because I'm waiting for somebody that'll give me purpose, and that can take a really long time."