Outburst

Chapter 19 - Doctor's Appointment

The waitress put a plate of French fries on the table. I stared at them for a while before saying thanks to her who was back to friendly mode now that I finally decided to order some food.

There was another new thing I learned from Roman about my uncle. I never knew I would depend so much on someone whom I thought was the record holder for the most annoying person ever at first. Forget that Mr. Know-It-All, Kurt Roman knew about my uncle more than anyone ever did.

I told Una's story to him about how Dr. Irving came to the house regularly, but ended up being hurt by my uncle and never came back again. I also told him the after-effect that my uncle had. Roman wasn't really surprised.

"It was exactly his reaction after he threw that vase to me," he commented. "He had tremors and such, and went silence for God-knew-how-long. I didn't know what happened after because my friends already rushed me to the hospital. I guess they called your father. I think no one would dare to disturb him other than his brother who knew him well, of course."

"So... My Dad then told you about Dr. Irving?"

Roman nodded. "I always knew who Lori's father was, but I didn't know my best friend was his patient."

"Did Lori know about his disorder?"

"I don't think so," he answered. "See, Dr. Irving knew that Lori loved Luke. He knew Luke was a good guy despite his disorder. Maybe that's why he tried so hard to help him, and not telling his daughter was one of the best ways for Luke to keep his mental steady."

I stared at the fries again. I still hadn't touched it, but for the sake of that waitress' friendly manner, I finally ate it.

"Does Dr. Irving have private clinic?" I asked with my mouth full of fries.

Roman chuckled. "You're not going there."

"I asked you a 'yes or no' question."

"And I said, you can't go there."

I frowned. "Dr. Irving might be the only one who knew how to help my uncle."

Roman was silent. He might consider my logical reason to meet Dr. Irving. A moment later, he asked the waitress for a piece of paper and a pen. She brought them here, and he started to write something.

"He may or may not still lives here. I've never heard from him since Lori died," he said while giving me the paper. "And you don't get this from me."

An address! I smiled widely as he stood up and left the cash, enough to pay his coffee, my water, and the French fries.

"Good luck," he said.

After Roman left, I called a taxi and told the driver to go to this exact address. It turned out to be a 4-story apartment building, looked old but been taken care well by the landlord I supposed. I read the piece of paper again, and there was the number '211' circled at the bottom.

I got off the taxi after paying the driver, and started walking to the lobby. There was a security guard, but he didn't ask who I was or what I was doing, so I just walked past him to the elevator after throwing a sweetest smile possible.

The bell dinged and I arrived at the second floor already. I looked around the narrow corridor, looking for door number 211, and I finally found it. Forget the number, 'Dr. Henry Irving – Psychiatrist' was written clearly on the wall next to the door.

When I was about to knock, the door was opened and two people—possibly a couple—walked out, with the woman crying and the man trying to soothe her. I stepped backwards to let them passed.