Chapter 14

I flipped open my handphone and then slammed it shut. Lara had been inside for more than half an hour and I had opened and closed my handphone for more than two thousand times.

An hour later, Lara was out. The doctor said she was suffering from hyperpyrexia, a high-grade fever. It could be triggered by many factors, he said. It could be just a normal flu or some viral infection. They had taken a blood test and would give us the result as soon as possible.

“She should have been brought in earlier.” the doctor said. “Fever of this grade can be fatal. The symptoms are so obvious. The heat in her body could burn some of her muscle cells. There have been cases of people’s brain cells being killed in the case of a high fever.”

I swallowed and felt a lump in my throat. So far, the doctor had not said that she was fine.

“We’ve to keep her under observation. Her temperature had dropped and we’ll have to test her blood before we come to any conclusion.” he turned to a young nurse, who could be just an intern and said, “I need to go.”

The nurse, who appeared to be only eighteen or nineteen, approached me. “What is your relationship with the patient?”

I thought about that for a while. “I’m her boyfriend.”

“Please contact her family members immediately. According to the standard procedure, our policy is that…”

When she bombed me with the long policy of the Hospital, I concluded that she had to be at least twenty-five and she was definitely not an intern.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“Mononucleosis.” I told Lara. “The kissing disease.”

Before Lara woke up, I had spent about five minutes trying to pronounce the name of the illness. Basically, according to the doctor, it was some viral infection. The best treatment was lots of rest, lots of water and no coffee.

“Lots of rest, lots of water, no coffee.” Lara said. “That’s the treatment for almost every illness.”

I had registered her for the hospitalisation yesterday. No matter how hard I tried, I could not find her mother.

“When will I be discharged?” she asked, stroking her temple. She had just taken a maximum dose of paracetamol.

“They said to keep you under observation. See if the fever has burnt any of your cells. But you shall be fine. Usually, people with mononucleosis… the kissing disease, will recover soon.”

So far, I had not confessed to Wendy. If I had brought Lara to the Hospital earlier, she might not have suffered that much. I wanted to punch myself. It was my entire fault that she was lying here. I am a wimp. Wimp!

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Lara said. She had sensed my displeasure. I stared at her: Even in a ward outfit, she looked beautiful. Her lips were dry. I leaned towards her and forced a smile.

“I’m sorry.” I whispered. It was so soft that I could not even hear myself.

When Lara bent over me and said “Huh?”, I did not repeat my apology. Instead, I stroked the hair off her forehead. Then, my lips touched her forehead and I closed my eyes. I had just kissed a girl with a kissing disease.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I visited Lara on the next day. The doctor said Lara was great and the nurses liked her. Given her condition, she could be discharged by the fifth day.

“Sometimes, Epstein-Barr will cause depression to patients. Lara’s working on fine. She’s recovering. What she needs is just more rest and more water. I guess there’s no problem with that, right? She’ll be okay.” the doctor said. By then, I had known more about Mononucleosis: It was a viral infection caused by the Epstein-Barr virus. It was spread by saliva. To think I had just kissed Lara a day ago.

Lara was delighted to know she was getting off the Hospital. She said the food needed months to get used to. “But I think I’m getting slimmer every hour.” she said. “All this is cheaper than those slimming salons.”

I was still blaming myself. I would never forget that day: Lara calling me, telling me she had fever while I had a long dinner with Wendy. It just did not make sense: What the hell was I thinking?

“Wanna go out for a walk?” I asked. The doctor had given the nod on outdoor activities. “Great air.”
She nodded and got off the bed. She was a lot stronger than I had predicted.

We spent fifteen minutes trying to locate the park. The Hospital was huge and we had to ask a few nurses on the exact location.

The park looked like those parks near housing estates. The only difference was the people there: Almost all of them were in hospital attires, like Lara’s. Most of them were accompanied by visitors. A few patients mingled together.

“Go get Coke.”

“You can’t drink Coke. Coke contains caffeine. I’ll-”

About ten metres from me, Wendy was staring at me. She wore a flowery skirt and a body-hugging blouse. Beside her was her brother-in-law, whom I had seen about once or twice.

I was holding Lara’s hand.

My mind went blank for a few seconds. Lara said something; Wendy walked towards me. I could still feel Lara’s hand. By the time I woke up from my nothingness, Wendy was only inches from me. I was still holding Lara’s hand.

“Dear dear?” Lara said. Bad, bad timing.

“Wendy.” I said softly. Lara saw Wendy and their eyes met.

As I was about to react to all these, Wendy swung her hand and slapped me in my left cheek. Her hand was chill. I did not budge. Lara had, by then, released her grip on my hand.

“Shit.” I whispered.

“Explain!” Wendy shouted. Everyone within the radius of ten metres turned to face us.

“Wendy-”

“He’s my boyfriend, you bitch.” Wendy said. It was meant for Lara. Lara inched back, her hands capping her mouth.

“Wendy!” I screamed. When Wendy raised her hand for a second slap, I grabbed her wrist. From that direction, the slap was targeted at Lara. “Stop!”

Lara took two more steps back. Wendy used her other hand to slap me. By then, Lara was taking a step back with every passing second.

“Stop it!” I said to Wendy. Then, I pushed her hand off and hurried to Lara. “It’s gotta be okay, it’s gotta be fine…”

“Who is she?” Lara asked. She was no longer covering her mouth. The tears had disappeared. She straightened her back, grabbed my arm and pulled me towards Wendy. Her pace was amazingly fast. “Who the fuck is she?”

I did not answer.

Lara threw my hand off. She grabbed me by the shoulder, pointed at Wendy and screamed, “Who the fuck is she?”

I turned to Wendy, who was sobbing now. “Look, I can explain-”

“No need to explain!” Lara shouted. “Lara’s not stupid. Now, you either choose Lara, or this… bitch. What’s your name?”

“Wendy.” Wendy politely said through her tears. She was quivering non-stop now.

“Alright, Zhou Jie Lun, now you choose, carefully. Lara or Wendy?”

I had, actually, made a choice a few days ago. This had to be the time to tell them my decision.

“Lara.” I said.

Wendy shook her head and the tears flowed on.

“Sorry, Wendy… I… I’ll explain tonight, alright?”

Wendy did not reply. She stepped back and then ran off. Her brother-in-law watched the commotion and did not go after Wendy. I turned to Lara, who was massaging her forehead.

“Lara…” I started.

“What happened?” she said.

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