Chapter 4
He Has a Fiancée
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My relationship with Dr. Thanwa quickly and visibly improved, because I no longer had to talk to myself.
We stuck together even tighter than sticky rice. While Dr. Thanwa was working, providing physical therapy to patients, I tagged along to cheer him on. When he took a break to eat, I got to dine with him like we were a regular couple.
From our talks, I learned that on the first day we met, he poured that glass of water specifically for me. It made me fall even deeper in love with him.
"Aiye, Aiye… Lately, you've been so smitten that you've forgotten your friends. You left me to pick up spirits alone again," Manop complained loudly when he saw me floating back to the Clear Gang's headquarters one night.
"Oh, Manop, I'm sorry,” I said, snapping out of a daydream of the Doctor. “It's just that during the day, I want to be with my boyfriend." My face turned red as I said it, but what could I do? We’d finally agreed to be a couple.
“Boyfriend? Are you crazy, Aiye? You’re a spirit and Dr. Thanwa is human. Since when a spirit and a human can be in love?” the mechanic ghost asked in shock.
"Master Jao Thi said I might not be dead yet. Dr. Thanwa and I are trying to find clues about my identity. I might be lucky like Miss Prasita, Master Jao Thi's daughter. Manop, don't discourage me," I replied to my transparent friend with a heavy heart. Why try to dampen my spirits? He was not even lending a hand, instead splashing water on my legs. Or…where they would be if spirits had legs.
"I'll let you have it your way, Aiye. No matter what, I'll always be by your side. Let's go; there's been a terrible car accident at the emergency department. We may have work to do," Manop urged me.
While we were floating towards the emergency department, I told him about my attempts to uncover my own past. But I guess I got carried away, because when I turned to look for him...
"Hey, Manop, where did you go?” I asked, looking around but not seeing him. I groaned. “Left me talking to myself.”
So, I backtracked and found Manop cursing at a man. The man looked younger than Dr. Thanwa, quite good-looking, with a bit of a bad boy vibe.
I figured this man was a patient at this hospital as well, because he had bruises all over his body, though not severe enough to be life-threatening. I was sure Manop and I aren't here to collect his soul just yet, so why had this man come to the hospital so late at night? Or was he here to secretly meet someone?
Manop tried every way to kick and punch the man, but as spirits, we are just a form of energy. We can’t physically touch humans except for me and Dr. Thanwa, apparently.
"Manop, what are you doing? You're assaulting a human. Have you forgotten that Master Jao Thi forbids harming humans?" I tried to pull my friend away from the man.
"You rascal, Nakrob! You damn lucky bastard! Because of you, I had to die. Heaven has been merciful to send you here for me to take revenge! From now on, don't ever live in the same world as me again!" Manop cursed at the man.
I dragged Manop far away before taking my transparent friend to sit and calm down at the club headquarters, even though we had just left.
"Tell me what happened. Why do you hate that man so much?" I asked with concern in my voice.
"That guy's name is Nakrob. His nickname is Bomber Nakrob. I was known as Manop the Shark Mouth. Our schools were like oil and water. Whenever we met, we always fought. On the day I died, it was because Nakrob threw a bomb, causing chaos. Nakrob is rich. That's why he gets to walk free like this. I lived with my mum, just us two. I'm worried about how she'll cope now that I'm gone."
"So, you want revenge because this Nakrob guy caused your death? You know that if Master Jao Thi hears about this, you'll be in trouble," I said cautiously. I didn’t want my best friend to get in trouble for something that happened long ago, literally in another life.
"Like I said, he and I cannot live in the same world. Now that he's entered the hospital grounds, he's already put one foot in the underworld."
I could only sigh. There was not much I could do to help him now. I'd have to wait until Manop calmed down a bit before trying to persuade him again.
From that night on, Manop stopped helping me pick up new spirits. He kept hanging around the emergency department even though we all knew Dr. Alinda was very strict and probably wouldn’t approve of that.
But perhaps because of his deep-seated grudge, Manop wasn't afraid of Dr. Alinda or Master Jao Thi at all. The colour of Manop's spirit aura changed, too, to a burning, angry red.
I had to take over Manop's duties when welcoming new spirits since we usually worked together. Now that I had to work alone, I didn’t have time to see Dr. Thanwa. But I did tell him that I was very busy because I had to cover for my friend. He was so sweet and understanding.
After two weeks, I couldn’t stand missing Dr. Thanwa anymore, so I asked Aunt Malai to take over spirit receiving duties for a day while I went to surprise Dr. Thanwa.
Well, you know. When you miss someone…
I floated into Dr. Thanwa's office as usual, intending to give him the surprise of his life. I was about to sneak up and hug him from behind while he was on the phone, but I had to pause when I heard:
"Mum, I told you. I'm not interested in your friend's daughter."
Silence.
"Why should I have to take care of her? I'm not getting engaged to that fat pig!"
He continued talking, but even though I couldn't hear the other party, I gathered that Dr. Thanwa already had a fiancée who was currently ill.
His mother wanted my boyfriend to go back and take care of his fiancée.
I’d come with the intention of surprising the doctor I hadn't seen in days. And guess what? It was the doctor who’d given me a huge surprise instead.
"Yes, I'll be back this weekend,” he continued. “See you then. Love you, Mum."
That was the last thing I heard, because I couldn't take it anymore. I couldn't bear to hear him say goodbye to go back to his fiancée. What about me? What was I to him?
It hurt!
It hurt so much. Tears I didn't know I had flowed from my eyes.
I couldn’t stay. I had to flee. I had to get out of there.
In my haste and with tears streaming down my cheeks, I let out a sob. That alerted Dr. Thanwa. He turned to look at me with a stunned expression.
"Aiye, listen to me…"
Because I was upset about Dr. Thanwa, I forgot to go warn Dr. Alinda to be wary of Manop, who was intent on harming her patient.
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