As I served my guest his meal, I wondered whether my patient would have a meltdown when I came back.
"So, how are your kids doing?" I asked him while grabbing some drinks from the fridge.
"Never become a father, it's as simple as that. It's way too hard to take care of them—they have way too much energy," he sighed as he suspiciously took a bite of one of the skewers.
"Haha! Don't say that, at least you're never bored!" I teased him.
"At least it's better than being single," he said, dragging me back to my reality as a bachelor.
"Screw you," I replied, handing him some iced tea.
"But this is iced tea!" he pointed out before drinking it.
"When you're single, you drink cold stuff, so too bad for you," I shot back, giving him a taste of his own medicine.
"You damn dog," he muttered while drinking the tea—he had no choice, his tongue was probably on fire.
"How's Shin doing?" I asked, curious.
"She's with the kids. She really loves them, even though she's often away. Sometimes I even feel like she forgets about me because of them. Her new novel just came out, by the way—she's really talented, you know? And she's great at cooking too, even if you're better. I love her little dishes," he said cheerfully, while I had already stopped listening. He seemed to be living a happy life, and honestly, I was glad for him.
"Are you even listening to me?" he eventually noticed.
"I agree with you, the president doesn't do anything," I said to hide the fact that I wasn't listening.
"I never talked about the president!" he yelled, pinching me.
"Haha, calm down, I'm teasing you. Yeah, I read her new novel, The Hero's Quest. It was amazing," I laughed. He really had a gift for lifting my mood.
"You see? That's my wife~" he said proudly, the bastard.
"And you? How's work at the hospital?" he asked, curious.
I told him about Claire in my own words.
"They dumped a hopeless case on me," I said simply.
"Huh? What do you mean?" he asked, shocked.
"A patient who doesn't want me, can you believe it? I feel offended. I swear she wants to throw me out every time I walk in. She even tried calling security! Do I look like a thief?" I complained energetically.
"HAHAHA! I've never seen you talk about someone with so much energy! She must've made quite an impression on you! What's she like? Is she hot and nicely shaped like you like them?" he laughed.
"Are you kidding me? Obviously!" I replied, amused by his question.
"You gotta show her to me," he said with a mischievous grin.
"Oh right, I forgot mister is married. I can't do that," I teased him.
"Don't mess with me!" he snapped.
…
After spending a wild night talking with Arthur, I hadn't seen the time pass. It was already 6 a.m.—I had to go to work.
I took a shower, got dressed, and headed to the hospital while Arthur was still squatting in my bed.
I took my car and finally arrived at work. I went to greet Rose as usual since it had been a while, but this time she seemed to be in the middle of a conversation with someone.
"Hey," I said, interrupting them.
"Hey Léon! It's been a while, I missed you! My condolences, I'm really sorry about your father," she said with a puppy‑dog expression, while the guy next to her looked jealous.
"Uh… thanks," I replied, a bit embarrassed.
"This is my fiancé, Thomas. He's a biomedical engineer and he often comes to see me," she said, introducing what looked like an Arab model—way more handsome than me, which annoyed me a little.
"Oh~ Don't say that. How could I not make the effort to come see my fiancée?" he said in a syrupy voice.
"Nice to meet you. Well, I'll get going," I said before slipping away.
They were definitely lovebirds.
Alright, time to go see my patient.