Me After Meeting You

“Don’t you know that she’s considered a dangerous patient? And you dared to stay in the same ward as her without taking any precautions?” Amber’s head department called her reckless.

The director, meanwhile, even brought her professor into the mix. “She was already off the beaten path, but you, you’re even further off than she was. What can I say!?”

Amber simply sat and nodded at the appropriate moments. Using one of her colleague’s favorite catch phrases, she said, “I’ll admit it when I’m wrong, but I’ll never regret it.”

Because she had broken standard protocol, Amber was criticized by the whole department, and even had to reflect on her actions during a department meeting. But to her, if this was the price to have a breakthrough in Elly’s illness, then it was a paltry price to pay.

After Nancy found out, she called her, and after hearing her thoughts, could only smile and say, “Not bad, you’re growing quickly. As a psychiatrist, you certainly can’t use the same treatment for everyone. If mental illnesses could all be solved by tying the patients up, giving them shots, and feeding them drugs, then what would be the use of us psychiatrists?

All you would need would besome strong guards at that point. Ignore those people. They’re just scared of having to deal with responsibility. But-” As Nancy said this, her tone grew more serious. “Your behavior is still too dangerous. You can’t just put yourself in dangerous situations like this either.”

Amber nodded. “Yes, I understand. I won’t do it next time.”

“You sound very in sincere.” Nancy shook her head.

Amber didn’t dare say anything more.

Nancy relented and said, “Fine, I’m not trying to criticize you. I just want to tell you that being a doctor isn’t like being an academic. In your eyes, your behavior might just be you trying your best to treat an illness. But in other people’s eyes, it’s easily seen as a short sighted action of someone pushing a head while disregarding danger. You’re still young and have a bright future ahead-the road of a doctor is very long, so walk steadily and don’t let unnecessary things trip you up.”

Amber noted Nancy’s advice down seriously.

Nancy smiled. “It’s just a little piece of advice from my end. I’ll be happy as long as you keep it in mind. Actually, the reason I called you in today was to tell you this: Ian’s grandfather birthday is tomorrow, and they’re quite serious about inviting you. Do you have any spare time to attend?”Còntens bel0ngs to Nô(v)elDr/a/ma.Org

After thinking a bit, Amber said, “This is a bit improper, isn’t it?” She had earlier asked Nancy to clarify to them her situation with Ian, and it seemed that his grandparents had accepted the truth and understood Amber’s worries. Thus, they had indeed stopped applying stress on Ian by bringing up marriage in front of him. As a result, she felt somewhat in appropriate by accepting this invite from them at this time.

Nancy replied, “Then it’s up to you. The two of them haven’t given up yet, but it’s also fine if you don’t go.”

***

Amber wasn’t planning on going, but the next day, Ian came over himself to fetch her. Recently, he had been travelling abroad for work, where as Amber worked at night and slept during the day. This all meant that she hadn’t seen him for quite a few days. When she saw him for the first time in a while, she even felt slightly uncomfortable the key issue being that he seemed to have gotten even more handsome. Or perhaps, the sun wasn’t so bright in the winter, so he was turning even more paler.

He was originally quite handsome; his lips were thin like an elegant wood carving, his nose high and prominent, and his eyes like jet-black ink. When his skin paled even more, it accentuated his refined features to the point that he looked almost like a work of art.

But, as usual, he was still cool and composed, and his tone was hard enough to pound someone into paste. “Let’s go.”

Amber asked, “Where to?”

“My house.”

When she repeated her question, he said, “You’re my girlfriend. How can you not attend my grandfather’s birthday celebration?”

“….”

Despite the fact that she had cleared things up with Ian’s family, she clearly would never be able to clarify the situation with Ian himself.

Amber had no choice but to get dressed and follow Ian to his grandfather’s birthday banquet. Anyway, his family all knew what was going on and about his mental illness, so Amber didn’t mind being dragged every which way by him.

***

The banquet wasn’t a big affair-after all, his grandfather wasn’t reaching a nice round age-but it couldn’t be considered small either. There were still at least a few tables full of people, and Amber had even run into someone she knew.

“Amber.” It was Calvin who saw her first, and he immediately came over and greeted her when he saw that she was alone.

He wasn’t all that surprised, but his mother behind him was. “Amber?”

She actually still remembered her! Amber smiled and responded, “That’s me. It’s good to see you again, Mrs. Kenric.”

“It’s good to see you too.” Calvin’s mother looked her up and down, a few notes of regret in her familiar tone. “How long has it been? You’ve grown more and more pretty over the years.”

Realizing where they were, she asked, “You’re quite familiar with the Axton family?”

“Somewhat. My professor is very familiar with Mr. Ian Axton’s grandfather.”

“Professor …? You’re still in school?”

“No, it’s been two years since I graduated. I meant to say that it’s my professor backwhen I was in medical school.”

“Medical school, oh. You must be a doctor, then … or a nurse? A nurse is quite are spectable profession for females.”

Amber smiled without saying anything, but Calvin was so embarrassed that he couldn’t help but interject, “Mom, Amber a doctor at Presbiterian Hospital.”

“Oh, at Presbiterian, huh. That’s a good place. I was even there to get my illness treated a while ago.” Calvin’s mother response was very natural, and she even rebuked Calvin a little. “This child didn’t even tell me that you were there.

Amber didn’t know what to say. She could only note that Calvin’s mother had changed greatly since the last time she saw her. From her memory, she seemed to be a pretty but somewhat anxious woman, always wore cheap clothes, and in order to let her and her son live a somewhat better life, worked multiple jobs a day.

But now, his mother was now wearing a white fur coat over a black silk dress. After ten years, she looked younger than ever, but the anxiety in her eyes had been replaced by an arrogance and snobbishness that left others slightly uncomfortable.

They didn’t talk for long before Calvin’s mother dragged him away. Amber saw that Calvin was being helplessly pushed toward a well-dressed man by his mother, and not knowing why, she sighed lightly.