Imperfect Desires

Now, that Darren thought about their friendship, it made his mood dampen a little as well. Because he was reminded that his idiot of a best friend hadn't shown his face even once! He really shouldn't have been hoping to see that idiot but he did. 

"Nora..." he called out Nora. "Is my best friend planning on coming inside anytime soon?"

Nora pursed her lips and asked, "How do you know he is outside?"

"He is my best friend," replied Darren. "I know him better than he knows himself." He sighed out, "Right now, he must be sulking somewhere. With his indecisive personality, if I don't drag him here he won't dare appear before me thinking he is the one at fault." He took a pause briefly, "But that idiot doesn't even realize that even if everything's been his fault, I'd still like to meet my best friend."

"Well..."Nora hesitated before telling him honestly, "He cried for hours after learning about your condition. He hadn't gone back home since you both were shifted from the hospital. He is right outside but he is really scared to come inside."

Darren closed his eyes as he thought about how easy it was to tell Dylan's reaction but it made him smile a little as well. 

"So, he is really not planning on coming inside?" questioned Darren.

"No," Nora shook her head. "He said he was waiting for you to wake up."

"I woke up last night but isn't he still here?" retorted Darren knowingly.

Nora nodded, "He is here. But now he says, he'll steal a glance at you and then he will leave."

Xiu chuckled at that, "Isn't he just finding excuses to linger here?"

Nora agreed, "He is." She looked at Darren and asked, "Should I drag him here? I think I'm still stronger than him."

Darren thought about it and said, "Nah! If he wants to see me, he has to take this step himself. I'd also like to see how much faith he has in our friendship."

Nora wanted to say something but when she saw the doctor entering the room, she pursed her lips and decided to not say anything. Darren was right, they shouldn't be forcing Dylan. He needed time to make up his mind.

After examining Darren, Dr. Ling questioned, "How are you feeling today?"

Darren took a moment to reply, "My head is a little heavy. But the rest is fine."

She examined his vision before saying, "You will have to go through the compulsatory vision rehabilitation. We believe your vision will get better with that." Darren blinked his eyes in response. "Do you have any difficulty in speaking? Maybe some kind of restriction you feel when you're trying to form words?"

Darren looked at Xiu through the corner of his eyes who was listening to the doctor as well and sighed out softly, "It's nothing big. Just a slight restriction I feel when I try to move my tongue."

Dr. Ling noted it down seriously and nodded her head, "Don't worry about it. With a bit of exercise, you won't feel any restriction in speech."

"Thank you!" said Darren politely.

"It's my job," she replied.

"Dr. Ling," spoke out Nora. "Haven't you been up all night? Why is it still you making rounds?"

"The others will be here soon," replied Dr. Ling. "The three of us are asked to do our own thorough examination before coming up with the best treatment plan."

"You've worked hard," said Nora.

Dr. Ling shrugged her shoulders, "As I said, it's my job. And I take my job a little too seriously."

"Doctor, my husband is really fine, right?" questioned Xiu with concern. 

"He is fine," replied Dr. Ling. "Well, it'll take some time for a full recovery but he will be absolutely fine."

"As long as he is fine," sighed out Xiu. That was all that really mattered to her really. 

Nora rubbed Xiu's said saying, "Stop worrying about him and think about your own self first!"

"As a wife, my husband comes before my own life," said Xiu in all seriousness.

Nora pinched her nose, "Stop saying such old fashioned dialogues to me. Right now, both of you need to worry about your own selves first and yet you're both are looking at each other."

"But Xiu is nothing without her Regan," was Xiu's reply.

Darren smiled at her and also joined in, "And Regan is nothing without his Sweets."

"Argh!" Nora cringed at their words. "I thought I was used to it, how do you both manage to penetrate my steel walls? You both might not feel embarrassed with such cheesy words of confessions, but trust me, I do get the second-hand embarrassment. Stop doing it!"

Xiu glared at Nora, "If you have a problem, you stop listening to us. Why should we try to accommodate you? My love doesn't need to accommodate anyone other than my husband."

"Xiu, my darling Xiu, if you continued, I'm gonna stop taking your sides."

"Call me elder sister!" retorted Xiu. "Didn't we just agree on that?"

"Now, I'm not going to!" responded Nora.

"You're going back on your words?" 

"Yeah! What can you do?"

"Hahaha!"

Both Nora and Xiu stopped and looked at Dr. Ling who laughed. "I'm sorry. You both just reminded me of my own best friend. We used to have such petty fights on daily basis. It was a fun time."

"Was?" questioned Xiu curiously.

Dr. Ling nodded, "Yeah. We ended up walking on different paths in life. After all, we both had different destinations in mind." She got out of her daydreaming and added, "By the way, I heard about your condition from your doctor. I didn't think you'd be so lively just after waking up. Usually, patients who come back from the door of death don't act like it."

Xiu shrugged her shoulders, "The point is, I came back from the door of death. And when one comes back, he should not act like a mourner. It should be a welcome back home party, no?"

Dr. Ling's brows raised in surprise at her words.

"I'm not throwing you a party," said Nora.

"I didn't ask for one!" retorted Xiu.