{"id":3182,"date":"2017-12-07T05:45:49","date_gmt":"2017-12-07T05:45:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emendedhearts.com\/?p=3182"},"modified":"2023-02-14T21:58:43","modified_gmt":"2023-02-15T02:58:43","slug":"doctor-patient-confidentiality-chapter-fifty-two","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emendedhearts.com\/ar\/doctor-patient-confidentiality-chapter-fifty-two\/","title":{"rendered":"Doctor-Patient Confidentiality: Chapter Fifty-Two"},"content":{"rendered":"

Music blares through the night, streaming loudly through the entire two-story duplex, the bass of the speakers booming through the floor. There are red plastic cups and fake cobwebs scattered everywhere. Halloween-themed decorations line the walls and furniture, and there\u2019s an abundance of candy and candy-flavored alcohol all over the countertops.<\/span><\/p>\n

Loud, rowdy voices and even louder Pop music fill my ears, and in spite of the loudness around me, it\u2019s hard to ignore the obnoxious laughter of some fellow dressed up as Gandalf sitting right across from me. We\u2019re finally here at the \u2018infamous\u2019 Halloween house party, and after tonight, my ears probably won\u2019t ever function again from the sheer torture I\u2019m subjecting them to.<\/span><\/p>\n

My body is slightly sinking into an old, worn couch as I grip one of the many identical red cups in my hand. I\u2019m surrounded, in a house full of people I don\u2019t know, and the only person I do <\/em>know, is busy flirting with one of the basketball players over at the ridiculously large pool table behind me.<\/span><\/p>\n

We\u2019ve barely been here for thirty minutes and I\u2019m already bored\u2014and annoyed<\/em>\u2014out of my mind. I absently look to my right and I see a group of girls in various R-rated costumes dancing and singing along\u2014quite badly, I might add\u2014to a Britney Spears song a few feet away from me.<\/span><\/p>\n

Everyone, including Trixie, is present and lively, enjoying the night and everything else it has to offer.<\/span><\/p>\n

I, on the other hand, am on a completely different wavelength. I\u2019m here, but I\u2019m also \u0644\u064a\u0633 <\/em>here. My mind is absent, in some other place and preoccupied with other things that don\u2019t involve red cups, cobwebs, and rowdy people in costumes that are only slightly<\/em> less revealing than see-through lingerie.<\/span><\/p>\n

A guy dressed up as Ace Ventura comes up to me for the third or fourth time since I\u2019ve been here, holding out yet another red cup to me.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHere,\u201d he says, smiling eerily behind his dark shades and bringing me out of my thoughts. \u201cTry some of the Halloween punch. It\u2019s really good,\u201d he offers for the millionth time.<\/span><\/p>\n

His \u201cHawaiian vacation\u201d shirt, tight pants, and slicked-back hair only add to his creepy demeanor instead of offering comic relief. To say that I\u2019m leery of him would be the understatement of the century.<\/span><\/p>\n

I shake my head and give the same reply I did before. \u201cNo thanks, I\u2019m good,\u201d I gesture with a slight raise of my cup, showing him that I still have a good amount of whatever it is Trixie gave me when we got here.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s sickeningly obvious that \u201cAce\u201d is trying to get me drunk\u2014or more likely, roofie the hell out of me\u2014and is making no attempt whatsoever to conceal his intentions. Frankly, his approach is beyond tacky, not to mention pretty insulting. The whole exchange just feels cheap and gross. I mean, jeez, what the hell ever happened to at least trying <\/em>to be inconspicuous?<\/span><\/p>\n

As I try in vain to ignore his annoying and persistent advances, I only know one thing for sure; I\u2019m really starting to regret coming here. I\u2019m pretty sure I would have been better off if I\u2019d stayed at home. Instead of keeping my mind off things I\u2019d rather not be thinking about, all this \u2018party\u2019 is doing is pissing me the hell off.<\/span><\/p>\n

My eyes keep darting toward the door. I honestly contemplate leaving several times, and I feel extremely tempted to just walk out of there when Ace Ventura offers me yet another <\/em>drink.<\/span><\/p>\n

This guy seriously doesn\u2019t get the hint! Or more likely, doesn\u2019t care enough to take it. Either way, I\u2019m not at \u0627\u0644\u062c\u0645\u064a\u0639 <\/em>in the mood to deal with his\u2014or anyone else\u2019s\u2014bullshit tonight.<\/span><\/p>\n

I get up just as Ace tries to make another pass at me, thankfully dodging him and his uncoordinated body. I make a bolt for it, walking briskly to the balcony because it’s the only escape in sight.<\/span><\/p>\n

As soon as I step outside, frigid air pierces through the flimsy layers of my clothes and shoots straight into my bones.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Jesus,” I mutter, wincing as I brace myself against the iciness seeping into my skin. As cold as it is out here, I’ll take having popsicles for legs over dealing with a sloppy, drunk asshole and torturing my ears with obnoxious music.<\/span><\/p>\n

I slide the door closed behind me and exhale long and deep, willing my lungs to expunge all the tiredness and frustration I feel along with the air that\u2019s leaving them, but I guess life doesn’t work that way.<\/span><\/p>\n

I lean against the wooden railing, putting virtually all my weight on it as my eyes cast themselves on the view ahead; buildings and bare deciduous trees scattered all over campus, dimly lit by sparse yellow lights.<\/span><\/p>\n

Even in the darkness of winter, the stretch of the university is quite visible from here. The view is great\u2014relatively, anyway\u2014showcasing the better part of campus and all it has to offer.<\/span><\/p>\n

I remember the first time I had laid my eyes upon it. I had been so excited to be here, ecstatic and hopeful for the future and everything it had in store for me\u2014until I realized that the future had nothing but pain and misfortune as far as I was concerned.<\/span><\/p>\n

In just six years, looking at the same place I had first seen at eighteen only reminds me of how much I have lost; time, my family, my friends, chance at a normal life\u2026myself. Most of all, I’ve lost myself. So much that I’ve grown to accept the incessant hollowness that’s been with me ever since. A void that won\u2019t go away. A hollowness that can\u2019t be filled.<\/span><\/p>\n

It’s hard to believe how different I was back then, practically a lifetime ago; completely different from the person I am now. Everyone changes somewhat over time, but it was different for me. Certain outlooks and views change with experiences, but the fundamentals always remain the same.<\/span><\/p>\n

Except with me.<\/span><\/p>\n

I had changed fundamentally, at the very core of my being and existence. I had become someone else entirely, someone others didn’t recognize any longer, someone even I couldn’t recognize anymore after a while.<\/span><\/p>\n

And I learned to be okay with that.<\/span><\/p>\n

I sigh in exasperation. I came here to get my mind off everything, not plunge deeper into my self-pity woes and\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

The balcony door slides open, and I turn to see who it is.<\/span><\/p>\n

Immediately, my eyes are met with an immaculate, white lab coat, and instantly, the sight of it makes my brain fire up a single, distinct image;<\/span><\/p>\n

Frost\u2019s image.<\/span><\/p>\n

My eyes remain glued to the white fabric for some unknown stretch of time before I even notice the body that\u2019s wearing it. I eventually look up to see its owner staring at me, and despite the shadows that are cast over most of his face and his sandy brown hair, I can make out his slightly quizzical expression that transcends his dark eyes. For some reason, he screams frat boy even if he\u2019s in a lab coat and scrubs instead of khakis and a polo shirt.<\/span><\/p>\n

Suddenly, the sound of someone clearing their throat breaks the relative silence, and I finally notice that there\u2019s someone else standing right beside him\u2014a fairly tall brunette, wearing a rather scanty nurse costume.<\/span><\/p>\n

She shoots me a death glare, her eyes narrow slits and borderline homicidal, and it\u2019s then that I realize that they are a couple. This whole time, I\u2019ve been staring at her boyfriend, and quite blatantly, too.<\/span><\/p>\n

Christ, this is just <\/em>\u0644\u064a\u0633 my day.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

I can\u2019t seem to escape unwanted attention for shit.<\/span><\/p>\n

The \u201cnurse\u201d continues to stare me down, but as awkward as the situation is for me, there\u2019s obviously no point in trying to explain that I didn\u2019t mean to oogle her boyfriend, considering her eyes alone would have killed me ten times over already if they were even remotely capable of murder\u2014which, with the way she\u2019s looking at me, I kind of have to wonder if they are.<\/span><\/p>\n

I quickly avert my eyes, but not before noticing the pleased expression on the guy\u2019s face. He obviously thinks I was checking him out\u2014much like his girlfriend, despite their polar reactions. And that\u2019s definitely <\/em>not a good thing. Flattered boyfriend plus pissed off girlfriend equals a very bad migraine for Ramona\u2014and probably worse. So what I need to do is exit stage left. Right \u062d\u0627\u0644\u064a\u0627<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t want to give either of them\u2014mainly the girlfriend, really\u2014further opportunity to blow an innocent misunderstanding way out of proportion.<\/span><\/p>\n

Plus, the last thing I need right now is to be dragged into some unnecessary relationship drama that doesn\u2019t even concern me. Besides, I\u2019ve had enough fresh air and enough time to be alone with my wandering thoughts; thoughts that seem to keep coming back to the same person.<\/span><\/p>\n

Damn Dexter Frost.<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m miles and miles away from him, surrounded by over a hundred people on one of the busiest nights of the semester, and somehow, he still <\/em>manages to find a way to occupy all the space in my brain.<\/span><\/p>\n

I sigh.<\/span><\/p>\n

So much for a distraction.<\/span><\/p>\n

***<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Music blares through the night, streaming loudly through the entire two-story duplex, the bass of the speakers booming through the floor. There are red plastic cups and fake cobwebs scattered everywhere. Halloween-themed decorations line the walls and furniture, and there\u2019s an abundance of candy and candy-flavored alcohol all over the countertops. Loud, rowdy voices and even louder Pop music fill my ears, and in spite of the loudness around me, it\u2019s hard to ignore the obnoxious laughter of some fellow dressed up as Gandalf sitting right across from me. We\u2019re… \u0627\u0642\u0631\u0623 \u0623\u0643\u062b\u0631<\/a><\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2990,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[96],"tags":[],"series":[99],"class_list":["post-3182","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-contemporary-2","series-doctor-patient-confidentiality"],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/emendedhearts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/DPC-Wattpad-Header-1024x341.jpg","blog_images":{"medium":"https:\/\/emendedhearts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/DPC-Wattpad-Header-300x100.jpg","large":"https:\/\/emendedhearts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/DPC-Wattpad-Header-1024x341.jpg"},"ams_acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/emendedhearts.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3182","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/emendedhearts.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/emendedhearts.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emendedhearts.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emendedhearts.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3182"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/emendedhearts.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3182\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emendedhearts.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2990"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/emendedhearts.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emendedhearts.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emendedhearts.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3182"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emendedhearts.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=3182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}