His Confusion

Chapter 11

Gao Shi De got to the hospital 30 minutes later. He was looking lifeless. The bruises had turned different colors that's why he decided to wear a polo neck t-shirt. He went straight into Doctor Ern's office without knocking. The doctor had been staring at her screen concentrating when he walked in. Gao Shi De only realized that he forgot to knock when he was already sitting down.

"I'm sorry for not knocking Doc,  I'm just not myself right now," at least he had the decency of apologizing.

"under the circumstances, I understand MR Gao Shi De."

"Just Gao Shi De, "

"Gao Shi De," she repeated, "are you ready to tell me what happened? Would you like a few minutes to calm down and relax. How about some coffee?"

The doctor could feel his distress. He had bloodshot puffy eyes and looked pale too.

"Thank you doc but I can't seem to hold anything down. I've been throwing up since morning," he let her know.

"why do you think is the reason for that?" she prodded. 

"I just feel disgusted with myself," he scrunched his face feeling precisely as he had said.

"because you had sex with a man?"

"because I forced myself on my best friend," he raised his voice feeling angry and frustrated. He only realized he was crying when he tasted salty liquid in his mouth. He couldn't stop the sob that broke out next

"How could I?" he wept, "how could I have not woken up when he begged me so much to stop?"

"did you talk to your friend to find out what happened?" there are always two sides to every story, the doctor thought.

"h..... he... He was... Gone when I woke up, " he finished with another sob that he stopped right away by holding his mouth. He was distraught.

"How is that even possible doc? I thought it was harmless sleepwalking?"

The doctor just listened to him let out his apprehensions.

"there was no chance that it was consensual?" she asked.

"none whatsoever." his voice was full of conviction.

"How did you come up with the conclusion that you forced yourself on him?" she asked with an exceptionally soft voice.

"I listened to the audio from the cameras?"

"listened? you didn't see it yourself?" the doctor kept on probing.

"I don't have cameras in his room but everywhere else in the house. Remember I told you last time when it started,  I had to install cameras to verify it."

"ok and..." the doctor was a bit taken aback when she saw Gao Shi De taking off his T-shirt. That is when she saw the horrible bruises and scratches on his body.

"how I could not wake up when he fought me so hard still baffles me. Is It supposed to be like that? Am I not supposed to wake up with a slap on my face?"

That's something that has been weighing on his mind.  Why did he not wake up when all these wounds were being inflicted on him? She thought.

"I'm equally dumbfounded by the same thing Gao Shi De . I've only heard of rare cases where people can suppress their consciousness whilst they are sleepwalking and this case is definitely one of them."

"what do I do Doc. I looked for Shu Yi and I couldn't find him. He hates me now right? He will not want to talk to me any more right?" This was one of his biggest fear and he didn't know what to do.

It hit the doctor right then that she asked without thinking, "wait did you just say, Zhou Shu Yi?"

"I said Shu Yi, how do you know his last name?"

Dr. Ern realized her mistake. She opened her mouth like fish out of the water and that gave Gao Shi De all the answers he needed to know. He immediately stood up to leave the room but Dr. Ern rushed to block his way.

"Gao Shi De, you can't!" she tried to reason with him.

"I have to go and see him." He was determined.

"It's too soon. You can't do that to him." She said shaking her head.

"I must see him," he insisted but then he felt insecure, "did he say he doesn't want to see me?" He looked so small asking.

"you have to give him time," the doctor consoled.

Gao Shi De suddenly felt defeated. He just tumbled on the floor.

"what do I do doc? I don't know where to go from here or what I should do. Did you talk to him? Is he in pain? Is he hurting so much?"

"he'll be ok. He just needs time."

*beep*

"doctor your next appointment is here."

A voice came on the receiver on the doctor's table. She went back to her table and pressed a button.

"do we have a vacant office at the moment?" she asked the nurse on the line.

"yes, doctor Cheng Han just left the office for a consultation outside he said he'll be back after an hour."

"great send them in there I'll join them soon. Make sure no one comes into my office until I say so." She instructed.

"got it,"

She ended the line and took her file.

"take all the time you need and let me know if you need anything. I don't usually do this, but you need it. You can use the bed to take a nap or just lay down."

Right after she left the office, she went to the nurse at the reception.

"after this how many more patients do I have?" the day was going to be long. This was a complicated unique psychological case. On top of it all, she was attending to a victim and the instigator so she had to consult the head of the department so they can have a conference on this.

"set up a meeting with the Chief, tell him it's a C2 case. I'll meet him in an hour."

"on it," the nurse replied as she started making phone calls and rapidly typing on the computer.

A C2 case was one that was complicated and the level of complication was second out of three and she couldn't solve this alone.

Moreover, this was a potential crime and she had to be careful and decide whether to send Shi De to the prison for sexual assault.