Mystery Lights

Chapter 5

Saint's POV

With much anxiety I gave my mom the papers that I brought home with me from the ophthalmologist.

My mom had come home early from her shop because she had decided to close early. She was eager to know the results of my eye consult.

My mom was visibly relieved to know that my intermittent vision loss was not being caused by an eye defect or an eye injury. Her relief turned to worry when she saw the ophthalmologist's recommendation for me to get a psych consult.

She immediately made a call to the psychologist recommended by the ophthalmologist, and wonder of wonders, the psychologist was free to see me the same day but late in the afternoon.

She told Perth that he could get off work early because she was going to be the one to take me to my psych visit.

Perth bowed to my mom, and then I was a bit surprised when he took my hand to say to me, "You're gonna be alright, sir."

"Thank you," I said with a smile, "but please stop calling me 'sir', okay?".

"Okay," Perth agreed, "I will see you again on Monday."

"Have a good weekend, Perth," my mom said.

"I will, ma'am, thank you," Perth replied, "I wish you both the same."

With that, Perth took his leave.

My mom told me to lay down for a while until it was time for her to take me to the psychologist's clinic.

I lay in bed and closed my eyes and before I knew it I had dozed off.

I was awakened by a knock on my door.

My mom said it was time to leave for my appointment.

We were met at at the reception area by a young man who gave us a clipboard with a few pages of blank forms for me to fill in. The male receptionist was good looking and had an attractive smile. After I filled in the forms, I handed them back to him and he removed the forms from the clipboard and transferred them to a folder which he brought inside the psychologist's office.

After a brief wait, the receptionist told us that I could go in.

When he saw my mom stand up to accompany me inside, the receptionist asked me if it was okay for me to let me my mom come in with me.

"I think I can manage to be by myself, mom," I said to my mom.

"Alright, son, I will wait out here for you," my mom replied.

The receptionist quickly offered my mom some magazines to read, to keep herself occupied while waiting for me.

I was expecting a female psychologist but was surprised to be met by a young, very good looking guy, much more good looking than the male receptionist.

He stood up from his desk and held his hand out to me.

"Hi, Saint," he said, "I'm Dr. Panich but I prefer my clients to call me by my first name, which is Zee."

"Okay," I said, taking the seat that he motioned for me to take, after we shook hands.

"This is not yet going to be a consult," he said, "this will just be a getting to know each other session."

"In fact, let's move over to that couch over there. Would you like a cup of coffee, or tea? Or perhaps a juice drink?"

"If you have a small bottle of water, I would appreciate it very much," I replied.

"A bottle of water it is," he said, walking over to his room refrigerator and taking out an eight ounce bottle of spring water while he got a small carton of apple juice for himself.

"I also have a tin of butter cookies if you would like to have some," he offered further.

"You're alright, thank you very much," I replied. I wasn't feeling hungry so I declined his offer politely.

I was surprised because instead of asking me questions about myself, he offered information about himself first.

"I'm actually an intern at the psychiatry department of Bangkok General (A/N: fictitious hospital name. Author doesn't know if it actually exists) but because I acquired a doctorate in psychology, I am a practicing psychologist as well. I do this on the side to pay for my medical student loans. At the hospital, I am currently training with a psychiatrist who specializes in helping amnesiac patients to recover their memory."

"That sounds very interesting," I remarked politely, wondering when he was going to start asking me questions about myself.

"I'm actually not from this city." he said, taking a sip from his apple juice, "I come from another province so while I'm practicing here in Bangkok I am renting a town home not far from here."

"I am a Biology student at Chulalongkorn University," I decided to start giving out information about myself. I wasn't interested in his personal information.

"Oh, I see," he said, "what do you major in?"

"Entomology," I supplied the information, "it's the study of insects."

"I know, I know," he said, "I will admit to you that I'm afraid of insects, especially small flying creatures like dragonflies and locusts."

"What about butterflies?" I asked. I couldn't believe that I was the one asking questions.

"Hmmmm.... I'm not scared of them but I don't care much for them either," he replied.

"By the way, when did this intermittent vision loss of yours start?" he asked.

"Just last Monday afternoon when I was on a field trip with my classmates. Our professor told us that we could explore the forest in groups of two to look for a particular rare beetle that is believed to be found only in that forest. When it was time to go back to our original meeting place, my partner and I started walking back and when we reached a clearing I started to see bright flashes of light in front of me that made me unable to see ahead of me."

The psychologist was taking small sips of his apple juice while listening to my narration.

I wondered if I should mention to Zee that the bright flashes started right after Tanya tried to kiss me.

"Did the bright flashes start while walking through the clearing or when you had just stepped into the clearing" Zee asked.

It was then that I decided to come clean.

"When we reached the clearing, my partner stopped and pulled me to her and started to kiss me. At first, because I was taken by surprise, my reaction was to push her away, but as she continued to kiss me, I found myself responding to her kiss."

"And after you responded to her kiss, was that when you started seeing the bright flashes?" Zee asked before standing from the couch to throw the empty carton of apple juice into the trash bin just beside the door.

My cheeks turned a bright red before I answered, almost in a whisper, "Yes, Zee."