RISING EARLY, Lola Helene put on her maroon drawstring straight pants, black flipflops, and an oversized white T-shirt. With her blue bucket hat on, she went out all alone. Like typical elderlies, she didn't want to feel useless or a bother for needing too much assistance, so while carrying a huge plastic bag containing a packaged set of pillowcases, blanket, and bedsheets, she did not bring her granddaughter, Kaelee, with her.
When Lola Helene came back from the market, Kaelee noticed a big smile that placed more wrinkles on her face. The old woman—who was petite with big-boned stature, had thick, white wavy hair that reached her shoulders, and a strong face—breezed by the kitchen to leave the groceries on the dining table. Then, she returned to the living room, sat in her rocking chair, and excitedly shared some news.
"Did you know? I just saw Dr. Alfred Sin."
"Who is he, Lola?" Grandma.
"An excellent surgeon, hija..." She trailed off as if she was trying to figure out something before continuing. "A very excellent surgeon."
Kaelee nodded before returning her eyes to her book. When she got up this morning, she took a book and read it on her lap while sitting on a one-seat sofa in the living room. She put her auburn hair up with a hair clamp and began reviewing in preparation for her training soon as a nurse trainee.
Lola Helene continued. "He said, he'll help you with your training. You don't have to bring out money, hija. The only thing that Doc wants in exchange is for you to be his assistant in his own clinic."
'Of course, there's always something in exchange for something. Who helps for free these days?' Kaelee released a heavy sigh.
"He works in San Rafael Hospital." The grandmother slowly closed her monolid eyes. Slowly rocking in her chair already relaxed her bit by bit. "It's pretty close by, isn't it? My granddaughter can just walk on her way there."
"Y-Yes."
Kaelee forced a smile. She was really grateful to her grandmother. She really was. She appreciated her grandmother's help in finding her a hospital where she could do her training. What made her hesitate about the offer though was the doctor. First, she had no idea who Dr. Sin was. She hadn't even seen him on any occasion where her grandmother would invite her friends to celebrate with them. So, she was wondering how Helene met Dr. Sin, or when they first met.
Second, he was a surgeon, just like what Lola Helene said, but it baffled her how they could even meet. Because her grandmother—who was pretty lively and strong for her age—had never undergone any kind of surgical operation.
Therefore, Kaelee had every right to have second thoughts about accepting that doctor's help—because the only thing she knew about him was that he was a surgeon...an excellent surgeon.
⚕
A WEEK had passed. It was already Sunday and Kaelee was bored, so she kept an eye on her old model laptop. She spent the whole day waiting for e-mails from the hospitals where she sent applications for training opportunities. A keypad cell phone rested on the one-seat sofa, right beside her, just in case she would receive any calls or texts from them.
Kaelee promised herself that when the day ended and no hospital accepted her application, she would ask for the school admin's help. She could just turn to Dr. Alfred Sin for help, but she was still dubious about his offer. He didn't even show up for a week after he made that offer, making her distrust for him grow.
At this point, she was speculating that he must be just one of those random strangers who boasted about himself and his profession without any intention of following through with the help he was offering. It wasn't surprising for her grandmother to stumble upon people like that because she was friendly and loved greeting people.
Even if he wasn't boastful, he couldn't be serious about helping a stranger, right? Especially about hiring an unregistered nurse to be his assistant in a clinic!
On the other hand, Lola Helene was busy cooking in the kitchen. Kaelee was aware of that, so she took charge of opening the door when she heard several knocks on it.
As she opened the door, Kaelee was blown away by the sight of the man who stood close to her height of 5'7. He was wearing black slacks and a black, button-down long-sleeved shirt. Frequent low ponytails created a waist for his nape-length, straight brunette hair, giving off a wolf-cut hairstyle. His complexion is as pale as silver. His lips are thin and downturned. His eyebrows were arched and thin. He flashed a grin that made her want to grab onto something or else, she would fall her ass flat on the floor like every victim in a horror movie.
Aside from the short stubbles that framed the shape of lower-half of his face, another remarkable feature of his was his eyes that both had black, narrow irises and chartreuse lenses with subtle hints of topaz-yellow shades, the eyes of a snake.
"Good afternoon, hija. I'm Surgeon Sin, by the way," the man grinned devilishly.
His snake-like eyes made Kaelee wonder what made him a qualified surgeon. Why would San Rafael Hospital hire a man who looked as messed up as the surgeon in front of her?
"Hi," she stammered as she tried to calm her nerves and compose herself.
'Don't...Don't panic. He is...He is the surgeon...who talked to Lola...An excellent surgeon...'
Her grandmother left the kitchen when she overheard an unfamiliar voice from the living room. Kaelee shifted her eyes from the guest to her grandmother when she blocked her way in order to welcome the doctor.
"O, it's you, Dr. Sin!" Lola Helene exclaimed with a smile before shaking the doctor's hand. "It's so nice of you to visit! Come, get inside"
"Oh, thank you," he smiled at her grandmother. "I thought," he groaned, "this little kid will just make me stand here by the door."
"Oh, please, excuse my granddaughter. She must be stunned upon seeing the man who will make her dreams come true," Lola Helene chuckled as she guided Dr. Sin to one of the one-seat sofas.
'The man who will make my dreams come true? Hay, Lola! If we survived without men, why would I need another one to reach my dreams?' Kaelee thought with her hands on her waist while shaking her head and watching the two.
"Well, what could be that dream?" the doctor replied to her grandmother's remark. Then, he sat on one of the soft sofas with an old faded green cover on it.
"My granddaughter wants to be a nurse." After saying that, Lola Helene glanced in her direction. She gestured for her to approach them.
At the same time, the doctor answered bitterly, "It's so nice for the little girl to desire to take care of people. What a selfless little Mother Theresa."
Kaelee could note the sarcasm in his remark. The surgeon was even wearing a bored, mocking grin as his eyes boldly stole a glance at her. So, with controlled irritation, she looked away from him. It was only when she realized that she got stuck where she stood. She immediately closed the door and approached the two.
Her grandmother held her shoulder. "Oh, Kae," Lola Helene turned to her, "I'll leave you two for a while so that you can discuss your training. Let me just finish cooking our dinner." Then she swiftly turned to the doctor who was already scanning the whole room with his eyes. "And Doc, please, join us for dinner. I wanted to hear the details about my Kaelee's training too."
Another sinister smile crept across his face. "Sure. I would love to."
Kaelee swallowed. 'Why is Lola not scared of this doctor's face?'
Lola already attended to her cooking in the kitchen, so Kaelee was left with no choice but to occupy the other one-seat sofa right across from where the doctor sat.
Once she was seated, she observed the surgeon. He was noticeably comfortable—his arms stretched out on each armrest of the seat, and his legs stretched over the brown carpet with his toes almost underneath the glass coffee table.
On the other hand, Dr. Alfred Sin was done surveying the room—from the carpeted floor to the two one-seat sofas. From the longer sofa with a green cover to the rocking chair positioned between the two one-seat sofas. There was a small TV right beside the one-seat sofa across from where he sat. And on the corner of the living room, against the wall beside the door, was an old model sewing machine with a pedal and a wheel. Close to it was a clothes rack and a big bag full of textiles with random designs.
Next, he took a look at Kaelee and began observing her, too. She has clear, cinnamon-brown eyes, a few shades darker than her wavy auburn hair that reached her shoulders and matched the paleness of her skin. Her lips are pale pink and curved in a displeased manner without even having to frown to make it obvious. Despite all the pretty colors that made up her features, the doctor could only see nothing but red. Just a red light with the shape of a young girl. A glowing red light that shone brighter around the head.
'Red...' When he noticed that she had been motionless for minutes, he realized that she must be staring at him, observing him, too. So, he started talking. "So, little girl, would you like to ask me if I got you a slot for training at San Rafael or would you be more interested to know why my eyes look like this?"
Kaelee parted her lips lightly, discreetly drawing in a deep breath fright after she gasped.
Surgeon Sin had his snake eyes for around two years, so it wasn't new to him when people got curious to know how it was even possible to have eyes like his.
"Well, little girl." He clasped his hands together and leaned a little forward to place his elbows on his knees, "I did these all by myself."
"You did?" Kaelee pulled herself back as the surgeon leaned forward and gave her an upward look through his snake-like eyes.
By taking a closer look, his narrow irises dilated like a balloon slowly inflating until they were round and full.
Next, a creepy grin flashed from the surgeon. He just could not help smiling as his infrared vision shifted into human vision to see every detail and color of Kaelee's face.
He managed to conceal his shock when he realized that he made a wrong impression about her based on his infrared vision. She looked like a little girl but it was only because of her petite form. When he saw the complete detail of her strong face, he could already tell that they were around the same age. If he was thirty-four, then, probably she was around thirty or thirty-one years of age.
"Ahuh. I replaced my eyes with these. Oh, it's been a little bloody. I touched some veins that I shouldn't have." Surgeon Sin smiled, enjoying the look of disbelief on the girl's face. "Well...how am I supposed to avoid mistakes like that? I am operating my own eyes! I can't see anything!"
He wanted to burst laughing at how she looked, at the terrified expression on her face. She grimaced even if she knew that would be offensive on his part because she was genuinely struggling to keep her reaction.
"I'm used to that look because I get a lot of reactions like that," Dr. Alfred sat straight, keeping his distance from Kaelee. "So, now that your first question is answered, let me answer the second one, did you get a slot in San Rafael?"
"W-Well...Did I?" She unconsciously threw a hand on her stomach. Dr. Sin's grin stretched wider. He had an impression that the little girl still got a hang-over and felt like throwing up because of the story about his eyes.
Dr. Alfred crossed his arms. "Yes, little girl. Your class records are poor, but I told them that I will be responsible for your little mistakes if ever, so they accepted." Then, he shrugged nonchalantly. "But I bet, they're eager for you to make a lot of mistakes so that they can hold me responsible by kicking me out of the hospital."
Kaelee narrowed her eyes because of the snide remark about her grades. Dr. Alfred understood the same from her reaction and gave less fucks about it. Why? Didn't he just say the truth? She got poor grades, so he believed that that would make her pretty clumsy during her training!
"I will do my best," Kaelee answered bravely. "I really, really want to graduate."
"I'm glad to hear that," he smiled. But Dr. Alfred could not help shaking his head, there was just something odd about her sudden bravery. "By the way, I told Helene that there's a payment for that help. Are you aware of that?"
She nodded. "I know. You need an assistant in your clinic."
"You got it," he smirked. "Are you really brave?"
"What do you mean?"
His eyes narrowed into thin, vertically elongated black irises again as he gave her a promising look—a promise of more surprises for her. Because he was certain at this moment that Kaelee's arrival in his life was predetermined by some mysterious force. It was because of how he seemed to know her already and to know what to do to her the very first time he saw her. They just met, but he already had plans on what to do to her—in a professional sense, though.
"Are you brave enough to work in my clinic? It's not just blood and nursing in my clinic. You will witness how passionate I am about surgery. So passionate that the sight of it might be worse than seeing my eyes."
Kaelee let out a scoff. "Oh, come on! The cannibal movies I've watched must be even worse than that!"
"Then you'll love my clinic," he grinned.