His Healing

"This year hasn't been a good one for you, huh Carmine? I didn't get the chance to pay my condolences because of the loss of your mom, and now you have a dead government official in your basement that was after you too? You're lucky you had someone around who knew about me and called me. Who was she anyway? Do you know?" The doctor took down an IV bag that just ran dry, to replace it with a new one.

My stomach twisted and tightened as he spoke of the past experiences to his patient like they weren't that big of a deal, and because of the mention of me, as I was peeking around the frame of the open door. I had to see how he was doing, I couldn't help it. As long as I was hidden from the doctor, I'm still keeping my side of the deal anyway.

Carmine looked up at his doctor in the most delicate form that I've ever seen him, but didn't say anything. He's always been the type that even my aura as stubborn as it is, couldn't fight against his, let alone the strength within him as he went about his days, but today even my aura beat his by a long shot.

"Rest for the next week." The doctor continued with a shrug when he didn't respond, "If I'm understanding right you were supposed to go back home in a few days or so, but I don't recommend that you do any traveling until you heal a bit more, alright? You don't treat a neck wound like nothing. I'll check up on you at the end of the week and decide your travel whereabouts from there. I have to meet with another appointment. You know I'm aware you have cameras, so if you do anything you're not supposed to I'm going to know. You hear me?"

"I hear you, Doctor Ku." Carmine responded, obediently. His own stubbornness wasn't there enough to put up a fight even if he wanted to, and that look wasn't one I wanted to swallow or digest. I could imagine him, if feeling well, arguing about his health being fine enough to leave on the day he was supposed to, but this version of him gave in to everything he was told.

"Great. See you in seven then, Jung. Paramedics will be over for you know what down in your basement. Bye for now." I returned to another room down the hall as I heard the doctor hid his farewells, check off something on a clipboard and scribble down some words that were most likely not readable for anyone else on the planet besides himself. Only when I was sure that the front door was shut, and when I saw him get in the car from the driveway I showed myself to Carmine.

"I've never seen you so obedient before. You must not be desperate to go home, huh, Carms?" I knocked twice on the open door when I came in, his face automatically looking up at me when I did it, and the joke made the atmosphere more bright and reassuring.

I sat down on the bed, a soft gaze at my orbs when I looked at him laying; the only position out there that would allow for me to be taller and allow him to appear so small. I would've loved for it to be this way before, but when it comes to this, I liked him being the stronger, more tasteful person in the room between the two of us. I brushed back his hair to show off his forehead, that usually would make his vibes more sexy than cute, to add to what I wanted, but with what the situation was, it didn't do much.

"Why would I argue with getting to stay an extra week with the love of my life?" The smile on his face finally shows his teeth, and was more genuine than any of the rest that he's been putting up, but when it comes to corny call signs, he wasn't the type to say stuff like it, so it made our surroundings laugh-worthy.

"Was that supposed to be sarcastic?" I held back on hitting him playfully on the shoulder, with the condition he was here laying in, no matter how much I wanted to go through with it. Even a person like me knows that hitting a patient is messed up. "Don't be stupid, Carmine. Going through all that you just went through isn't worth having an extra week with me. It wouldn't be equal even if it was a whole month, or really, an entire year. Now you have a healing process to face."

"Now, I have time to make up for the moments I was being a disappointment of creation." The IV dangling from up above us that connected at the center of his arm, seemed to move with the rollercoaster he went on as he hiccuped when he laughed and went embarrassed right after, switching between the two of them repeatedly. "Maybe it's a sign, you know? That when it comes to the two of us, we have something worth fixing if it ever threatens to fall apart."

Like the melody of a drum, I could feel the pounce of the beat that kept me alive charm my existence in a force so strong it could lift we right off the ground and leave me up in the clouds, floating. I've found my cloud nine again. My trust. My happiness, and there's nothing about it that gave me reason to doubt it. "Well, if it's not messed up for me to say it, I'm glad I have time with you too. I wish you never had to leave. I wish our lives paths connected for a longer period of time-."

"Just because we're not in the same place doesn't mean the paths of our lives are done being connected. It just means that we have the choice in keeping it intertwined or not, and when it comes to you, I'll definitely find a way. Letters, or whatever it takes, to keep connected. Before long, we'll meet up again. Maybe it'll be at the time you least expect it. Maybe at the time when we couldn't miss each other any more than the amount we do, we'll show up in front of each other's face." His fingers grazed mine, and though colder than normal, it put a heat throughout me, like a fast bang of electricity. "Promise me something will you?"

"Promise you what?"

"Come with me to the airport, and that day, fully put your trust in me like you believe I know what's best for you."

I put my lips into a thin line, not completely understanding what he meant, but looking at him I couldn't believe that he'd do me any harm. Not after what's happened to us. Not after we gave our all to come out of the hectic day alive, together.

"Okay, I promise."

******

"So how was it?" I asked perkily, as the doctor left the house from the front door after checking up on him like he said he would a week ago. I've hung around by his side the entire time, and the medical person entering was the first time I had to stray away. I returned right when I got the chance. "Are you healing alright?"

"Everything's going great, Riz." Carmine said, just as happily as I did, when he got up out of the bed, free of any IV holding him in it. The silence flowed in among us, the sad piece of the air growing and taking over. He was near to scratching the back of his neck out of the tension, but when he skimmed the bandage, he held himself back. He's doing good, so that means the reschedule of his trip back to Korea was on, and it's him that had the power to acknowledge it first. "We'll see each other again soon. It's not a goodbye, it's a see you later, so there's no need for us to worry about anything."

"So what should I be wearing if I'm going to the airport with you like you wanted me to?" I acknowledged it after he did, using his strength more than my own. I didn't really want to admit that this would be it for a long time. Too long than what I'd want. "That was the promise, right?"

"Yeah, that's right girly." He confirmed, combing his hair with a bit of gel so it styled in a new look. "Wear whatever you want, but no mask and no make up." The color went away from my face, whitening out to a pale look, and he noticed it right away. "Don't freak out, Riz! Jeez! I told you to trust me, didn't I? That was part of the promise too. You're not going to back out on it, are you?"

"O-of course n-not." I stuttered through the phrase, but part of me kind of wished that I was able to say I would. Such a step seemed like a lot, especially because it was on top of us having to separate. If something goes wrong, I'd have to get out of it by myself. Still, I listened to his request, picking out a random pair of his old sweatpants and a dark hoodie with adjustable strings, in case I did need to conceal myself out of nowhere. As much as I do trust him, it was never wrong to take extra precautions. What could the sin be to that?

I followed him to his car, but oddly, even sitting next to him in the passenger seat, the one who seemed to be the sun itself and that shined despite my rainiest days, today felt abnormally scary and upsetting. The sky wasn't as welcoming as it usually was for me these days. I knew this was because my foundation was leaving, far away from me, as he needed to do, and that where I was from wasn't where he belonged. On top of it, if something went wrong with whatever he was planning, it was my fault for existing the way that I am.

But I trust him. I have to. That doesn't mean that I can't have a fear. The wound on his neck is still fresh, so how could the wound of the news that's went public be healed up all the way? Is Carmine's intuition correct; that this time is the best time of all times? The time that would truly be in his control?

We pulled up to the airport seemingly too fast. If that was because I was scared or because I knew my time was ticking down faster and faster, I didn't really want to say - and the reality was that it was probably both. The moment he stepped out of the car, paparazzi and fans swarmed him from every angle, and while the attention was on him, I took the opportunity to hide among the crowd that was already surrounding him as if this were a red carpet event. He made everything look like one, even taped up by medical gauze.

"Carmine! What was the cause of the situation that went up on the live stream of your Instagram account?"

"How's your healing process going, Carmine Jung?"

"There's rumor going around that the attack that was meant to take your life started from Nica Lee's request. Can you confirm or deny these rumors?"

He didn't answer any of them, heading forward to his gate like they didn't exist, and the longer he did so, the more I lingered in the crowd, doing my all to blend in with them. Trying not to exist as much as he was disregarding everyone else, but eventually it came down to a combination of questions that made him stop in his tracks, the paparazzi taking the chance to close in on him tighter.

"Who was the Anonymous Girl, Carmine Jung? Is she the same person as Arizona Yu? Is the rumor that she was your girlfriend that was later denied accurate? Or is the confirmation of your agency with Nica Lee truly accurate?"

He searched for the source of the voice, and as he searched the people paused with throwing out their questions, the only sound being the clicks of their cameras that I could swear I'd never be able to get used to.

From my view at a side angle, I could see his eyes stop when he found what he was looking for, so abruptly that nearly everyone turned to see who exactly he was looking at. The quiet made everyone think he wasn't going to answer, but they were all on their toes hoping that he would come to, and he granted them with their wish, filling in the answers to their suspense.

"Arizona Yu is the love of my life. She's the moon the ocean would hold up a mirror before because she's just that breathtaking. She's the girl that I've given my utmost to convince that no matter how people think of her, she's a rose among dry grass, or among weeds, and the girl that had a hard time to accept that kind of truth. You all know that a flower can't bloom without sunshine, yeah? And a man likewise can't live without love. I would say that regardless of what our experience is, but mine goes literally too, because she's the woman that saved me, allowing me to breathe until now."

The crowd was stunned, they couldn't spit out a single word, and in their speechlessness, Carmine had one finger gesturing me to come in toward him. I pointed at myself out of shock that he'd bring me to the middle of attention, but I inhaled deeply and decided to satisfy him, whatever would come from it. As I came in close enough, he ripped the hoodie off of my features, making them obvious for each and everyone to see.

"She's beautiful isn't she? Inside, one piece of evidence being that gave everything, even if it meant her life to let me live, and outside - I mean look at her, can you deny?" Carmine stared at me as if to admire my features, and though he's done if so many times before this one came in like no other. If calmed my nerves so much that I didn't care about what would come. I only cared about the here and now. "I expect you guys to all take good care of her while I'm away. Until I can come back and care about her myself, okay?"

Still nothing. The crowd didn't know what to do or what to say, and I wasn't certain if I had the right to feel relieved that they didn't try killing me already, but with one step forward of a little girl, five years old at most, and her words, I didn't doubt that I was safe.

"Yeah, Carmine. I agree. She's the most beautiful girl I've ever seen." Her innocent eyes moved from Carmine, staring up at me instead. "You're so pretty, Arizona. Both the heart and the face."

The crowd erupted in applause, and I almost fell over with that result. Did they actually agree?

"I'll come back for you soon, Riza. You're safe here." Carmine whispered into my ear, the gentle grasp on my hand I barely noticed he held out of my amazement, as he went off to his gate, being sure to look back until I believed him. "I told you to trust me."

And the best thing is, I did.