Les Laches

The Living Puzzle

Tian put down his phone after sending a message to Meda. Yesterday, after returning home from Zaira's party, Adler invited all members of his family, including Diro, to eat at a seafood restaurant. He may have noticed that his three daughters simply did not fill their stomachs with food served at his mother's birthday party because of where they went, there would be many eyes that followed and threw a reproachful gaze at them.

Arriving at home, Tian was already extraordinarily exhausted and with the condition of a full stomach thanks to his second “party”, could not prevent drowsiness to attack him.

In the morning, Tian woke up with a high body temperature and a slightly dizzy head. After forcing himself to descend into the kitchen and fill his stomach, Tian took a fever-relieving medicine and went back to sleep. Tian had only woken up a few minutes ago and immediately darted to take ablution because the dhuhur time was only about 15 minutes left. He ignored the protests of his body to return to rest because he wanted to wait for the next prayer time.

While waiting for that, then he remembered his intention to contact Meda who repeatedly failed. Moments after he put down his phone, Lydia walked into Tian's room. The little girl who rarely visited her brother's room even invited Joan, Tian's other sister to deliver a piece of porridge and water.

“Mama was out for a while to nganter Marcela to the doctor. From this morning her body was hot.” Lydia explains Bella's whereabouts without being asked.

Tian gave a small nod as he began to bribe the food his two younger siblings brought. It is not until the liver delays eating with the reason to keep ablution. Seeing the faces of his two younger siblings while waiting for him to eat the contents of his bowl made Tian desperately try to repel the shadow of himself who had to feel the sensation of shivering a second time when his skin came into contact with the tap water.

“Kak.” Joan who was sitting next to Lydia suddenly started tugging at the end of her second sister's clothes.

Lydia looked at Joan while stroking her sister's head.

“Iya, Jo. If Mama hasn't come home in five minutes, Brother who left alone bought his demon plug.” Lydia explained patiently.

“Ceker satan?” Tian's forehead wrinkled as he heard the name of the food coming out from his younger siblings' lips. At one time, it was a spicy food that was not commonly consumed by children of Joan's age.

Lydia who seemed to be able to catch the anxiety on Tian's face immediately whispered something in her brother's ear. “I usually buyin the usual sausage seasoning for Joan.”

“Patience, yes?” lidia said again as she turned back towards Joan.

However, Joan who seemed to have been asked several times to be patient, began to run amok. He tugged at Lydia's thin arms with energy from her body that was spelled out to be the size of a 10-year-old girl.

“Buy where, Lid?” tanya Tian who was trying to compensate for Joan's loud screams and cries with her weak voice.

“In front of Joan's school, sister,” replied Lydia with the position of the body already half lifted from the seat where she sat.

Tian's eyes were rounded. “New Joan's school?”

“Iya.”

“Dianter Mr Diro?” ask Tian again.

“Pak Diro again pick up Papa, Kak.”

“Continue? Riding a bike?” guess Tian.

Lydia nodded timidly. He seemed to be preparing to see the surprised reaction his brother showed in his answer. The new school Joan was studying at was almost five kilometers away from their home. The idea of traveling that distance only by cycling is actually not a thing to worry about. Only, the road that must be passed by Lydia to reach Joan's new school is a busy road passed by cars and other dangerous vehicles.

“No can,” break up Tian finally.

Joan's cry that almost subsided, returned to blaze when she heard the words of Tian.

“Ya. Wait Mama yes, Jo.” 

Lydia tried to persuade Joan. However, his words fell on deaf ears. Joan is getting raging.

“Kakak aja departing.” Tian got up from the sofa in his room and grabbed a batwing-arm cardigan from a hanger in his room to line his navy sweat shirt and shorts before heading out of the room.

“But, Brother Tian ‘kan again sick. We wait for Mama, yes.” This time it was Tian who was the target of the persuasion from Lydia.

“Ngak, Lid. If Joan won't wait until tomorrow, sister's leaving now. Mama already quite bothered to take care of Marcela,” reject Tian firmly.

Hearing Tian's explanation, Lydia did not dare to bid anymore. He only advised his brother not to speed while driving considering Tian's condition has not recovered properly. Tian reached out to him and hurriedly walked towards the garage through the door in the living room. His feet had already reached half of the stairs when he felt suddenly his gaze was twitching. Tian moved his hand to hold onto the railing. However, before his goal was achieved, darkness surrounded his vision and body mass as if it were leaving him. The remnant of consciousness he tried to maintain to the end only made him feel a tremendous pain all over his body before he finally completely lost the ability to sense anything.

Tian woke up with a great pain that hit his head. However, it was nothing compared to the pain that attacked all the joints in his body. The turbulence in his stomach that returned was felt, worsening everything. Tian wanted to groan, but the voice he was trying to let out came to a halt in his throat that felt dry. He tried to move, but the extreme pain on the right side of his body made him re-energize his body. It took Tian a long time to recall the thing that happened to him before he fainted. After recalling everything, he came to the conclusion that he suffered a broken bone thanks to a fall from the stairs to the garage.

"Hi."

A voice greeted Tian as the girl tried to guess who was taking her to the hospital. Tian tried to move his head to look at the figure of the owner of the voice, but the limitations of his ability to move made him unable to do much. Luckily the figure seemed to understand the helplessness of the girl and decided to move closer, even with his attention fetching a glass of water for Tian. Tian did not immediately receive the glass handed to him as his eyes recognized the figure now sitting nearby.

"Why are you here, Med?" tanya Tian who still did not expect that the figure in the long-sleeved shirt of cream color was the same as the figure he had missed over the past few weeks.

"You chatted me and asked to meet today." Meda threw a concerned look at Tian and had almost asked one of the guards to apply for a CT scan in case the girl had dissociative amnesia thanks to the impact she had experienced.

"Yes, I remember. What I'm asking is, how did you know I was in the hospital? You haven't even replied to WA's chat from me when I was leaving the house."

"I called you and your sister answered. They cry on the phone. Say you fell down the stairs and were unconscious. I happened to be on my way home when I heard the news. So, I can quickly come to the house you bring you here," explained Meda at length.

"Thanks." -."

Tian finally said slowly after a long time considering what was the most appropriate word for Meda at this time. In fact, his brain thought of many things to say, but he subconsciously revealed all of his head without first thanking the young man felt very disrespectful. Meda simply responded to Tian's remark with a brief nod.

"Where are my sisters now?" ask Tian again.

"Home on. There must be someone at home to tell the chronology of your fall in the garage to your Mom Papamu. Putting that message in the same caretaker in your house will take a lot of time, while handling your wounds and broken bones can't wait." Meda again gave a long explanation so that there was no room for Tian to ask questions for the sake of just prolonging the conversation.

"How long have I fainted?" ask Tian again.

Meda checked her watch before answering. "Two hours."

Both are silent again. Tian tried to turn his attention to the cast that wrapped his right hand to overcome the awkwardness he felt. He actually wanted to open a conversation with Meda about his purpose for asking to meet, but his gut feeling said this time was not the right time. His parents could show up at any time and make the conversation between them cut off halfway. It will be more difficult to continue that stalled conversation than to start it.

Justright. Moments after Tian thought about it, the mosquito net separating his bed from the other patient's bed in the Emergency Unit room opened and his mother's swollen face appeared there. A second later, his father walked in with a tired face and Marcela fell asleep in his carrier. Before catching up with Bella to see Tian's condition, he approached Meda to thank her. Without him, Tian would probably have had more serious complications from a broken bone from the fall.

"Where's the pain, son?" asked Bella who came back to shed tears when she saw the cast in her daughter's hand.

Tian almost cried to see his mother's face if he did not remember that Meda was still nearby. Meda who seemed to be able to read the girl's mind finally said goodbye to leave the room for a moment. Tian who thought that the young man was going home hurriedly prevented his departure unknowingly.

"I just want to go to the cafeteria for a while" Meda said with a soothing smile.

The first smile that Tian had seen since the incident that happened between them a few weeks ago. There was a slight pain in his chest as he recalled that there was still an incomplete misunderstanding between the two and that the smile he had just shown him might not contain sincerity. As Meda had completely left, Tian began to cry. There were many things she tried to cover with that cry. Sadness at the sight of his mother's tears, guilt at the tired face of his father, to the burden in his heart that never lessened because of his conflict with Meda.

As his crying subsided, Tian asked Adler to take him home. While waiting for his father to finish his medical administration, Tian contacted Meda to find out his whereabouts.

“OK. I'm going there now,” Meda replied before terminating the phone line.

Meda arrives at about the same time as Adler who throws a meaningful glance at the young man. Meda simply returned the gaze with a wide grin. Tian who was curious about the exchange of gestures between the two decided to ask.

“Papa equals Meda what?”

The two men looked back. Meda shook her head quickly as a gesture for Adler to keep what they were “talk” about. However, Adler shook his head slowly, rejecting the request. If not for being upset over the long gap created between the question he asked with the answer he should have received, Tian must have laughed amusedly at the behavior of the two adult men who reminded him of the interaction between two SD boys when exchanging the cheat. Tian waved his ungiped left hand to attract the attention of the two.

“Meda has already paid all your medical expenses, Ti,” Adler explained finally.

Meda let out a long sigh before turning her face to avoid the intense gaze that Tian aimed at her. Tian bit the inside of his lower lip as he guessed what had actually crossed Meda's head while doing all that for her. Starting from waiting for him in the hospital as long as he was unconscious, then paying the hospital administration for him. All of it does not look like an action that will be done by men who do not hold interest in him. Though, his attitude in the past few weeks that seemed to avoid Tian since their last meeting gave a conflicting impression.

“Oh yes?” Tian tried to show a normal surprised expression, instead of the confusion that dominated his feelings due to Meda's later behavior. 

“Then as a thank you sign. I want to buy you something,” continued Tian while throwing a big smile at Meda as if there had never been a problem between the two.

Inevitably Meda followed the scenario.

After washing her hair that was splashed with blood from the wound on her head and changing her tangled clothes with a high-collared white dress that was carried by Bella, she said, which made Tian again experience a tremendous inner upheaval because of the beauty of the size of the dress, Tian approached Meda who was waiting for him in the hospital lobby. Meda observed the girl's appearance with a slightly wrinkled forehead knowing that the style was slightly different to Tian's usual preference. However, upon realizing the girl looked uncomfortable with her gaze, Meda turned her attention and started walking towards her car. Inwardly, he is grateful that today he brought his Mustang, instead of his sport bike to go to work.

Meda opened the passenger seat to Tian when she saw the girl having trouble doing it with her ungidded left hand. He placed his slim fit suit on Tian's lap before closing the door and entering the car. Tian smiled faintly before using the suit to cover the open area of his legs.

“Where are we going?” ask Meda after her car comes out of the parking lot.

Instead of replying, Tian leaned in to tinker with Meda's car GPS and gestured with his chin for the young man to follow the instructions given by the object. Meda threw a worried look at Tian who suddenly became quiet. Contrary to his behavior a few minutes ago, he convinced his father to hand over his ATM card and PIN before forcing him to allow himself to spend time alone with Meda. Finally, he could only swallow his worries back as the girl decided to close her eyes, as if refusing to start any conversation during the trip.