Linger

Choices

Gavin takes Taruna to the front garden of the hospital. They sit on long wooden benches in the shade of large, shady trees that protect them from direct sunburn. Their gazes were thrown far ahead, at the expanse of colorful flowers swaying in the wind.

"Where is Kalea?" taruna asked, being the first person to open his voice because Gavin had not opened his mouth since minutes ago.

"It was high all night again, but now it's okay." Gavin replied with a gaze that was still thrown far ahead. In his head right now, there were far more things raging about. Too complicated, until he himself is unable to parse it one by one.

"If Sierra, what? It's improving?" Gavin asked after silence re-encompassed them for some time. This time, Gavin asked this while turning his head, a little surprised when he found the Cadets looked dreamy with a blank look.

"For the moment, fine. But nothing can really be expected, because Sierra disease is so, drowning arises."

When Taruna lowered her head with a slick smile on her handsome face, Gavin knew the man beside her was trying to hold the pain in her chest.

Gavin doesn't know why he feels that Taruna is as tied to Sierra. It was as if the little girl was not just a child she had adopted from a deceased relative. It's as if Taruna and Sierra's relationship is much closer than that.

However, Gavin had no right to ask further. He did know the Taruna for quite a long time, but not much that the man was willing to share with him. It was not like her who shared almost half of her life story with the man.

"G ...." The cadet suddenly raised her head and turned her head towards Gavin. "Bouquet the same fruit basket in Kalea's room, I brought it. Yeah, in case you want to know."

For a moment, Gavin was silent. Then he began to pay more attention to the Taruna.

"Where do you know that Kalea likes blue hydrangea flowers?" actually, this question has been tickling Gavin ever since. So, since Taruna is alluding to her, she'll have them.

"She likes the flower?" The cadets asked back, making one eyebrow Gavin raised up. "So I went to the flower shop, kept the florist there, gave me the flower recommendation just as I said I wanted to see a sick friend. Since I do not know what Kalea likes flowers, yes I take it as recommended."

The explanation of the cadets sounds absurd. Because, since when is there a florist who will recommend a blue hydrangea to be taken to the hospital?

However, as Gavin felt there was no reason for him to look further at the flower, he decided to just nod his head and close his lips tightly.

For a while, no one spoke anymore. Both Gavin and Taruna were silent with their chaotic heads. There is only one equation from the many thoughts that exist in their heads, namely the existence of the name Irina.

The silence lasted long enough, until finally Taruna exhaled loudly and again became the first person who again took the initiative to open his voice.

Gavin turned his head for a while, then returned a forward look. He let out a loud breath, tempering the uneasiness that had left him unsettled lately.

"Is she okay?" ask Gavin. He turned his head back, finding Taruna looking down at the ends of his shoes.

The cadets did not answer. He was silent for quite a while before finally raising his head and finding Gavin staring at him with a gaze too difficult to translate.

"Good definition according to that lo, what do you think?" The cadets asked back. One corner of his lips lifted up, forming a smile that was too difficult for Gavin to understand.

Gavin has no stock of vocabulary in his head to answer the question behind Midshipmen. Because, he himself did not know what he meant by doing well when he himself realized that he had put Irina in an uncomfortable situation. Like that, for example.

"Gue rasa .. It's time you consider starting to release Irina slowly, Vin." The cadets said that after thinking a thousand times.

After passing through the night filled with nightmares and torturous days, today, Taruna finally dared to say that to Gavin. Because to be honest, he's sick of seeing the woman he loves get caught up in this kind of fucking relationship.

Even if Irina will not end up with him, Taruna still wants the woman to be at least with the man who really loves her, and will not support her for any reason.

"It's not that easy, Na." Gavin replied after being silent for quite a while. Now, replace him who's down. Stare at the tips of his shoes that seem to be sticking out his tongue, mocking his inability to choose.

"There are a lot of things that we went through together. It's not that easy to get to the word done." The sentence slid along with the bitterness created from each of his memories with Irina. Memories that he once thought would make him smile widely when remembering, but now it makes him grimace.

"But finishing is obviously easier than constantly putting Irina in painful situations." The cadets, with all their might, refrained from throwing fists at Gavin's face. He's still trying to control himself. Understand clearly that at the moment he can only position himself as a friend who stands in the middle, not taking sides with anyone.

"Gue knows, Na. For God's sake, I know. I just .. It takes a little more time." Gavin raised his face. Their gazes met, and the Midshipman could see there was so much spark containing so many feelings that mixed into one out of Gavin's eye gaze.

"The more you delay, the more you hurt Irina." Finally, that's all you can say. He decided to get up from the chair and hurt his hands.

Before leaving Gavin, Taruna lowered her head for a moment to return Gavin's gaze. "Not only Irina, you'll also hurt Kalea if one day she finally finds out about this." Later, Taruna passes from there, leaving Gavin with an increasingly guilty feeling.

Seriate