Mandalas

Leno Trauma

              Joke descends to 1 floor below the Gardnella room via a capsule elevator. He was only given an hour to complete the Lenolea files that he had not seen since 2 nights ago.  Leno's daily general state report is good. No significant complaints to observe. It is very different from Mia's condition. Joke had indeed felt something strange since that night he brought Leno to Geduna.

              There was no effect that Lentipede had on Leno. There is no fever either. The girl only appeared to be hit once after seeing Mia taken by Maha before. Other than that, there were no abnormalities whatsoever that existed on Leno.

              Joke could not find the answers to her own questions. The capsule elevator opens, Joke gets to the floor - 5. Joke turned right to enter the ward she was looking for. Joke knocks her finger at the large glass door with the red “VIBRIO” lettering glowing on the top. After all the scanners recognized the Joke as the main Mandala unit, Joke breezed in looking for Leno's room.

              After entering the automatic door, Joke saw the daughter he brought to this place 2 days ago. Leno looks good with a geduna white dress that extends to the knees. The boy's hair was already tidier and not as disheveled as that night. Leno was lying on his bed watching a video of the band's concert that he projected onto the ceiling. When the door is automatically closed, Leno turns off the projection. He sat on the bed, watching Joke enter the room wearing a raincoat, or what Leno thought.

              “Congratulations, afternoon, Lenolea. We met 2 days ago.” Joke stood in front of the bed

Leno, looking at Leno from the tip of his hair to his feet. This kid is really healthy, Inner Joke. Then he typed out the fine evidence on his tablet.

              “Hai,” saya Leno. He recognizes Joke who fought with Maha, her sister Mia 2 nights ago. But, this time the victim on Joke's head was nowhere to be seen.

              “What do you feel now?”

              “Alright. I had felt dizzy but long disappeared after resting”

              “What's the dizziness like spinning?”

              “No.”

              “There is nausea or vomiting?”

              “Hmm. There's a little nausea.”

              “What is the dizziness is a very severe headache?”

              “No. Just throbbing alone, on the right side.”

              “From a scale of 1-10, 1 for mild pain, 10 for the heaviest pain of a lifetime, how much is your pain worth?”

              Leno couldn't think of what pain-heavy-life was like. But, it seems like pain

the head that appeared suddenly was not worthy of being ranked that high. “Three, looks like three. Not too sick, but still.sick,” said Leno hesitantly.

              “Did it appear because you were watching the news or sudden stress?” ask Joke again.

              Leno remembers a little bit of stress lately. Everything is always related to the news about the Lentipede attack and also about Mia.

              “Umm.. Yes, it could be.”

              “Is there a double view? Sudden frosting? See the black shadow in your view?

              Leno recalled a shadow of a woman and her baby that appeared suddenly yesterday morning. Does this include the shadow? But, it doesn't seem like that's what Mn meant. Jokes.

              “Lenolea? Did you hear my question?” joke asked worriedly enough to see Leno not responding immediately.

              “No,” Leno replied. “I mean I don't see any shadows.” Leno added quickly.

              “Good. Then.” Joke typed a few words on her tablet. “I'll ask them to give you your headache reliever. This is just a regular migraine triggered by exposure to stress.

              “Rest first here yes. Five more days you can go home.” Joke rubbed the tablet. From behind the raincoat

to be transparent, Leno could see Joke smiling.

              “But, can I go home?” ask Leno. “I mean, friends at school say they can't go anywhere either. What after these 5 days, should I also stay with them there? Or do I have to stay here until they can also go home?”

              Joke thought, no one has talked about this yet. Given only Leno victims who are in good condition from these last 2 attacks. One other victim has died, while Mia certainly will not go home in 5 days.

              “Indeed the situation is difficult. I can't confirm anything yet,” said Joke. “But for sure we won't let you, your friends, and the rest of Trikad's citizens be in a dangerous position. That's all I can say.”

              Leno understands what Joke has to say. There's nothing that can be done. “Good,” Reply Leno.

               There are other things that are still stuck in Leno's head and have not been solved. Leno decided Joke was the right person to ask about this. “Do you know how Mia is doing now?”

              “He is being treated well. One floor above you,” Joke said as she pointed to the ceiling.

              “Can I talk to him?”

              “It seems like it can't yet. It is still very weak.”

              “So yes.” Leno breathed back.  “Will he be okay?”

              Joke's reply left Leno slightly ignited, his emotions exploding all of a sudden. Why did they all say the same sentence about Mia? Doesn't anyone want to be honest with themselves?

              “Moonasera, I've asked 3 different Mandalas about Mia, and none of them have answered honestly and firmly. I just need one answer, and I hope I don't have to ask 1000 other Mandalas to get it.”

              Leno and Joke were both shocked by Leno's words just now. Leno never felt very angry and very sad at the same time. His eyes looked sharp, trying to stab Joke

deep-seated. But, it took more than that to make the defense of Joke fade. Joke asked in the same sharp tone. “For sure if you knew how Mia is doing now, what would you do?”

              Being given a strong enough pressure made the emotions in Leno's chest bulge out. Anxiety filled his entire head that was now milling around with various creepy shadows. Leno's cry broke instantly.

              “I don't know, I was just scared once. Everything changes, I see memories I never remember, and other things that give me headaches if I think about it.”.

              Joke felt guilty for making this child's anxiety appear. Maybe it was too hard. Joke hooked up the flying chair facing Leno's white dining table and sat down in front of the girl.

              “Switch,” says Joke softens. He waited until Leno's cries died down. “Lenolea view me.” Joke saw Leno slowly raising her head. Tears drenched both Leno's cheeks and her now messy long hair. Leno looked at Joke.

              “Now take a deep breath.” Joke waited for Leno to follow her instructions before she continued, “Hold until the count of five. One.. Two.. Three.. Four.. Five... Blow.”

              Leno exhaled as Joke asked. A sense of calm slowly came to Leno's mind. Joke repeated the breath therapy 4 times until Leno looked much calmer.

              “Nah, son. Now, tell me,” said Joke. He leaned slightly to get closer to Leno. “What do you feel now?”

              Leno gulped his saliva a few times, his throat feeling very dry. He replied, “I'm afraid.”

              “Fear of what?” ask Joke again.

              “Everything will deteriorate.”

              “You're afraid something happened to Mia?”

              “I..Yes.” Leno took a deep breath. “If he doesn't survive I can't stop blaming myself. Why don't I insist on sending her back to the dorm? Why did I bring the creature to his place? Why should I support the creature and. and... make Mia become..”.

              Anxiety returned to the look on Leno's face. Joke calls Leno in a soft tone, “Lenolea.”

              “Call Lee only enough,” cut Leno.

              “Lee, I know this isn't easy for you. There's been a lot of amazing things happening to you lately. But please stop blaming yourself. It just hurts you and doesn't help anyone

now.” Joke is waiting for a response from Leno. He listened to Joke.

              “If you really care about Mia, do the best you can. Stay healthy, safe, and hope everything will be okay. I'm also sure that's what Mia would want if she were here right now.

              “You're a great kid, Lee. Real great. Your friend must be proud.” Joke gave her smile to Leno.

              Leno nodded and wiped his cheeks back. He flicked his long hair that stuck to each other because of tears. After combing her hair with her fingers, Leno said “Thank you. You make me calm.”

              “Sama-sama.” Joke was relieved to hear that. “Is there anything else you want to tell me?”

              Leno recalled the woman's image, He was a bit doubtful, whether he could tell it to Joke or not. Leno decides to ask Joke for help by telling her a story.

              “I saw something. A shadow I never remembered.”

              Leno recounts a memory flash that appeared 2 days ago. How could he not remember who the woman was, where was the place in his head, and why suddenly the shadow appeared clearly. The shadow appeared when Leno was feeling a headache after watching the news yesterday morning.

              Joke listened to what Leno was saying carefully. After being silent to digest Leno's story, he asked, “You don't remember who that woman was?”

              “No.” Leno. “I only remember Aunt Irin who looked young.”

              “Is he your mother's friend maybe?” ask Joke.

              “Mother..of course not, I definitely remember her if she was my mother's friend.”

              Leno tried to remember some of his mother's friends. But then consciousness hit Leno's head,

as hard as Leno thought, he could not find the memory of his own mother inside his head. Leno does not remember his mother's name, how her face, when she died.

              Joke caught something else from the look on Leno's face. He seems confused himself. “What's up?” ask Joke to worry.

              “I..” Leno tried to find the right words to explain it.

              “I don't remember anything about my mom.”