One Night's Mistakes (Love's Wrong)

Two Red Lines

In the living room of his house, Henny was talking to the daughter of a close friend who had come to see him. Since Kevin left home, Henny has been in constant contact with Giselle to monitor her son's condition on campus.

"Drink the juice first, son Giselle."

"Thank you, Aunt."

The woman gave her guests time to drink. After that, he began to open the conversation. "So how, does Jeany want to listen to you?"

"Never, Aunt. Giselle had met him three times but was not heard of. Even if Giselle goes there, it's never been a fence."

"It's so fucking rude of him!" furious Henny.

"Yes, Auntie, Giselle doesn't like him either. Don't know what Kevin saw from him."

Henny flinching. At first, he felt Jeany wasn't bad. Had the girl not worked at a nightclub, she would have accepted it as Kevin's girlfriend. The woman again asked, "then Kevin how on campus?"

"Kevin is never absent unless college is replaced in the afternoon, Auntie. Giselle saw Kevin a little pale yesterday, but I don't know why. Kevin always keeps his distance. If it wasn't a matter of college he didn't want to talk much."

"It's been over a month. Auntie wants to get him home." From the information provided by Hansen, Henny knew Kevin was still taking his medication regularly. But that still hasn't made him feel calm.

"He wouldn't want to, Auntie. His mind's been influenced by Jeany." Giselle tries to make Henny hate Jeany.

"Auntie will force him. It's time to go to the doctor."

At that moment Winda half ran down from the second floor. His face looked anxious and his right hand was clutching the phone tightly.

"Ma, Jeany just called. He said Kevin passed out, now he's in the hospital!"

"Oh my God my son Kevin!" Henny squealed anxiously. He immediately stood up and hurriedly took his bag that was still in the room. "What hospital, Winda???" ask after coming back down.

"At Royal Hospital, Ma. He said it's still on the IGD."

Winda's in-laws walked quickly away from the room.

"Tante, I'm coming!" giselle was running after Henny.

"Yes, let's hurry!"

Henny and Giselle rushed to the hospital. Winda couldn't come because he had to look after his son. On the way to the hospital, Henny called her husband and first son.

***

THE PLAQUE!

"You're happy to make my son wretch?!"

Jeany did not back down despite the stinging pain on her cheek that had just been slapped by Henny. Only her tears came out. He cried not because of the pain in his cheek, but because he was so worried about his lover who was not yet conscious, with an infusion tube stuck in the young man's wrist.

Mama Kevin looks to slap her again but is immediately detained by Randy. "Enough, Auntie!"

A nurse came up to them and spoke in a stern tone, "Father, Mother, please don't make a fuss! Disinterested ones please wait outside so as not to disturb the handling here."

Outside the IGD room, Henny points her index finger at Jeany. "It's all because of you! Otherwise, my son wouldn't be like this!"

"Rubber! I told you Kevin's not recovered yet! Do you not see how his face shoots? Now this is the consequence!" Giselle chimed in.

Jeany remained silent, knowing there was no point in answering like anything. Henny's hatred for him was already deeply imprinted. The girl also did not care about the people's gazes at her. He just wanted to wait for the results of Kevin's examination, hoping that the condition of his lover was not as bad as he feared.

"What, you guys are still here? Just go! After this don't approach my son again!" Henny drives Randy and Jeany out.

"We'd like to wait for the results of Kevin's CT Scan, Auntie." Randy answered the woman.

"I don't let you here!"

Randy pulls Jeany's hand. "We're going, Jean."

"But, Ran-"

"You're coming with me!"

The young man didn't really take Jeany away from the hospital. They sat in long chairs not far from the IGD room, but quite far from the sight of Henny and Giselle.

"It's all my fault, Ran! I wish I didn't understand Kevin's condition. I even let her purgeforsir herself ...." Jeany did not stop blaming herself.

"Don't think about it first. It's not necessarily as bad as you think."

"I hope Kevin is all right. Let me be the one who's sick, not him!"

Randy breathed. When we love someone we become willing to sacrifice, willing ourselves to be hurt as long as the loved one is happy. He was also willing to get sick for Jeany, to see the smile on the girl's face. Once again Randy sighed, longer and heavier. The young man felt very sad because he remembered something.

"Lo want to eat or drink something, Jean?" randy asked after they waited long enough.

"Sir, Ran."

"You know, I peeked at it first, who knows the results already come out."

"Yes," Jeany replied weakly.

By the time Randy returned to the IGD room, Kevin was no longer there. He asked the doctor who happened to pass next to him.

"Excuse me, Doc. I want to ask my friend who was here has it been moved?"

"He's been moved to the inpatient room."

"Oh. What about the CT scan, Doc?"

The doctor called his colleague who was a neurologist.

"The patient had a mild swelling of the brain" said the doctor who came later.

"Light? That's not dangerous, is it, Doc?"

"Dangerous when not handled appropriately. So the patient is required to be hospitalized and take medication to stabilize blood pressure and remove excess fluid in his brain" explained the doctor with language that he thought was easy to understand.

"What's the reason, Doc?"

Randy nodded his head. The doctor's simple explanation was not well understood. But for him the most important thing is that Kevin's condition is not dangerous.

"Okay, thank you, Doc."

Afterwards, Randy returns to where he and Jeany were waiting. To the girl he relayed back what he had heard from the doctor. "So don't worry, Jean. Kevin gapapa really," he said ending the story.

Jeany heard it with tears. "What's the brain, Ran?"

"What matters is being handled properly. Suer deh no talk of doctors that I added ato lessin."

Jeany squeezes her fingers. The doctor's explanation she heard from Randy hasn't made her feel at ease.

"Jean, it's time to get ready to go to work." Randy reminded the girl.

"Okay, Ran .... I don't have the mood for work ...," whined Jeany with a wet face from tears.

"Lo here is also free. Nyokap Kevin will not be able to meet his son. You'll have to give me face, I'm recommending you to my cousin, Jean."

With a heavy heart Jeany left the hospital to carry out her duties as a restaurant cashier. Randy's right. He should not behave as he pleases just because his mood is not good.

"Oh yes, Ran, thank you for coming and helping pay the hospital fees" Jeany said in the car.

"No need to thank you, Jean. Kevin's my best friend too."

***

Kevin felt his eyes turn. The doctor said he had vertigo due to swelling in his brain. The young man closed his eyes to reduce nausea even though the spinning sensation was still present.

As if the time repeated again, he met again a feeling of emptiness because he did not see the existence of his lover when he realized earlier. There was only the mother who had looked at him anxiously and asked him to speak, also a girl whose presence he did not expect at all.

"Mama must be ngusir Jeany, right?" her tanya was bitter still while closing her eyes.

"Don't mention him again, Kevin. Because he's conditioned you like this."

"It's not her fault. It's because Mama told me to choose."

"And it proved your choice wrong."

Kevin had no energy to argue with his mother. The pain in his head made him helpless. He decided to be patient following the treatment procedure in the hospital, so that he could recover and meet again with the lover.

Day change day. It has not been ten days since Kevin was hospitalized. Every day Jeany asked the news of her lover to Winda and Jovina. He was happy because Kevin's condition was getting better. The girl was determined not to neglect Kevin's health anymore.

During these ten days, Randy's attitude has become more and more bizarre. Sometimes it seems ordinary, sometimes it becomes extraordinary silence. Jeany did not understand the cause of the change in attitude because the young man did not want to tell her.

It seems Randy knows he's being thought about. Suddenly that night he shows up at Jeany's boarding house after several days of not contacting the girl. His face was tired as if he had not slept for days. The young man sat in silence, not even a hint of sound.

"Lo why, Ran?"

Randy looked at Jeany. "Claudia died, Jean."

The girl was trying to remember the owner of the name that Randy had just spoken. "God .... Claudia the former lo? I'm so sorry, Ran."

Randy shakes. "It's not my ex, but the girl I've slept with. He's got AIDS, Jean."

"Oh my goodness ...." Jeany reflexively put a palm on her mouth.

Silence enveloped them.

"But you always use safety, right?" jeany asked after managing to overcome her shock.

Randy nodded again. "Gue was careless not to use k*dom. Just once. And it's the same with him."

For a while the two were silent to each other. A drizzle of light now turned into heavy rain, bringing cold to where they sat.

"Have you checked?" That's the only thing Jeany thinks is important to ask.

"Gue's scared, Jean. I'm afraid the results are positive."

"Lo has to be brave, Ran. How long will you live in fear?"

Randy closed his eyes, looking so fragile. There was no longer the impression of a womanizer on him.

"Gue .. I bought an HIV test kit at an online shop. I came here because I did not dare to test alone at home. I need a temen, Jean ...."

"You mean you want a test here?"

"Lo don't mind, do you?"

"Yes gapapa. How long does it take to know the results?"

"Fifteen minutes."

"Yes, you've started the test."

"Can't it be inside, Jean? On the porch I was afraid someone would see. Please, Jean ...."

Jeany did not want to reject Randy's request. It's breeding. "It's what I'm waiting for here."

Randy went into the house. Jeany waited for the young man on the porch, befriending the sound of rain and the cold of the night air. The girl looked at the outpouring of water falling from the sky. He always felt something different every time it rained. Not even a feeling of like or hate. A feeling he still cannot define to this day.

Thirty minutes later the girl waited. Jeany furrowed her brows looking at the time pointer on her phone. Randy should be done. What took him so long inside?

Pushed by worry, Jeany enters the house. Randy was sitting curled up in the corner of the sofa. The closer he got, the more he knew the boy was crying. The sound of desperate cries was heard mixed with the sound of rainwater.

The girl saw items she believed to be test kits strewn across the table. One of them is a white rectangular flat object. He saw two red lines on the object.

***

The last ten days Kevin went through with a tormented feeling. He misses his girlfriend so much. She knew her mother wouldn't let Jeany come to see her. But he was not discouraged. From his brother-in-law and sister he knew the girl was always asking for news.

Knowing Jeany is still faithful out there waiting for her recovery, Kevin is getting excited to recover. But on the tenth day, his longing was unstoppable. That night, amid a torrential downpour that evoked a sense of melancholy in his heart, Kevin left his room in the hospital to momentarily take off his longings with the lover.