Feeling limited with nods and shaking of heads, Suzy thought of a better idea.

“Do you know how to write Korean?” she asked.

When he replied with a nod, she immediately flashed a big smile. Then, she got a sketch pad from her bag and gave it to Mark while the boy received it in curiosity. She also took the crayons from the desk and laid it beside him as she said,

“If you can’t answer with a yes or a no, you can write it down instead.”

His eyes met hers and she continued to smile as she added, “Or you could write anything else you want to tell me.”

Her eyes lit up in glee as he took a black crayon from the box and scratched it onto the first page. She watched in wonder as he wrote down,

I’m not good in Korean. I might misspell some words.

She chuckled at his remark and she saw how the corner of his lips also curved into a small smile. She shook her head as she assured him, “It’s understandable since you’re foreigner, but I can help you improve your Korean if you want.”

As he replied with a nod, Suzy added, “So tell me some things about you.”

            Like what?

“Hmmmm. When and where are you born?”

            I was born in Taiwan, year 1993. But I grew up in America.

She was about to think of another question when the corner of her eyes caught him writing in addition,

            And you?

“I was born in Gwangju, year 1994,” Suzy replied with a smile. There was a short moment of silence before she asked, “You’re older than me. Should I call you ‘oppa’ then?”

            Maybe. But it’s awkward since you’re my doctor.

She chortled yet again as she found the conversation comfortable. She then replied, “Then I’ll just call you oppa when I’m no longer your doctor.”

He glanced at her shortly before flipping for a new page and scribbling,

            Does that mean that you’ll leave me too?

The smile on Suzy’s lips faded while her gaze on him softened. She sighed before answering, “It means that you’ll get well.”

            But I am not sick.

She gulped. Denial was always present in everyone’s case. She needed to know how to deal with it. With another sigh, she replied, “You need help. Everybody needs one, but yours is a special case.”

He saw him bite his lower lip and before he could write down a reply, she immediately brushed off the topic as she asked, “Is there something you want to do?”

He met her stare and Suzy saw how his gaze turned into a serious one as he slowly nodded. She coughed a little, trying to calm her nervous heart as she asked, “What is it?”

He just stared at her for a good three minutes or so, and no matter how Suzy tried, she couldn’t take her eyes off him. His eyes left hers when he turned to an empty page and Suzy’s heart thumped faster as he slowly wrote down,

            I want to get out of here.

“That’s what I am going to help you with,” Suzy tried to convince him. “Once everything’s okay, you could go back to the world outside.”

With a creased forehead, Mark strongly shook his head in reply. He then immediately and hardly scratched the black crayon on the same page and Suzy watched in confusion as he repeatedly encircled the single word he just wrote,

            Immediately.

He only stopped when the crayon was broken in half because of his strong grip. He panted, as if he had run a mile, and his gaze was frozen onto nothingness. In an attempt to calm him down, Suzy called his name,

“Mark!”

Snapping out of his thoughts, he turned to her, and as if her voice was an enchantment, his gaze softened and his breathing became normal. Mark reflected the sereneness he found in her eyes. Suzy sighed in relief when Mark nodded, as if telling her that he was alright. She perfectly knew that it was a normal situation for patients to yearn for the world outside.

In a soft whisper, she asked, “Why? Why do you want to get out of here?”

Usually, patients would answer that they’d miss their loved ones, their family, or other things that the institution could not offer, but Mark proved to be one of the most unusual. Often times, patient’s reasons could serve as an inspiration for them to strive better in getting well, and Suzy thought that she could also make use of Mark’s answer to her advantage.

She was wrong.

She watched as he picked up half of the black crayon and she saw how his fingers trembled as he wrote,

            I can’t stay here. It’s dangerous.         .

She tried to hide her bewilderment as sh