I saw them having their little moments on the grass again. Wendy and Irene. And I was more than pleased. They needed each other. Life is too hard living alone. I was glad that I had met Wendy too.

“How to truly listen.” 

I am still learning today.

That day, Wendy knocked on my office door and introduced me to Irene officially.

“So, this is Doctor Temperance. And this is Irene.” 

“Hi, Irene. It’s nice to have you here with Wendy.” I reached out for a handshake.

“H-hi.” Irene, on the other hand, seemed a bit timid. Head down, hands behind her back. Well, that was expected.

“Irene, I have a friend who is specialize in lung cancer. Do you wanna meet her?” I quickly retrieved my hand and asked.

“Is it Doctor Cruz?” Irene finally looked at me. For a brief second, I counted.

“Yes. You’ve met her already?” 

She nodded. Weakly but surely.

“If there’s anything we can help, just let us know.” I felt nothing but pity for this girl.

“Yeah, this old man here is as nice as me.” Wendy flashed a smile before taking Irene’s hand in hers.

Irene just nodded once again. Slowly but more firmly.

-

“See? He is a nice guy. I like his beard.” I giggled while we were strolling at a park.

Not the one in the asylum. It was the one in town. 

Irene did not reply as usual. She just nervously glanced at people and cars passing by.

“Irene.” And so she finally had her eyes on me.

“No one is going to hurt you.” I held her hand again.  I guess it could make her feel safe and comfortable.

She hummed in reply. So, we resumed walking. 

It was Spring.

“Why don’t you talk to me anymore? I mean, you speak lesser and lesser since,” I looked at the Forget-Me-Nots by my feet and let my words faded. "You know, since you told me about your condition.”

They were blue. Blue like the brightest sky, or the clearest sea.

They were small. But they were as eye-dazzling as the sun in the sky.

“Bucket list…… Write.” Her mumbling pulled me out of my trance.

“You are writing a bucket list?” I turned to her, confirming what I managed to hear.

“Yes.” She had her eyes on her shoes.

“What do you want to do then? I can go with you if you like.” I smiled as I finally knew what was on her mind.

“Sea.” She pointed at the Forget-Me-Nots. 

“Wanna go to the beach?” 

“Yes.” 

Then, there we were, sitting on the smooth sand by the sea. The weather was particularly nice that day.

We watched the children and adults having fun, swimming, surfing and sunbathing. Irene was as placid as always. She was trying her best staying in the shades.

“Who would want to go to the beach but not to be basked in the sun?” I laughed and stretched my limbs out to the sunlight.

She frowned in response.

“I checked. A little sunbathing won’t harm you.” I nudged her gently.

She blinked for a few times. And she scooted closer to my side.

Seeing her being soaked in the warm Spring sunray, I could finally admire how beautiful she was. Light illuminated her face just right, highlighting her defined features. And finallty, she did not look that pale, nor cold. Even her orbs lightened up.

It was the first time I felt something brisk from her. I could feel that she was, indeed, alive.

Probably getting uneasy under my gaze, she fidgeted and nipped her fingers.

“Sorry, I don’t mean to….” I softly pulled her hand, trying to stop her from continuing such bad habit. “But I have to tell you that you are very beautiful indeed.”

She struggled to free her wrist from my grip. I did not just let go, yet at the same time I made sure I did not hurt her. She gave up soon and turned her head to the other side.

“Irene, I think I know what you are going through. But there’s something good about you and you should at least acknowledge that.” I place her hand back down on the sand. “And I know I ain’t helping much but I want to…… I want to help. I want to make things better for you. I want to make you happy. You are the only one that listen to me without judging me.”

I knew she would not answer anyway. I just wanted her to know.

I grabbed a handful of sand and let them slip through my fingers bit by bit. I couldn't help but thinkning, does that resembling life? You could never hold onto sand. 

Time is ever ticking in our lives. I knew I was selfish. I tried to hold onto Irene.

I nearly forgot she was there until she nudged me and pointed at the sunset. It was pretty but I did not have the mood to appreciate that.

Sunset is romantic. Yellow is cheerful. Orange is vibrant.

Sunset symbolizes an approaching end.

I saw her smiling towards the sunset from the corner of my eye. And I was dazed.

“Do you wanna take a dip? Or putting your feet in the water? I mean, there are less people now.” I stammered for no reason.

There was, is, a reason. Now I know what it is.

Irene thought for a while before she took off her shoes. Her expression seemed brightened a bit when she felt the warm, smooth sand with her toes. I guided her to the water tardily, making sure she would not get startled or splattered. She carefully moved her feet with my pace.

I tittered to a random thought. We were like dancing waltz in the water. Irene was confused witnessing my change of expression. Her head tilted and she tried to read something from my face.

I gently shook my head and said, “It’s nothing.” Then I let her take her time in the water. I did my best not to look at her. And when I was about to go, she splashed water on me.

I flung my head around and I thought I had illusions. She was laughing with a big grin on her face. Her grin was so big that her eyes shrank. I looked at my wet shirt and laughed along.

But I did not fight back.

“It’s fun.”

-

Wendy had been grinning ear to ear all that time when it was our usual chat time at her room that night. I wondered what Irene had done this time.

“Explain.”

“What?” The girl put down her new favorite, Sigmund Freud’s “The Interpretation of Dreams”, on her lap.

“The smile.” 

“Irene laughed today.” 

“That’s remarkable.” 

“Freud said dreams are all in the forms of wish-fulfillment……. Irene is listing her bucket list and I finished one of things with her today.” 

“I’m happy to hear that, though I'm really sorry Cruz and I aren't much of a help for her.” 

“If she is happy, I am happy.” Wendy shrugged and continued her reading.

“Anyway, psychoanalysis is good for Irene’s autism.” I tapped my fingers on her desk.

“Yeah, so I’m reading Sigmund Freud.” Wendy shot a curious glare at me.

“You do like her, don’t you ?” I knew that look in her eyes whenever Irene was around. My wife used to look at me like that too.

“You are talking about the romantic kind of 'like'?”  Wendy peeked her head from the book.

“Yeah. You’re 18. I assume it’s natural. Homouality is also natural in the terms of science.”

Wendy sighed however, “I heard about stories about love from them too…… I always think people like me would never develop feelings for another person. I cannot tell her even if I really like her.”

“It’s really up to you, you know?”

“I am selfish. I have to let her go eventually.”

“It is complicated, yes.”

“I bet it’s like ten times more complicated for people like us.” Wendy smiled bitterly.

I did not know by then I should be happy or sad for her. I just knew that she liked her. 

And I just knew Wendy tried so hard to deny it.

Ever since that conversation we had, she spent 4 months to fulfill Irene’s wishes one by one.  Those mundane little wishes in the eyes of “normal” people.

They all seemed so ordinary though. For instance, riding on a ferris wheel, going hiking, learning to swim, making cupcakes, watching a on-site sports game, singing in the rain, watching drama overnight, getting drunk.

She would report to me every time she got one wish done. I could see how she was becoming less bothered by her own condition. She was living with it.

I remembered asking her, “Are you still hearing those voices?”

“Of course I am.”

“Why didn't you stop bringing it up these days?”

“It had blinded my eyes. And now, I finally see that the world is bigger than I heard.”

“She has a great effect on you.” I scratched my beard as I spoke.

“I know.” She smiled to herself while spinning around with her chair.

“Actually, you are selfless.” 

“How so?” Wendy stopped and stared at me with her innocent eyes.

I walked to her and patted her head, “You give your love unconditionally so she would not have any regrets. Wendy, you are such a beautiful person yourself. Do you know that?”

“But I will.”  Wendy was smiling her tears away.

If there is a parallel universe, I hope they would live a normal life loving each other happily ever after there.  

No sickness, no ghost haunting.

Just them, just love.