Sitting on a bench,Gambit basked in the tranquility of the outside sun cascading over the hospital garden and enjoyed listening to the whispers of the wind. The gold and green colors being presented in his surroundings gave him a calm mind and let his thoughts blossom undisturbed by the previous erratic situations while he contemplated on his future goals.
He held his chin with his right hand and placed his elbow on thighs, bending his back like a bow, a position he had been scolded for by his parents.
Except, he never cared for the auspicious warnings about his back bending in the future or fracturing. He always considered it hogwash and it was already too late to change this habit.
As he thought of his deceased parents and how they always showed care and concern to him while they were alive, he felt a nostalgic chill that ran from his heart all the way to the back. A warm comfortable feeling of being cared for manifested I thoughts, all the way to the back of his mind.
He even felt it on his scalp, wondering what brought him such powerful emotions from an old memory. He suddenly felt a chill and cold sweat for no reason and touched the back of his head. There was a warm feeling, a deep heat that was slightly stinging. He immediately looked around and noticed a kid holding a small yo-yo.
Presumably, the kid had hit him with the yo-yo but he didn't notice. As he was about to get angry, a man in a uniform walked over, shooing away the kid.
As Gambit looked closer at the man, he noticed he was wearing a guard's uniform. It was at that moment he remembered that he saw him at the exit of the hospital. Realizing his identity, he didn't care about it anymore and thanked him sincerely.
"Thank you for your help."
The man, probably of middle age and African descent, waved his hands and replied it was no issue. Acknowledging that it was starting to get hot, he stood up and walked towards an redbud tree seeking a shade for the intensified sunlight.
As if natural for some reason, the guard followed him to the shade and sat down with him. Gambit thought this man was either a weirdo or wanted to have a conversation with him. He chose the latter since it seemed appropriate.
He lay down on the prickly grass and admired the neatly cut grass in the garden. He could look ahead and also admire the the thick but short grass around the garden. He could notice some bent grass ahead, probably indicating that someone stepped or sat on it. As if out of coincidence, he also looked at the bench where he sat previously. That was when he noticed something weird.
Behind the bench, the grass was still uniform as before, with no disturbances. As if no one ever touched the grass. It still flowed smoothly with the wind as before. This only meant one thing. There was never anyone standing in the part of grass, at least in the last few days.
If so, then what about the yo-yo kid-
"No, no"
He told himself immediately to forget this train of thoughts. From what he has learned these few days, he knew he should immediately ignore and turn a blind eye to anything strange. That's because otherwise, he will spiral into an abyss of random thoughts and conjure up ideas that will scare himself to death. Therefore, he forcefully suppressed these thoughts to the back of his mind.
"Hey, are you okay?"
As if suddenly remembered something, he turned around and noticed the look of concern on the guard's face. He had totally forgotten about him. Remembering how he had started to scream "no" for no reason, he felt ashamed and couldn't help but want to cover his face.
"I'm okay. I was just thinking of something annoying."
The middle aged sighed in relief and responded.
"You seem to be doing well. Considering your state two months ago."
Gambit suddenly got shocked and asked immediately.
"What do you mean?"
"Oh, you don't know? You were a pretty famous figure in the hospital two months ago when you were brought in. Your butchered and unsightly figure gave a lot of children nightmares and scared a few nurses. At that time, no one believed you were alive but instead thought you would be taken to the mortuary. When the people heard you were alive, it caused an earthquake of exclamations in the entire hospital. As for why you aren't surrounded right now with astounded people who thought you couldn't make it at that time, one can only blame it one humans' forgetful nature."
At the sudden influx of information, he couldn't process it for a while. All he remembers is trying to save someone before he crashed his motorcycle and went unconscious. How come from this guy's mouth it sounded like he survived a trash compactor accident?
"What it really that serious?"
"It was. I don't know who spread the rumors but was known that you were brought in from a motorcycle accident. At that time, no one believed it, unless you had driven a motorcycle down a cliff or something, there's no way you can have those gnarly wounds and spilled guts. Enough about that, you seem to be a man with a story."
Hey hey, can we get back to the spilled intestines? I want to know more. Why change the topic suddenly? As such thoughts and many other curses ran through his mind, he didn't have a choice but to go with the man's pace. Thinking back to what happened, he hesitated for a money then spoke.
"Ever since the accident, I feel like something has changed. I was just a normal newspaper editor more than two months ago. I lived my life with nothing special or memorable in it. No wife, no girlfriend or friends to hang out with. I only enjoyed entertaining myself with various things like novels and games. Even though I was constantly pressured by my environment to go out and socialize, it just didn't feel like me. I believed I could achieve family and friends if suddenly overcome my laziness. I was already content with my life and needed nothing more. That was all before the accident."
As if about to confess something serious, he hesitated and breathed in a bit, then continued.
"Weird changed happened in my life, but it didn't affect me much. Only that I might have to get a new job. That's all."
Suddenly dumbfounded, the middle aged guard with a small patch of beard suddenly dropped his jaw in astonishment at the abrupt ending. Then he got angry and reprimanded.
"Wh- What's that bull crap story! I thought it was something traumatic in your life or something. I had even prepared some sagely advice but this is all you give me?"
Suddenly tilting his head with a grin on his face. Gambit looked at the guard sly smile and said.
"What did you expect?"