Albarran Bail is based in Philadelphia, USA.
First thing the next morning, Severo Laris set aside his full schedule and flew to Philadelphia.
Albarran Bail is a busy man who is also upright and arrogant and does not give preferential treatment to Severo Laris just because he is a business tycoon.
Albarran Bail finished attending to the three patients he had on hand before taking his time to come to his invitation.
Severo Laris, who has a sober disposition and asks for things, has the appearance of a beggar, sitting outside the outdoor cafe, waiting in silence.
Albarran Bail arrived late in a beige trench coat: “I’m sorry, I had a lot of patients on hand and I was running late.”
He said he was sorry, but his eyebrows were high and cold, and his words contained no apology.
For what Severo Laris had asked him to reveal would have gone against his heart’s desire.
Severo Laris said, “No harm done.”
Albarran Bail glanced around, his profession making him in the habit of maintaining a high level of secrecy, and said, “It’s not safe here, let’s go somewhere else.”
Severo Laris, however, said, “I have this coffee under lock and key, and no one will enter until we finish our conversation.”
Albarran Bail was slightly stunned and unconsciously looked at the seats inside the cafe and those outside in the open air, but there really weren’t any customers and the waiter didn’t come over to bother them.
Albarran Bail looked at the man sitting opposite him, calm, cool and extremely thoughtful.
It suddenly dawned on him why Paula Rouco had been with her for so long for treatment but had never been cured.
Because the man Paula Rouco falls in love with is so good, so good that when he shows up, everyone has to give in.
Severo Laris said, “If you don’t need a drink, we can start.”
Albarran Bail motioned to the waiter and said in fluent English, “I’d like a latte, please.”
The waiter brought the coffee and left, Albarran Bail took a sip and said, “What does Miss Severo want to know, she asks. I don’t have much time, half an hour.”
Albarran Bail looked at the time on his wristwatch.
Severo Laris cut to the chase and asked, “When did you receive counseling, since when?”.
Albarran Bail said, “Four years ago, I think, a long time, but we haven’t seen each other lately and Paulita hasn’t come to see me, she doesn’t come to see me, so I think she’s gotten better.”
“You called her earlier, I answered, and I heard you say that her medication had been suspended for a long time, what was that about?”
Albarran Bail came back, “She has depression and needs to take medication to suppress it, but medication for depression has more side effects and when taken for a long time can cause a delayed response. She plays the piano and is an internationally renowned pianist, which requires great sensitivity in her fingers, so when it is not particularly severe, she refuses to take the medication. The patient has her wishes and we, as physicians, cannot force them.”
Depression.
These three words hit Severo Laris like a rock, sending a thousand ripples through his heart, and they stayed there for a long time.
Severo Laris’ hands, arranged in his lap and casually intertwined, tremble out of sight.
Not that he didn’t do some mental preparation before arriving in Philadelphia.
He would seek counseling with a psychiatrist, there must be something wrong somewhere, he thought, a long period of unhappiness, or sadness.
But he hadn’t thought it might be depression so severe that it required medication.
Severo Laris opened his mouth to say something, but it caught in his throat and he swallowed hard to make a normal sound. “Is it moderate depression, or is it severe?”
Albarran Bail looked calm, apparently used to this sort of thing for a long time, and said, “Heavy. But it’s a little better now. Depression is a condition that is difficult to detect in the patient himself; people suffering from depression socialize less, and their usual behavior with strangers may simply be quiet and talk less, so it is difficult for friends around them to notice.”
Severo Laris made a lump in his throat, shook his trembling hand, and asked, “Did she find out on her own or did a friend around her find out?”
“Neither.”
After saying this, Albarran Bail raised his eyes and stared at him, and seeing that his face was no longer well, he asked, “I am friendly enough to warn that what follows may cause you discomfort and overwhelm you, are you sure, do you want to pry further?”
Severus Laris, always strong, had never been so fearful and vulnerable, and he could almost imagine what Albarran Bail would say next.
“I have to know everything about her.” Severo Laris raised his eyes and looked steadily at Albarran Bail, who sat across from him.
Albarran Bail nodded, “Now that I have revealed it, and that it was Fang He who asked me to do the job, there is little point in hiding the paper.”
Albarran Bail took another sip of coffee and said, “Four years ago, she was already suffering from depression, but she didn’t know it and once committed suicide at home by cutting her veins, and was rescued by a neighbor and taken to the hospital, where she was examined and diagnosed by our psychiatric department and judged as severely depressed with self-harming and suicidal tendencies, and was hospitalized for a full week for observation, followed by regular treatment with medication and psychological counseling.”
She slit her wrists to commit suicide.
Another knife, stabbed hard into Severo Laris’ heart, stabbed with blood.
Severo Laris sat for a long time, as if the blood in his body had frozen, his chest ached and tightened, his face was pale and he did not speak for a long time.
He calmed down for an unknown length of time before finally speaking in a muffled voice and asking, “Why did he commit suicide?”
Albarran Bail said, “Whatever she doesn’t say, whatever the patient doesn’t say, we have no right to interfere, we can only accompany the patient to give him treatment options.”
Severo Laris clenched his fists, each finger trembling slightly.
Albarran Bail looked at the time on his wristwatch and said, “It’s been half an hour already. I hope this is the first and last time we meet. I don’t want to reveal any more information about the patient. I hope you will honor our previous agreement and not tell Paula Rouco that I gave you the information.”
“I won’t, don’t worry.”
When Albarran Bail left, the customers re-entered the coffee, one after another.
Severo Laris sat, stunned for a long, long time, not getting up, looking out at the crowd of people of all shapes and sizes, whose faces were so full of healthy smiles that they stung.
Her lita, unhealthy.
The girl who seven years ago was as warm as a little sunshine, now has a long history of depression.
How desperate she must have been to slit her wrists when she was so afraid of pain.
Severo Laris did not dare to imagine that image, he closed his eyes and reached up to cover them, his palms damp.
She used to love to smile, but now the warmth of a sunny smile was a luxury for her.
He thought that when he reunited after seven years and spent time with her, her indifference and lack of attention was just a punishment in disguise for him, but now he realizes that maybe she has lived in her own world for too long and no longer wants to talk to anyone, including him.
Severo Laris stood with a vague giddiness throughout.
It was his fault for leaving her so pained and bitter.
Severo Laris dials a phone number.
The voice was slow in coming, a soft, slightly cold female voice, “Ribs I’ll have someone get back to you in a few days.”
Severo Laris said nothing, just listened in silence.
Paula Rouco, on the other end of the phone, added, “I’m hanging up.”
“lita.”
“What’s wrong with you?”
Severo Laris held back the acidity in his throat and said in a deep voice, “No, I just wanted to hear your voice.”
Paula Rouco hung up at once.
There was a beeping sound on the phone.
Severo Laris didn’t blame, didn’t expect, the good attitude she could give him.
If he had counted on it before coming to Philadelphia, now, he would have preferred her to treat him, badly.
That way, maybe he would feel a little better and feel less guilty.