Chapter 4

Adrian woke up to his alarm blaring at him. It was 6:30 am. He was extremely sweaty. His bedsheets were completely drenched with sweat. Getting up he checked his air conditioner. The AC is working fine. Did I catch a cold? I don't feel that bad, and I don't think the boss will allow another sick leave this month. Well whatever, I'll deal with it later.

Thinking that he walked towards the shower. He tried to open the shower door with his left hand but a sharp pain went down his whole arm.

"Damn it! What the hell? Why is my hand hurting this much? Did I sleep weirdly again? The problems just come one after another." saying that he stepped into his shower and started taking a bath. The warm water did help a lot with the pain in his arm, so much so that he stopped feeling the pain. Ok good, the pain has now stopped. Now I can move on with the day. After coming out of the shower he saw himself in his mirror and saw that he had some kind of mark on his lower neck. He wiped the steam off the mirror and leaned in closer to look. The mark was like a snake bite, two small black dots on his lower neck, right above his left shoulder.

Did that lady bite me last night? What the hell? Isn't that a little too aggressive for the first time? But he didn't pay much attention to it.

He soon got out of the shower and started getting ready to head out. He walked to his small kitchen and started brewing a hot cup of coffee and heated up some leftovers from yesterday's lunch in his microwave. "Nothing like leftover curry and some salad to start the day". He said with heavy sarcasm. He then walked over to his closet and took out a nice ironed shirt and a pair of trousers and got dressed. Before leaving the house he sat down on his table with his hot brew of coffee and his breakfast and started to eat it while scrolling through his social media. The pain in his left arm had come back, but it wasn't that painful as in the morning. He took some painkillers and left his house at 7:30.

He barely makes it in time to catch the bus to his work. The painkillers had numbed the pain down but it still hurt when he tried to move his arm. He gets off the bus and walks towards the 13 storey building. He gets in the elevator and gets off on the 8th floor. As he gets off he greets the receptionist

"Hey there Vanessa, how's your day been?" Adrian said, trying to hide his pain.

"Oh the same old, what about you? You don't seem that good today. Are you sick?" she says with some concern.

"Ah it's nothing. Just a bit of a cold I think. If it gets worse I'll go to a doctor." Adrian tries to shrug it off.

"Well you better look after yourself. These things can quickly get out of hand you know. One second you just feel a bit tired and the next thing you know you have some grave illness"

"Thanks for your concern. Is there something for me?"

"Oh yes there is." saying that Vanessa looks through a pile of documents and letters to bring out an envelope. Adrian could tell where the envelope was from and was a little afraid to take it.

"This letter is for you. I think it's from one of your relatives."

Adrian takes the letter "Thanks Vanessa, I'll see you later, I guess."

He walks over to his cubicle and sits down. Edberg was already at his cubicle next to him.

He sees from the corner of his eye that Adrian was carrying a letter.

"You got a letter? From whom?" Edberg questions without making eye contact.

"It's from my grandparents."

"Ok cool" Edberg responds without even thinking "Wait a minute from your grandparents? Couldn't they have messaged you or something?"

"They are old fashioned, and I'm pretty sure they don't know how to even call someone from a smartphone."

"And you left them there and came here alone."

"Don't be like that. They are living better where they are. They would be extremely overwhelmed if they were to move here. And travelling that long distances at that age is just a hassle for them and me."

"Ok." Edberg had something on his mind that he wanted to say, but was debating whether it was the right time to say it. He finally bites the bullet and turns to face Adrian.

"Hey dude listen. I have something to tell you."

Now that Edberg had finally turned towards him he saw how sick he seemed.

"Dude, are you sick?" Edberg was as concerned as a mother looking at her sick child.

"I may be a little sick, nothing I can't deal with." Adrian spoke with annoyance. Something about him remembering his past and his recent bad luck made him angry.

Edberg, trying to calm him down, says "Ok ok. Let's change the topic. What about last night?"

"What about last night?"

"You know that lady, what was her name again?"

"Kaitlyn"

"Yeah her. Did she give you her number or something?"

"Nope, nothing. All I got from her was a kiss and a nasty bite mark."

"Oh damn, that's nasty." Edberg jokes.

"You could say so. When I was with Emily, she would normally put some concealer on such marks but I didn't have any."

"Well just don't unbutton your shirt too much."

"Don't worry I am not going to strip in the office."

"Are you going to read the letter now?"

"No, I'll wait till I get home."

Edberg nodded and got back to work. Adrian also got comfortable and started working. A few hours passed by and Adrian's health wasn't doing too well.

"Bro are you ok? You are breathing very heavily. You can take the day off." Edberg wasn't feeling too good about Adrian.

"You think the boss will let me take a paid day off?" Adrian tried to laugh but the movement sent shocks of pain through his arm. The pain he felt was unbearable.

"I'll talk to him. I'm pretty sure if you work for any longer you will die."

Edberg gets up and walks over to the boss's office. After a few minutes he comes out and informs Adrian about what they talked about.

"So long story short, you are allowed to leave."

"For real. How do you do this man?" saying that he starts picking things up.

He stands up with extreme difficulty and tries to walk but his legs can't support his weight. He stumbles a bit at which point Edberg supports him. Now that he was this close to Adrian he knew what felt off about him. Adrian struggled towards the lift with Edberg supporting him. Edberg calls the lift and they get in. Adrian's vision was extremely blurry and he could barely keep standing. The lift doors open and they get off on the ground floor. Sitting Adrian down, Edberg makes a few calls.

"W-who are you calling?" Adrian spoke with extreme pain.

"I'm calling an Uber."

Adrian could barely keep his eyes open for another second. The pain in his left arm was unbearable, to the point where he felt like cutting his arm off. He felt like dying on that bench. A black honda civic stops and Edberg comes and carries Adrian into the car. The last thing Adrian saw was the roof of the car covering up the dull blue sky.