Chapter 2

We were outside of the room, waiting. The ladies had finished their dinner and I waited for the first wife to permit me for a meal. My eyelids felt heavy as dizziness crawled over my body. I felt heavy. I wanted to fell on my mattress at least for a wink as from yesterday, I was unable to sleep and it was hard to move with a growling stomach.

"Ow!"

We heard father yelping from the room then he cried out. The ladies were restless as we could hear some noise as if his bones were cracking.

"Is–is he going to be okay?" The third lady whispered-asked.

The first lady shook her head as her hands knotted against her light pink kimono. They both were worried and I wondered what the man was doing. Was he wrestling with him? 

Father howled loudly, startling all of us as we all looked at each other and the third wife went near the door. She resisted the urge to open it and walked back and forth near the door.

"Arghh!" 

It was overbearing to hear him in so much pain that my heart started to jump in various directions. The third lady's knuckles turned white as she held the sliding door with a tight grip and was about to open it, but the door was opened before she could and there stood our guest with a cold face.

That was the time when my eyes landed on the tall person in a very ordinary dark Kimono. It was plain and simple. He stood with his head high and his sharp eyes fell on me. Black. Dark. Mysterious. Those were the words that came in my mind as our eyes met for the first time.

His long black hair stayed on his shoulders like silk strands. Shiny and silky. His face was a work of art as if he was a prince of some dreamland that a girl could wish for. I had never seen a physician that young. He was clearly a lot younger than father. Maybe he was in his late twenties. 

The traditional dress—unlike nowadays, everyone could wear modern clothing—yet he wore it with pride that the material felt expensive and sophisticated. I felt my long skirt and blouse had lost to it. The contemporary purpose it served was nothing but how he carried himself in traditional clothing. I used to wear kimono but after the third lady came, I started wearing modern outfits and it was also easy to move in those. 

"I need hot water. Prepare it immediately," he said as I nodded frantically.

I dashed towards the kitchen and started preparing hot water in a large pot. Why did he need water? For freshening up? But he freshened up a while ago. What was he doing to father? Could he really cure him? 

Various questions formed in my head as I poured the water into a barrel and suddenly, I felt dizzy. My feet felt weak.

I took deep breaths as I clasped my hands on my forehead. It started to throb again. 

"Bianca! Are you slacking off again?" The third lady shouted behind me, startling me in the process. Her face fumed with anger and disgust. I had always known she wanted me out of the vicinity but could not due to my father. My father might have turned a blind eye on me but as I was his daughter, he still had responsibility. 

"I–I am coming with the barrel." My voice, as usual, was low and submissive, "It–it's just too h–heavy."

"Heavy?" She scoffed and added, "You are just as heavy for this household. Aren't we carrying you?"

My breath broke as I clenched my jaw. A few droplets of tears had already escaped from my eyes. I knew I was a burden for them but she never stopped to remind me of that. No matter how much I did for the house, for them, they had always treated me as garbage as if I wasn't a family. Just an outsider or a maid.

"Don't start crying now! The physician needs the water immediately." She turned around and left, leaving me with the large barrel.

Slowly, I dragged it as it was heavy for me to lift. My hands trembled as well as my legs and I felt hungry. 

 I was almost at the turning when I noticed the man stood in front of the door, guarding it as the ladies tried to enter. His eyes were closed as if he was concentrating on something but it served the purpose of ignoring them as well. The moment he heard me coming, he opened his eyes and tilted his head toward me as his gaze landed on the barrel. 

He came immediately with two long strides and said, "You could have asked me if it was heavy." 

"I–"

Before I could establish my point, he had already taken the barrel and reached the door. He carried it as if it waighted nothing. 

The second he entered the room, he closed the door again. 

There was no sound or notice after that but my father had started to chat normally with him and from his voice, we could sense he felt better after whatever the young physician did.

After some time, both of the men came out and father had an ear to ear grin plastered on his wrinkled face. He felt more relaxed than usual. The tension around the ladies subsided as both of their faces lit up with happiness.

The man instructed father, "I'll give you a few medicines which you'll have to take with warm water every night after the meal, starting from today."

Father nodded, a bit amused by him. "Yes, I will." The wide grin on father's face confirmed he was very pleased with him. "Why don't you stay the night?" He offered him.

He said, "I appreciate the gesture, however, I'll look for a room."

"No! No!" Father retorted, "Please, stay the night because the storm has grown intense. Besides, I would be delighted if you let me at least take care of you. It would be the least I can do."

The man was taller than all of us, even my father was around his ears. He looked at my father for a moment and said, "The illness hasn't been cured yet. What I did was only for temporary relief."

He brought out a small wrapper and gave it to father, "Please take it before sleep."

Father nodded and turned to me, "Bianca, prepare a room for him. I don't want our guest to be offended by us."

His cold eyes said there was no room for a mistake. I nodded and dragged myself to the empty rooms we had. Those were all extra chambers for my father's guests or relatives and I had to clean all of them every single day so I knew there wasn't any dirt.

Father asked him as I took my leave, "You are really young for a physician. Where did you learn?"

"I prefer secrecy, Mr Inoue, I'm afraid, I can't answer you that," he answered bluntly and added, "I'll take my pay and prefer to leave early in the morning, Mr. Inoue."

My father nodded, "Yes, of course. We shall discuss this in my chamber."

I cleaned one of the rooms again so the man won't have a space for complaints but by now, my head throbbed with pain as my limbs felt weak. I took a glance at the room to be sure that it had no dirt. The futon I placed in the middle of the room was tidy, comfortable and warm. I hoped he would be pleased.

As I stood up my vision got blurred and my feet stumbled as I could feel the ground beneath me fading away. I tried to reach for something to hold but it was late.

Before I could fall I sensed a hard wall behind me. 

"Are you alright?" The deep voice asked as my eyes shot open. He was behind me. I tilted up my chin and as my eyes met his raven ones. I was leaning against him and it was too close that heat shot up to my cheeks.

I tried to push myself away from him but my body felt very weak to move. "I...I am fine…" 

"You have a fever." His hands felt cold against my forehead as his breath fanned on my face.

"It–it's alright. I–I'll just…" It was very hard to think of a statement as he was too intimidating for me.

His hand gripped on my wrist and he rubbed his finger on it. My heart thumped loudly with his touch as my mind went completely numb. If my father saw us together it would make the situation complicated and I didn't want that as I already had so much on my plate.

"Your pulse is a bit slow," he said. "Have you done your dinner?"

I shook my head.

"Hmm… I think you have low pressure. Do eat in time if you don't want to faint all the time."

"O–okay," I mumbled and with the help of the walls, I went to my room. My heart was running wild as the memories flashed before me again and again.

I waited for the first lady to call me for my meal but nobody called. My stomach ache increased as I slowly crumbled inside the blanket. My futon felt cold and sleep would not come with an empty stomach.  

Time went by and the storm intensified as I could hear its angry slaps on our wooden house. It was already midnight, and I knew it was no meal day for me. 

Slowly my eyelids got heavier and I finally drove into slumber.