Me After Meeting You

“Elly … will she be able to recover?”

“I don’t know.” Amber’s tone was unusually calm. “Originally, this sort of condition is best treated by the company and love of her family members. But after she accidentally hurt her own grandmother, and especially since you’ve given up on her now, I don’t know if she can still recover, or if she even wants to recover anymore.”

Actually, she felt that Elly understood everything in the inner depths of her heart. However, what she had experienced far exceeded what she could bear, so she could only bury that clear headed version of her deep within herself and close her eyes, plug her ears, and pretend that she didn’t know anything, just like a corpse.Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

Her illness was her subconscious response to her trauma. If she didn’t want to get better, then no one would ever be able to wake her up.

Upon hearing this, Mark shut his eyes and remained silent for a long, long time. After wards, he took out a piece of paper from his pocket. “This is Elly’s mother’ phone number. I might not be able to get out of here. Dr. Camille, please help me find her and tell her what happened to Elly.”

“The day that you handed over that much money, did you already have this in mind?”

Mark didn’t answer, only pushing the slip of paper toward her.

After thinking it over for a moment, Amber took it. The slip of paper wasn’t large. The only writing on it was a series of numbers.

She held that piece of paper tightly. Mark’s silence spoke volumes. “When you did those things, did you ever consider what would happen if her mother turns out to be unwilling to take responsibility? A hundred thousand dollar doesn’t last that long. If she runs out of money, then your daughter will be kicked out of the hospital because she can’t afford the bills.

Given the state that she’s in, if she doesn’t receive treatment, then even the government won’t be able to place her anywhere. Without any family, she could very well end up roaming the streets homeless. She can’t register cold or heat, hunger or fullness. She might after just a few days.

If you’re truly remorseful, if you think that you’ve let her down, then have you never considered these things?”

Elly’s father clutched his face out of anguish, unable to say a single word in response.

Their time was up, and Amber was sent outside by the police. After she came out, she found out that another victim had died, and the victims in intensive care weren’t doing too well either.

The family members of the poisoned towns folk were agitatedly shouting outside the ward, “He did it intentionally! Give him the death penalty! Kill him!”

Because Amber had introduced herself as Elly’s lawyer back then, she was also attacked by the people who recognized her. Those people pointed at her nose and scolded, “Don’t they say that lawyers have a duty to uphold law and order? Don’t they say that lawyers have to help speak out for victims? On the other hand, you’re helping defend a murderer. What kind of lawyer are you?”

The police officers who had escorted Amber out looked at her skeptically upon hearing these accusations. Amber’s face fell, and she declined to provide any further explanation.

She was only able to escape the crowd after being escorted out with the police on all sides. After they finally got through the crowd, the police said, “In order to avoid any conflicts, you should leave right away, Dr. Camille.”

And so Dr. Camille got on a car and rode back to the city, leaving as quickly as she could. That was the worst situation that Amber could ever remember encountering, she felt like she was just running away out of fear.

***

Not long after Amber left, Mark confessed, he did plan it. Ever since Elly started showing signs of mental instability, he would bring some blowfish organs home every time he went out to sea.

Originally, he hadn’t planned on doing anything with the organs, but then Elly accidentally killed her grandmother and was sent to a mental ward.

After Elly’s grandmother funeral, he had gone out to sea again, catching and buying blowfish in bulk. Despite being poisonous, blowfish flesh was fresh and tasty, and cooking a good meal out of it wasn’t hard. He had then invited a chef that he knew well, used the pretense of apologizing for the mess he had caused to gather the family members of the kids who had bullied Elly all together, and then fed them all poisoned blowfish.

Twelve people were poisoned, of whom three had died.

***

When Amber saw the news on her phone, she sighed deeply.

That news article described Mark Brown as a suspect in poisoning his neighbors. The article wasn’t long, it coldly introduced his motives, actions, and then concluded the story.

Because Elly’s case was still under investigation, the article had only mentioned that Mark Brown’s possible motivation for killing was due to an old feud, and that those neighbors had fallen for his trap because of their unsuspecting natures and the temptation of delicious blowfish.

And three lives were lost, just like that.