Gani listened attentively.
"What do you think I should do, Gan?" Lyndie asked, her voice almost a whisper.
"You want my opinion?" he replied, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah... I want to hear your thoughts. You're a lot like him. If you had someone you loved, would you treat her the way he treats me?"
Gani took a sip of water, clearing his throat thoughtfully. "Well, first of all, I haven't found someone like that yet. Right now, I’m still busy coding all night, not having to worry about anyone else. So, maybe my opinion might not fully align with your situation. But," he paused, a small smile forming, "I do have a cat at home that I really care about. Her name is Nana. Even though I’m usually lost in my coding, she always curls up on my lap and falls asleep there."
Lyndie rested her chin in her hands, listening with genuine curiosity.
"Nana never demands my attention. She just falls asleep on my lap while I pet her all night long. It might sound irrelevant since you’re a human and she's a female cat, but… if Nana ever disappeared, I would search the entire house just to find her, to bring her back to my lap and stroke her fur. And if she doesn't finish her food, I panic and rush her to the vet."
As Gani talked about Nana, Lyndie couldn't help but laugh, picturing this genius of a man frantically searching for his beloved cat just to fulfill his nightly ritual of petting her.
For a fleeting moment, she realized how lucky Nana was to have someone who genuinely cared for her with all his heart. Meanwhile, her own boyfriend never even bothered to check on her, even when she went silent for days.
"What would people think if I broke up with him?" Lyndie murmured, more to herself than to Gani. "They would probably laugh at how stupid I’ve been, wasting so much time on him... Five years…."
Whenever Lyndie tried to express her feelings, her boyfriend would dismiss her as childish. He never had time for things he deemed unimportant. Every minute, every second had to be productive, efficiently used. That was why, in five years, they had never really gone on a date.
"Lyndie," Gani said softly, his eyes meeting hers. "I think, deep down, you already know what you need to do. You’re not a fool. You’re just afraid of letting go of something that’s consumed so much of your life. You’re afraid all your effort has been for nothing. You’re scared it means you failed. But, Lyndie..." Gani’s smile was gentle, warm. "The truth is, no one really cares about your failures. Everyone is too busy with their own lives. So, it’s okay if you fail. It’s okay to admit that you’ve made a mistake by investing so much of your time. The truth is, they don’t actually care."
“The most important thing,” he continued, his gaze steady and comforting, “is how you move forward from here. Sometimes, letting go of something that no longer makes you happy is the best choice you can make for yourself. You deserve to be happy, Lyndie, and that means you deserve to make choices that align with what you truly need and want.”
Lyndie’s eyes began to well up with tears, the corners of her mouth quivering as she tried to force a smile. She lowered her gaze, attempting to hide the sadness that was so clearly reflected in her eyes.
Gani reached across the table, his touch gentle as he wiped away the tears on her cheek.
"Find the courage to do what’s right, Lynd," he said softly, his voice laced with empathy. "You deserve to be happy."
“Yeah. You’re right,” Lyndie replied, her voice shaky but filled with a newfound resolve.
Three hours had passed in what felt like the blink of an eye, and their time together was coming to an end. Lyndie always booked a three-hour session, sticking to the same routine, but this time, it felt different to Gani. There was a heaviness in the air, a feeling that this could be the last time they met.
"I’ve already transferred the payment to your virtual account," Lyndie said, holding up her phone to show the confirmation screen. "Thank you for everything."
Gani repeated her words in his mind, sensing that this might indeed be their last encounter. With a soft smile, he leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. "See you when I see you."
"See you when I see you too, Gani," Lyndie echoed, her smile small but genuine.
They stood up and walked in opposite directions, never looking back. Both of them knew, deep down, that their journey together had reached its end. And now, they were moving forward on different paths, each determined to find their own way.
*
Three days ago…
Out of nowhere, something enormous and terrifying yanked his body from the depths of an endless, consuming darkness.
It felt like the grasp of a colossal claw, an unyielding force that wrapped around him with merciless intensity.
Razor-sharp talons pierced deep into his flesh, tearing through skin and muscle as though there were no barriers between him and the most primal agony imaginable.
“Arghhh!!!”
Blood gushed out, splattering wildly, painting the space around him in rivers of vivid, grotesque red.
The pain was excruciating, flooding his entire being, searing through every nerve like molten lava. He screamed, a guttural, raw sound that seemed to erupt from the deepest pits of his soul.
What is this?
The pain was so intense, so visceral, it felt too real to be a dream. His body convulsed uncontrollably, trapped in an unending spiral of torment.
Is this hell?, Alwin wondered, even though he somehow already knew the answer in the depths of his shattered consciousness.
Perhaps there really was a hell, and he was in it now. A personal hell crafted just for him, where every second stretched into an eternity of torment, obliterating any illusion of peace he had once known.
The claws continued to rend his flesh, shredding and splitting it apart, until they reached deep into his core. Finally, they seized his heart, squeezing it with brutal force until it burst into a detonation of unbearable agony.
“Aarghh! Aarghh!” Alwin’s screams came out in weak, hoarse gasps, nearly drowned out by the cacophony of machines and lifeless noises around him. He wanted to scream louder, to release the agony inside him, but his voice was strangled, unable to pierce through the suffocating air filled with silence.
He awoke to a pain so searing it felt like his mind was being torn asunder.
Fuck… fuck…, his thoughts stuttered in a chaotic loop. I want to die… just die… it hurts so much!
To his horror, he realized a thick, invasive tube was lodged down his throat, choking off any attempt to cry out or even breathe freely.
Another tube, nasogastric, had been shoved through his nose, snaking down into his stomach to suction its contents with cold, mechanical efficiency.
The claws tormenting him turned out to be the hands of paramedics, desperately trying to restrain his convulsing, sweat-drenched body on a stretcher.
They were performing an intense resuscitation effort. Seeing their patient awaken and begin thrashing, they swiftly bound him with nylon straps, ensuring he could not escape the grip of consciousness that had been so violently restored to him.
“Oh, look who’s back with us. Tighten those restraints!” ordered a voice with chilling authority, a tone that cut through the chaos like a knife.
One of his family doctors.
“Stop fighting, Alwin. Just stay still for a moment,” the doctor said, pressing Alwin’s head down to shine a small flashlight into his dilated pupils. “Well, congratulations. You’re still alive. What’s with that look? Upset that you failed, huh?” he added with a sarcastic smirk that stung more than the sting of the needle now plunging into Alwin’s arm.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
The curses rattled like a drumbeat in Alwin’s mind. The more he struggled, the tighter the straps dug into his skin, the deeper the pain gnawed at him. But he couldn’t stop resisting.
He refused to give in.
His thoughts spun frantically, searching for a way out, any way to escape. But his options were dwindling fast, especially now that his failed attempt to end his life had only resulted in increased scrutiny.
The medical staff surrounded him, vigilant, their eyes sharp and movements quicker now that they knew how desperate he was. Alwin’s thrashing grew more frenzied, fueled by the primal instinct to flee, even if he no longer knew where to run.
The doctor, his face an infuriating mask of calm, gave another order. “Prepare a sedative. Administer 10 milligrams of diazepam.”
—
Author’s Note:
Thank you for reading this story! 😊 What do you think about the emotional journey of Gani, Lyndie, and Alwin? Through this story, I wanted to highlight the courage it takes to let go of pain and the struggle to find meaning in life, even amidst darkness.
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