The Void In My Heart - 8. CONFRONTATION

Later that night, Joey met Meg and they went to the dining hall together. He saw beautiful chandeliers adorning the spacious hall and a variety of food items placed on the tables. For him, it was a big change as he was sitting with a number of people after a long time. He felt as if the school days were back.

"Are you comfortable Joey? Meg asked him.

"Yeah, I am ok. It just feels a little awkward. We used to have parties in high school and this kind of atmosphere is not too different from it. This is the first social gathering after.....” his voice dropped low.

"I can understand. You have to make efforts consistently though, as it would help you in recovering from tragic memories of the past. Let's have dinner. Bon Appetite", she smiled at the boy.

Joey smiled back and started his meal as he still thought about Dr.Felix.

Over the course of 1 week, Meg and Joey had become good friends. They used to have meals together, went for evening walks, and participated in social discussions inside the premises of the center. Two weeks passed rather quickly and the day arrived when Dr.Felix was to return to the center.

Joey was having mixed emotions as the day started. He had not slept properly last night as he was thinking what he will say to the doctor when he meets him. At the same time, he was glad that he would be seeing him again. He was impatiently waiting for the clock to strike 9. Nervousness was taking over him as he moved to and fro in his room, his eyes constantly on the clock. At sharp 9 am, he headed downstairs to see if the doctor had arrived.

He saw the doctor's car and at once, he wanted to rush to him and get rid of his guilt, but he couldn't. He saw Felix getting out of the car and proceeding to the head office. Joey called up Meg and said he wanted to meet her. Meg told him that she would meet him in the corridors in a few minutes.

Meanwhile, Felix knocked at the door as Dr.Reeves greeted him with open arms. "How are you doing young man? So good to see you back", the senior doctor hugged him. "I feel rejuvenated Sir. Mom is also feeling better and has sent her regards to you", the young doctor was brimming with smile.

Dr.Reeves asked him to take a seat and they both talked about the center, Felix's visit to his hometown, and new admissions. The doctor took leave from the office and headed towards the dormitories to meet the teens and his colleagues. Unaware about the doctor's visit, Joey was waiting for Meg to show up. In a while, she met him in the corridors. "I am feeling very nervous Meg, hope he forgives me", Joey told her.

"Hey, you need to relax. He is a nice person. Of course, he won't be holding any grudges against you. Go and speak to him", Meg motivated her friend as they heard a loud ruckus coming from the girls' dorm.

"What was that about?", the boy asked her.

"Doctor must be visiting the girls and he will soon be visiting the boys' dorm. I told you, he has many fans here. In fact, some even have a big crush on him. He is good looking after all(Meg chucked). I got to rush to meet him. You better return to the dorm. Make sure you start the conversation", Meg wished him good luck as she went to the dormitory.

Joey, too, returned to the dormitory and waited for the doctor. As he heard the boys cheering, hollering and whistling, he knew that the doctor was there. He opened the doors of his room and saw Felix surrounded by teens as he asked them about their well-being and distributed chocolates. Joey was glad to see the doctor smiling and laughing with teens. His perception of Felix was totally different than what it used to be initially. After a while, teens dispersed and as soon as the doctor started walking to the staircase, he saw the boy standing outside his room.

Their eyes met for a while, but none of them said anything. Joey thought that the doctor would come to meet him, but Felix just looked ahead and went downstairs. The boy felt really bad as he had not expected such response from the doctor. He immediately called up Meg and told her about the meeting with the doctor.

"Oh! Seems like your comments had a deep impact on him. Otherwise, he would have talked to you. Don't give up Joey. You will have to be patient. It might take some time before he starts interacting with you. After all, he was hurt by your statements and actions", Meg tried to calm him down.

The boy was feeling restless. He wanted to apologize to the doctor and his guilt was strangling his soul minute by minute. He rushed downstairs and saw that the doctor was heading towards his room. The boy followed him and knocked at the open door.

Felix turned and asked "what is it! I did what your brother told me to do. What brings you here then?"

Joey's feet were shaking and he was getting goose bumps as he meekly said "I am sorry."

"Come again", the doctor stepped towards him.

"I came to know about your past. Meg told me everything. My intention was not to hurt you, but I did. I want to apologize for my bad behavior", the boy could not look into the eyes of the doctor. He was looking down; his head hung low in embarrassment.

"Feeling pity for me, aren't you? Well, thanks and don't worry. I don't have anything against you. You can feel guilt free now", the doctor was not too excited to talk to the boy who had reminded him of all the past tragedies.

Joey stood there in absolute silence. "Anything else, I can help you with?” the doctor asked him.

"Perhaps, I should talk to you later", the boy sighed and before the doctor could say anything, he left for the dorm.

He came back to his room, shut the doors and sat on the bed. He was feeling bad that he could not have a proper conversation with the doctor. A lot was going on in his mind, he had seen the friendly side of the doctor, but this kind of response was something he was not expecting. Though, he had expected things not to be normal so soon, but the cold replies from Felix made him feel even worse.

Things had changed a lot in the past 2 weeks. The boy who wanted to shrug the doctor away, now wanted to talk to him desperately and share a bond of friendship with him like the other teens did. He couldn't understand how to set things right with the doctor. Lost in his thoughts, the boy got startled as he got a call. He thought that the doctor might have called him, but it was Meg who had called him to know about the meeting.

"How did it go? Did Dr.Felix forgive you?” Meg asked him.

Joey replied in a sad tone, "things don't seem to be getting better soon. He isn't the same guy whom I had met 2 weeks back. I can't even complain as it's my entire fault."

"I will talk to him. Don't feel too low. It's just a matter of few days and I can bet that he will interact with you the way he used to. You be okay and don't blame yourselves anymore", she asked the boy to be patient. Meg and Joey had become really good friends over the span of 2 weeks.

Later that night at the dinner, Joey came along with Meg and sat opposite to where the doctor was sitting. The boy was trying his best to somehow start a good conversation with Felix. Their eyes met a number of times but the doctor never seemed to be in a mood to talk with Joey.

After the dinner, Meg met the doctor before he could go back to his room. “Hey Meg, how you’ve been?” the doctor asked.

“I am ok Dr.Felix and hope you are also doing well. I wanted to talk to you about something”, Meg said.

“Go ahead Meg”, the doctor was surprised but asked the girl to say whatever she had to say.

"Don't you think you are being too harsh on Joey?” Meg asked the doctor.

The doctor remained silent for a while and then spoke "ah so now he has sent you to talk to me. I just can't talk to him after what all he said and did. I felt so ashamed when Adam asked me to stop handling Joey's case. It was for the first time when someone questioned my integrity and that too one of my dearest friends. If that wasn't enough, he even complained to Dr.Reeves. For what? Just because I wanted to help him? It's pathetic."

Meg knew that the doctor had been hurt but the extent was unknown to her. She wanted to set things right between the boy and the doctor but concurrently, she did not want to give a cold shoulder to Felix.

"I can understand what you would have gone through in the past two weeks. Having said that, everyone deserves a second chance and you have always told that to all of us who had lost hope of recovering from gorges of grief. Trust me; Joey has changed a lot in the past two weeks. He felt really bad when I disclosed the truth about your life. Won't you give him another chance?” Meg politely requested.

"You are one of the most sensible teens out here. I cannot promise you that I would start behaving the same way with Joey as I used to, but I will try to be nice to him. You should go to your dorm now. Good night dear ", the doctor smiled at the girl and left for his room to collect the car keys.

Meg wished him good night and went back to her dorm, feeling optimistic.