Scared Of Birthdays.

Valeria trembled and bolted upstairs.

Ivan stood by the dinning, his chest heaving as he breathed heavily.

His hands were folded into a fist.

“Come on, Ivan. You have to calm down." 

"No…no,” he staggered back, his hands searching for the table for support. "She…she has to go,” he fired, his whole body trembling severely now. He could barely stand upright.

“Stay with me, Ivan. You can fight this," Doctor patted his back, as he guided him to sit.

"I see them,” Ivan whispered, his head snapping around, like someone who was going crazy. His head began to feel light. "I can hear them," he panicked.

Using both hands, he covered his ears, the cake plastered over his ears.

“Breath, Ivan. Breath." 

“I can't…I can't…" he stammered, sounds began to fade.

“Of course you can, Ivan, breathe." 

Ivan placed his trembling hands on Doctor Kendrick, his breathing came out laboured.

He looked up at Doctor Kendrick, whose face was now blurry.

"She…She…she caused this.”

"Stop talking, Ivan.  Just breathe." 

" No,” he shook his head, standing to his feet with so much force he almost stumbled.

Doctor Kendrick grabbed him instantly.

" Sit, Ivan. You can't walk in this condition.”

" Take me out of here,” he said, looking around like he was suddenly surrounded by tiny monsters.

Doctor Kendrick guided him out of the kitchen, and up to his room.

***

Valeria spiralled as soon as she entered her room, her heart was beating so loud she could hear it, her mouth turned dry.

She leaned on the door and slid down, clutching her blouse so hard it rumbled.

"What just happened?” She asked in her mind. "Did I say something wrong? Did I touch something I wasn't supposed to?”

She stayed on the floor, trying to calm her racing pulse.

She stayed on the floor, replaying the scene over and over again, even from the very moment she received the cake.

She was so lost in thought that she didn't hear the knock on the door.

She only jolted back to reality when the person knocked for the fourth time.

She sprang to her feet and opened the door with trembling hands.

Doctor Kendrick.

“Hi! Mrs Ravelle. May I come in?" 

Valeria moved to the side, gesturing for him to come inside.

“Please." 

As soon as the door shut behind Valeria.

“Are you okay?" Doctor Kendrick asked.

Valeria blink back the tears that stung the back of her eyes.

“I'm really sorry," she said, her voice cracking. “I didn't mean to—" 

" It's okay, I know you didn't mean to upset him.”

"Is he okay? Did he say exactly what I did wrong?”

Doctor Kendrick nodded. " He's asleep now, and…he didn't say anything.”

Valeria heaved a heavy sigh. “What have I done? I was only trying to be nice." 

Doctor Kendrick moved and sat on the couch.

“You did absolutely nothing wrong, and he didn't mean to react that way.”

She shot him a confused look.

" What do you mean he didn't mean to?” She asked softly.

He hesitated.

" Ivan is experiencing what we might call, post traumatic stress disorder.”

Valeria's heart sank.

" Traumatic what?”

The doctor nodded.

"He panics like that on every birthday.”

Valeria frowned slightly.

" Who is scared of birthdays?”

" The one who witnessed his parent's death on his birthday,” the doctor replied.

Valeria's hand flew over her mouth, her eyes widened in shock.

"Oh my God.”

"Did you not read his company's rules before resuming work?”

She exhaled.

" He was in a good mood when I arrived, so it was a free pass for me.”

The doctor nodded.

"I was having a date with his wife and was too excited to follow protocol.”

" Oh!” Doctor Kendrick exclaimed. " I see.”

There was a brief silence between them, then…

“Shouldn't you call his wife to come over? Is she that far away?" Valeria asked.

Doctor Kendrick smiled.

“That is not my story to tell." 

Valeria looked confused, but didn't press.

Her gaze followed the doctor as he rose from his seat.

“I came to let you know he didn't mean to respond negatively, so you shouldn't take it the wrong way." 

Valeria shook her head.

“Oh, it's okay. I wasn't angry, I just felt…scared.”

" That's fair.”

"Should I still hang around until he wakes up?”

He nodded.

"I don't think he meant it when he asked you to leave, so hang around." 

She hesitated.

“Okay! I will." 

***

Ivan woke up a few hours later, a sharp pain throbbed his forehead as he sat upright.

He winced and shut his eyes, memories from the morning flooding his mind.

“That was stupid of me," he muttered to himself.

His eyes darted to the table and saw a small note from doctor Kendrick, asking to step out briefly.

He stayed on his bed for a while, replaying the incident, as well as reliving the past.

Even though Valeria had taken him back to the time he wished he could undo, he still felt bad for treating her that way when she was ignorant of his condition. But, he couldn't control it.

He thought for a while and decided to call his wife, at least to distract himself.

Just then, someone knocked on the door.

His eyes darted toward the door.

“Come in," he answered, expecting to see doctor Kendrick. After all, he had asked Valeria to leave.

The door opened and Valeria walked in, carrying a tray of food.

The air became…awkward, as he looked down immediately, keeping  his attention on his screen, his fingers hovering over his wife's number.

She approached and set the tray down on the bedside table, her hands trembling, her breathing coming off heavy.

"I…I brought you something to eat,” she said, almost a whisper.

He didn't look up, didn't respond or react.

That unsettled Valeria.

His fingers stayed over his screen, the light shining over his face.

Valeria didn't move, she couldn't.

She just stood there with her hands clasped together.

When he saw that she wasn't leaving, he tapped his wife's name on the screen, stood up and walked away from the bed. The phone pressed against his ear.

The call rang, at the same time Valeria's phone buzzed in her pocket.