Mr. Grumpy Stanley

          "Mr. Stanley?" She cried for attention for the millionth time. The word torment was an understatement for her situation. Her job had never been this difficult and exasperating in her entire life. It was all thanks to Mr. Grumpy Stanley sitting opposite her and adamantly refusing to open up to his doctor like a two-year-old who was forced by his mother to visit the dentist, and that doctor was almost getting to the point of losing her sanity. Her patient looked so much like someone who would not be able to resist seeing how far he could push her before she exploded into a fit of anger and tears. And to make things worse, there was always the chance that he'd go on a rampage if she pushed him too far, so she was being careful to not make him angry as he already was.

Maria rubbed her forehead, her azure eyes dropping to her jotter to find a different question that would stimulate his interest. "Can you tell me your sleeping patterns and how will you rate your quality of sleep?" She was heaving deeply with her words, hoping he would contribute to the conversation.

"I don't see how that's your business."

She groaned loudly. There went his usual extraneous reply. His attention was fixed on the gadget in his hands, paying no or little attention to whatever she was saying. He was beyond frustrating. He was probably not even listening to her, just waiting for her to stop talking so he could speak again.

"Perhaps we should talk about something else, then," she said in a lower tone, trying to remain calm. "Do you have any other hobbies that you are interested in? Or perhaps you do enjoy some sports or exercising at home?" She tried another tactic, hoping a subject on sport would entice him, judging by the fitness equipment in the building.

Jayden sat up straighter at her question and lifted his head to face her. His eyes were narrowed and they twitched as though he was contemplating the right remark, then said from the classic ones, "None of your business."

"Of course, it's my business." Maria expressed almost immediately, her voice sounding with restrained anger.

No reply came from him but the continuous tapping sounds made by his fingers against his cell phone.

"Mr. Stanley, could you please suspend whatever thing you are doing and pay me some attention?" Her fists clenched tightly on her bag seated on her lap with her toes curled furiously underneath her boots.

He snorted, throwing one leg over the other, and relaxed deeper into his seat. The volume of his cell phone got increased by him, purposely, and the audio transcription he was listening to was sounding loud across the room.

She heaved deeply and uttered a swear word under her breath before speaking loudly again. "Let's focus on your migraine and insomnia now, shall we?" She knew she was talking to herself but kept on going. "How long have you been suffering insomnia, Mr. Stanley?" she asked in a softer tone. "Has it become a habit since you started having migraines?"

"Yes." He replied for the first time, sounding with a low tone, an answer from him making her eyes shine with gratitude.

"Really?" She asked, her lips stretching with a sign of happiness, and enthusiastically picked up her own to jot down his complaints.

"I have suffered from sleepless nights ever since you got here." His words came through gritted teeth, expressing grave irritation.

Every ounce of happy seeds that had germinated in her heart instantly got uprooted by his statement. Her smile sagged until it disappeared to a slight frown at his statement. Was that supposed to hurt her or what? She could vividly remember how was sound asleep he was from the other day unless that was what she thought.

Maria was supposed to treat him for his headaches but she sensed if he kept up with his attitude, she would be as sick as he was. "Did your headache start after the coma or did you have the symptoms before the accident which ended up triggering it?" She wasn't ready to give up yet despite knowing their conversation was gradually turning into a monologue.

Jayden made no reply, brushing her off like he always did. His brown eyes were glancing down at his phone with his fingers typing rapidly. She wondered who he was chatting with and what was more important than getting his health fixed.

Her brows knitted together as she tapped her pen against the paper. "Mr. Stanley." Her voice was trembling with impatience. "You are making my job hard. I am not enjoying this session." She complained, her face scrunched up in frustration.

"Then get lost." He snapped back without looking at her, his eyes still glued to the screen.

Maria exhaled heavily, her shoulders slumping. She hated being treated like a nuisance. It was infuriating to know that the man sitting in front of her was not giving her the time of the day. . "Please, you just have to shake or nod your head to these questions. I will take the shake as before and your nod as after." She decided to invent a way he would give her answers without speaking, and knew she was trying hard to make the session work out. "Was the migraine before or after the coma?"

"None of your business."

She wanted to fall to the floor and kick her legs in the air whilst screaming her lungs out. If it would make her feel any better, she would also not hesitate to punch off the smug plastered on his face.

"We are talking about a very important issue here, Mr. Stanley. If I don't ask questions, we might miss something important. You know, about you."

"You're wasting my time." He stated flatly.

"I am not wasting your time. I'm giving you treatment, you have to cooperate with me." She emphasized, her voice raised slightly with each sentence.

He typed on, concentrating on the large gadget and deleting her presence from his care.

Maria stared at him with her mouth open in a soundless gasp. His silence was deafening, making her unable to think clearly. She felt like her brain was trying to figure out why he would not respond to her. There was a moment of silence as she thought of new ways to get him to talk. She decided to level up, being soft and easy on him would not take them anywhere and time was passing by.

"You left me with no other choice, Mr. Stanley." She declared after some seconds, her voice carrying a hint of authority.

He did not move or bother to ask what he meant by that. All he hoped was that his bothersome doctor was about to get lost from his home out of frustration. Seconds passed and the clicking of her shoes was the only thing he heard, which made him assume she was already on her way until a stinging sensation suddenly shot across his forehead.

"Ugh!" Jayden immediately groaned from the excruciating pain, rubbing the space between his brows urgently. The stinging source had come from above his head, implemented by another human hand. His enraged eyes speedily drove up to the ceiling where he saw the doctor standing beside him, her thumb curled against her index, her proof that she had given him a sharp jab.

"Are you out of your mind?" He queried, his voice sounding hoarse as if it was coming from deep inside his throat.

"Yes." She replied, daring him with raised brows. "And I will do it again if you provoke me." She pushed her fingers closer to his forehead.

"You must be--" He tried to bark again but was silenced when she unhesitatingly attacked him again. "Damn you!" He grumbled like a Siberian Husky and hungrily rubbed the area she had flicked to soothe the pain.

Maria snorted with a sneer, wondering where his toughness had disappeared to. He couldn't even handle a simple flick. Flicking foreheads was a common game between her and Ted. They would play it whenever they got bored of doing nothing.

Jayden flung from his seat, towering over her small height, his hands clenching into fists, and she could almost see fumes emitting from his nostrils. "Who the hell do you think you are? Do you know who I am?!" He yelled, his voice echoing through the room.

"Yeah. People with your condition have to wait in the hospitals just to get an appointment with a doctor, but you are Jayden Stanley. Your wealth could bring me here, so stop acting like a jerk!" Maria snapped back, her words cutting off his next sentence, glad she had finally called him that. "I'm not your servant, nor your maid. I have been working for four years now and I am a professional doctor who deserves equal respect I give to you."

His eyes widened slightly at her outburst, their eyes with equal intensity. He had never seen her this angry before. He didn't want to believe that she was capable of such a reaction.

"Professional, my ass." His voice came back again, his tone filled with contempt, not willing to let her win. "You are nothing but a quack. "Don't you have any idea what you are doing that can trigger my headache??" He questioned, his voice sounding more aggravated than ever.

Maria's jaw clenched, her lips pursed tightly together. She knew she was right and he should know it too, ready to explode. "When did you start to care if it triggers or not? If you are really worried about your health, you'd shut up, take a seat and cooperate with me!" It was never on her agenda to raise her voice at him but he had provoked that side of her.

Standing on her toes, she held her rebellious patient by his shoulder and tossed him back to his seat. "Let's take it from the top." She told him with a firm tone, clearly not interested in his heavy grumblings, and crossed back to her seat, clearing her throat before starting another question. "What time did you go to bed last night?" She asked, hoping for a positive response.

"Eon." He muttered bitterly.

"Well, can you remember the many hours of sleep you got, excluding the nap you had when I was around?"

"Eon."

"Mr. Stanley." Her tone warned him and threatened him with another flick, her weapon-like fingers drawing forward.

He dropped his eyes from her hands, his body tensing up at the thought of getting hit again, knowing he had no chance of retaliating because of her femininity. "One hour," he finally blurted.

Her chest raised with a deep sigh. The session was beginning to sound and look like one. "We'll have to work on your sleep patterns." She noted before marking a big box on her book. "Before the incident, did you have any migraine symptoms?"

With her threat still hanging above her head, he rolled his head almost unnoticeable.

"Okay, then we can say it developed after the accident." She bobbed her head, her sharp vision catching his head's movement. "How long does the headache last? Let's exclude the incident from yesterday which was soothed by the medications." She said. "How many hours or minutes did it occur?"

"Eon."

"Um... How many times do you experience it in a week?"

"Eon."

"Mr. Stanley,"

He folded his arms reluctantly. "I said I don't know. Am I supposed to make documents about my headaches?" He retorted sarcastically.

"Okay, okay, then. I am close to finding out. All I have to do is monitor you." She was going to let him have that. There was no good in provoking his already bitter state. She glanced down at her book to find the next question. "Do you have single or multiple pains?"

"What an irritating pest..." he murmured audibly for her hearing, tilting his face to one side and pronouncing more insulting remarks under his breath.

"Do you have single or multiple pains?" She repeated, not paying attention to his insult. He would need something much more than that if he ever wanted to get in the way of her job.

"Both." His lips barely moved but she still managed to catch his words.

"What side does it occur to mostly?"

He rolled his eyes before touching a particular side of his head and was still uttering some curse words in low tones.

"Okay. How severe is the pain? Rate it between 1 to 10." He could murmur for the life of him and she would not care any less.

"Eon."

"Do you know some specific things that trigger your migraines?"

Jayden groaned, his face turning in her direction and his mouth curving into a grimace. "This is getting really annoying." His voice sounded irritated.

She stared back at him, not knowing how to respond to his remark. "Should we skip the questions for now? How about I take your vitals?" She asked, dropping her pen and paper, then stood up from her chair before he even responded.

Maria circled the table between them, her approaching steps making him frown deeply. "Can you zip down your hoodie a little?" She requested, picking up her stethoscope from the table as she reached nearer. "I need to get your present heart rate," she quickly added before he thought of her as a pervert.

He tilted his head slightly, his gaze following her finger pointing to his chest. He returned his eyes to her face and his brows were snapped together in a frown. He looked as though he was contemplating whether to carry out the request or not.

"You don't mind?" Maria prompted him.

He held his stare for more several seconds before doing as told, but with a little overdoing, dragging the zipper of his hoodie all the way down to his waist, exposing his bare torso.

She blinked at the sight of his muscular physique, her hand shaking slightly as she took hold of the stethoscope. Her eyes lost a second wandering through the lines of muscles tracing his abdominal wall, his ripped abs making her think this guy had jumped right into the gym the moment he woke from the coma.

***