Mr. Stanley, listen to me please

          The doctor had forced herself not to stare at him and instead concentrate on her job. "Thank you." She cleared her throat. "Now, I'm going to listen to your heartbeat."

Jayden shifted his eyes away from her wordlessly, staring at the ceiling and rubbing his temples.

Her fingers touched the metal of the stethoscope, feeling its coldness against her skin. She inserted the earplugs, listening carefully to his heartbeat, silence filling the room. After a couple of minutes, she withdrew the object from his chest and dropped it back onto the table.

"Perfect, nothing alarming." She noted more to herself, retrieving another medical device. "I also need to check your blood pressure. Please roll up your sleeves," she added, turning to face him, her voice monotonous with professionalism.

Jayden kept his gaze on the ceiling, without showing signs of attentiveness, and the doctor took it as her cue to do whatever she wanted. She reached for his arm, her hand lingering, holding the material, and she pulled it upwards. His reaction was slight to her act, only moving his eyes down to look at her, his expression unreadable, and then traveling his gaze back to the imaginary show he was watching above.

Maria wore the cuff around him, waiting for the beep sound to indicate the completion of the measurement. "Your blood pressure is normal as well, very good, Mr. Stanley," she voiced after reading the result on the machine while he reached for the cuff, enthusiastically unwrapping it from his skin. "In conclusion, your heart rate is seventy-two beats per minute, blood pressure is one twenty-eight over seventy-two." She concluded, reading loudly and her words sounded like a different language made of jargon to him.

Maria projected her face to give him an encouraging smile. "This is fair enough, Mr. Stanley. We can keep these up and improve in some areas."

Her message seemed to not be taken seriously when he handed the inflatable cuff into her hands, more like throwing it since she had to catch it like a goalkeeper.

"You can adjust your clothes now." She voiced, grabbing a clipboard as she found her seat. "Let's talk about your stress levels--" Jayden rising from his seat stopped her words and she narrowed her vision with suspension. "Going somewhere, Mr. Stanley?" She quickly asked when his frame spun around.

"I'm tired of all this crap," he spat without stopping his retreating legs. His tracks halted for a moment and he raised his chin above his shoulder to glare at her scornfully. "If you try to hurt me again, I will make sure you go to jail."

His threat caused Maria's eyes to widen and she clenched her jaw, observing his figure. "But-But I'm not done with you yet." She tried to protest, standing up from her chair.

"Sounds like your problem, not mine." Jayden retorted without looking her way and started to move his feet forward without further notice.

The doctor pursed her lips to suppress her anger. She left her seat, wanting to intercept him from leaving the place, but his pace was too much for her to match. Jayden had no intentions of listening to any of her instructions and his strides were swift, making it harder for her to stop him.

He stopped walking, and she subconsciously followed suit. His steps revolted, branching to the table that held a variety of refreshments before heading out, Maria watching him close by as he thought of a food choice.

Her eyelids enlarged with a stretch when his hand rose encompassing a popular beer. It was alcoholic and alcohol was strictly banned from his diet. Her left eye twitched for a couple of seconds, charging her doctor mode before deciding to ruin his fun.

Maria raced towards him, managing to interrupt his attempted slip at the right time as she seized the can. "You should not drink this," she uttered, twisting the can in his hold, trying to pluck it out.

Jayden's head jerked downwards and his face turned to complete disgust by her interruptions. "I thought I told you to get lost." He hissed and his fingers clamped around the can tighter, not letting her take it away.

"Mr. Stanley, listen to me please." She breathed, struggling to wrestle the can from his grasp. "Drinking this will affect your health."

"It is my body, I can do what I want with it." He snarled, glaring at her.

They battled with the drink in their ferocious grips for a period longer than a minute, the level of their stubbornness matching the same range. Maria rose to her toes, supporting the drink with a second hand when she sensed Jayden was starting to overpower her. The opened drink shook in their hands, swaying to both left and right as each side tried to pull the drink closer.

All of a sudden, the doctor lost her balance and the accident influenced the movement of her hands. She shook the can in the wrong direction and its red content came gushing out, pouring itself on Jayden's white hoodie.

Time slowed down as Jayden's fingers loosened from the can and let it fall on the floor. Brief silence erupted as the both of them stared down at the liquid soaking through the fabric and spreading its color to his clothes.

His eyes widened and the corners of his mouth curved downwards slowly. A dark vein appeared on his forehead and he inhaled sharply, his neck bulging as he sucked in air.

The flash of anger running across his face made Maria know she was in deep trouble, so she stepped back slowly, covering her mouth with her palms. "I-I am sorry..." She began shakily, her eyes darting between his furious countenance and the pool of blood on the ground.

He raised his head and his teeth grinding between his firm frown made her realize there was no room for her apology. "You are dead." He vibrated with deep scowls as he ripped off the damaged cloth from his body.

No one had to tell Maria what to do. She knew he was not bluffing and his words would be manifested if she wasted more seconds standing before him. She decided to do that one thing anyone in her shoes would have done. Her frame revolted with insane urgency before she broke into a hot run.

***