Double-sided memory(六)

At dawn, Oli was frying eggs in the kitchen while Leo leaned against the doorframe, looking at her. The sunlight exposed the dark blue under his eyes completely.

Do you have any cases to handle today? She asked, deliberately making the shovel make a crisp sound - too quiet would make him lost in thought.

Leo shook his head. "I'm asking for leave." I have to go to the Veterans center... Conduct a psychological assessment." He stared at the egg liquid solidifying in the pot. "If you regret staying last night, it's still not too late to leave now."

Oli turned off the fire, turned around and stuffed the plate into his hand. "Eat your egg." "

She didn't say that she had spent the whole night looking up information about dissociative identity disorder, nor did she mention the search record that flashed across the screen: "Does personality split hurt the people around you?"

When Leo sent Oli to the company building, his mobile phone rang. The screen showed "prunes", but he didn't answer.

She has been wanting to introduce me to a psychologist recently. He sneered, "It seems that by putting on a 'repaired' label, I could revert to the 'normal' Leo I was in college."

Oli suddenly grabbed his wrist - exactly where the scar was. "Accompany me to a place on Friday." "

"Where?" "

"Jack Moran's grave." " She looked straight into his suddenly constricted pupils, "Since he's still looking for you..." Then let's go and find him."

Ollie told Ximei what he knew.

Oli was waiting for Sime at the cafe. While stirring the latte, she saw a distorted human face in the milk foam. She raised her head sharply. Outside the floor-to-ceiling window, there were only pedestrians hurrying past.

Your dark circles under your eyes are almost dropping to the corners of your mouth. Ximei slapped a stack of materials on the table, with the "Clinical Intervention Case Collection for Traumatic Dissociation" on top. I got in touch with the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Research Center at the University of Maryland -

We are going to the cemetery on Friday. Oli interrupted her.

The coffee spoon for prunes clattered onto the plate. Are you crazy? That's like taking an alcoholic to a bar! She lowered her voice, "Do you know that last mission of Leo before his retirement?" Their team walked into the minefield, but only he fell behind because he went to rescue the wounded...

Oli stared at the coffee cup, and the human face on the milk foam gradually faded away.

So are you going to be his savior? Ximei pressed the lighter with a clicking sound but refused to light a cigarette. "You know, the most popular souvenir in a mental hospital is the 'I Sacrificed for Love' medal."

Oli threw the cap of her cola bottle into the trash can on one side - but missed. The lid dropped to the ground and rolled twice, like a bullet that had lost its fire.

He needs professional treatment, not a one-day tour of the cemetery. Ximei finally lit her cigarette. The flame reflected the equally thick bluish-black color under her eyes. "I checked Jack Moran's file. His mother has been holding up signs at the Department of Veterans Affairs every week, demanding a thorough investigation into ‘the mission that killed my son’."

The night wind blew away the smoke ring. Suddenly, Oli noticed a pale white ring mark on Ximei's right ring finger - she had never mentioned the engagement.