Reiner - Reminds Me of Him

“Thank you so much for taking care of me today. I feel truly thankful. It was very boring to be stuck in the hospital room with nothing to do for many days, honestly,” Natalia said as she smiled.

“That’s not a problem. I’m glad to be of help,” Reiner replied politely.

“When I’ve recovered and if you’re free, let’s go see the sunset at the garden together!” Natalia suggested cheerfully. Reiner wasn’t sure if she was serious of if she was just speaking in the moment.

However, her smile was happy and full of confidence and that warmed his heart as well.

“Sure…” Reiner whispered.

“Oh right! Sorry, I should have asked you this sooner. I guess I never caught your name. Can you tell me your name?” Natalia asked, sounding cheerful.

However, there was nothing he could offer to her as an answer to her question except for silence.

“Umm…excuse me. Hello? Are you still there?” Natalia said, sounding confused since she hadn’t heard his reply.

Reiner stood silently behind Natalia’s wheelchair. As far as he was concerned, the young nurse that had taken Natalia to the garden was dead and gone. There was no point in telling Natalia the name of someone that never existed. After all, she wouldn’t be able to find that young man anywhere, no matter how hard she looked.

When did he leave? Why did he leave all of a sudden? He hasn’t even helped me into bed yet. How am I supposed to climb on the bed on my own in this state?

I was more confused with the situation rather than feeling angry at him. The situation just made me want to giggle to myself. It felt very silly.

“Miss Natalia…I see that you’re back,” a familiar voice greeted me.

“Laura?” I called out her name questioningly.

“Yes, Miss. It’s me,” Laura replied in her sweet voice.

“Umm…did you see a young man who was with me until just now? Did he leave already?” I asked in a hurry.

“Oh…yes, Miss. He saw that I was here to take care of you, so he left. He seemed a little in a hurry…

perhaps he’s got a lot of work to do…” Laura replied.

“Oh…I see…” I said, feeling a little disappointed.

He left so suddenly, I guess he didn’t hear my question when I asked for his name. Now that I don’t know his name or what he even looks like, I guessed that it was near to impossible for me to find him again. Who knows? Maybe we’ll run into each other again as long as I was still in the hospital.

Honestly, though, I would rather be back home and sleeping in my own bed rather than being stuck here.

Whoever that man was, I wish him well and I was glad that I got to thank him properly.

Laura helped me get on the bed and adjusted my position until I was sitting up comfortably on the bed.

…

While Laura was busy helping Natalia get into bed and making sure that she was comfortable, Reiner was busy arranging the cakes that he had baked onto a plate. After he saw that Laura was done helping Natalia, he waved her over with his hand. Laura silently walked over, trying to keep her footsteps as light as she walked.

Reiner handed the plate with the cakes to Laura and gestured for her to serve it to Natalia. To his surprise, Laura shook her head slowly from side to side as she looked worried. Not quite understanding why she was refusing; Reiner raised his eyebrows at her questioningly.

Laura sighed before taking out her phone and began typing.

‘Miss Natalia has ordered for us to stop serving her cake’

Reiner read the short text on the screen of Laura’s phone before he took out his phone and began typing. This was their usual mode of communication when they needed to communicate while Natalia was around. It worked quite well given that they couldn’t speak to each other.

‘Why?’ Reiner typed.

‘She says all cakes taste bad’ Laura typed on her phone.

‘These ones will be fine. Trust me.’ Reiner typed.

After Laura had read the text, he put his phone back in his suit pocket, signaling that their text-based conversation was now over.

Laura had an unconvinced look on her face as she looked at the cake on the plate. However, she decided to do just as Reiner had said and place trust in him.

“Umm…Miss Natalia. Here are some cakes for you…” Laura said hesitantly as she slowly placed the plate of cakes on the table in front of Natalia.

“Didn’t I tell you to stop serving me cake?” Natalia said as she softly pushed the plate of cake away from her.

“I think these should taste ok, Miss. Won’t you give them a try?” Laura said in a weak voice.

Taste, ok? Really?

Since the day that I had ordered Laura and the other maids to stop serving me cake, I haven’t eaten cake at all. I found it very strange that someone as timid as Laura was trying desperately to convince me to eat cake. I wondered what the cake looked like since I couldn’t see it.

I doubt the cake would taste any good, but I hoped that it was at least decent tasting. After all, I wanted to give it a try purely for Laura’s sake. I may not be the kindest person, but I didn’t want to disappoint Laura if I could help it. Knowing that this was probably the surprise that she had mentioned yesterday, I clumsily began taking a bit of cake into my mouth using the small fork that Laura had prepared.

The cake tasted wonderful but that wasn’t the main point. Apart from the fact that it was delicious, the smell and taste was very familiar. Everything about it down to the texture reminded me of him…

It reminded me of Reiner…

“Where did you get this?” I asked.

“Does it not suit your taste, Miss?” Laura replied in a small voice.

“No…it’s…” I began saying but decided not to continue.

I was about to say that it tastes like something that Reiner made but then I realized how impossible that was and how insane it would sound.

--To be continued…