Wan Lei was silent for a moment. He bowed his head and drank his coffee, going along with the current situation. Gu Bai and Ning Xiao looked straight ahead. They didn't want to look at a certain someone who was in rage mode. Qi Le was now an active self-helper. Naturally, he couldn’t just stand by. He said, “He’s joking. Just ignore him. Calm down. Impulse is the devil.”
Yu Mingjie pushed his glasses up, pinched the corner of the table and stopped talking.
Very soon, the doctor came back with cakes and snacks and was surprised. “What are you doing? Don’t scare my patients.”
“I didn't.” Yu Mingjiie took the tray in his hand and calmly explained, “I said I could break the table, but they didn’t believe me, so I showed them. Am I right?”
They saw him looking and everyone nodded.
Only then was the doctor rest assured. He sat down and looked at his patient, his eyes flashing. “Let’s talk about the treatment.”
Qi Le couldn’t help looking at Gu Bai. He was now a college student and his life had just started. Therefore, he didn’t want others to know that he has multiple personalities, so as not to affect his future career. This was something Gu Bai, Ye Shuichuan and the others had always cared about.
Ye Shuichuan liked to spread the latest news about his younger brother but he was still measured in this matter. He only told his man, Shen Shu and Baby Face, all of whom he was familiar with. After all, they had a lot of contact with Xiaoyuan. If Xiaoyuan suddenly switched personalities while chatting, they might be scared. God knows what would go wrong then, so it was better for him to inform them in advance.
Those people were usually quite unreliable but they could tell the difference between minor and important matters. Shen Shu and Baby Face had no interest in advertizing such matters. The object of Zhong Ruiyuan’s narratives had always been those few friends of his, and the topics they spoke about were often more violent and bloody than this. On top of that, Lu Yanbin’s wife had been admitted to a psychiatric department, Yu Mingjie’s wife was a psychiatrist, and that rascal professor’s beloved student was been fished out of a psychiatric hospital. Therefore, they had long been accustomed to such topics and wouldn't mention them to others after hearing them.
Aside from those people, Ning Xiao and Wan Lei were the other two who knew about it. Ning Xiao’s character was such that he certainly wasn't talkative. Natural, he wouldn't say anything. Qi Le thought that Wan Lei might leak out this matter. After all, it was because of him that he had fallen to this point. But after careful observation, he found that his classmates didn't know about this matter, and slowly put aside his doubts.
At present, the doctor was the one who worried him the most. The man was too enthusiastic about this matter. Who knew if he would publicize it everywhere? He was going to receive treatment now. In order not to let others find out, he and Gu Bai propose that the treatment remain private and asked the doctor keep it a secret. The man was straightforward. “No problem!”
Qi Le looked at him suspiciously and asked, “Have you spoken about this to your colleagues?”
“No.” The doctor said, holding his small notebook. “I have to think about the patient’s feelings. Even if I occasionally have questions that I don’t understand and consult my predecessors, I use foreign cases and didn’t mention your name.”
It turns out that the hot-blooded doctor still had good medical ethics. Qi Le was completely satisfied with this and asked in a kind tone, “How are you going to treat me?”
The doctor opened his small notebook and answered earnestly, “We can combine psychological counseling and drug therapy. Given that the drugs currently available are relatively effective for anxiety but don't seem to be helpful for Dissociative Identity Disorder, I prefer the former.”
He sat upright and was focused, his face looking less idiotic, which was rare. He almost had a bit of a doctor’s temperament. “I have checked other cases, some of which have one personality occupying absolute advantage and overpowering other personalities until the end of their lives, some of which have personalities gradually disappeared with the passage of time, leaving only one personality, and some of which have new personalities emerge during the treatment. This personality may dominate or may become the early form of the final personality.”
Qi Le raised his eyebrows. “Early form?”
The doctor nodded. “This means that this personality is relatively strong and can be used as a basis to combine all personalities and completely heal. Most of the current cases of healing are to combine these personalities to form a new personality.”
Qi Le maintained his smile. “You said just now that it's possible that one of the personalities dominates.”
“Mmm, it depends on the effect of the therapy.”
Qi Le asked, “How long will it take?”
“I don’t know. It varies from person to person. Some of those cases have been treated for three months and some for 11 years.” The doctor looked at him with gleaming eyes. “Don’t worry, I will do my best to help you.”
“…” Qi Le said, “I'll have to trouble you then.”
“This is what I should do.”
They spoke briefly, then left. Qi Le got into Gu Bai’s car and said, “I’ll switch back after a few treatments. Then, I’ll keep this personality and have recovered, right?”
Gu Bai smiled and rubbed his head. “Yeah.”
Qi Le leaned into his seat and felt that he could settle this matter after a few treatments. The future was bright! He stayed in the apartment for two days and went to class obediently on Monday. After this week was the national holiday. He would soon see his parents and younger brother again. He thought for a moment and decided to switch back on Wednesday and move towards the goal of recovery.
“What are you thinking about? You look so happy.” Wan Lei sat down beside him with a book, smiling at him.
Qi Le snapped out of it and said, “It's nothing.”
Wan Lei didn’t ask again. He opened the materials for the postgraduate entrance examination and looked down at his book. When Ning Xiao entered, they were already sitting together. He glanced at them and indifferently walked over to sit on the other side of Qi Le. “Morning.”
Qi Le smiled, “Morning.”
These past few days, they had been maintaining such a sitting arrangement. He could clearly feel that the looks coming from the group of girls grew increasingly hot. His face was covered in black lines. He silently comforted himself that this was a special period and he had to endure.
This morning they had two classes. The second one wasn't held in the main building. They had to go to the back building. He went to the restroom after class and when he came back, everyone in the classroom had left. He went downstairs leisurely and looked up. Wan Lei was standing under the tree on the main road with his bag slung over his shoulder, smiling and waving at him. He walked over in surprise. “Why haven't you left?”
“I'm waiting for you.” Wan Lei walked alongside him.
Qi Le raised his eyebrows slightly and looked at him for a moment. Suddenly, he asked, “The doctor said that the most likely thing is that the personalities integrate. I heard that you like the previous personality. What if you find that the person you like is gone after treatment?”
“I have thought about this possibility since I learned of your illness.” Wan Lei’s voice was very soft. “He has long broken away from his family, his older brother was unreliable, and his loved ones didn’t care whether he lived or died. If it weren’t for a sudden change in your personality, I bet Gu Bai would never let you go for treatment. You can say that I've thought about this more than any of you. Xiaoyuan has a gentle personality and these personalities who emerged later are stronger than him. I've long considered… that he might disappear.”
Qi Le was silent for a moment. “Will you be unable to take it?”
“Probably in the first few days.” Wan Lei spoke truthfully, “Then I’ll let go when I've come to terms with it. I hope that he will have a good life. If the new personality can better survive in society, I will be relieved.”
~~~
I will be getting a really important medical report tomorrow. Please wish me luck!