ANTIQUE NURSE
Season 2: Past Lover

Three years ago

With long steps Ezra approached Hanum who was waiting for him at the cafe. His girlfriend suddenly wanted to meet him. Arriving at the table occupied by Hanum, Ezra pulled the chair in front of her lover. For a moment Ezra was stunned to see the face of his lover who looked gloomy.

“Sorry, long time waiting?”

“Ngga, coking.”

“Kok haven't ordered food? What do you want to eat?”

“Wait you.”

Ezra waved his hand at one of the waiters then ordered food and drinks. While waiting for the food to be ready, the two chatted casually. Several times Hanum smiled at the chatter or humor of Dimeh Ezra, the man she had been dating three years ago.

“This time we watch yuk,” take Hanum.

“Bby. What do you want to watch?”

“Ehmm.. I want to see a new Korean movie. Genrenya drama, want no?”

“As of you aja.”

A waiter came to deliver the order. Both began to enjoy the dishes. During the meal Hanum continued to hold Ezra's hand, making the man a little surprised by his lover's behavior. But he tried to deny baseless suspicions.

After eating, they continued the plan to watch. Ezra drove his vehicle to Andhara mall. Hanum headed straight for the ticket seller upon arrival at the cinema lobby. The girl chose a chair in the upper corner. Before entering the studio, Ezra bought drinks and popcorn as a friend to watch.

The studio lights went out as soon as the show was about to start. Hanum's eyes stared straight ahead, enjoying the film's storyline that he was eager to watch. Ezra who is not too fond of genre films like this as much as possible strengthens the eyes, when drowsiness begins to hit him.

Ezra's eyes opened when he heard a sobbing sound next to him. The man had indeed slept for a while, before finally waking up from hearing Hanum's cries. Ezra looked at his lover who kept wiping away the tears on his face, as much as he could hold back the laughter that was about to explode.

“Why you?” ask Ezra.

“Sad, Ez.”

“Udah know sad movie, why watch. Do not cry, later thought your people cry because of me.”

Not that it stopped, but Hanum's tears were pouring more and more. Unable to see the lover who seemed so washed away by the storyline of the film, the man pulled Hanum into his arms. Hanum's hand clutched tightly onto Ezra's shirt, being in the man's arms, in fact, made him unable to hold back the tears. The tears that come out are not because of the movie scenes that are watched, but because they withstand the feelings of sadness that befell him.

Until the show ended, Hanum was still crying. Ezra to his own confusion saw his lover. Hanum's eyes looked puffy, and his face was slightly swollen from not stopping crying. Ezra immediately took the girl out of the studio. While bowing his head, Hanum followed the steps of the lover.

“Why are you, Han? You are not usually like this. Is there a problem?” ezra asked when they were in the car. Finally the man could not hold back his curiosity anymore, seeing the strange behavior of his lover.

“Ez.. i. pain.”

“Sick? What pain? Why didn't you say? Can I take you to the doctor?”

Hanum's head shook slowly. The girl's eyes warmed up again, and the water flowed back through her beautiful face.

“I.. get liver cancer.”

There was shock on Ezra's face hearing Hanum's words. Cancer is a disease that many people fear. Although the medical world has been increasingly advanced, but still it is still difficult to treat this disease permanently. And what is worse, just hearing the name of the disease, has become a mental blow to the sufferer.

“Are you sure?”

“Ehm.. papa and mama have taken me to three different doctors and the results remain the same.”

“When did you know about this?”

“Two months ago.”

“It's been two months running, but you just said it now?” ezra sounded annoyed.

“I'm sorry.”

Ezra leaned his head against the back of the seat. Sadness, anger and resentment blend into one. As one of the closest people, Hanum had to wait for two months to say this. Seeing Hanum who came back crying, made Ezra's anger and annoyance fade. The man changed his seat to face Hanum.

“Don't be sad, sorry if I'm a little emotional. In the Lord, every disease has a cure. You must not despair. Your cancer has only entered stage two, there are still many opportunities to recover,” Ezra grasps Hanum's hand.

“Papa took me to Germany.”

“That's a good proposal.”

“But that means we have to part.”

“We are just separated. We can still contact each other. If I am free, I can visit you there,” Ezra gently caressed Hanum's hair.

With a slow motion Hanum kept Ezra's hand away from his head. His eyes then looked closely at the netra hazel belonging to the man who had three years of status as his lover.

“Ez.. I want us to break up.”

“What do you mean?”

“You know that I can't have a long distance relationship. Especially with my current condition. We don't know what's going on up ahead. I don't want to give you false hope or make you wait in vain. We better just end it all, so that I can take the treatment calmly and you can still live life as usual.”

Ezra looked in disbelief after hearing the series of sentence after sentence that the girl had thrown. He returned Hanum's fingers and held them tightly. With his body language, the man wants to make sure that his love is not as shallow as the lover thinks.

“I know, surely your mind is in a rage right now. It's natural that you feel scared, but separation is not the way out. How can I just pass by while you're struggling to live. I want to be next to you, I want to be a force for you.”

For a moment Hanum was silent, but soon he saw his head. The girl was too afraid of something in front of her. He must admit, if he is too cowardly to face everything, including fear of facing how Ezra will react if his physical condition changes due to treatment.

“I love you, Ez. And I don't want to keep you stuck with me. We better end this relationship. I set you free, if one day you turn to another heart. From now on, it is better to live each of our lives.”

“Han.. Why are you like this?”

“I did this for your own good.”

“Kebaikku? You are just stuck in an uncertain fear.”

“Iya. Maybe I was like that. I can't imagine how my life will be going. I can't imagine you turning away. So it's better to end it all well. If my treatment is successful and God wants us to mate, there will definitely be a way for us to be together again.”

“You sure?”

Hanum nodded his head. Even though he was sick, he had to make this decision. They choose to separate and leave their relationship to fate.

“Han.. If you want me to wait, then I will wait. But if you really want to part, then there is no guarantee I will wait for you. Again I asked, are you sure?”

“Ya, I'm sure.”

Hearing Hanum's reply, Ezra immediately put on her seatbelt. His heart was filled with deep disappointment. The man started the engine and ran the vehicle leaving the Andhara mall area. Only silence covered the two along the way home.

☘️☘️☘️

A year passed after Hanum's departure. Another on the lips, another on the heart, in fact Ezra still can not open the heart to other women. He secretly finds out about the girl's treatment and waits for her to return.

Only her best friends know how devastated Ezra feels when Hanum shuts down all access to her. Through her papa, the girl asks Juna to close all information about her from Ezra.

Although disappointed, but Ezra still tried to accept it well. All the pain felt was covered with his calm demeanor. The man is still trying to live his life and trying to open his heart again. Until one day, there is a beautiful creature that managed to make him interested. A sweet girl who has known since childhood, but only now managed to attract his attention.

One afternoon, as Ezra was on his way home, his eyes caught a familiar girl walking under a drizzle of rain. The man pulled the car over and opened the window.

“Dila..” call it. The girl who turns out to be Dilara doesn't hear his call. He just kept walking. Finally Ezra decided to go down and chase after him. Dilara's hand was held, to make the master turn to him.

“Kak Ezra.”

“Dila.. You why?”

“Kak Ezra.. hiks... hiks...”

Ezra was stunned when suddenly the girl hugged him. Dilara sobbed while hugging Ezra's waist. For a moment the man was just stunned, not knowing what to do. But a moment later, he returned Dilara's embrace.

“Why?” ask her in a soft voice.

“Where to take?”

Ezra broke his embrace and then held onto both of the girl's shoulders. His eyes stared fixedly at the netra Dilara who was still giving off a clear circle.

“Where were you snatched?” reset Ezra.

“So when I got home from college, I was in my friend's car. But he put me on a lonely road, he said he had to go somewhere else first. Not long after he left, I was snatched, hiks. hiks...”

Feeling the rain getting heavier, Ezra immediately took Dilara up to the car. He thrust out a tissue to dry the face of the girl who was hit by the rain drops. Still crying, Dilara dried her face.

SRING!

Dilara pulled the liquid out of her nose, then rubbed it gently. Take back the tissue and do the same thing again. After that, the girl returned to tears as her hands inserted old tissue into a small trash can under the dashboard. Ezra tried to hold back the laughter of seeing the behavior of the girl beside him.

“Udah don't cry anymore. Later brother will find out who has snatched your bag.”

“Ngga no, sis. The contents of the bag that was snatched were just a wallet. The lost wallet part has no contents.”

“Means?”

“Then I left for college in a hurry, so I took the wrong wallet. HP is also missing.”

“Keep why do you cry rich gini?”

“I laper brother, huaaaa..”.

“Hahahaha..”

Ezra couldn't help but laugh this time. It turned out that made Dilara cry as much as she did not because she lost a valuable item, but because of the hunger that struck. The man immediately ran his vehicle.

“Kakak..”.

“What?”

“Laper.”

“Iya. yes..we stop by to buy food first. What do you want to eat?”

“Ke fast food only. But drive thru just let cepet.”

“Ok.”

Ezra increased the speed of his car because he did not want to make the girl next to him faint from hunger. His car then turned into the area of one of the famous fast food in Indonesia. He steers the vehicle towards the drive thru location. The window of his car opened to coincide when the man stopped his speed.

“Good afternoon,” greet the waiter.

“Sore.. mbak. I pesen cheese burger one, French fries jumbo size one, apple pie one another Fanta,” said Dilara.

“There again?”

“Kak Ezra want to not?”

“Cheese burger aja, drink it samain.”

“Cheese burgernya two yes, mba. drink it also two.”.

The waiter nodded, then repeated Dilara's order. Ezra took his wallet and took out some money and gave it to Dilara. After waiting for a few minutes, the order was ready and the vehicle they were riding on drove back.

Ezra stopped his car near a park. He stopped to enjoy the food he had bought. Considering the rain was still pouring, the two decided to eat in the car alone.

While chewing her food, Ezra noticed Dilara eating her food. Starting with a cheese burger that is eaten alternately with french fries, sometimes the girl sips her drink. After it runs out, it is the turn of the apple pie that goes into his stomach.

“You're rich in heavy lapers huh? Do not expect that small body but eat a lot,” said Ezra while laughing.

“Laper brother. Today college is solid. I'm looking for Anya, Al is a dedemit gang but not met. Want a phone, hp no, pinjem hp temen free because I do not memorize their numbers. Want to owe to temen malu.”

“Hahahaha..”

“Kak mah even ngetawain.”

“You're so funny anyway.”

Anxious to see Dilara, made Ezra break the top of the hair slowly. Ezra's chest rippled as his palm came into contact with the girl's head. On the other hand, Dilara felt the same way. He lowered his head for the sake of hiding a tinge of red on his face.

From then on, Ezra and Dilara's closeness begins to intertwine. Slowly but surely, Ezra could already erode his feelings of pain and disappointment in Hanum. Her days have come back cheerful since Dilara's presence in her life. Until finally he was determined to establish a relationship with Dilara.

☘️☘️☘️

Present-day

GECK

GECK

GECK

There was a knock and shortly followed by the opening of the brown door. A girl with a straight shoulder-length haircut came into Ezra's room.

“Ez..”

Ezra raised his head and was quite surprised to see Hanum coming. For a while the man was silent, until he finally realized and woke up from his seat. Hanum stood by his desk. Three years passed, not much change happened to the girl who had been his lover.

“How are you doing?” ask Ezra.

“As you can see.”

“Your treatment was successful?”

“Alhamdulillah.”

Hanum showed off his sweet smile, a smile that always warmed Ezra's heart first. The man then invited Hanum to sit on the sofa. Hanum watched the workspace Ezra occupied.

“You've been pulled to the main office turned out,” Hanum opened the conversation.

“Hmm.. dad asked me to join.” as soon as possible

“Then hotel Arjuna?”

“Ravin takes care of it.”

Hanum just nodded his head. While looking around, his eyes stole a glance towards Ezra. His ex-girlfriend grew older and looked more handsome. His gaze then turned on Ezra's ring finger which was not attached to the ring. In his heart was relieved to know the former still had not given up his bachelor status.

“I heard Ravin is married.”

“Yes, she is married to Freya.”

“Finally he can get Freya too.”

“Hmm.. with full of exact struggle,” kekeh Ezra.

“Then you? Do you have a partner?”

☘️☘️☘️

**Hayo.. What will you answer Ez?

If there's no obstacle, this chapter should be nongol Friday night. Hopefully yes🤲**