INFINITE LOYALTY
ETHAN, THE FORMER FIRST LOVE

After waiting for a while, Riani saw that the face of Aunt Grace had finally calmed down, then she resumed her story

"Ethan refused to continue treatment, every time he was undergoing treatment sessions he always cried hysterically calling your name and insisted to go home to Indonesia, because the doctors were overwhelmed with Ethan who thrashed to escape, he said, finally the doctor was forced to tie his hands and feet, and give him a dose of sedative, because Ethan had a history of drug addiction..."

Riani's heart melted and changed with pity when she heard how Ethan was still in love with her, she could not deny anyhow Ethan was her first love, so her feelings of hatred for Ethan since the incident, so the feeling of hatred for Ethan since then, it now fades and disappears.

Riani could feel how sad Aunt Grace was when she saw her son suffer like that.

"Then how did he recover like he is now?" riani asked after waking up from her daydream.

"Actually Ethan who now can not be said to be cured, because in reality he is still sick..."

"How can he get sick with a body that looks healthy like that auntie?" riani asked in disbelief.

"Yes, the pain in his body has indeed healed, but there are still other diseases that still exist and it is closely related to you son" replied Aunt Grace enigmatic.

"I mean auntie?" riani asked confused and did not understand.

"Tante will continue the story first, until you finally find out exactly what disease Ethan is suffering from at this time"

"Please continue the story, don't be full of such mysteries..." Pinta Rian.

"We are living in a world full of the mysteries of God...All right, aunt, continue the story"

"Please aunt, thank you" said Riani with a visibly curious look on her face.

"After six months of treatment and treatment Ethan in such a way, finally the doctor stated that Ethan's body was healthy and allowed him to leave the hospital and return to Indonesia, but but..." Aunt Grace stopped her sentence.

"When Ethan returned to Indonesia, his illness recurred?" tanya Riani tried to guess.

"It can be said like that but...It's different"

"What does aunty mean differently?"

"At Ethan's return from a Singapore hospital, he spends his time confining himself to his room, he is also obedient and regularly takes his medicine, he said, until finally he was released from our supervision and secretly went to your city, and found that your house was empty, since then his personality changed, his often angry and raging wars, and his, he also slammed everything around him, every time he saw us he would scream hysterically and blame us and say that we killed your father"

"Why does he know about this, aunt?"

"That time...When he went to your house there might be people around who tell the events that happened to your family, or ah...Auntie doesn't know son either, but it's clear that since her return from your home, her temperament has changed, until one day we realize there's another personality in Ethan."

"I mean auntie?" Riani was shocked to hear the last word that Aunt Grace said.

"Perhaps because since childhood Ethan often saw aunty and om Marcel quarrel even then it is not uncommon that he saw the violence that om Marcel did to aunt, traumatized him, traumatized him, and even then he saw the violence that om Marcel did to aunt, in addition to the events of your relationship and the tragedy that befell your father, to finally form another person from within him, at that time he was 14 years old and he had experienced many things that made his psychology not strong, aunt heart did not have the heart to see him, very sick here..."

Aunt Grace ended up crying while hitting her chest so many times, she seemed to be no longer strong enough to withstand the burden of her feelings that were very painful and sad for her.

Riani immediately calmed her down by lovingly embracing the old woman, at the end of her eyes tears began to flow, her heart also hurt and saddened to hear the story of Ethan's plagues, his first ex-love.

"Our first known Ethan is Rifai, commonly called Fa'i, a 7-year-old boy, who always says he misses An-an a lot..."

"Deg!" riani's heart seemed to stop for a moment after hearing the name of An-an who incidentally his nickname when he was a child, only two people, Ethan and Roro, knew and called by that name.

"So...Another person from Ethan is his childhood, which is in his memory is me at the age of 7 years" said Riani in his heart, his heart is so bitter after knowing that Ethan is suffering so much with the love in his heart for him, Riani finally cries with regret for hating Ethan.

Aunt Grace hugs tightly onto Riani's body, both of whom dissolve into grief lamenting Ethan's suffering fate and circumstances.

.............

After the crying of the two of them subsided, Aunt Grace continued the story again.

"In the person of Fa'i he behaved like a 7-year-old child, he always said that in order for him to always be with An-an he would change his name to Rifai as he wished..."

"Deg!" back Riani's heart jolted, until it felt like it was about to escape from her body.

He finally thought back to the time when he was 7 years old...

At that time he and Ethan were sitting on the terrace of the neighboring house opposite the Mosque, Riani who wore a veil was waiting when it was his turn to learn to teach.

"Because of my mother's words, my religion is different so it can not be salaried, actually I also want to like An-an, but...I'm afraid of being mad at mamah"

"Then you don't come with me, you wait here first huh"

"But I want to come with you An-an..." Little Pinta Ethan sulked while pulling Riani's hand which was about to leave.

"You can come with me and teach me that our religion is the same Than"

"Then I follow your religion, right?" persuade Ethan to seduce again.

"Don't Than! you will be angry with me as well as you" replied little Riani frightened.

"Yes already, then when I grow up later, I want to follow your religion, yes An-an? so if I grow up, I won't dare to be angry with me, so let me be with you"

"Yes Than, I will wait for you, but later your name will also be changed, Than?"

"Yes An-an, but what's the good thing about it?" ethan asked as he tapped his index finger on his chin.

"How about if your name is changed to Rifai, I will call you with Fa'i only, how is Than?" Riani.

"Well, I want to, so promise me you'll have to wait for me?"

"Yes Than I promise, let's promise kelinking" asked Riani, Ethan nodded in agreement.

Little Ethan and little Riani hook their little fingers together as a sign of their pledge...

.............

Riani's memory is back where she is currently sitting with Aunt Grace, Ethan's mother.

"Then did the Fa'i say who was the child named An-an, aunty?" riani asked to confirm whether Aunt Grace knew it or not, not that she wanted to hide her true identity, it was just that, Riani felt that it was not time for her to dismantle and tell everything that she was the real figure of An-an.

"No, he's just talking that he's gonna keep his word..."

Riani finally realized when Ethan met her on the beach yesterday and then he claimed that his name was Rifai, so whether at that time the figure appeared Fa'i who was another personal from Ethan, who was the only other person, but at that time he did not behave like children, instead tended to be like an adult man.

"Then what is the other person of Ethan Aunty? and besides Fa'i is there another name?"

"Until now Ethan Psychologist says that Ethan has three personalities, namely Ethan, the original person of Ethan himself, Fa'i and the last Josh, Josh has a person who is cold, indifferent and fierce"

"Josh?"

"Yes Josh, this personal figure will appear if the original owner of the body that is Ethan can not withstand the sadness and wounds of his heart that is too heavy, then the figure of Josh will appear, Josh will appear, that's what Ethan's psychologist says"

"So when at the restaurant and at her wedding reception with Viola, Ethan looks cute and cold it is actually a personal figure of Josh? it was just that he looked cold and indifferent, which meant that at that time his heart was already very sad and hurt, maybe it was because of his quarrel with Ethan, and the action of throwing the necklace was probably the trigger of his sadness, that was, I'm sorry Ethan...I hurt you so much..." Inner Riani with her pill cry in heart.

"Son, what's wrong with you?" asked Aunt Grace who looked confused to see Riani speechless with tears still blocked in the corner of her eyes.

"It's okay aunt, then what about the development of Ethan's treatment, aunt?" riani asked averted the conversation while turning her face the other way and quietly wiping her tears.

"At this time Ethan is still undergoing therapy, and said his psychologist, Ethan has gradually shown healing, because another person named Fa'i has not appeared again or even disappeared, he said, so there's still great hope for Ethan to recover completely"

"Then what about Viola, does he know about this?"

"Of course he knows, because he is the figure of Fa'i can be controlled and rarely appear, therefore we accept Viola as our daughter-in-law, because he is willing to accept Ethan's circumstances like that, he said, which maybe other women will not want, because we know that living with people who have several personalities will be very difficult, exhausting, because it will definitely drain the energy, heart and mind"

"Get it right then, because I feel like they're both very compatible and compatible"

"Yes, son..." Aunty Grace answered while gently stroking the back of Riani's hand, as a form of affection for Riani, although not as Ethan's lover.

Riani nodded in understanding, for her the figure of Viola indeed deserves to be beside Ethan with such circumstances, because although Riani can, not necessarily he can see the suffering of Ethan like that...

...☆☆☆...