Chapter 160 - What's Wrong With My Brain?

"Do not move." 

The instruction was clearly heard inside the enclosed space of this modern machine that can map out the activity of his brain. It could tell them what was happening in his brain, but until now it couldn't answer why his brain forgets. 

The first time Noah had these episodes of headache and blackout that causes lapses in his memories was about five years ago.

The culprit according to his doctor was his alcohol addiction, hence, he had to undergo therapy and counseling to shake off alcohol out of his system. 

His doctor told him that his addiction was rooted in his psychological issues, that's why, instead of just putting her in some Alcoholic Anonymous group, his doctor referred him to have a therapist. 

In the beginning, he was against it. Why would he seek medical help from a shrink? He is not crazy. The matter of his brain is not something that can be fixed by a shrink. 

His neurologist disagreed. And he has no way of agreeing to a therapist especially when his doctor already had a diagnosis of his illness. 

However, his doctor insisted that although his health problem was detected early on and he was given the medical treatment needed to reverse some damage in his brain if he can't ensure that he would stop consuming alcohol excessively his health problem could return.

And his doctor doesn't trust him to actually get off from alcohol. Hence, the therapist. 

He was ready to fight his neurologist when he said something that made him stop. The doctor told him that if he didn't stop with his alcohol problem, there might be a time in the future that he would not recognize his own daughter. 

That made him stop. And went to a therapist. But from then on he started calling his neurologist Dr. Seuss. A stupid doctor.  Well, a very good one. But still...he doesn't like it when he is proven wrong. 

"Noah stopped squirming in there so we could be done with it, already." 

"Am I taking your precious time, doctor?" he sarcastically answered him. 

"Well, yes. I have a brunch date with my daughter." 

He took a deep breath and lay down inside the suffocating machine like he was dead. And in the next few minutes, all he heard was soft hissing before he was pulled out and instructed to change clothes and be at Dr. Seuss's office. 

He clicked his tongue and did what he was told. 

"There was nothing in there," he remarked after watching the film of his brain. 

"Then what happened?" he asked, irritated. 

"Well, that I don't know." 

"You are a quack doctor like always!" he spat his words to his friend. 

"Come, join me for brunch with my daughter. We can talk about it over food." 

"Don't try to bait me into liking your stupid prognosis with your wife's amazing cooking!" 

He threw his head back in laughter and led Noah to the outside of the building of his private clinic that looks like a small garden shed from the outside but a private clinic in reality.

The purpose of his inconspicuous building was for the likes of him that cannot be seen in the hospital seeing a brain doctor. 

ANAT Pharma and Co. shareholders won't be confident with his capabilities to run the company if they find out that there was something wrong with his brain and how it functions.

"Good morning, Noah!" a beautiful blonde woman, wearing an apron in a beautiful kitchen bathed in the morning light, greeted him cheerfully once they entered the back door of the house that leads directly to the kitchen. 

"Good morning, monkey pants," he said to a teenager wearing all black and sporting purple hair who was eating pancakes while perched on a kitchen stool. 

"Shove it, Dad!" she said irritably, but then her pretty face bloomed into a smile when she spotted Noah standing behind his father, "Hello, Uncle Noah." 

"Hello, Venice." he greeted her warmly but cleared his throat when he saw the sour expression on the teenager's face. "Hello, Vin. Sorry for forgetting that in a second. My memories aren't as good nowadays," he chuckled before dropping a kiss on the top of her head and taking the seat next to her. 

"Oh, come now Noah. That brilliant brain of yours is as healthy as any man your age." 

"You had a morning session with Carl, Noah?" 

"Thanks, Tala," he accepted the plate of pancakes she handed her. "I fainted last night, so I'm here." 

"I'm done eating and you are all going to talk about something I should not hear. I'll go to school now." 

"Bye, darling!" she said, kissing her daughter's cheek.

"Bye, uncle Noah. I still want you as my prom date next year, by the way," she said, jumping off the stool. 

From inside the bathroom that had been left open, he yelled, "Goodbye, monkey pants!" "Do you want daddy to drive you to school?" 

"No! Over my dead body!" When her father came out of the bathroom, she grabbed her backpack and ran out of the kitchen. 

"See that Noah? That would be your little Lucille in the next few years," he said, watching the kitchen door slammed shut behind his daughter.

"Carl, Venice is now a teenager. You can't treat her like your little girl forever," she said, rolling her eyes at her husband as he poured her coffee. 

"You are just saying that honey because Venice still kisses you goodbye and goodnight. How about me? Why do I have to ask permission to kiss my daughter? And now, I have to beg," he turned to Noah, and shook his head, "My position in this family is being flush in the drain, I tell you that. I should have prayed for a son." 

Noah just chuckled at their family banter, but deep inside his heart, he felt a little bit envious of his friend's family. 

He wished he could also kiss Lucille goodbye in the morning before she headed out for school, but their family situation was quite different. 

"I still disagree with your decision to give full custody of Lucille to your ex-wife." 

Noah glanced at Tala. She looked like your typical barbie girl. Blonde and has the body to die for. Some people would say that she also has nothing in her head, but Tala has a Ph.D. in Microbiology just like him.

They were classmates in the University and she married one of his best friends. The stupid Seuss, sitting next to him, eating his wife pancakes like he didn't eat it every day of his life since they got married. 

"She spent summer with me," he smiled. He pulled out his phone and showed Tala the photos of Lucille. 

"Oh, look, Carl," she shoved Noah's phone to her husband's face. "Lucille is growing up so beautifully…" she swiped the photos on Noah's phone melancholically. 

"She has your eyes, but she has her mother's beauty." 

"She is amazing," he smiled and nodded his head. He suddenly felt a longing to see his daughter.

"Who is she?" Tala asked, holding his phone in front of his face with the photo of him, Lucille, and Jess on the phone screen. 

It was a picture of them wearing funny mustache sunglasses. 

"Jess." 

"Jess — who?" she cocked her head to her husband, giving him a silent order to probe Noah about the woman in the photo. 

"She looks pretty and little Lucille seems to like her," Carl commented, following his wife's order. 

Noah chuckled. He was well aware of the curiosity of his friends about Jess. They haven't seen any woman that he introduced to Lucille. 

"She was our neighbor and she will be working at the lab of ANAT here in Cali for her internship." 

"You know that's not the answer I want to hear, right Noah?" 

He glanced up at Tala and chuckled softly. "Lucille likes her. They banter like old friends. And you will like her too." 

"I'm not going to go easy on this one Noah. I still bore the guilt of introducing you to your ex-wife." she clicked her tongue at him. 

"Tala, my failed relationship is not your fault." he got his phone back from her hands. 

"I'll bring her next time, for today my head is my priority," he glanced at Carl who was scraping his plate clean. "Dr. Seuss, whenever you are ready." 

"Like I told you, Noah, I see nothing's wrong with your brain. If you don't trust me you can get a second opinion. I know some people who can keep their mouths shut." 

"Then what is happening with me?" 

"When was the last time you talked to your therapist?" 

"I haven't seen her in a while." he cleared his throat, averting Carl's eyes. 

"He slept with his therapist that's why," Tala commented.

Noah snapped his head to Tala. Not only does this woman have a brilliant mind, but she is also very perceptive. 

"It was a mistake. But not unethical. We no longer have a patient-doctor relationship when it happened." 

"She is an excellent doctor. You should see her again, this time don't sleep with her. She could pick your brain and find out what caused these headaches and blackouts again."