Demons Beside You

As the sky darkened, the people on the beach lessened.

“Fali, work’s over.” Robio patted Fali’s shoulder. “Go relax.”

Fali had heavy spirits. Others didn’t know this, but when she was still a child, she’d come to this beach and had had an accident that had put her in danger. It had been Walter, the hero dog lifeguard, who’d saved her.

Every year after that, Fali would come visit Walter. Last year, she became Walter’s companion. However, Walter had aged considerably by then. He could no longer run or swim so fast.

But to Fali, he was still her hero. She viewed him as her family.

Two months ago, he was diagnosed with stomach cancer. For both humans and dogs, this was a fatal condition.

Seeing how Walter suffered, Fali felt even more pain. She’d tried many things, but she realized that both humans and dogs would become so weak and powerless in the face of cancer.

Some people thought that euthanasia was mercy. Others thought it was cruel.

Fali had never thought that she would get this idea one day. However, as soon as this idea was planted, she couldn’t control it anymore.

She thought that death was the biggest help to Walter.

She just couldn’t make the final decision. She’d rather invite an outsider—a stranger—to help her. Unfortunately, that person refused her and humiliated her right there.

“Your sadness won’t save Walter. I don’t want Walter to see you like this either. I can take over now.”

The lifeguards had shifts too. Robio volunteered to switch today.

“Okay.”

After Fali left the beach, she went straight to the hospital.

“Faur, when was the last time you went to our house?” Fali hugged her little sister.

“Fali, how come you’re here?” Faur was younger, but she was more mature. “You seem sad. Did you get dumped?”

“Faur, is there a cure for cancer?”

“Fali, don’t tell me you have cancer.” Faur instantly grew nervous.

“No, not me. Someone important to me got cancer.”

“You already know the answer,” Faur said helplessly. “Why are you asking me? There’s no cure for cancer. At least, there’s no effective treatment right now. The treatments are mainly for repressing the condition or cutting it out, but relapse is common for the latter.”

“Are there really no miracles in this world?”

“If we’re talking about miracles, there really is. I witnessed it too.”

“What miracle?”

“My professor was in the late stages of stomach cancer. She’s already 96 years old too. I was in charge of everything, from her diagnosis to re-examination and treatment. My treatment didn’t seem to have any effect though. It couldn’t even delay her death. But recently, she recovered miraculously. Completely. Her cancer cells vanished and then I did all sorts of tests to confirm that they really were gone. Don’t you think it’s a miracle?”

“How can this happen? Did she try some special medicine?”

“I don’t know. I can’t be sure if she has used some type of special medicine either, but she said that she didn’t.”

“So did she or did she not?”

“My guess is that she personally didn’t and someone secretly gave it to her without her knowing. A day before she recovered, she was taken to the hospital by her grandson and his friend because of a big relapse. That day, her tumor began shrinking rapidly and vanished within 24 hours. I suspect that her grandson’s friend secretly gave her some medicine.”

“You’re sure?”

“I’ve seen her grandson’s friend twice. The first time, he snuck into the room of a child with brain cancer. I’d already notified the child’s family that he might pass away, but the next day, he was miraculously able to be discharged. The tumor hadn’t disappeared completely, but it had shrunk to one-third the size. The danger had passed. I suspect that the child had been saved because of him too.”

“He’s a doctor?”

“Yes, a very strange man. He has great skills but no license. I wonder if he researched by himself and discovered the medicine to cure cancer.”

“Are you being serious?”

“These are all my guesses. Even I doubt if it’s true or if it’s just a coincidence.”

“Do you know how to find that man?”

Faur shook her head. “No. I tried, but I just can’t find him. I asked my professor for her grandson’s number and tried to have him give me the man’s contact information, but he refused.”

“There’s no other way to find him?” Fali grabbed Faur’s hand pleadingly.

Faur thought for a moment and a lightbulb flashed. “Oh, I thought of something.”

She immediately pulled out a pile of documents and flipped through it. “I found it. This is it.”

“Rasfa Laurentham, Zola Laurentham…it’s them.”

These two were VIPs of the hospital, so the hospital stored their information.

“Isn’t Rasfa Laurentham the chairman of PLM Film? I saw him on the entertainment section of the LA Times.”

“This man seems to be his private doctor.”

“You want to get information from him? That’s impossible. He’s a billionaire. You probably can’t even get close to him, let alone get information out of him.”

“Not him. His daughter, Miss Zola.”

“She should be rich too, right? Are you sure you can get close to her?”

“Of course. Her son was attacked by a shark at the beach recently and lost his left leg. I did the surgery. He’s in the recovery stage now. I can use this as an excuse to visit him.”

“When will you go? Now? Can you take me with you?” Fali looked at her with anticipation.

“Then let’s go,” Faur said. “Did you drive?”

“Yes. Where does she live?”

“Beverly Hills.”

“Rich as expected.”

“Stop pulling me. I need to get her son’s records organized. Go get the car from the underground parking.”