<br/><p>The afternoon flew by for Awang as he struggled with a headache to keep his thoughts under control while running the incredibly busy Klinik Taluk Kuantan. His life always slipped out of his control the moment he walked into that place, and even that alone was enough to give him stomach cramps on normal days.</p> <p>Today was even worse, thanks to the chaos caused by the earthquake. Their home had been untouched by the tremors, but the clinic was a different story. Charts had fallen all over the floor. The reorganization mess only added to his problems.</p> <p>Like most aspiring doctors, when he went to medical school, he had no concept of what a doctor's life was actually like or how it worked. Four years of medical school still hadn't sunk in, and he had also chosen his specialty without considering how major a decision he was making, basing it solely on the advice of people who likewise had no idea what it felt like to be a doctor.</p> <p>Three years of residency in family medicine brought the bitter reality all the way into his bedroom, as the responsibility of caring for people from cradle to grave quickly took over his life. If he had paid closer attention to how things worked around him, he would have realized in time to correct his mistake that the days of the highly respected family doctor had vanished without a trace decades ago.</p> <p>It was too late now! With several years gone and a mountain of debt in his and his wife's names, he was now trapped by the naivety of his youth. Well... by some trivial details and a contract he'd signed in nearly illegible fine print a few months before returning to Taluk Kuantan about four years ago.</p> <p>The life-sucking medical practice would slowly become his as he gradually financed the lucrative retirement of that old doctor, Hang Jebat. Considering how much he had once admired the man, he should have gotten a good lawyer before making such a crazy deal. But that wasn't even his biggest problem in the long run, because he had been forced to pay a covering doctor to continue his specialty, and then to cover the phenomenal medical expenses he'd incurred after the accident.</p> <p>He had only just been able to return to work, limping his way back, and the place and its people were already completely overwhelmed.</p> <p>In fact, it now seemed far more chaotic than before his accident, and perhaps the clinic had essentially been running on autopilot during his absence.</p> <p>And suddenly, he remembered the promise he'd made to have lunch with Kuntum.</p> <p>It was twelve-thirty! He was more than half an hour late. These days, it wasn't a good time to be starting lunch. But his headache, the earthquake, and a host of other distractions that had scrambled his thoughts were to blame. Who could deal with all this bullshit?</p> <p>When he finally reached Rumah Nenek, the little eatery that opened from morning until late afternoon and had been their occasional lunch spot for the past few years, he found that Kuntum had already ordered for both of them and was talking to the server about keeping their food warm until he arrived.</p> <p>As a couple, Awang and Kuntum looked perfectly matched. And in truth, it wasn't just their outward appearance. Both had dark brown hair and sun-browned skin. No one could doubt how well suited they were.</p> <p>When they were together, they complimented each other, and their physical appearance truly seemed to radiate the love they had once shared so sincerely. But a doctor's life was never easy, and Awang's path was no exception.</p> <p>Their marital problems were so severe that their financial troubles seemed like nothing more than the tip of the iceberg.</p> <p>When they first fell in love, neither of them was prepared for the trials that lay ahead in their lives.</p> <p>Awang gradually drifted into the hectic life of the clinic, and Kuntum eventually had to fill her time in other ways. As someone who had been neglected as a child, she had a constant need to have companionship in her life, and that may have been the biggest problem in their marriage.</p>