When she arrived at the station, Lyra took her phone out of her bag. She found several incoming messages from Galaksi.
Galaksi:
> "Where are you now?"
Lyra quickly replied as she walked toward the train.
Lyra:
> "I'm at the station."
A short while later, Galaksi sent another message.
Galaksi:
> "Okay, be careful. Put your phone away. Let me know when you get there. I'll head out right away. My house isn't far, only about thirty minutes from there."
Lyra:
> "Okay, Galaksi."
Throughout the journey, Lyra's heart felt all over the place. Nervousness, fear, and embarrassment mingled together. This was the first time she would meet someone she had known only through her phone screen all this time.
After traveling for nearly two hours, Lyra finally arrived at the hospital. It was her first day undergoing examinations at the large hospital. She handled all the registration paperwork by herself. Because she was so focused on dealing with the paperwork, Lyra completely forgot to tell Galaksi that she had arrived.
A little while later, after reaching the fifth floor, Lyra finally had a chance to check her phone. There was already a message from Galaksi.
Galaksi:
> "I'm in the parking lot. Where do I go now?"
Lyra hadn't told him at all that she had arrived.
Lyra:
> "Just come up to the fifth floor, okay? I'm on the fifth floor."
A few minutes later, another message came in.
Galaksi:
> "I'm on the fifth floor. Try coming out."
Lyra's heart immediately began beating faster. The nervousness she had been holding back all this time was becoming harder to hide. She rose from her chair, slowly drew a breath, and walked out to meet Galaksi.
As soon as the waiting room door opened, Lyra's eyes went straight to a man dressed entirely in black. Without needing to ask, she was already certain that he was Galaksi.
Galaksi turned toward Lyra as well. Their eyes met for a few seconds. Too nervous, Lyra hurriedly looked away, then turned and went back into the waiting room. Galaksi followed behind her without saying a word.
The waiting room was packed with patients and family members waiting for their turns. Every chair was occupied, so Galaksi could only stand right beside Lyra. The atmosphere between them felt incredibly awkward. Neither of them dared to start a conversation.
Every now and then, Lyra glanced at Galaksi from the corner of her eye. In her heart, she kept asking herself,
"Is this Galaksi? The person I talk to for hours every night? Why does he seem so cold? He's so different from the guy in our chat."
Unbeknownst to Lyra, Galaksi also stole several glances in her direction. But just like Lyra, he was too nervous to break the silence surrounding their first meeting.
Finally, Galaksi worked up the courage to break the silence.
Galaksi:
> "What time did you get here?"
Lyra:
> "I think around 11:30."
Galaksi:
> "Oh... they haven't called you in yet?"
Lyra:
> "Not yet."
Not long afterward, someone got up from their seat. Galaksi sat down on the empty chair right beside Lyra.
Silence settled over them again. There was no more conversation, only the sound of nurses' footsteps and the calling of queue numbers over the loudspeaker.
Until finally, a name Lyra knew all too well was called.
"Lyra Vega Anara."
Lyra immediately stood up from her chair.
"I'm going in now, okay?"
Galaksi only nodded and gave her a faint smile of encouragement.
Lyra entered the examination room and sat directly across from the doctor. In a soft voice, she began describing all the symptoms she had been experiencing. The doctor listened carefully, then explained that based on her symptoms, there was a possibility of an autoimmune disease. However, to confirm the diagnosis, Lyra would need to undergo a series of additional examinations.
Hearing the word **autoimmune**, Lyra's world seemed to stop for a moment. Her chest felt tight. Fear, disappointment, anger, and confusion all tangled together. She had never imagined hearing a possible diagnosis like that.
The doctor then gave her a referral for some preliminary examinations, such as an X-ray and laboratory tests.
With slow steps, Lyra left the doctor's office. Her face looked downcast, her eyes glistening as if she were holding back tears.
From a distance, Galaksi, who had been waiting all this time, immediately stood and approached Lyra.
Galaksi:
"What did the doctor say? Why do you look so sad?"
Lyra fell silent. Her lips felt too heavy to answer. After a while, she finally said in a quiet voice,
"They told me to get an X-ray... and then go to the lab."
Galaksi didn't ask anything else. He knew Lyra wasn't ready to talk about it.
"Okay, come on. Here, give me your bag. I'll carry it."
Without waiting for an answer, Galaksi took the bag Lyra was carrying. They walked side by side down the hospital hallway.
Seeing that Lyra still looked anxious, Galaksi slowly took her hand. His grip was warm, as if he wanted to tell her that she wasn't facing everything alone.
Lyra turned toward Galaksi. For the first time since leaving the doctor's office, she managed to bring a faint smile to her face.
Galaksi returned the smile, then said softly,
*"It's okay. Don't be scared. I'm here."*
That simple sentence managed to calm Lyra's heart. For a moment, the fear that had filled her thoughts gradually faded, replaced by the feeling that there was still someone willing to walk beside her, no matter what happened next.