Known
IV
"... yes, it's called Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). It affects about five percent of the population in the U.S. It lasts about forty percent of the year and it's more common among women than men, it is most difficult for people who suffer from the disorder during January to February, according to an article from the American Psychiatric Association."
"We'll take questions from our studio audience when we return."
***
"Are you S A D?"
"You keep bugging me about my fainting spell and I'm going to run you over with my car."
"Okay, sorry! But you've got to admit it is strange that someone as young and strong as you are, that you would faint like a school girl after she's seen her favorite boy band,"
Laughter.
"Tell me more about your dysfumction. You said that you were experiencing weird things throughout your life, since you were a child. Are you on psychotropic drugs?"
"Nome of the experts have ever had a need to prescribe any, bastard. Anyway, remember that time when I told you about my mother and I almost getting killed by a car. We survived because I was able to pull her out of the way, even though I was only five years old and didn't see the car until after it crashed. I was going purely on instinct.
And then there's you. Your wife struggles with bipolar issues and depression. I love that she is so open about it, by the way. She's a great example to follow. And there's Joe, that struggles with high-functioning autism. You have got to be in emotiinal pain all of the time. None of what I have mentioned is easy. I'm blown away at how you hold yourself together. But you have to admit, you are under a huge amount of stress. It makes me wonder if you should be in therapy and it makes me think that you are a sensitive."
"A sensitive what?"
"An empathetic."
"You've been watching too much science fiction again."
"H.P. Lovecraft is a favorite, but that doesn't explain how it is that you manage to call me in the moments that I need you most."
"We talk every day."
"Yes, but you call me when I need you, not randomly."
"Okay, now you're starting to worry me."
"When I woke up from the nightmare at three in the morning, you texted me as soon as my eyes opened."
"Coincidence."
"When I had to go to the hospital last week because my fever spiked to over a hundred and two and you happen to be at the corner where I was going to catch a cab."
"Uh..."
"When you told me that my ex was no good for me and three days later I catch her with her ex."
"Stop."
"And what about that dream you had about the fish jumping into my hands and the same day I win the lottery?"
"We were talking about you and your dysfumction, not me, remember?"
"Your phone. Answer it. It's Mariana."
"It hasn't-"
Reinaldo puts his phone on speaker.
"Hi honey!"