gustaoception.

***

"I don't like the taste of medicine." Meredith said in disgust when she popped the medicine in her mouth and drank a glass of water.

I took the now empty glass from her and smiled. "It doesn't really taste that nice, but it will help you feel better."

She returned that smile. I watched her as she played with a strand of her hair and her eyes glowed wide. "If I feel better, then, I can get out of here, right?"

I gave her a nod.

She chuckled in delight, and even hugged me. She then looked around the four corners of the white room, as if looking for something, and her gaze went back to me. "I feel bored." She said in a deep voice.

"Read a book," I suggested.

"But I already read all the books you brought. And they're boring because they all have happy endings."

"Don't you like happy endings?"

"No. I like the sad ones."

"Why?"

"Cause the sad ones are more realistic and they... They make me cry. They make me feel so human."

I smiled at what she said. Human. Of course she is human, even though some people say that she doesn't seem like one because of her cold behavior. I stared at this young girl of eighteen, with a smile plastered on my face.

She's broken, I can see that, but despite that, she is strong.

Sometimes her mood shift from one to another, and sometimes she's complicated, but I know deep inside she wants to be understood.

Meredith always smiles.

Although sometimes, I can hear her cry in agony and pain. And that breaks my heart.

"Tomorrow, I'll bring you some artwork materials so you could do something."

Her glum eyes started to beam again. "Really? Thank you! You really do know how I hate getting bored." Her face formed a different smile this time. For a split second, I saw a different side of her, but then when I stared at her again, she's back to that sweet Meredith. She lay on her bed and her smile still did not fade.

I tucked the blankets to cover her and patted her head. "You better get some rest. Tomorrow I'll come back."

"Thank you. I hope my parents and George could do the same. It gets really lonely in here sometimes."

"I know. Your family will visit you soon... Maybe... Maybe they're just busy. But I know they will visit you."

"Really? Maybe George can visit me later tonight, and we'll play with my seven dwarves."

I didn't get to reply anymore because she closed her eyes and fell fast asleep. My heart was beating fast and the hairs in my neck started to rise. I got my stuff with me and left the room.

"So, how was she?" When I heard a voice speaking, I almost jumped out of shock. I turned and saw Lucas leaning against the wall. It's just the two of us in this hallway.

"She's doing good, as always." I responded. "She just misses her family, that's all."

"Meredith Sanchez, an eighteen year-old college student... On the 26th of March, around 8pm, she killed her own family inside their house with a butcher knife. The police found her lying on the couch, watching television, while munching on the severed hand of George, her twelve-year old brother. God, she's insane. I admire you for putting up with her. That's real courageous of you, man."

My mind flashed the image of Meredith--- her angelic face and innocent smile.

I wonder... How could the very same girl murder her own family?

The first time I talked to her, she told me she hated the taste of medicine.

She said she loved the taste of blood. She said: "There's just something with the taste of blood... That makes me feel stronger."

She's insane.

"But she's lonely too," I said out loud. "She needed a company."

Lucas laughed. "She deserves to be lonely. After killing her own family? She got her own taste of her medicine." Lucas then started to walk away, leaving me alone with my trail of thoughts.

She got her own taste of her medicine.

And I know she hated its flavor.