I felt someone gently squeeze my hand. I opened my eyes to see Mr. Takahashi sitting next to me in what I assumed was a hospital room.

“You’re finally awake,” he said, letting out a sigh of relief. “You got a real beating, huh?”

“I don’t really know what happened,” I said, trying to sit up; my entire body screamed in pain when I tried to move.

“Two kids from your school almost killed you after school on Friday. You went into surgery, and were knocked out for two days,” he explained to me as he let go of my hand.

“How long do I have to stay here for?” I asked, though I had a general idea of what the answer would be.

“The doctor said you’ll have to stay here for at least two months. Once you’re mostly healed, they’re going to start you on physical therapy, which you can mostly do at home,” he further explained.

“What about school?”

“Your teacher is preparing lessons for you, though you won’t have to go into the school until your therapy is over,”

I closed my eyes; the pain was urging me to fall back asleep, but I still wanted to ask more questions.

“Wha—” I started, but was cut off by Takahashi.

“You need to rest. No more questions,” he said. “Your friends said they’re going to come by later tonight, so rest up until then. I have to go to work.”

“Oh,” I mumbled, “ok. See you later, then.”

After Takahashi left the room, I passed out again. I woke up again about ten hours later, which was apparently good timing.

“Are you awake?” Riku asked as he walked in.

“Just woke up,” I said through a yawn.

“Not lookin’ too good dude,” he said as he sat down in one of the chairs next to my bed.

“I wonder why,” I said sarcastically.

“How do you feel?”

“Like I got hit by a truck,” I groaned. “Not quite enough to get isekaid though.”

“Well that’s unfortunate,” he laughed.

“Do you know where Yua is?”

“She said she was leaving work when I got here. She’ll be here soon,”

“Cool,”

“Sooo, how long do you have to be here for?”

“Two months, then physical therapy after,”

“Are you gonna be able to stay caught up in school?”

“I’ll be fine, I think,”

“Oh! I brought some chocolate,” he said, taking two Cat-Kets out of his pocket. “Do you want the green-tea flavor or the mint flavor?”

“Green-tea,” I said. Mint was one of the few foods I couldn’t stand.

Riku and I talked for about an hour about different things, though we mostly talked about different games we played. School was in and out of the conversation, and we also talked about what Riku and his girlfriend were going to do on their date the next day. Eventually, Riku decided to head home for the night, and he left the hospital. Not long after he had left, Yua walked in through the door.

“Sorry I stood you up,” I apologized as she sat down next to me.

“I think you had a decent excuse,” she said with a soft smile. “Are you ok?”

“They pumped me full of drugs, so I can’t really feel anything much,” I explained.

“Oh, good,” she sighed. She pulled a plastic bag out of her bag and set it on her lap.

“What’s in the bag?” I asked.

“Just some books,” she replied. “I figured we could read until you fall asleep.”

As she finished explaining what we were going to do, she picked up one of the books and started reading to me. I didn’t really have the energy to pay attention to the story, so I just closed my eyes and tried to fall asleep. Slowly, but surely, I dozed off into a coma-like slumber.

I didn’t have that recurring dream that I had been having; instead, I dreamed that I was floating in a pool of black water, surrounded by darkness. As the sound of the water echoed in my ears, a soft voice echoed throughout the chamber.

“I don’t want to die,”

The voice lacked emotion, and it sounded hollow. The words were being said, but no weight was being carried along with them. The words were repeated hundreds of times, echoing over each other until they became muddled sounds, indistinguishable from words.

Suddenly, the water disappeared, and I started to fall. It was still pitch black, but the voice was gone. The only thing I could hear was the wind whipping past my ears as my falling body approached terminal velocity.

“Don’t let me die,”

The voice was back, this time coming from inside my head. It had changed its hollow tone to one of desperation, almost as if it were begging me for help. It didn’t echo inside my head; the words were clear each time they were spoken. Even the sound of the wind couldn’t drown it out.

“Why did you let me die?”

My eyes snapped open, and my body shook. I shrieked in pain from the shaking, and a nurse jogged into the room.

“Is everything ok?” she asked urgently.

“Yeah,” I grunted, “I just woke up too quickly.”

“Do you need more painkillers?”

“I think I’m ok for now,” I explained, “thank you, though.”

“No problem,” she replied. “Please use your call button if you need anything, and I’ll be right there.”

“Thank you,” I sighed as the nurse left. “What is it with these stupid dreams? At least let me wake up normally…”

Before I knew it, I was asleep again, then awake again shortly after. This repeated until nurses would do their check-ins with me, bringing me pain medication each time. Between each visit, I was in and out of sleep, though I never felt tired. I think it was just my body’s way of recovering, so I just gave up trying to fight it. Riku and Yua visited after school was out, then Takahashi and Sana visited soon after. This process repeated every day, though some days Yua would also visit twice, reading to me upon her second visit.

Each day seemed to fade into the next, and I quickly lost track of how much time had passed since I had first been admitted to the hospital. Every day, I was given less and less pain meds until, eventually, I didn’t need to take them anymore. My body was feeling substantially stronger, and I could even move my arms and legs without feeling much pain.

Then, while I was eating my breakfast one morning, a nurse came into my room, followed by a short lady wearing a tracksuit and a badge.

“Good morning, Mr. Tanaka,” the nurse said.

“Good morning,” I replied, swallowing my last bite of oatmeal.

“This is Dr. Watanabe,” he said, gesturing at the tracksuit lady, “she is going to be in charge of your physical therapy starting tomorrow.”

“Hello,” Dr. Watanabe said. “I look forward to working with you.”

“Likewise,” I said, bowing my head. “Has it already been two months?”

“Tomorrow will be your 50th day here,” he explained. “Your recovery is going really well, and based on what you’ve told us, we think it’s ok to move onto your physical therapy.”

“Sounds good to me,” I said. “Do I have to stay in the hospital while I do my therapy?”

“I’ll be determining that tomorrow,” Dr. Watanabe explained.

“I’ll leave you for now,” the nurse said as he walked out of my room.

“I’d like to start by asking you a few questions, if I may,” Dr. Watanabe asked, taking a seat next to me.

“Sure,” I replied.

She proceeded to barrage me with questions like “where do you hurt the most,” and “how far can you turn your neck.” The questions themselves were more exhausting than any of the exercises or movements she made me do, and eventually I started to feel tired. About an hour into my physical therapy interrogation, Dr. Watanabe looked at me.

“I think that’s about all I have for you today,” she said. “Do you have any questions for me?”

I thought for a minute, looking around my room as I did. I noticed the badge slung around her neck read “visitor,” so I decided to ask about it.

“Why do you have a visitor badge instead of a staff badge?”

“That’s because I don’t work for the hospital,” she explained.

“Doesn’t the hospital have a physical therapy department?”

“Yes, it does,”

“So then why are you in charge of my therapy?”

“I was hired by your guardian, Mr. Takahashi,”

“Oh,” I sighed. “Wait, why did he…”

“That’s something you’ll have to ask him,” she said as she stood up. “Is that all?”

“I suppose,” I said. I was confused, but I figured that there must have been a good reason to hire a private therapist.

“I’ll be here at eight o’clock tomorrow morning, so get some good rest,” she instructed as she stood at the door. “Tomorrow will be hard on you.”

With that, Dr. Watanabe left my room. I picked up my phone from the nightstand and texted Takahashi.

Why’d you hire a therapist? The hospital has their own.

I waited a few minutes, but no answer came; work must have been keeping him busy. The TV flickered on after I hit the power button on the remote, displaying an ad for some kind of kitchen utensil. I zoned out in front of the TV, not really paying attention to what was on the screen. Time passed quickly while I was zoned out. I didn’t really know how much time had passed, but I knew a lot had. Soon after my realization, Takahashi walked into my room, holding a plastic bag in his hand.

“How’s it going kid?”

“Fine, I guess,” I sighed. “I’ve just been sitting here all day. Again.”

“You in the mood for some dinner?” he asked, putting the bag on my nightstand.

“I could eat,” I answered. “Did you get my text earlier?”

“Hm? No, I left my phone at home today,” he explained. “What was it about?”

“I just wanted to know why you would pay for a physical therapist when the hospital has their own,” I said, eyeing the bag on my nightstand.

“Oh, well I had some requests about your therapy that the hospital said they couldn’t agree to, so I cashed in a favor Ms. Watanabe owed me,” he said as he emptied the contents of the bag; it was takeout from Oji.

“What kind of requests?” I asked nervously.

“Self-defense instruction integrated into a physical therapy plan,” he said flatly.

“Oh ok,” I said before I comprehended what he had said. “Wait, what?”

“Self-defense. Ms. Watanabe used to work with Japan’s special operations team. I figured it would be good for you to learn how to handle yourself in sketchy situations like that last one.”

As he explained his plan to me, it made sense. I had gotten the life nearly beaten out of me, and Takahashi was trying to make sure that it didn’t happen again. I was definitely glad that he was so concerned about it.

“Gotcha,” I said. “Can we eat?”

“Yeah, I gotta go pretty soon though,” he said through a mouthful of noodles. “Working late again tonight.”

“You’ve been working late a lot lately. What’s up with that?” I asked, opening my bowl. Steam rose out of the dish and drowned my nose in the smell of garlic and soy sauce.

“Nothing in particular, honestly. It’s just been busy, especially since the Chief isn’t here this month. I have to pick up all his paperwork,” he groaned, slumping back in his chair.

We finished eating in silence. The food was pretty good, but eating it in a hospital bed definitely made it feel different than eating it at Oji.

“Anybody else coming to see you tonight?” Takahashi asked as he stood up from his seat.

“Not that I know of,” I sighed, “Riku’s hanging out with his girlfriend and Yua’s helping her mom with a sale.”

“Ah,” he grunted. “Well I have to go. I’ll text you in the morning before your therapy starts. See ya later.”

“Yeah, see ya later,” I said, flashing a peace sign as he left my room. Suddenly it was quiet again. I didn’t want to sleep, but I didn’t have anything else to do. I tried turning on the TV, but none of the shows piqued my interest; the only things on were dated anime reruns, nightly news, and low-budget game shows. I turned off the TV and closed my eyes, succumbing to my last resort: a horribly dreamless sleep.