Chapter 9: Separation

It was a rainy day in the city of Vandara.

At the reception of the local orphanage, a single crib with a weak looking infant could be seen.

The infant was wearing yellow colored overalls with cartoon faces of bears making various expressions on it, he had a pipe going into his mouth and the pipe could be seen connected to a bag suspended in the air with a light brown substance in it.

There was a single matron in the reception, responsible for redirecting visitors and for watching over the weak looking unconscious baby; Currently the matron had her head on the side of the crib as she was playing with the mobile on the crib while letting out a bored sigh now and then.

As the pitter patter of rain could be heard on the windows of the unusually quiet reception and the jingle of the mobile over the crib sounded out now and then, The infant lying in the crib slowly opened his eyes.

The child did not start crying, he just stared curiously at the back of the head in front of him as he heard the ambient sounds in the room.

Soon the matron sighed and got up from her half sitting half lying position.

As she inevitably looked into the crib, expecting to see the still unconscious infant, she was startled and shocked to see a pair of bright green eyes looking right back at her with curiosity.

She began to stutter while looking around her for anyone who could tell her what to do before she ran out of the reception leaving the curious baby alone with a pipe still going down his throat and into his stomach.

Soon the matron returned with a few older looking matrons and a couple of wet nurses, these wet nurses were the ones who had previously taken care of the infant in the nursery.

As the baby lay immobile, its eyes darted from one face to the next, and he seemed to be looking for something.

Within a few hours of the baby getting up, the orphanage staff confirmed he no longer had any significant issues and removed the nasogastric tube that went into his mouth.

As soon as the tube was removed, the baby raised its hands, and tried to get up but did not seem to have the energy to.

One of the wet nurses who could be seen to have tears in her eyes lifted up the baby gently as she cradled him while looking at him with relief all over her face.

The infant seemed to ignore everyone in the room and turned his neck to seemingly look around the room as if looking for something or someone.

In his eyes, the going ons in adjacent rooms and the ones beyond them could be seen one by one as if he was selectively choosing to look through specific walls.

After a few minutes of this, the baby looked at the matron that was embracing him, and began crying.