Jack hadn’t done much to pass the time, but after a couple hours passed by, Carolyn still hadn’t shown up. It was already past Jack’s bedtime and she hadn’t said goodnight yet.

Jack let out a deep sigh and rested his head on the pillow, but not without giving one last glimpse at the door, hoping she would burst through and give him a kiss goodnight. Jack guessed not, so he closed his eyes and decided to sleep. He was still thinking about why she had given him such a detested look.

Does she hate me now? I hoped not…

However, his sleep was interrupted by a heavy burden on his chest. His chest hurt really badly. He didn’t know what was going on. Also, Jack couldn’t wake up for some reason.

The pain. It-It’s unbearable!

His breathing slowed right down, and his heart wasn’t beating much anymore. The pain was gone…

A light? Why's there a light now?

Jack’s ears were ringing. It sounded like static, but the light was so bright. He could feel himself floating towards it. He wasn’t sure if that was God calling to him. He wasn’t sure if it was his time yet.

Jack wondered if he was dead. He guessed that would be great… But he could feel the light’s heat. It was so warm… so bright. He was almost there.

He could hear something. It was muffled, but there was definitely someone there. It sounded like it came from behind him.

Jack looked back, but no one was there.

Whatever, he thought. I’ll just keep floating towards the light.

When Jack reached the end of the light, there was a bright door. He stared at it for some time, wondering what was on the other side. As his hand got closer to the knob, something grabbed his arm. He looked to his right and it was the girl in the white dress.

Wha-What’s she doing here?

She grabbed his hand. “I’m not letting you go that easily. You promised to be mine, and I intend you to keep that promise Jack!”

Huh? What does she mean by that?

Someone else grabbed Jack’s other arm. He looked to his other side to see who it was. It was Angela.

Just what in the world was going on?

Angela held onto him tightly, much more tightly than the grip of the mysterious girl in white. “Please don’t go! You’re my brother! Don’t leave me!”

Am I hearing this right? She’s talking normally?

The girl in white stayed quiet for a moment then chuckled. She let go of Jack. “It appears I’m not needed after all. See you soon… Jack!” She disappeared and left behind a trail of black smoke.

Once again Jack started reaching for the door knob, ignoring everyone’s wishes and pleads. But Angela, on the other hand, kept shouting, begging him not to open the door of unknownness.

“Please don’t go!”

Somehow, his mind still ignored her cries.

Maybe Jack had accepted his fate. Perhaps this was for the best. Even if it was a dream for Jack, he didn’t care… He wanted to open that door and see what was on the other side.

He grabbed the knob and slowly turned it. He had a gentle smile on his face. As he was finally about to open Pandora’s box, Angela screamed out, “Carolyn please!”

Wait… what the hell, Carolyn?

Jack stopped and took his hand off the knob. The moment he tried grabbing Angela, she disappeared as well. He started to feel his body shaking and another voice, actually no, multiple voices talked to him.

The door behind Jack faded away and he blacked out. Everything was dark and he could feel his heart beating again. There was a sharp sensation in his right arm, almost as if someone was…

“Dr. Cato! He’s coming back!” a random nurse said.

“Good! What a relief… We almost lost him.” Dr. Cato walked beside Jack to see if he was awake. “Hey! Are you there my boy?” He gently slapped a hand against Jack’s cheek.

Jack finally woke up and took in a huge gasp of air, panicked and then stood up. “Wha-what happened?” he mumbled as he felt a sharp pain in his chest.

Dr. Cato let out a huge sigh of relief. “Thank goodness! You almost died my boy. We were lucky enough to check up on you. Someone had knocked on my office door and when I opened it, there was a small note saying to please check on patient Jack.”

“What! B-But how?” Jack coughed, still trying to catch his breath. “How did I almost die?”

“Well Jack, you almost died of a heart attack. We have no idea what caused it, but that’s fine. We’ve already ran some tests to see what the cause was.” He walked over to the nurse. “As soon as we find out, we’ll tell you, but In the meantime, have some rest and drink plenty of water.”

“But Dr. Cato—”

“No buts! Rest Jack, please.”

Jack let out one last big cough of relief. “Da-dang my ch-chest… If you say so doctor, but I’ll ask a-again later just so you know.”

Dr. Cato nodded then turned to one of the nurses. “Please look after Jack.”

“Where’s my nurse? I’d rather have Carolyn take care of me.”

Dr. Cato laughed and complemented Jack’s sense of humor.

Does he think it’s some kind of joke?

Jack tried getting out of the bed, but the pain in his chest was too much. “What’s so funny?” Jack asked while gripping his pounding chest. “I just wanna see my nurse!”

Dr. Cato scratched his head and sighed. “Okay Jack, uhh…” He annoyingly smacked his lips. “We’ll make sure she’ll get to you later. Now be a good boy and don’t be mean to the clinic nurse.” He chuckled, then walked out of the nursery.

Jack couldn’t believe what he’d actually said. He almost died from a heart attack? That was bonkers. Ridiculous. How could that happen? However, that didn’t erase the fact about why the light and that strange occurrence felt so real.

He couldn’t help but sigh deeply. All these mysterious questions revolving around him was like what the moon did with the earth. It was such a growing burden. The gravity of those issues just kept stacking and weighing him down, just waiting for him to become crushed down to his knees and hopefully give up.

“Nurse, what’s the time?” Jack asked.

She looked at Jack and then looked at her watch hanging from her shirt pocket. “It’s 1:00 pm.”

Holy crap! I was really out, wasn’t I?

For Jack, it was hard to believe that time went by so fast, but the question that stayed on his mind was… why did he react so casually to Dr. Cato about almost dying?

No one should ever react the way he just did. Most people would freak out or faint from hearing such awful news, especially one that involved their own life. Yet, Jack just didn’t seem to care… had he really given up on himself so much that he didn’t care about dying anymore? Did he not fear death now that he’d lost everything. He guessed not.

All the stupidity and perplexed events drove his hunger and thirst insane, so he asked the nurse if she could bring him some water and something to eat. She was more than happy to help. In fact, she was so glad that she hurried right out to fetch him something.

Jack found this strange. He decided to follow the doctor’s advice and rest some more. Setting his head down, Jack placed his hands behind his head and stared at the white ceiling. He couldn’t help but feel more exhausted. It almost seemed like he was doing more than what anyone else was.

For him, it was a strange sensation. Although it was really hard to believe that all this happened last night, but more importantly, the pain… that immeasurable horrifying ounce of pain. The feeling of being a floating corpse within hollowed darkness as his heart slowly gave out in his sleep. It was an awful experience. Not to mention that dream Jack had. There was so much going on in his mind. He wondered if he was truly sick.

Only time would tell, but he did know this: the longer he stayed here, the more he’d actually become mentally ill or go insane, or perhaps, more than likely… lose his humanity.

A little while later, the nursery door opened. Jack woke up from his power nap and looked at the door to see who was coming in. To his surprise, it was Dr. Cato and Angela.

Immediately, she rushed to the bedside. “Are you alright, Jack?”

Jack gave her a gentle smile. “I’m fine.” Jack sat up and was about to ask Dr. Cato a quick question, but Dr. Cato walked away.

He waved and smiled. “Don’t have too much fun.” Then he headed back out of the room and rushed off as if he was in a hurry.

Jack really wanted to ask him about his recent dream.

He looked at Angela and saw she was still worried. “What’s wrong Angela? I’m fine, see. It’s alright.”

She looked at Jack and hugged him tightly. She started whimpering.

Poor girl, she was so worried about me. I guess the doctor told her I almost died. It’s definitely heart warming having someone besides Carolyn to be worried about me and be by my side in these times of dormant torture.

Jack wiped away her tears and rubbed her head.

“I don’t want you to die…” she said, while continuing to whimper.

“It’s okay Angela, don’t worry… wait. Did you just fully complete a sentence?” She blushed and hugged Jack out of embarrassment. “Angela, that’s great! I guess you’re getting used to me being around you huh?”

Jack chuckled and held her hands.

“I’m… uh not, sure I g-guess…” She closed her eyes, clearly still feeling embarrassed.

“Don’t be embarrassed. That just means we’re getting closer, but most of all, you’re becoming more social. Do you talk to Dr. Cato this way?”

She shook her head. “I still have trouble communicating with other people, even if it’s Dr. Cato.”

Jack guessed that he was the only person so far that she’d spoken to the most, which was only reasonable.

Angela pulled a chair beside Jack and appeared to have a drawing pad with her.

“So…. what are you about to do now, Angela?”

She sat on the chair and flipped her drawing pad open. “Oh, I’m about to draw. Yo-You wanna watch me?”

“Sure, I’ve got nothing else to do anyways.”

She smiled and began to draw. The slight sign of sorrow faded away from her face when Jack praised her. That adorable smile of relief returned to ease his soul, which was almost doomed by his own stress.

Jack stopped her for a second. “How long are you planning on staying with me Angela?”

“He said I ca-can stay as lo-long as I wanted!”

Jack knew that she was getting better at speaking, but it still seemed like she could only complete short sentences. He wasn’t sure that she’d talk more as time went by.

Angela started to draw, and as Jack observed her, he realized how calm and tame she was while drawing. No mistakes, no erasing, and how careful she was with her pictures. It was hard to believe that someone her age was this quiet and mature. Most people her age were loud and obnoxious. Those who drew at her level needed schooling or spent most of their childhood drawing out of boredom to draw as good as her.

As she continued drawing, the nurse walked in with Jack’s lunch and also had some drinks. She set it beside him. Jack thanked her for her kind service.

When the nurse set the item next to him, she glanced at Angela and gave her a disgusted look, a look that expressed repulsion.

Jack noticed this and frowned. “Nurse, what’s wrong?”

Her face quickly changed. She forced a smile, then said, “Nothing.” She left but not before she took one last look at her and whispered something underneath her breath and closed the door.

Wow! What the hell was her problem? Why did she give Angela such a nasty look? Do the employees think the same as the kids in that school as well? How strange.

Jack grabbed his plate of food and continued observing Angela as she worked her magic. The moment he began eating, Angela stopped drawing and stared at him. Her mouth was open, with drool slithering down her chin. She looked like a starving stray animal begging to be fed.

I guess she’s just hungry? he wondered.

“Would you like something to eat?” Jack asked.

Angela blushed and wiped off her drool. “Do yo-you mean it! Ca-Can I really?”

Why would she ask such a funny question?

Jack grabbed the tub of mac ‘n’ cheese and handed it to her. She looked at him and her eyes seemed misty.

“Are you about to cry?”

”I’ve never been treated so nicely by anyone except for Dr. Cato.”

Well, that answered Jack’s question about the nurse. He had guessed right. The employees treated her like garbage too. He wondered why they treated her so horribly. The kids, the employees, it just didn’t make any sense. What had she done to make everyone be so repulsive towards her?

Angela grabbed the tub and dug the spoon in it. She stared at the gooey, shiny cheese as it dribbled back into the tub. She slowly inserted the spoon of deliciousness into her mouth and her face said it all. Her eyes sparkled with joy and her cheeks puffed out like a chipmunk as she stuffed her face.

She shone with happiness from just eating some plain mac? It’s almost like she’s barely been fed!

“How are your drawings coming along?” Jack asked.

She set the tub down and showed him her progress. From the look of the portrait, it showed a boy and a little girl looking over a field of flowers. They looked so happy and free. There was a huge tree though, and Jack thought she was just going to draw him. The other girl she was drawing, that wasn’t Angela. It was a strange drawing.

Dr. Cato walked in and asked, “How are you doing Jack?”

“I’m much better now, especially with Angela around,” Jack answered, smiling.

“Wonderful! I’m glad you two are getting along!” he said, then chuckled.

Angela rushed towards him and showed him the drawing. “Doctor, ho-how’s my dr-drawing?!” Angela still had some cheese on her cheek.

“It’s adorable, my little one…” Dr. Cato said, noticing something in the drawing. Jack could see a single drop of sweat drip from his head. The doctor sarcastically chuckled and wiped the cheese off her cheek.

“Would you like to spend the night with Jack?” Dr. Cato asked.

She screamed in excitement and started shouting “Yes!” while jumping up and down.

Dr. Cato turned to Jack. “If that’s fine with you, Jack?”

“Of course I’m fine with it,” Jack exclaimed.

He smiled. “Do you need anything else?”

“Could you bring these specific items,” Jack asked, grabbing a piece of paper and a pencil, then writing down a small list.

Dr. Cato grabbed the list Jack gave him and chuckled. “I can definitely bring them. Also, don’t have too much fun, and don’t make too much noise.” He left the room and gently shut the door.

Angela grabbed the tub of mac ‘n’ cheese and sat next to Jack.

“Are you going to finish your drawing?” Jack asked.

“I’m just taking a quick break.”

Jack smirked and could tell that she would take as long as she wanted. To their surprise, Carolyn walked in as well and immediately hugged Jack.

“Are you alright, Jack?”

Oh, now she shows up from out of nowhere?!

Jack guessed he couldn’t be too angry at her, especially someone as beautiful as her with that really pale holy skin, captivating blue eyes like the frozen lakes on Mars, and hair as black as the darkest nights. If an Angel were ever sent down from heaven, Carolyn would be that said Angel Jack would imagine.

She hugged Angela too. “Are you getting along with Jack?”

Angela smiled and hugged her back.“Yes!”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t come sooner. I had to take care of something important last night. That’s why I didn’t show up to your room,” Carolyn explained.

“That’s fine,” Jack replied.

Throughout the entire day they had fun by watching Angela draw, talking about certain subjects like life outside of the thick walls, emotions, and most importantly, laughing together.

After a few hours of fun, Dr. Cato walked in with the items Jack had requested, like his favorite novel, some colored pencils, and some dinner.

“Could I eat too, Dr. Cato?” Angela quickly asked.

“My dear, eat as you please! You don’t have to ask me sweety.” Dr. Cato exclaimed.

She quickly grabbed a plate of food and started to eat.

“Are you okay with Carolyn watching over us until bedtime,” Jack asked.

“Umm…” His eyes bounced erratically, scratching a finger against his temple in confusion. “Ok-Okay!” He scratched the back of his neck too, clearly trying to comprehend what Jack was saying. He even stopped talking for a second to look at Jack as if he were crazy. “If that’s what makes you happy… Yes, yes she can my boy!”

Jack couldn’t help but raise a brow out of suspicion. He wasn’t sure what all that dramatic suspense was for. Ignoring the doctor, he then turned to Carolyn. “Would you be alright with that?”

She, of course, said “Yes!” but Jack noticed Dr. Cato was recording him with a camera.

Jack pointed at the device. “What’s that for?”

”It’s just for some research,” Dr. Cato said.

Well, he is my doctor, so I guess he’s right.

“Is your head okay?” Dr. Cato asked Jack.

What the hell? What a strange question to ask all of a sudden? Of course my head is fine! It’s my heart that’s the problem here, remember?

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Dr. Cato repeated after Jack hadn’t said anything for a while.

After another moment of silent thinking, Jack felt provoked, so he kept repeating to the doctor in an annoyed tone, “I’m fine.”

Dr. Cato let out a sigh and said, “Don’t stay up too late.”

“Hey! Aren’t you forgetting someone?” Jack said with an annoyed tone.

Dr. Cato tilted his head in confusion and chuckled. Jack could see his eye twitch a little as he wiped a hand over his head. “Goodnight everyone,” he said, then left.

Jack still wondered why Dr. Cato had started recording him.

He did say it was for research, but the question is, what type of research? But whatever. He’s just doing his job I guess.

Angela surprised Jack by shoving food into his mouth. “Why haven’t you eaten anything all day?”

Jack almost choked on the food by her force feeding sneak attack. He laughed. “I’m fine, Angela. Honest.”

She angrily puffed out her adorable face. Jack didn’t even have the urge to take her seriously with such overwhelming adorableness.

Carolyn crossed her arms in frustration. “You should eat though.”

Jack picked up some food and said, “See! I’m eating now!”

Angela looked away. “Good!” However, she quickly looked back at Jack with an evil-like smile.

Oh, she wants to play that game huh?

Jack grabbed her and threw her on the bed and began tickling her.

At first Carolyn was about to intervene and stop their shenanigans, but it was clear she couldn’t resist printing such a joyful sight into her mind. Both Angela and Carolyn couldn’t contain their joy and started laughing.

“St-stop! It tickles too much!” Her face was as red as a rose and she giggled uncontrollably. “Please! No more br-brother!”

Bro-Brother? Did she just call me her… brother?

What a surprise, it was such a shock not only for Jack to hear but for Carolyn too. He stopped tickling and tried to comprehend exactly how meaningful the word she just labeled him was. Carolyn, on the other hand, stayed quiet, making herself seem unnoticed.

“Why are you so still and silent?” Angela asked in confusion.

Jack couldn’t help it. But he felt it was so great hearing her call him something close like a brother. He was actually happy to hear that, but now… His head started to hurt again for some reason. Everything became foggy.

“Bro-Brother?!” Angela asked, worried, gripping Jack’s arms with her tiny hands. However, for Jack, her voice sounded distorted and muffled.

She shook him and even though he could feel her shaking him, his foggy vision made him see multiple Angela’s. Slowly, everything grew very muffled. She kept trying to make him see something but… this pain and weirdness that engulfed his current status was too much to bear.

Angela noticed something was wrong. “Brother!” she screamed frightfully as she watched him fall off the side of the bed and collapse to the ground.

Carolyn watched ominously, almost as if she had anticipated the moment. She only gazed at Jack as his vision blurred further.

Angela rushed off the bed, tending to him as she watched his eyes become distant and he turned over dead like a fish. Saliva dripped out of his mouth and his limbs fell flat. She couldn’t help but scream, wondering if he was experiencing another heart attack.

“Someone! Help!” She wrapped her tiny arms around Jack, crying deeply on his back and feeling his warmth slowly disappear.

The last thing Jack saw was Carolyn slowly approaching Angela from behind and heard her say, “He’ll be fine, because I’m here, Angela.”