A soft sensation over the blankets made Midori to abruptly wake. A little scared, she started to pant. She brought her hand to her chest; her heart was beating rapidly.

— Who is it? —she asked with some difficulty—.

— It’s me, Miss Midori.

Midori sighed and hid inside her blanker. She stayed there completely silent. The nurse left the tray with her food on the table beside her bed. Without saying anything else, she left the room. Midori was tired of fighting with her. This time, she just let her do her job.

Her sense of smell was starting to become sharper. With only a few seconds in the room, she could already figure out what was that day’s lunch. It was a noodle soup accompanied with a small bowl of rice. She took the tray and put it down on the small table that hovered over her bed. She sighed as she didn’t feel like eating at all but her head was starting to hurt. Midori didn’t know if at this point the headaches were because of hunger or for simply being in that hospital.

She took the spoon and started to eat the soup on the plate. As her lips curved down, she put the spoon back down, letting it sink into the soup.

— Should I simply starve…?

Three solid minutes passed by before Midori decided to take back the spoon and grab the rice bowl, taking a small bite out of it. After a few seconds of chewing she thought it was much better than the soup. She put away the soup with her free hand, getting the rice closer. Without many more options, she continued to eat the rice until she finished. Once finished, she took the tray and put it back where the nurse left it in the first place.

She stretched her arms. Tired of being in bed all day she sat down at the edge of the bed and took that opportunity to stretch her legs too. Although it was difficult to accept, she was getting used to not being able to see. It made her concentrate more in her other senses and allowed her to learn how to read the atmosphere without having to see.

She stood up and had to regain her balance with her arms. It seemed like having stayed there, unmoving, for so long, had made her legs numb. With her arms out in case there was an object close by, she accomplished in getting to the bedside table. She felt around it, discovering it had two drawers. She knelt down and opened one of them up. It was completely empty except for the accumulated dust she touched. She cleaned her hand on her pajama.

Opening the second drawer, there she could feel what seemed to be a remote control. She touched it a bit more to make sure, and as she guessed; it was a remote control. Her eyebrows rose up quizzically, the nurse never mentioned anything about there being a TV in the room. Maybe it was supposed to be common sense, as usually hospital room’s had TVs. She took the remote in her hand and went back to the bed. She had watched enough TV to know what each button did without having to see.

She turned on the television and quickly covered her ears. The sound was extremely loud. With a pained expression, she took the remote and lowered down the sound. She brought her hand to her chest and took a deep breath. The first channel on was an entertainment one, they were showing a talent show. Midori was never much of a fan of those shows. So she started to change the channels, leaving each one for a few seconds to know what was showing on them. She kept changing channels for a while but didn’t find anything that caught her attention. She was starting to get mad again. In the last channel she put on, the news was showing.

“In other news, we have an extra newsletter. Apparently, there has been a recent surge of missing people all around the city. We don’t know the reason why this is happening, but once we have more information about this, we’ll report it immediately. Remember to always check up on your family and friends.”

Midori turned the TV off and threw the remote to the floor. Not even the TV made her feel any better about being in that place. She took her hair between her hands and started to pull. She was starting to go crazy. In that moment, she heard birds chirping outside her window. That sound made her go back to the oasis. The paradise. Where she wanted to be. She sat at the other side of the bed, where the windows were. She had never opened them up, and had never felt any breeze coming from it. She also assumed the nurse has never opened the window either. She carefully stood up as to not lose her balance again and with her hands in front of her she started to walk. Few steps were necessary for Midori to arrive to the window. The crystal was completely cold.

She searched with her hands looked to where the lock was. Once she found it, she opened the window. She slid it to the side, and immediately a gush of wind greeted her. Her hair flew aggressively to the back. A small smile stretched on Midori’s face. She started to feel a warmness she hasn’t felt since she arrived there. Because of the weather and the Sun’s heat, she deduced that she was feeling the sundown.

She stretched her right arm outside and laid her head down on it. The breeze made her feel extremely calm and relaxed, like an oasis. She could hear the birds singing in the distance and felt like she was in a different world. It suddenly made her think about Atlas. The boy that only existed on her thoughts. She tried to imagine the oasis with him, but those were things that only happened while she dreamed. She let out a chuckle, remembering how she told him about her private life.

— I think I am truly going crazy…

In that moment, she remembered all the people that did exist: her mother and Aoi. The slight smile she had on her face suddenly banished. “Why have none of them come?” she repeatedly questioned herself. She honestly wasn’t surprised by the fact that her mother hasn’t visited her daughter in the hospital. “Maybe she hasn’t even noticed I’m not there” thought Midori. What did surprise her, was that Aoi wasn’t worried about her, even more now that she doesn’t have her phone and couldn’t talk to anyone. Although, even if she had it, she wouldn’t be able to answer her as she didn’t count with her eyesight.

The calmness that Midori was starting to feel was what made all those thoughts fly out of her head. It was noticeable that the Sun had already set. Midori stayed there all night, just feeling the fresh breeze that she needed.

TO BE CONTINUED.