I sip on the lukewarm water, cringing in pain as it shreds my sore and thirsty throat. I can finally speak, but it still hurts. "What happened?" 

George places the now empty glass on a small little table next to me and knelt down beside the bed holding my hand. He closes his exhausted eyes, "Choas little sis... Just pure chaos." 

There's a snort, Rin's head bobbing off of Shyan's shoulder startling him awake. He lets out a bone-shaking yawn, rolling his cracking shoulders. He blinks several times, looking right at me. His eyes widen, and he gaps like goldfish. He leaps up knocking the chair and shocking Shyan awake. 

He bolted to my bedside, nearly colliding with George, grabbing my face with his hands, shaking fearfully. "this... this is real! You're awake." 

I swallow another painful gulp, reaching for his own face. My mangled voice is small compared to theirs, "I'm awake... You're... so tired looking?"

He smiles, and his eyes brighten with tears streaking dust down his cheeks. Up close he looks even more exhausted than I thought. How is it he's still able to move? 

Behind them Shyan bolts to my other side, grabbing my hand and pressing it to her cold cheeks. She breathes heavily, closes her eyes, and is unable to speak. 

My heart aches with embarrassment, and mortification at what they have all gone through. If I was in their place, I'd... I'd be so scared. No wonder they all look so bad, they've been waiting for me to wake up... I whisper, "How long?"

All three of them glance at one another, fear and a troubled expression bouncing between them all. It's Rin who answers me, "A month."  

"A!..." I cough roughly, gagging on dry spittal. George handed me another glass of water. This time I can slightly lift it up. It takes me a bit before I can stop my throat from burning. "An entire month?" I whisper, "I've been asleep for a month... I'm... I'm so sorry..." 

George shakes his head, "There's nothing to apologize for! this wasn't your fault."

Rin nods, "It was a temporary coma caused by the virus."

"Virus?" I ask, coughing only a little bit. 

Shyan took my glass, "Don't speak so much, you'll hurt your throat." She pulls up a chair, as does the other two, sitting comfortably but as close as they could get. "You fainted the day an unexplained sickness started to sweep along the world. Everyone who's claimed to see the Silver Tree just fainted."

I jolt forward, ignoring the pain, "Hazel! Rebecca! Luna! Are they safe?" I started a coughing fit, gagging and trying to hold back a wave of nausea. My entire body wobbles and the world twists uneasily. 

All three reach for me, steady me and pushing me back against the bed. 

"Calm down," George say's, "Honestly, none of us have checked up on them. So much has been happening since you fell asleep... Mom and Dad probably know. Once they get here you can ask them."

"Are they alright?" I ask softly. 

Rin nods, "Yes, they are all right." From his pocket, something beeps loudly. He pulls it out narrowing his eyes, "Another wave, George."

George pulls out his own pocket thingy... A pager I think. He grimaces nodding at Shyan, "Please, keep an eye on sis." He pushes my hair away and kisses my forehead. "Rest, that's the best you can do."

Rin kisses my cheek, "We will come back afterward." 

I shake my head, "No, please. You both need rest... Get some sleep instead or I'll start to worry."

Both of them give me a sad soft smile, heading out. I'm not in a normal room, the door they leave through is steel and opens to a corridor with some machines and what looks like an air purifier. I glance back to the mirror behind the chairs. It's sealed and bolted into the wall. It's probably a one-way mirror, something for the doctors to look through. I've seen mirrors like that before... 

"Arn't they both still in med school?"

Shyan nods slowly rubbing my palm. It's a habit our mother had, whenever one of us was sick she'd hold our hand and rub up and down with her thumb. It's comforting and immediately I relax into my bed. 

"It's... pretty bad... The day you got sick and fainted, so did so many other people. No one knew what was going on, no one could fathom the destruction going on. They may be med students, but they and many others are now working at hospitals as well as studying, as nurses and extra hands." 

"You guys keep talking about a Virus?"

"The ST Virus is its nickname. But yes, this virus is raging all across the world. Scientists, doctors, everyone is trying to figure out what is happening. You happened to be part of the first wave of victims. We are about to hit the second wave of people... and it'll probably be even worse than before." She grits her teeth, closing her eyes, "You really shouldn't be worrying about all of this. You need to sleep and rest."

The steel door opens, and a doctor and nurse walked in. Both of them are in masks, glancing at Shyan and back at me. The doctor looks young, with neatly cut brown hair and light brown eyes that match his slightly dark skin. He has a decent-looking watch on his right wrist matching the color of his stained pale white doctor coat.  The nurse next to him is blond with exhausted blue eyes that smile kindly. She starts taking all my vitals as the doctor calmly waves in my mom and dad. 

My beautiful mom's once pristine hair is a tangled mess pulled back into a lopsided bun. She's without any makeup, her lips small and partch, her once rosy cheeks splotched with red and white. It's obvious she hasn't been sleeping well for the past month, and yet running at full steam ahead. She has two different earpieces connected to two different phones and a third one in her hand. All of which she nearly drops as she sees me awake. Immediately she unplugs everything just staring at me. Afraid to breathe or move a muscle in case I was an illusion. 

My strong dad a person who has always been a mountain in my life, leans forward with the weight of the world on his shoulders. His smile and laugh which I knew my whole life, is not there on his face. Instead almost hollow fear and terror have a grip on him. Stepping inside, he wobbles a bit, holding onto Mom as she held onto him. Their love is the only thing that seems to keep them steady. Seeing me doesn't bring lightness or joy but fear and confusion just like mom. He held his breath tight and even reaches out a touch before pausing. 

The doctor sees this and states, "It appears she's awakened from the coma." 

As soon as he awakens them from the stupor of surprise, and reassures them of my existence, they let out a breath running towards me. Dad's warm embrace wraps around my shoulders, his tears a shower of love. Mom grabbed my hands, rubbing them and sobbing into my blankets. I lean against them both, closing my eyes and breathing in the comforting scent of both my parents. It makes me feel safe, and warm, like a small bird that has fallen from its nest finally in the clutches of its parent, settling me in a nest. It may have felt like only a day for me since I woken up. But for them... it's been a month. 

The doctor clears his throat after a little bit, "I know it's a good thing she's awake, but we have to talk to her for a little bit. Please give us some space." 

Mom lets go first, and with a light pat is able to convince Dad to let me go. Hesitantly they clung to each other, pulling Shyan into a hug. 

While the nurse finished all the tests, the doctor asked me, "All right, I have a few questions. Please answer honestly. Have you seen the Silver Tree?"

"Yes,"

"How many times?"

"At least two or three times."

He wrote down a few notes, "Was there anything that happened to you after you've seen this Silver Tree?"

Seen... He's talking about the Monsters right, the bright scary things... or is he talking about something else... If I'm seeing things no one else is seeing then will I be sent there again? I clutch my hands fear taking over. I have to be honest... I mean Luna see's them too so I'm not crazy. But she also warned me not to talk about them. I glance up to his shoulder, where there's a small little Monster resting against him. I swallow hard, "Dizzyness, and I guess I smell some strange incense."

"Incense?"

"Um... it's a bit hard to explain. I smell the same scent usually around the time I see the Silver Trees..." 

He nods slowly, "Any other symptoms?"

"Headaches, trouble sleeping... Nightmares I guess. I can't think of anything else." 

He takes my word for it, "Alright... If you need anything," He points to a button right next to me. "Push this button."

He turns to my family, "We will hold her for another week, and if she doesn't relapse we will release her. For now, let her rest." He spins on his feet, the nurse right after him. 

Mom and Dad once again fell against me. Mom whispered, "My baby girl... My baby..."

While Dad silently held me, his tears enough to speak his thoughts.   

We are like this for a long time... until I yawn suddenly sleepy. It's been a lot going on in just a few hours. 

Dad rubs my head, "You should go to sleep." He turns to Shyan, "Do you need a break?"

She shakes her head, "I can watch her a little longer. You both should go talk to the doctor about her condition." She rubs my hand once more. I want to tell her to sleep instead, that they all look way too exhausted to keep this up. but I can't find the words and instead, close my eyes. 

I slowly float in a pool of red. There is no upside down or right side up. I flip around remaining awake and alert. Suddenly the red shifts turning to thousands of tiny silken threads twining around my fingers, slipping and wrapping all over like ashen clothes. I reach and reach, fingers brushing more and more red petals, some crumble to dust while others only darken in color. One thread pulsates warmly, as dark red as an apple. I grip this thread, pulling it towards me.

It moves like a snake, wrapping itself around me, biting and ripping apart the other threads until it is me and this viper dancing alone. My mind pulls and stretches, my body dissipating into nothingness between red threads. 

I'm a small child again, swinging my feet in the doctor's office. it's a cold room, with pictures of sick people coughing or organs darkened by smoke. There is a photo of a dog cheering in a cartoon style. but it does little to cheer me up. I am bored, puffing out hot air to see it whaff around. But soon that too became boring. Hopping down I walk around the office room, stopping by the computer. it has words I can't read or understand. Hopping into the doctor's seat I twirl for a bit before that too became tedious. Why aren't Mom and Dad back? Why did the doctor have to take them outside the office? Curiosity mixed with boredom convinces me to push the door open a touch to peek outside.  

M pink dress a sore thumb against the white background, I am still able to go about unnoticed by the three adults talking in hush voices. 

My mom wiggles her hands together with shock, worry, and disbelief echoing throughout her voice, "What do you mean she's completely forgotten everything?" she steps forward fists tight ready to strangle the doctor, "What has your medicine done to her!" 

Dad keeps her leashed, preventing the inedible end of the doctor. 

The doctor takes a step back trying to explain to them, "The medicine had nothing to do with her memory loss. This can happen with trauma patients. To protect her young fragile mind, it wiped out every single memory leading to the accident." He hands over to them a clipboard with papers. "We have reevaluated her. With her memory loss, she is no longer a danger to herself or others. She can return home. However, I advise that you do not mention anything about the accident, nor stop her therapy sessions. If the memory suddenly arises you'll need to send her to a doctor right away. For safety reasons." He gave them a few more pieces of paper, "this medicine is to help her anxiety and fear. Maybe she can be weened off of this, but for now, you should give this to her every night."

Mom clutches the paperwork, "Will my baby be alright?" 

He sighs, "No memories, mean no trauma. There may be some forms of behavior changes, such as her fear of water. But other than that, she is as healthy as a fiddle." 

What are the adults talking about? Memories forgotten? what did I forget? I reach for them to ask when there's a caw below my feet. it's a raven, its dark eyes twinkling. Bouncing side to side before fluttering its wings lifting off and diving into the hallway. 

I follow the bird, swinging down hallways and coming to a steel door. it caws and it opens just enough for it to hop through disappearing. Eagerly I push it aside and watch the bird fly up and land down on top of someone in the bed. I lean over, surprised to see me. Sleeping with a pained expression. 

I look tired, anemic, and... this strange combination of clean and yet unclean. My hair is greasy, and my face is not covered in dirt but sleeping sweat and dust. 

Next to me sleeping, in a very awkward way, is Shyan. She's going to strain her neck this way. I reach for her, phasing in and out. 

For a split second, a rush of fear overtakes me. I slap my cheeks, pinching my sides. But I am unable to awaken from this... dream... I shake, clutching my arms. I'm not dead, am I? Maybe I'm having an out-of-body experience. Lots of coma patients talk about living outside their body while it rests... Maybe this is that. I am just outside my body for the time being. 

The Raven from the bed caws again, fluffing up its feathers and taking to the air, passing through the steel doors and back into the hallway. 

I give Shyan one last glance, before running after the bird. 

Hearing about disasters is always different from seeing one firsthand. These halls are filled with misery and slow-burning torture. There's blood on the floor, walls, and the ceiling above, speckles dashed here and there, missed by the janitors who are rushing by trying to clean as much as they can. 

Nurses and doctors run about calling out codes, pushing carts with either body bags, or injured people.  there are people moaning in corners, holding their heads, and people who might as well be in body bags. Parents cling to dead children and those alive wail alone. Attached to each person, is a glowing monster sucking away at them and growing larger with every passing second. 

To Be Continued