I'm a kid again, running through the hallways of my house, back when Dad was still there. I can dodge anything, I can slide and jump without running out of energy. They yell at me to stop, but I ignore it. I ignore it at school, I ignore it on the street, and I ignore it from my family. Nothing can stop me. I may be sick, but I know I'm alive, more than any adult and stupid teenager. I keep running, my body getting hotter. Then I see myself in elementary school. In the school yard, where there was a stage that teachers used for assemblies and plays. In front of it, there's a patch of grass that separates it from the concrete-filled court.

I'm running from one side of the stage to the other. Those ten meters are a running track for my little body. It's recess time, other kids see me. They know I'm crazy, they know I always ignore the teachers. That's before I start paying attention to people, that's before I start holding myself back. At that moment, I'm totally free, and I'm invincible – because I know it, because I'm aware that one day all that energy and crazy ideas will end. So I keep running. I know I can't outrun time, so I'll fly. So that I'll be marked, so that I'll be marked forever in history.

In a flash, I've reached the edge of the stage, but I don't stop. I stand on the corner with the soles of my feet to propel myself forward and stretch out my arms. The warmth of the sun embraces me. It's inviting me to fly towards it, to stop for nothing. And for a second I think, will I succeed, because I see myself, mid-air. Two or three meters above the other children, with no idea how I will land... because I don't plan to.

…

I have survived a serial killer, I have saved Melpomene in doing so. Little by little things will return to normal, right? My family has even come to visit me, to talk to me again. My hands, which had been shaking for weeks, seem to calm down.

The door opens once more and I hear the commotion in the hallways again. What is going on? Two more girls make their way through the crowd. Melpomene manages to get through with a middle-aged lady, who she holds by the hand, and once again the door slams shut. It's strange how this room isolates the sound of the hallways. Unlike us, Mel and the lady are dressed very elegantly and their hair is done up, with black pants and jackets. Melpomene has tied her hair in a ponytail, and the lady is holding a very colorful bouquet of flowers. Melpomene approaches and looks at me. We both hug each other. The feeling is strange, just yesterday we had had a conversation that wasn't about work for the first time.

“Are you okay?” I ask her, she just nods. I can smell that she has put on perfume, I must stink. Despite her appearance, I can see that she has dark circles under her eyes. The lady comes closer and hands me the bouquet. Her eyes are like Melpomene’s, but her hair is black.

“Nice to meet you Sam, I'm Melpomene's mom” I try to think of a response, but I just respond by shaking my head, and an awkward silence follows, which Melpomene's mom takes care of breaking. “I just wanted to thank you… for protecting my daughter” As soon as the woman says that, she greets my mother and Blue, and leaves the room after seeing Melpomene. Something about her seemed strange to me, she was very nervous.

“What’s going on outside?” I finally ask. The crowd of people trying to get in must not be a normal occurrence for every patient. Besides, this isn’t the first time I’ve ended up in a hospital.

“It’s the press,” Blue replies, making an excited sound.

“Press?”

“They want to interview you, Sam!” my mom exclaims.

“What? Why?”

“You’re… everywhere” Mel says, showing me the screen of her phone. On it, several news articles are listed about the same topic: someone risked their life and stopped a serial killer. “You’re a hero, Sam”.

My mother and Blue give me my shoes, then another hug. “We’ll see you outside,” they say, and they leave the room, leaving me alone with Mel. As soon as the chaos in the hallway quiets down again, I turn to Mel. “A hero? But… You’re the one who saved us”.

“…That, I don’t believe it. Yes, I was able to cure you, but you were the one who stopped the killer”

“And what happened…”

“What thing?”

“That… world”

Melpomene puts her hand on her chin and thinks about her answer

“I lost control… I told you it happens, though, even I hadn’t seen that power”

Mel looks dismayed. Maybe this isn't the time to talk about this. I put a hand on her shoulder, and it seems to tense her up. But when she sees my eyes, something calms inside her. I don't know if we're that close, but I still have.

“But it was okay… to tell the truth, we were able to beat him” I say, Mel looks at me confused “We beat him together”

…

What happens next is very strange. The last time I was in a hospital, my mother scolded me, now she was grateful that I was alive. The nurses had treated me badly, like a burden, or rather, like the criminal I was at the time. And a horrible depression attacked me, as well as a pain that I couldn't escape.

Last time, the police had called me a thief. Now I was a hero to everyone. For the rest of the day, I have to stay in the hospital, and reporters interview me, but their questions are many and I don't answer them all well. I look a bit silly trying to calm the reporters down, answering several questions at once.

It's strange to see my face on every channel I turn to. They call me a hero, they call me “the survivor”. They also talk about Hernandez, his murders, his entire life. They talk about how a movie might be made portraying the monster he was. The late-night shows make fun of him, and the mayor's office releases a series of commercials discouraging residents from staying in solitary places until late at night. I think the park where it all happened will be closed for two weeks, they even say they will put up a statue to honor the victims.

Then, the news keeps showing the video of the police entering his house. I think it looks normal, but people insist that the way things are arranged must mean something. Relatives who didn't remember me suddenly call me, asking if I'm okay, how it all happened. One morbid uncle tells me that he also shot down a murderer back in the day. Mr. Lau even got my home number so he could ask me if I was okay. However, this kind of thing makes me a little embarrassed. I've never been known for being very charismatic or social. So I try to stay home as much as possible, claiming that I was hurt by the murderer. My mom doesn't care, she welcomes me back and even cooks for me. I missed her food. Out of all this mess, the thing that was really the best of all is what happened before I left the hospital.

Hernandez had been a headache for the police, I said before. So much so that some time ago they designated a reward for information leading to his capture. Yes… unfortunately he had not been captured, and with that, an important judicial process was lost. But there was a self-defense law in Azul that saved me from going straight to jail. Second time I had avoided it, and I was not at all proud.

The amazing thing was the social pressure from the media, which demonized the killer and praised the hero. This time the police decided to compensate me. I didn't really understand the process behind the money that was offered to me, but I probably never would have understood it, especially since the initiative to give me that compensation started from within the police department. I was a little surprised, it seemed strange to me to be honest, I thought I didn't deserve it, but with some persuasion from my family, I decided not to say anything about it. With that, the hospital bill was settled, and my debts were astronomically reduced... I could claim victory there, but it didn't feel right. I was proud to save my friend, but I was no hero. And yet, it didn't end there.

To tell the truth, I was grateful that I didn’t owe the hospital any money, I took it as an act of incredible luck and was happily preparing to pay off my reduced debt. Then, a few days after the incident, someone came to the house. The lawyer for the Carvajal’s, Rodrigo’s family, simply told me that the lawsuit had been withdrawn. “What? Really?” was all I could say, and I felt a bit stupid again. My mother almost kissed the man out of joy.

I thought about it for a while. That didn't mean they had forgiven me. I highly doubt it. And it wouldn't bring Rodrigo back, clearly. But maybe... I don't know. The case proved to everyone that I hadn't been as bad as I was initially portrayed. Now, did I believe that? I was on a path to change, that's what I concluded. The Rodrigo incident had been the end of my previous life, and with this new life I had already saved someone. I'm not a hero, I don't want to believe that. I'm just a human who wants to change. I don't owe money, but I do owe promises. And the color of my eyes, it seems that this has cost me a bit of it. I will continue doing good things, I will continue trying to change. I will take the reins of this new life.

I had almost died again. Maybe I did, but Melpomene helped me. The accounts were settled, and I had my money back. When the lawyer said goodbye, I went back to my room and lay down. The bed felt soft, the softest it had felt in the last two and a half months. I let my body sink into the TV and sighed. My mind was blank. I looked at the ceiling and thought. If Rodrigo were here, he would be very happy. I wonder if he is watching me from somewhere…