No one else came? What does that mean, that I have no friends? They can see the disappointment on my face, so Mr. Yamada scrambles to try and help “Well it’s been a while since they asked. I can check the logs to see if anyone else visited since the last time they came, if you would like."

It’s a nice gesture, but I already know it’s going to be the same answer "No, thank you, but you don’t have to do that. I can't imagine someone would suddenly visit in that time."

Well… it looks like I'm not dating someone right now. Surely if I was, then they would have came to visit a few times. I'm not sure if I should be happy or sad about this. Like, I'm happy that it looks like I'm not in a relationship, but how shitty of a person must I have been to not have any friends visit?

The room is filled with an awkward silence. So they tried to distract me by changing the subject "While you were in your coma, your parents contacted your school so they could put your education on hold. You should be able to still attend there once you're ready."

Though continuing college is something that’s a little hard for me to process "I guess that's good news... but it will be hard for me to continue when I don't even know what I've learned. I may even have to start over."

“Well it will still be there when you’re ready. Unfortunately you did have to give up your dorm though. Your parents were able to move all of your stuff out and put it in your old room at the house. But I'm sure you can put in another request to move back in the dorms."

Oh yeah, I have no idea where I'm going to be living after I leave the hospital. The home that I remember doesn't exist anymore, and it’s not like I’m going to be in this bed forever. Where am I going to go after I leave here?

I mean, my parents are right here in front of me, and they did mention my room is still at the house… but would they let me move back in after I abandoned them? It doesn’t feel right to have done that to them and only come back after I have no other choice.

I guess the only way to find out is to ask "Um w-would it be okay for me to move back home with my parents?"

Finally, my mom expresses her first look of excitement. She was so excited that she kept saying “Yes!” in English. Even my dad cracked a small smile.

At least I was able to make them happy with one of my questions. Moving back home may not be ideal to most college students, but for me, I’m both happy and relieved to be welcomed back. This will give me my best chance to begin making up for what I did.

Also, my hope is that living at home again may actually help me get some memories back. Even though I haven’t had any come back so far. I’m thinking being in this room is stopping me from remembering. Maybe a change of scenery to a familiar place will get things going. I’ve had some feelings subconsciously after all, so that makes me hope there still there somewhere.

The rest of the conversation was dedicated to planning things for when I get out of the hospital and stories about the house my parents were excitedly telling me about. It was so nice to see my parents have so much enthusiasm when telling these stories. I hadn’t even noticed how much time was going by. Next thing I knew, it was the end of visiting hours again.

My parents both gave my their goodbyes, only this time, they informed me they wont be able to visit as much. It made me upset of course, but they both have jobs and other responsibilities they need to tend to. I can’t expect them to be here every day.

Mr. Yamada also told me this would probably be our last time meeting. He had other cases to work on and was passing over my translating to the nurses on the ward. This made me a little sad to hear. He’s really been the only person I’ve talked to since waking up. Once he leaves, it’s like I have no one.

I was once again finding myself alone in that room. And besides a few medical staff that stepped in for short periods of time, I spent the rest of the day alone. I know that I spent most of my dream time by myself, but this felt different. My world suddenly felt so small. There was only three people I knew here and I wasn’t going to see any of them tomorrow. It just made me feel lonely…

And as it turned out, I wouldn’t see any of them over the next two days.

Those two days were when the work really started for me. I began having full appointments with the physical therapist where she worked me really good. Even though the movements she has me doing should be easy, they’re all feel so hard right now! Who knew stretching could be so difficult? But I have to work hard if I want to get out of the hospital as soon as possible.

Sleep on those first nights were still hard on me as well. I had so much anxiety that I would end up back in a coma that I barely got any sleep. And the short times I did manage to fall asleep, I never had any dreams. It was like I would close my eyes and instantly transport ahead a few hours.

The rest of those two days were basically exactly the same. My PT appointment in the morning then nothing besides TV for the rest of the day. It was pretty boring. I found myself just counting down the time until the next meal came. It at least gave me something to look forward to.

But the third day I knew would be a little different with it being a Saturday.

No PT appointment that morning. The amount of staff in the hospital greatly reduced on the weekends and it left me to do my exercises in my bed by myself. And as I sat there and stretched, I thought about the weekends in my dream. Or more so the lack of weekends.

The time where I was at school felt like they were a continuous string of days without any breaks. Then when summer break came around, I was locked in my room doing nothing every day. There was no concept of time, so I don’t even know how long or how many days I spent like that. But it still felt like years to me.

My parents even came to visit me both days on the weekend. With the visiting hours being longer, we had more time to talk. The only problem being not having a translator with us the entire time. We could only get a nurse to translate for a short amount of time before she got called away to see another patient. We mostly had to communicate through translator apps on their phones.

But on Sunday, my parents brought me a few books for learning Japanese. We spent most of the day with them teaching me as best as they could. And surprisingly, I was just as good at learning it as I was in my dream. It’s like as soon as I learned something once, it just became stuck in my mind as if I never forgot it at all.

The weekend actually turned out to be a lot better than I thought. My parents being there for me made the hours in the day fly by. So when they left on that Sunday night and told me they might not be able to visit again over the next few days, it made me dread having another boring Monday.

And when Monday coming along, I prepared myself for another day of hour counting.

After another morning of PT, I found myself laying down on the bed in my room and staring at the ceiling. I was begging for something entertaining to happen when I suddenly hear a knock at the door. It wasn’t strange for people to periodically come into my room, but something about the timing of this knock felt different. No one usually comes in at this time.

But with it being a hospital, I just assume it’s going to be some provider with another test for me. So I invite in whoever is at the door and prepare myself for whatever medical thing they need. And after a brief pause, I watch the door slowly open.

Except it wasn’t a medical provider who stepped in.

It’s an anxious looking woman who is around the same age as me. Her eyes are to the floor as she steps foot inside the room and pauses to let the door close behind her. She slowly lifts her head up to make eye contact with me where her eyebrows raise and face goes pale. It’s an expression that should surprise me to see one make. Only the thing is… I’m making the exact same face.

My mouth feels dry as I struggle to get any words out. I feel completely frozen. Every time I open my mouth to speak, the only thing that comes out is air. It takes a few attempts before I can finally say the only word I’m thinking of.

"Yukio?"