Nothing was better than a sun filled day. Just feeling the warmth against his wings gave him a feeling of peace. Home was being in a blue sky above a great expanse of green earth. He was alone, except for a bird or two. Of course, the birds would squawk before banking away. Humans weren’t supposed to have wings. They weren’t supposed to share the sky.

A light breeze rustled through the leaves of the trees below. It was perfect.

Though there were few clouds in the sky, a shadow would pass over him occasionally as he flew. It was nothing unusual. And yet, it was getting colder. As it got colder, it got darker. There weren’t any additional clouds, or any less sun, but it was definitely getting darker. This was wrong. He knew this was wrong.

Now his right arm was beginning to tingle. It started at the tips of his fingers. When he moved his arm, it felt like a jolt of electricity shot up from his hand to his shoulder. What was happening?

Suddenly his wings gave out. They almost snapped upwards, feathers shaking in the breeze he generated as he began to fall. A frantic shout erupted through his chest to explode out his mouth. Only his left hand clawed ineffectually at the air. The tingling in his right arm kept it frozen.

The earth rushed up at him. This was going to hurt.

~~~~*~~~~*~~~~

It always took Sam a minute or two when he first woke up to remember who and where he was. The dream was always still so fresh in his mind. Maybe it was the same for other people, he didn’t know, and he certainly wasn’t in a position to ask. Not that he would even if he could.

Even after he remembered who (Samuel) and where (Welhaven Hospital room 217). He couldn’t figure out what felt so strange. Why did his arm feel like someone was sticking him with pins? And what was this weight against him? Something was keeping him from turning to his right.

Slowly, Sam opened his eyes. He found himself looking not quite face to face with his sleeping roommate, Ritsu Kojimura. It wasn’t completely unusual to find Koji sharing his bed, but it didn’t happen every night. At least it explained the inability to move and his tingling arm. Sam was on his back with his right arm perpendicular to his body. Koji’s head then rested on Sam’s right arm while the rest of his body molded against Sam’s side. His roommate was gripping him like Sam was a big teddy bear or something. Obviously he’d been there a while. Sam’s arm had apparently fallen asleep.

Maybe the teenager had a nightmare earlier in the night. He wouldn’t be the only one. This place bred nightmares.

“Okay Koji,” Sam muttered. Enough was enough. His arm felt awful. Besides, the orderlies would probably be by with meds soon.

Koji moaned, snuggling closer to Sam.

“No,” Sam said, louder. “Wake up.”

“Huh?” Koji stretched from his shoulders down to his toes. His head jostled Sam’s arm, forcing a painful hiss out of Sam.

“Wake up. Y’re killin’ m’ arm.”

“Oh.” Now Koji sat up. He blinked at Sam while pushing his black hair out of his eyes. At least Koji had the grace to look apologetic.

Sam tried to sit up, but his arm throbbed. He was going to have to let the blood get back into his arm before he even hoped to regain normal movement.

Koji yawned, stretching again before sliding out of the bed. Unfortunately, the movement was enough to send more electric shocks through Sam’s arm, again sending pain.

“Sorry,” Koji sat on the edge of his own bed.

“Yeah. What’s th’ time?”

“Hold on.” Koji leaned over, turning the clock towards him. “Almost eight. We got about ten minutes before he comes.”

Sam sighed. Ten minutes before the day officially began. Ten minutes before the pills and groups, before dealing with the whole hospital instead of the quiet of his room. At least his arm felt almost normal.

Koji had already gotten back up off his bed to get dressed. Of course, the clothes the patients wore in the hospital didn’t look much different from the PJ’s.

“You better get dressed,” Koji said. “You know Max hates it if you’re not dressed when he comes.”

“Yeah. Okay.”

The room was set up with two beds, of course, and also two dresser drawers. Roommates at least got to put their clothes in separate places. It created an illusion of privacy and actually belonging possessions. But clothes were the only things they kept in the dressers, so it wasn’t like it made the room homey or anything. And anyway, the way Sam saw it, they might as well save space, the only differences between the clothes were the sizes.

Sam was dressed just in time. Right after the heavy knock on the room’s door, one of the orderlies entered the room.

“Good. You’re awake.” Max said. “Time to take your pills.”

Koji went obediently to the tray the orderly held. He picked up one of the little paper cups before dumping the contents into his mouth. The he grabbed one of the water cups, draining it quickly.

Sam wasn’t in as much of a hurry. He knew the orderly, Max, didn’t like waiting around, but those pills were obnoxious. It wasn’t like the pills made him forget that he was in a hospital. And if they were supposed to help him deal with the other patients, make it easier to socialize or whatever, then they weren’t doing their job. At the very best, they sometimes made the world feel like fuzzy jello.

Of course, what did Max care? His job was to get Sam to take the pills. How badly did Sam want to fight him on it? Was it worth it today? Sam saw the spark in the beefy orderly’s eyes. Max was just waiting for an excuse to call some of the others in. Then, Sam would find himself held down as the meds were forced down his throat. Yeah, that’d happened before, and it’d probably happen again. Not today. No. Today was not a good day to fight Max.

Finally, with a defeated grunt, Sam took a slow step forward. Max almost looked disappointed. He’d been cheated out of his fun. Yeah, whatever. Sam had to close his eyes in order to down his pills. Something about those shining all multicolored at him freaked him out. It almost made him gag. Even the water didn’t help. Then again, how could it when it came in a cup that was really a glorified bottle cap? Sam could feel the pills as if they were stuck half-way down his throat.

“Good boy,” Max smirked. “You can go to breakfast now. Group with Dr. Brown in an hour.”

Sam wanted to throw the empty water cup at Max’s retreating head. Wanted to, but didn’t. He was frustrated, not stupid.