dawn to dusk | reborn

Chapter 1

I grabbed my desk in a panic. Not again...

Looking frantically down at my table, I shook as cold beads of sweat dripped down my neck, leaving me in more of a panic than ever before. Fainting was a common occurrence to me, especially since I had problems with proper blood flow.

I stood and waited, basking in the feeling of my blood pooling in my feet and my heart echoing each beat throughout my body, pumping blood through my veins.

Reminding myself of the doctor's advice, I squeezed my fists together tightly and released them, attempting to force blood back into my head. Unfortunately, it took a downturn quickly.

I checked my surroundings...no, everyone was still immersed in zoning out while singing the school song. In a futile attempt to keep myself together, I stepped from side to side.

However, when my vision darkened, I realised it was all useless. Oh humans, always so adamant about keeping up their appearance. If only I hadn't been worried about my classmates thinking poorly of me, I would've sat down and everything would have been fine...right?

Before I knew it, my consciousness was wearing thin and I let the ominous clouds take over from there.

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Rummaging, so much rummaging, what am I even looking for? I was running circles in my own head, as if looking for a folder in a giant room of thoughts, feelings and philosophy.

I ran and ran down the dark hallways, trying to escape my own mind and find light. Oh humans, always hanging on to hope. This couldn't be the end...was I in hell?

Racking my brain, trying to remember why I was running, what I was looking for, I seemed to have an epiphany.

"If only you knew how much I've been through.." Bright lights blinded my vision as I came to slowly, blinking quickly to get rid of the awful white surrounding me.

As I slowly sat up, I saw a male, around his 40s, grabbing onto my hand. His slimy fingers grabbed mine, causing me to flinch and jerk away from his grasp.

"Who-Who're you?"

His eyebrow raised, causing wrinkles to form around his eyes.

Wordlessly, I watched as he pressed the comically large red button next to the bed and people clad in lab coats ran in within the next minute.

Was I a lab rat or something? As a female well into her 50s explained slowly to me, I had been in a coma for 20 years, or 19 years and 11 months, to be exact.

I patiently waited as she finished exaggerating each of her words as if talking to the deranged. Calmly, I asked again.
"So who's this?"

"I'm your little brother dimwit"

"You...look like you could be my dad, old man."

Instead of addressing me, he turned to the female and murmured something about it being unfair.

Curious, I stuck up my hand in the air.

"What's unfair?"

"You still look like you're 16, and I look like I'm 40"

"How old are you actually?"

"Just 33."

"You're lying, you look 50."

He groaned in a child-like manner and talked some more to the female until she ended up leaving the room.

"You sure you don't remember anything?"

"Not sure...is there anything important I should remember?"

"Never mind, I'm sure your memory will recover once you're discharged, I'm just glad you're back."

I nodded, digesting his words. Digesting. I forgot I need to eat to survive. "Can you get me some food?"

He came back with some crushed ice. I guess I've been in a coma for so long that even normal food was outdated..

"It's probably the only thing your body can take after a 20 year resting period."

Nodding reluctantly, I spooned some of the crunchy substance into my mouth. Tasted like purified water and the heat strip behind refrigerators.

Afterwards, the man explained that he would leave to do some paperwork for my discharge tomorrow and left swiftly, leaving the door slightly agape.

Staring into the crack, I wondered how I had ended up here, I thought so hard about it that my head hurt. A woman in a wheelchair rolled past the crack in the door from the hallway, whistling a tune.

Music...Songs...School song? Abruptly, the memories from the morning of my demise came back to me. I had practically escaped the cold arms of death and was lucky to have my...little brother to be there taking care of me.

What about my parents? Has it been too long and they passed already? Whilst I was questioning myself, the man came back.

"I know it's hard for you to believe, but I truly am your little bro, and I...think you know something about our parents that they never bothered to tell me."

"Sorry...what? I don't even know what happened to our parents.."

With a heavy sigh, he explained that my parents had come almost every day after my accident, praying that I would come to, but one day they just completely stopped visiting.

"It was so strange of them...that I went to talk to them about it. They told me it was confidential but that I should continue visiting you as they were being 'targeted' by bad people and couldn't put you in danger."

"Targeted? What about now?"

"After they said that, I stood watch over you day and night, switching to online school in order to stay with you here. However, just 2 years ago, they were in a car crash. The police are still investigating, but I don't believe it was merely an accident."

"From my vague memory...I believe both mom and dad were pretty good drivers too...I agree with you, that it wasn't an accident."

"I'm just glad you're back."

"I'm sorry I've been a burden to you all these years, I'll make it up to you once I get discharged."

He smiled distantly and nodded. Hard to imagine him as a young child, having to bear the responsibility of his older sister who was never really there for him and parents who had no choice but to leave him isolated.

The seemingly exhausted and heavily burdened man in front of me was very obviously beyond his years, as if holding up the sky as it toppled down. I couldn't help but feel bad for him then, promising myself that I would find a way to make it up to him no matter what.

Just 2 days later, after various examinations of my body, checks on my mental stability and memory, I was able to be discharged and we headed off in my brother's car to his house.

Due to his commitment to staying by my side, he had never once tried to find a girlfriend, and stayed alone in a small one room apartment since he did not come home often anyway.

He practically used his house as a storage facility, and the two of us spent hours trying to make it look more presentable, like an actual place for living instead of a pig sty.

A knock at the door made us both stop in our tracks, with me running to hide in the room and my brother going to open the door.