Agent 38: In The Making

Chapter 44: Awakening

*Basically here we have a rewind, but in Three's perspective instead of Eight's.*
     Three had been in the void for quite some time now.
     He didn't exactly know how long, he simply knew it had been at least a month or two. Three wondered if the Splatoon missed him. Or if they'd even found his body. Or if they thought he had run away; off to some distant village or something.
     Currently, Three was floating in the black expanse he'd awoken in. Whenever he closed his eyes for more than a few seconds, he discovered he'd be transported back to the void, and he'd have to go through the annoying falling process into the Memory Realm or the Imagination. So even though he got tired in those two places, he didn't let himself close his eyes because that freefall feeling wasn't exactly comforting.
     However, Three was bored, and it wasn't like there was something else to discover. He'd walked through his memories a thousand times by now, analyzing them all carefully to see if he'd ever missed something. One thing he did discover, which he thought was funny, was that the first time he and Eight had kissed, Aaron had been watching from the kitchen window. The cheerful Inkling had played it off as though he'd seen nothing, though, which only made him laugh harder.
     Not that Three could hear his own laugh; apparently, in the void, nothing could be said nor heard. It was weird. He'd forgotten the sound of his own voice.
     Three never forgot the sounds of the Splatoon's voices, though. Cuttlefish's was always shaky and creaky, but carried in it a sense of warmth yet severity. Callie's was cheerful in every way; never once had he heard the Squid Sister's voice slip out of it's usual excited squeal or encouraging tone. Marie's was... harder to describe. Her tone was typically calm and cool, almost relaxed. She usually sounded arrogant, to be honest. Aaron's voice was like Callie's, except more in an overexcited agressively positive rant. Gabriel's tone reminded him of a silvery voice; calm, light, and pleasant, yet haughty from time to time.
     Three vowed he'd never forget what Eight sounded like. He missed her so, so much. Her smile, her voice, her beautiful eyes, the way she laughed and talked, the way she looked at him. He missed it all. Three missed the way she hugged him, how she told him about her insecurities, how she knew exactly how to break his barriers.
     He wiped his eyes and let himself drop into the Imagination.
     Three fell silently, quietly, as the wind whistled past his ears. As he fell though, he saw an odd disturbance in the void above him. It looked as though one half of it faded darker, and the other brightened vividly into an extremely pale blue color, a shade away from white. He tilted his head in confusion as a weird pit opened in his stomach.
     Three didn't know how to explain it. It felt like a cold sense of... caution, or a warning of some sort. Like... a life or death situation. The fall suddenly seemed longer that it normally was, as if leaving him time to make his choice between the dark and light side. He thought for a moment.
     I've been in the dark for a long time now, Three thought. Maybe I should go with the bright side, try something new.
     He made his decision. I choose light.
     Suddenly, he started falling faster and faster, until he was sure that he'd reached over 100 miles per hour. Three expected to stop when he reached the ground, but instead he broke right through it, earning a rush of panic from himself.
     And then everything went black.
     Three lay there for a moment, dazed, unsure of where he was or how he was there. It felt as though he'd just been dropped from a great height, and it took his body a moment to realize that it still functioned. He groaned a little, and when he actually heard his voice, his eyes popped open in shock.
     A bright, bright light shone above his head, which he soon realized was attached to the ceiling. Quietly beeping monitors were gathered behind and around his head. Ahead of him, mounted on a wall, was a TV. To his right were a few chairs and a small nook next to a big pentagonal window.
     Wait, what? Three thought. He looked down and saw he was on a hospital bed. His eyes went wide.
     I'm... alive?
     Three reached up and felt his face. He still felt the scar on his right eyebrow, but now he felt a few little indents on his lips, another indent on the left side of his jaw, and a literal chip off of his left ear. He felt around the back of his head to see if his hair was still up in a ponytail, then realized it wasn't and had grown really long. Down to his hips.
     What happened? Three thought. He looked around and saw a small red button on the side of the bed labeled, "Call Attendant".
     That sounds promising. He mused with a shrug, gently pressing the button with two fingers. It made no noise except for a small click, and Three settled back. It almost hurt to move, he felt so weak. His throat felt dry and raspy, and his stomach grumbled fiercely. Before long, the nurse came in. She was a tall Octoling with thin, almondlike eyes and her hair bundled into a bun. She walked into the room with a puzzled expression, writing things down on a clipboard in her hands and muttering to herself something that sounded like, "Who'd have pressed the button? He hasn't woken up yet, and no one else has been here except me..."
     As soon as the Octoling looked up and spotted his open eyes, she gasped. There was a little moment of silence until he smiled awkwardly and she seemed to break from her trance.
     "Well, hi!" She said. "Good afternoon, Mr. Squidlink. How are you feeling?"
     "U-um," Three stuttered, his voice raspy. He tried to clear his throat, then spoke again. "I'm feeling fine... thanks."
     She flipped to another page on her clipboard, pushed up her glasses, and started writing things down. She wore a pale blue coat that looked thin enough to be napkins, with a pocket near the collar and another near her hip. On the top pocket was a nametag; Doctor Beatrix Lydia. In the bottom pocket were a few pens, and what looked like crumpled paper.
     "Good, good," Beatrix said. "Any abnormalities? Dizziness, light-headedness, trouble breathing, anything like that?"
     Three thought for a moment. "No. I just feel a little weak. And hungry, that's all."
     "Perfect." She gave him a friendly smile, tucking away her pen. "I can get you food if you like. Do you have any questions?"
     "Yeah," He said. "Um... how long have I been out for?"
     Beatrix winced, and her grip on the clipboard tightened just a little. She looked several levels of hesitant.
     "How long has it been?" Three asked again, more firmly. He sat up, staring at her.
     "Almost 3 months," She replied, fiddling with the end of her glasses. "You were hurt pretty badly."
     His vision went unfocused for a second. 3 months?
     "Do you remember what happened before you fell into the coma?" Beatrix asked.
     "I do." He said quietly.
     "Would you care to fill in the details?" She asked. "We were told by your friends what they saw and heard, but wanted to ask you when you woke up what happened from your point of view."
     "Can I tell you over food?" Three asked hopefully. His stomach kept grumbling in the background and it was kind of embarrassing.
     Beatrix laughed. "Of course. I'll be right back." She turned to leave. "Oh, before I forget, would you like us to contact any of your friends? They told us your family is out of the question, or I would have considered them too."
     "Yes," Three said. "Please contact Ei- Sarai first."
     "Of course. Anything else?"
     "No."
     "Alright. I'll be back in a little while. Hang tight."
     Beatrix left the room, humming a tune. Three let out a sigh and settled back onto the bed. Oddly enough, he felt exhausted, but hadn't he been asleep for literally 3 months?
     This entire situation still felt like a dream. Something his imagination had conjured, just a wild scenario that he thought of in the void and the Imagination decided to make it happen.
     However, now that Three knew for sure he'd been in a coma, now that he knew he was alive, he desperately wanted to see Eight. Knowing that she was still there, waiting for him, instantly made him happy. But, then again, wouldn't she hate him by now? He'd left her for almost 3 months, and before that, he'd tried to kill her!
     Maybe he was right. Maybe she did hate him and didn't want to see him.
     But Three really wanted to see her.
     After a while, he closed his eyes and tried to fall asleep, but a few minutes later the smell of food woke him up again. Three heard the door closing, and then Beatrix slid the curtain aside. She had a platter of food in her hands, holding a bottle of water, a bowl of rice and chicken, and apple sauce, along with a fork and spoon next to the bowl.
     Three smiled gratefully as she handed it to him. "Thanks."
     "No problem." She said. "We've contacted Sarai and she's on her way. Is there anything else you need?"
     "No, thanks."
     "Great. Don't mind me, I'm just gonna check your monitors real quick."
     Three nodded as she grabbed a remote and turned on the television. Beatrix handed it to him and got to work on the monitors.
     As he ate, he told Beatrix about what had actually happened before the coma, with a few little white lies as to what he was doing in certain places. He told her about him going into the alleyway to try and find a shortcut home, the gang of bullies, what they'd done to him, and how right before he lost consciousness, he thought he'd seen one of his friends. He also told her the bullies' names, just in case they might be needed for anything.
     After it was all said and done, Beatrix was astonished. She kept glancing at him as if wondering if he was alright, since he'd explained the entire thing so nonchalantly. During the story, she'd sat down and starting writing more and her clipboard.
     The Octoling went silent for a long moment as Three took the last few bites of his meal. Then he heard the door open, gently close, and the curtain slid aside.
     Three looked up to see Eight standing in the room, which completely caught him off guard, and the fork slipped out of his hand. Beatrix beckoned her in and he heard Eight whisper, "You're alive," as tears filled her eyes.
     "Yeah, somehow I am," He whispered back. He opened his arms and she instantly hugged him, sobbing, but visibly trying to hold it in. They stayed that way for a long moment, without moving or saying anything before Eight pulled away.
     She turned to Beatrix. "Could you give us the room, please?"
     She nodded. "Of course." And walked out, flashing him a final smile as she closed the door.
     Eight turned back to him. "You have no idea how much I missed you."
     Three smiled. "I missed you a lot, too."
     "Did she tell you how long you were out for?" Eight asked.
     "Yeah, she did..." Three said. "I'm sorry for leaving you for so long. For leaving the Splatoon."
     She gently picked up both of his hands and squeezed them tight. "Three, you don't have to be sorry about anything." Eight said fiercely. "We all know you weren't gone intentionally, and we've all been hoping you'd wake up soon. It's a miracle your awake right now."
     Eight pulled him into another hug. "You're my miracle."
     Three pushed her away and kissed her. At first, she looked surprised, but then she gently grabbed his jaw. They kissed as passionately as the first, where neither pulled away for a long time. Three relished the moment, where he was full of joy and he knew she was as well.
     When they finally pulled away, Three whispered, "You're my miracle, too."
     Eight giggled. "Hey, I'm the one making romantic sappy comments here, not you."
     Three smiled. "Two can play at that game."
     She let go of him and grabbed a chair, pushing it up next to his bed. "So, how do you feel? The nurse told me you woke up only an hour ago."
     "I feel fine, honestly." Three said. "Just really weak. And tired. And... confused."
     Eight laughed. "How can you be tired? You've been sleeping for 3 months!"
     "I don't know." He mused. "Maybe it was because my body was struggling to keep me alive?" She shrugged as if to say, "I wouldn't know."
     "I can understand the weak part," Eight assured. "But why confused?"
     "Eight, I thought I was dead." Three responded. "I thought I was gone and I'd never gotten to say goodbye to the Splatoon. To you. I thought I'd never get to see you again. So to suddenly wake up and I have no idea where I am or how I got here, it left me feeling really disoriented. To suddenly be ripped from a quiet, peaceful place and back to life... I don't know, but it's a change I'll have to get used to again." He paused for a second. "But I know one thing for sure. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else in the world but here, with you. Even if I just woke up from a coma."
     She smiled wholeheartedly. "I'm just glad you're back." Eight paused. "Do you remember anything from the coma? Like, was it just black, or was there something else?"
     "Well, at first it was all black," Three started. "But then there were two... lands, I'll call them. The first was like a timeline of my memories. Where the most recent ones were up at the front, and progressively getting older as I went on. I remember them dating back all the way to stuff I don't even remember anymore."
     "Wow," She breathed. "And the other land?"
     "The other one was just pure imagination." He responded. "Like, whatever I thought instantly popped into existence the moment I thought it." Three laughed a little. "It was weird."
     "I can only imagine." Eight said.
     They were silent for a moment. "Did anything... important... happen while I was gone?" Three asked.
     She thought for a moment. "Not really. There have been a few peeps from the-" She glanced up at the camera in the corner. "-sanitized ones, but nothing major. Marie wants to-" Eight looked back up at the camera out of the corner of her eye. "I'll tell you later."
     "How's the Spla- the group doing?" He questioned.
     "Fine." Eight said. "We've all missed you a ton. Callie and Marie have been off with their jobs, occasionally checking up on us and asking how you were doing. Cuttlefish has mostly been with Aaron, and since he didn't get to see him beat Octavio, he's been asking him all sorts of questions. Gabriel's been with Aaron as well, so I've kinda been all on my own." She looked hesitant for a second, as if debating between telling him something, but then kept quiet. "I've been okay though. Just been missing you like crazy."
     They talked for a long time. Eight asked him questions about what the coma was like, if he'd felt anything, et cetera, et cetera. Three asked her how she'd been, if she'd appreciated her alone time, and basically anything he wanted to know. They talked until the sun started to set, until his eyes started to drift closed, until he struggled to keep himself awake.
     Eight noticed this and smiled warmly. "Have I bored you to sleep already?" She joked.
     "No, no," Three said with a yawn. "I'm just tired." Eight pulled out her phone and checked the time.
     "Ah, I have to go anyway." She said with a frown. "I was told the visiting hours ended at 7:00."
     Three felt an odd flare of panic in his chest. Don't leave, His thoughts whispered. Please don't leave me alone.
     Eight seemed to notice the distress that spilled out onto his face and gave him an apologetic look, standing up from her chair and resting your hands on the edge of the bed. "If I could stay, I would. You know that, Three. But I can't."
     "Could you come back tomorrow?" He pleaded, gently grabbing one of her wrists. "Please?"
     "Of course!" Eight exclaimed. "I would never leave you."
     Three smiled gratefully. "I love you."
     She hugged him. "I love you, too." Eight turned for the door, slid aside the curtain, and paused. "I'll be back tomorrow, alright? Good night."
     "Good night," Three called as the door closed.
     And then he was all alone. Alone, in a cold place that felt nothing like home, without any of his friends there.
     Three curled up under the covers and closed his eyes, knowing he wouldn't be alone tomorrow.

WOW I wrote another almost 3000 word chapter and I forgot to stop at 2500. Hope you all enjoyed.
Word count: 2935