𝐅𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐊𝐒 || 𝐄. 𝐊𝐈𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐌𝐀

02

Asa was afraid. Her hands trembled as her grip tightened on the hospital blanket that hid her body from view. She knew she should feel some sense of relief—she was safe and surrounded by people who wanted her to feel better and yet she was trembling instead. Every time they questioned her she was sent back to that place, to that cell—every moment she spent reliving it was pushing her closer and closer to the edge and she was scared to fall because she wasn’t naive enough to believe anyone would catch her. In some way, she still was in that cell, despite no longer being there physically everything seemed to send her back to that place, even when the doctors weren’t asking her questions the silence alone was enough to send her right back into the cell, it had even gone as far as to take over her sleep as her mind replayed different memories she wished she could bury and forget.

Asa yearned for safety, she longed for some sense of comfort and stability—she wanted a home but she knew that it wasn’t in the cards for her. A home would entail that someone would be willing to take her in and she knew well enough how unrealistic that idea was. The concept of family was unfamiliar to her, it was something she had never gotten to really experience with how young she had been when she had disappeared.

The hospital room she was in came with a sense of familiarity to it—it was far cleaner of course but the size and the lack of sound was something she had grown used to, and while she wasn’t truly familiar with the hospital it reminded her enough of the place she had considered her home once that she had subconsciously let her guard down which led to her getting so lost in her own thoughts she hadn’t heard the footsteps approaching her door.

Asa couldn’t help but flinch as a sharp knock sounded through the room, her posture was stiff for a moment as she released the breath she was unknowingly holding.

“Come in.” she called out softly, watching with bated breath as the door opened. An older woman stepped into the room, her expression stern as she glanced back outside of the room for a moment before stepping in completely. Nurse Higashi was one of the older nurses, strict and orderly, and in truth, she was Asa’s favorite. The woman hadn’t pestered her with triggering questions the moment she woke up as others had, instead she had asked her how she was feeling, asked her if she needed anything, and got her water when she had requested it. The nurse was intimidating but Asa enjoyed the company of the quiet woman.

“Good evening, Himura.” She greeted politely as she shut the door.

“Good evening, Nurse Higashi.” Asa replied quietly, her fingers rolling the fabric of the blanket between her fingers.

“I know this is sudden and you may not be ready yet but the police have felt that they won’t be able to make any progress with your case with the lack of information they currently have,” Higashi sighed in exasperation as she sat on the edge of the bed, meeting the young girls dull purple eyes,” they decided to take a different approach this time due to your unique circumstances. I wish I could have had more time to inform you so you could have been more prepared but I only found out a few moments ago.”

“More questions?” Asa mumbled, sounding defeated.

‘Unfortunately so,” the nurse confirmed before standing up,” is there anything I can do for you?”

“Um, no I’m okay, thank you.” the nurse nodded in response before she opened the door and exited the room except she had left the door open. Huffing, Asa began to slide her legs off the bed, as her feet nearly touched the cold tile flooring she suddenly froze.

The door that had been left slightly ajar suddenly opened further, revealing the person behind it. Asa wasn’t sure who she thought would be showing up to question her but this was entirely unexpected.