All Which Remains

Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Ramelan

I've spent every day for the past three months in Arron's hospital room. I still go to school, but directly after it's over, I visit Arron. I want to tell him why I wasn't there when he fell, but he can't hear me. It's too important. So, I've been telling him about my days.

Arron fell into a coma soon after his accident. Just like the doctors predicted he would.

I miss him.

I don't consider myself close to him, but he was the closest thing to a friend that I had.

I trim some flowers and put them in a vase beside his head.

Daffodils.

Roses.

Peonies.

All of them presents from our classmates.

Snip.

Snip.

One.

Two.

Three.

I look up from my work and stare at Arron.

His hair haloed around his head. The sun is shining in his face, but there's no movement from him. There might not ever be again.

I put the flowers I'm trimming down and grab Arron's hand.

"I'll be right back," I tell him.

I walk over to his sink and grab a towel. I put the towel under the water and let it soak up all of the liquid.

I fold the wet towel and place it on Arron's forehead.

"Are you doing okay?" I ask him. I know that he won't respond, but I feel like I'd be accepting the fact that he could die if I don't talk to him.

I grab the brush sitting at his bedside and slowly brush his hair.

Strand by strand.

"Has Fadhlan come by recently? I haven't seen him at school, so I'm sure he's been here with you. You're his best friend. He wouldn't just leave you." I laugh a little. "You know, I was always a bit jealous of your guys' friendship. Mainly because you seemed to like Fadhlan more than me. It's stupid, I know, but I was really insecure back then. You'd be laughing at me right now. It was three months ago. I can't have changed that much. Right? But three months, it's a long time when you think about it. This school year is almost over now," I tell him.

"When's your birthday? I'll get you a present." He doesn't respond.

I'd be more surprised if he did.

I finish brushing his hair and go back to trimming flowers. Talking to him all the while.

Abyasa

I help everyone figure out ways to wake Arron up in the simulation. I don't mind helping The director if it means that my son will live. We're trying to figure out a way to fix the way his mind is connected to the simulation.

He's stuck between both worlds.

I'll save him.

Farrah

The director says we should give up on Arron and focus on L-10. He says that she's going to save us all. I— I don't trust him. I can't give up on my son. The director says that he's isolated L-10. He's hoping that we'll get to see for sure whether people can die of loneliness.

It's inhumane, but we should get good results out of it.

She should be going crazy right now, according to The director.

He leads me to a backroom and shows me a mirror. There's another person here. They're writing things down in a booklet.

On the other side, I see L-10 writing in her diary. The diary that I'd given her for her eighth birthday. The poor girl.

It's like she knows that I'm looking at her. She turns around quickly and stares in our direction.

"Is anyone there?" She asks.

The director puts one finger over his mouth, telling me not to say anything. I wasn't planning on it.

"Hello?" She says again.

Neither of us respond. L-10 shakes her head and sits down again. The director grabs my arm and leads me to the exit

"I have an agent monitoring her every movement. I'll update you every time something important happens," The director says to me.

"Alright. I'll be in my office for the next few days. I'm not giving up on Arron, no matter what you say," I grab his chin, "If you think for one more moment that I might give up on my son, you can think again. I will never, ever, ever, give up on my child." I flick my hand away and saunter off.

When I'm out of his sight, I lean against a wall, breathing hard.

God, that man is horrifying.

The only reason that he hasn't been fired yet is that, while I reluctantly admit this, he is good at what he does.