Inside The Blue Box

Chapter 1

Light.
Light was everywhere; it was almost tangible. As I reached out to feel the light, I was swallowed in a haze of darkness. The darkness compressed me until I felt as if I was nothing. As I tried to comprehend what was happening then the feeling came back to me. I could feel my fingers looking for something to grasp though I could not find my fingers. I could hear again. Then a faint buzzing noise came. Louder and louder it grew as it was too much for my head. Then there it was again.
Light.
Though this light was not like before. It was dimmer and it seemed barely there in contrast to the bright light as before.
Shapes swirled in my head as I could see again. Then the shapes were in front of my face. Noises filled the air. Of people, of beeping, of footsteps, of everything. As the swirling came to a halt I sat up and looked around the bare white room with people coming left and right towards me.
Bewildered, I panicked and backed away from the strangers in front of me. Where was I? Who were these people? Why does everything feel so surreal? I started to breathe harder as I panicked even more. The lady directly in front of me looked at me with a realization expression.
"Hey baby girl, you feeling better?" she asked sweetly as she attempted to calm me down. I didn't know what to say. What was I feeling?
"Do you know where you are sweetheart?" she said kindly waiting as I processed everything. I shook my head no as I took another look at my crowd in front of me. Suddenly the expressions on their faces were of concern and disappointment. The lady uttered something to the man next to her. He wrote something down as she came back to me. "Honey I am just going to ask you a few questions if that is alright." I nodded as she proceeded to ask. "Do you who you are, what is your full name?"
"My name is Aurora Marie Rose." I said quietly as I looked at my feet. Was I always this pale?
"OK great," she said as she wrote down more information on a clipboard. "So how old are you Aurora Marie Rose?"
"I am... 16" I finally let out. I had to actually think about it. But honestly I am not sure how long I've been 16. I guess my slight pause made her worry because she was taking a while to even look up from her board. She was a pretty woman though. She had golden brown hair that fell to her shoulders in light tousled curls. She had the darkest blue eyes I have ever seen, they were so deep, yet so tired. Dark circles lined her bottom lash line. She was young and beautiful, but you really had to look at her to notice.
When she finally looked up at me with her piercing, stressed out eyes, she let out a sigh and she smiled kindly at me.
"Don't worry honey, everything will be fine. We just need to keep you here so you can get better." She said in a calm, strained voice. She got up to leave me and the crowd left my room. I could see them conversing about. Every once in a while one or two would glance at me.
I don't understand anything... Why am I here? Who are these people? Then the only two people I could recognize walked in. My parents.
"Are you ok sweetheart?" my mother asked as she scurried towards me. I nodded but I didn't feel like hugging her for some reason. Nor my father, who walked over with tears streaming down his face. I just felt weird with them. I know I love them, but there was this tension that I couldn't understand.
The lady once again walked in and pulled my parents from me just as I was about to speak. They spoke in hushed tones until my mother burst into tears with my father cradling her in his big arms. They were sweet, but something is missing. I just couldn't put my finger on it.
"Can I go to the bathroom really quick?" I asked as I tried to get the tubes and miscellaneous things untangled from me. The lady helped me into the bathroom, then I shut the door fast. I walked over to the sink and let the cold water run through my fingers. In a way it was comforting. I cupped the smooth water in my hands then splashed my face, as I grabbed a paper towel to clean my face I had a hard time looking away from the mirror.
Dead.
Every feature seemed as dead as I felt. My dark hair was wild around my porcelain skin. My lips were a plump pink, but very dry. My face looked like it was past my 16 years. You could see all of the stress, all of the suffering on my face. But the thing that got me was my eyes. Wide as the moon, brown as dark chocolate, they seemed as if they didn't belong to me. They looked as if they would burst at any moment. This girl in the mirror did not look Aurora Marie Rose. But then again what did I expect to see in the mirror. I'm obviously not here for a checkup. I need answers, I can't be here for much longer. There is just something so ominous about it.
I walked outside and sat on the hospital bed ready to investigate. "Why am I here?" I asked in a straight tone towards my crowd.
"What do you remember last?" the lady asked curiously.
"I'm not quite sure... I just remember my birthday party mostly... and a few days after... but honestly anything past that I can't think of..." I said as I thought real hard of any events.
"Interesting, well I think you need to be told by someone you trust. Do you remember Lana?" the lady asked hopefully.
"Of course she is my best friend." I said as I thought of her. The lady left for a few minutes to return with my old friend. She rushed everyone else out of the room while Lana ran up and hugged me. I took a good look at her when she finally let go. Her hair was in a bun on the tip top of her head. She looked as if she hadn't slept in days. The bags under her eyes and dried tears suggested that this was going to be interesting.
"How are you feeling bae?" she said with a small smile.
"Well kind of distraught, my head hurts and I don't know why my body aches."
"Well a lot has happened since I saw you last." She said in a small voice. She looked at my face. It almost pained her to see me, but she held my hand like she would never let go. It was comforting, her small childlike hands, warm, on mine. It was the most interaction I could remember let alone had since I woke up here.
"I just want to know what happened, why am here? Am I missing something?" I asked finally.
She sighed then went on, "You wrote this, this is why you are here..." she handed me a letter addressed to her.
"Dear Lana,
Thank you for always being a friend. Thank you for all of the memories and all of the courage you have given me over the years. I can't express how much you mean to me and how thankful I am for having such a supportive person beside me for all of these years. Honestly, I love you so much. This may not make sense to you right now but I'm still here, as I've always been here. Just close your eyes and remember me at my best. Remember all of the trips we took, all of the laughs we shared, all of the songs we sung, and all of the nights we spent doing everything but sleeping. Remember the good times when you are in your hard. You are my sister, my bae, and my best friend. Always remember that. Always remember me.