Ray ||l.h.||

1.6

A ceiling. 

There's alternating panels; two in the same row are helping to light the room, and the rest look like tile that was glued above their heads. One of the squares that are supposed to be lit up is dark and not lit up, the glass covering exposing a grainy view of the white tubes inside. 

A hand.

There's a glove on it. It's blue and obviously connected to a person, who is unplugging some chords from the sockets in the wall. One of the cartoon fish on their scrubs is the same blue as the glove they're wearing.

"Ms. Charles?" That person is addressing Ray now, and it finally dawns on her, in several stages at once, that she's seeing all of this with her own eyes. 

Ray doesn't even try to stop the tears from welling in her eyes, though she momentarily wishes that she had, because her tears are blurring her vision. 

"Ray, honey?" The nurse tries again, bringing her face down to be eye level with the crying girl. Ray cries more, because, wow, now it actually matters where everyone's looking when she's having a conversation. Though she's near sobbing, she tries to keep her eyes open as much as she can. "You okay, what's the matter?"

"I don't wanna close my eyes." Ray admits, slowly sitting up with the nurse's hand behind her back. A feeling of nostalgia washes over her, and she feels like her five year-old self who had just woken up from a nightmare.

"Why, sweetie?" The nurse—her name tag says Lindsey—rubs warm ovals on Ray's shoulders to comfort her.

"I'm scared it'll go away." She feels silly after saying it, but it's true. Nurse Lindsey lightly chuckles, bringing Ray closer to her in a half hug.

"Oh, it's not going anywhere, hon," The woman assures, patting Ray twice on her back and releasing her. "I'm gonna go get your parents, okay? They're right outside." Ray nods in response, trying to dry her face and even out her breathing.

There don't seem to be any needles or tubs attached to her arms, so Ray carefully swings her legs over the side of the bed and scoots towards the edge. She doesn't feel dizzy or disoriented, she notes, which gives her the green light to stand. Ray'd hate to hurt herself the minute she gets out of bed by falling from being lightheaded, or some other term the doctors would have told her.

From the hallway, Ray hears her mom's gleeful voice and then sees her come around the corner and into her room and she can see her. 

Her mom's arms swallow her in a hug and Ray stumbles a bit as they sway. "Hi mom." Ray knows the tears are coming back, but they're happier ones, and she can see her mom again, so it's okay.

Mr. Charles comes in, his eyes shiny as he puts his arms around the both of them. They look exactly the same, Ray notices. Though, maybe her dad has a little more grey hair in his beard, but other than that, they're carbon copies of their younger selves.

A third person walks in while Ray and her parents peel away from each other and Ray spares them a glance before turning her attention back to her mom and dad. "So, is it appropriate to say long time no see?" Ray's voice isn't up to par with the joke, a slight shake still in it, but her parents laugh and she giggles at herself.

They sit on her bed, and Ray catches the guy that came in staring at her. He doesn't shy away or act like he was actually caught doing anything, he just smiles. His eyes look just as shiny as her dad's eyes were.

"Who is that?" Ray tries to quietly ask her parents, but the small and silent room betrays her and echoes her question. She sees the guy smile wider and furrows her brows.