blue

VI

"Melia, wake up."

"Melia, your mom's here to see you."

"She must still be knocked out from the tranquillizer, let her be."

I heard voices, but wasn't quite able to make out what they were saying.

Then I heard loud footsteps that belonged to someone who was running.

"She's alive!" Who was saying this, my unconscious mind wondered.

"She's still sleeping, let her be," someone else's voice echoed. I was slowly becoming aware of the sounds and the words being said around me.

"She's my daughter! I can't let her be." Whoever this was, they were extremely upset.

Wait, did she just say daughter?

I shot upright. "Mom!" I called her name loud enough for the entire hospital to hear. All I wanted to do was give her a hug. I wanted her to wrap her arms so tightly around me that every one of my broken pieces temporarily fit back together. It felt like I hadn't seen her for months. In that moment, all I was focused on was her. I forgot about every pain I had ever felt or ever will feel. I forgot about how worthless I think I am or how I'll never see colours again. I even forgot about how it felt to have John slap me like I was nothing, and how I thought I deserved it.

All I cared about was seeing the one person who loved me; my mother. The person who had put every ounce of love she had into me, every second she had to spare. I realized how I was a terrible daughter and never did the same in return. I loved my mom and she deserved the world. Because I had been so close to never seeing her again, I realized what it would feel like to lose her. Starting now, I will jump on every chance I get to be with her and I'll love her like I'm going to lose her.

I didn't want to let go of the hug. "Oh thank god you're okay. I love you so much Melia." She looked at my bruised eye which was swelling more and more by the second. "You poor thing. You don't deserve this. Any of this. It's all my fault. If I didn't take that night shift you wouldn't have left the house. I can't ever forgive myself, but I do hope that you can one day forgive me." There were tears in her eyes. How could she blame herself? If anyone was to blame, it's John.

"No, Mom! Stop blaming yourself. If it wasn't for me being such a horrible daughter, I wouldn't have went outside when you weren't home and John would have never found me. And if John wasn't such a disgusting human being, then he wouldn't have hurt me. None of it is your fault, mom. If you didn't work the night shift, we wouldn't be able to afford all the medical help I'm receiving. It's everyone's fault but yours. Please don't blame yourself."

She was crying now, and I just felt so bad for putting her through all this. Why was I so irresponsible?

She stayed and visited for hours. Not a single sad topic rose from the conversations again, and it lifted my mood higher than the sky.

I was so distracted from everything that went on that I didn't even ask the nurse's why I was passed out. As I fiddled with the ring on my finger, I decided that I had nothing better to do, so I used the phone hanging from the wall to call the front desk and ask if I could speak to a nurse.

The woman at the front desk was helpful and got the nurses over to my room in minutes. I greeted them with a faint smile and they sat on the chair next to my bed.

"All I wanted to ask was, why was I unconscious for so long? What happened?"

The two nurses exchanged a worried glance. It obviously wasn't good.

After looking back and fourth from me to her colleague, one of the nurses finally spoke up. "We had to tranquilize you."

"Tranquilize me? What for?" I replied, confused.

The second nurse piped in. "Melia, I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this, but you're absolutely insane. Like, one of the worst cases we've had. I've been here for ten years and have never ever had to tranquilize one of my patients. But you, oh you're a real handful. Like something I've never seen before. You kept screaming about how this boy, who wasn't even there, made you see colour. We had no choice but to tranquilizer you because we didn't want anyone to get hurt."

What were they talking about? I was a perfectly healthy person, mental health wise. I stared at both of them like they were the crazy ones, not me.

The nurse who spoke to me first started talking again.

"Achromatopsia is not a real condition."