Shapes Of Echoes

Prologue - The Bloom

Beeping, beeping. Eyes opening, he saw heart monitor next to him. The room had no windows, just white neon lights typical for hospitals. Hospital.

When he came back to life, his parents were already there. Not that it'd matter to him. Michael Damian Howell never had a strong relationship with his parents. He had a few precious memories with them, but it was long, long ago. He had a different history with them since that. "Oh, you're finally awake" said his mother. "How are you feeling ?" she asked. Even though she was visibly annoyed, she did care somewhere inside. Afterall, mother is mother. On the face of his father, on the other hand, it was impossible to see any emotion. If Michael wouldn't know that one wrinkle that always appeared on his forehead, he would've almost thought his father was in shock as well. But just one look into his eyes was enough to prove that it would never be like that. His father's brain was unable to stop. He didn't have time to be shocked by his son's death. And he didn't bother with hiding it.
"I'm fine" Michael answered blankly. "Why ?," his mother asked "why did you jump ?" The question sent shivers down his spine, he wondered why, but he just looked her in the eyes and quietly said: "I don't want to talk about it now." His mother sighed deeply, but stayed quiet. She looked at her husband, and gestured to the door, leaving Michael alone in a room filled only with silent, rythmic beeping.

Thinking about his mother's question, he remembered the building, and few additional details. But his memories were still blurry, and the pain in his head made it terribly hard to concentrate on them, so he gave up on trying to remember. He didn't even know what time was it, if it was day or night, but either way he was totally exhausted. He tried to stay awake for as long as possible, but since all he could do in this state was laying down, which was madly frustrating, he didn't even notice when his eyes closed. It was a deep dreamless sleep, the one that comes after being under pressure for several days, the one in which the calmness is overwhelming.

When he woke up again, his mind was rested and clear, and he realized why he was feeling so uneasy about his mother's question.

He didn't jump.