Slice of Life

Birthday

This story is dedicated to my friend, Ameli<3 Happy birthday!

It was the 15th April. Just another day is what you'd assume, but like many others around the world, it was Ameli's birthday. Waking up in the hospital wasn't exactly what she wanted, but it's what happened. She was greeted by the beeping noise of the machine behind her, as well as the sight of the white room. Plain walls, a window looking out over nowhere in particular. The sight was blocked by another hospital building, with tinted windows making it hard to look through in the sun. The sun was shining brightly that day. A little chilly since it was only early spring, but with the sun shining brightly, a light jacket would be enough to keep you more than warm outside. The room was empty. No nurses checking the machines, no doctors asking the same questions, and no family or friends visiting. Ameli looked up at the clock on the wall in front of her, which apart from the tv, was the only decoration in the room. It was only 6am. Another hour or so before they'd come to check on her, poke her with needles, ask the same questions, and finally, leave her in peace to eat breakfast after swallowing painkillers to get through the day. Her eyes were dropping slightly, and she soon fell asleep again. It was tough on her body, and she needed a lot more sleep than a normal girl her age would require.

However, the next time she woke up she wished she hadn't fallen asleep again in the first place. For what she saw was what happened many years ago. The bad weather. The lighting right in front of them. Her parents on the front seats arguing. The heavy rain. The skidding tires. The engine burning. The stop. The tree falling. Everything going black.

Ameli woke up with a sweat. It was yet another nightmare. Every time, it felt so real. And every time, she'd wake up, hoping it never happened. And every time she was annoyed at the fact that it was. And the pain stabbing in her back. The first nurse had already come in, asking questions like 'how are you this morning' and 'how's the pain' and so on. It seemed forever before the next stage, the machines checked and then a doctor with a bunch of needles, doing one thing or another. At first, she'd been scared. Petrified of the needles. But at this point, she didn't care anymore. She'd gotten used to it, and it was just another thing to get over with. Then came the pills. It took her several swallows to get them all down, but afterwards, she got her breakfast and was left in peace. The breakfast wasn't exactly a 5-star meal, but it wasn't as bad as it could've been. She'd had worse.

After eating, she'd turned on the tv. Skipping through the channels, watching nothing in particular. She had a book beside her that she'd long since finished, and her laptop had run out of charge. Her mother had promised to bring her charger today, but where was she when she was needed? Ameli was left alone. She sighed, staring out of the window. With thoughts of everything and nothing. And so the time was spent doing nothing in particular. A nurse came in and helped her into her wheelchair so she could sit up, and move around the room. However, she'd been forbidden to move up and down the hall. If she was lucky she could visit her neighbor, an older woman who had fallen down a flight of stairs and broken her back. The old woman told her a lot of stories from when she was young. It made the time spent in the hospital a bit less lonely.

It was perhaps around 11am when it happened. She was supposed to be alone for a while, so why did a nurse enter her room at this time?
"We may have found an answer to what we're looking for, however we need to scan you again to make sure. Are you okay to go?" The nurse asked calmly, with a serious face. She wasn't friendly nor unfriendly. She was just doing her work, Ameli knew that. She just nodded, as the nurse went behind her and began pushing her out the room. The hallway was awkwardly and unusually quiet. The times she'd been out, there'd always been other staff rushing about, patients coming through, or something happening. But it was all empty. And most of the doors were closed, except to some of the empty rooms, where there had been people in, or that hadn't been occupied in a while. They continued down the hallway for a while in silence, the only thing to be heard was the footsteps behind her and the wheelchair's wheels creaking ever-so-slightly as they moved. They turned around a corner, to be greeted by two shut white doors.
"Let me check that they're ready," the nurse said, getting her monitor and pressing a few buttons on it. A moment later, it beeped twice in reply. And then the doors in front were opened.

It was pitch black. Ameli was moved forward into the room when the doors behind her shut, blocking all the light. She sweared she could hear someone whisper "3, 2, 1," but it was so quiet, she couldn't be sure if it was her imagination. When the voice got to 1, the light turned on, and the curtains were removed at the same time, all the light blinding her eyes.
"Happy birthday!" A chorus of voices came from around the room. Ameli looked around, there were so many people! And not only that, there was a table set up with a cake, drinks, chairs around it for people to sit. The walls were decorated with pictures of big, tall buildings, as well as many cars. She didn't have time to see who turned on the music, before she spotted her parents.
"Mum, dad! What's all this?" She asked, rolling her wheelchair over to them.
"We couldn't take you to New York, so we brought New York to you," her mother smiled.
"Thank you! This is amazing!" Ameli replied, not having the time to speak more with her parents before heading off.
"Hey, come over here," the nurse from earlier guided her to the empty corner where the window and wall met."You haven't said hello to everyone, have you? I'm thinking it's easier if you stay here and they can come over," she explained.

"Annyeonghaseyo!" When Ameli heard the Korean word, she looked up to see a, fairly small built guy with blonde hair standing in front of her.
"I'm Yoosung! Happy birthday, Ameli," he smiled. He seemed so grownup in his suit. He placed down a present by the side of her wheelchair."Can I, um, hug you?" He asked awkwardly, looking down in embarrassment.
"Of course!" Ameli replied, a smile forming on her lips. He embraced her for a few seconds, before standing back.
"I'm here too! Yoosung, move," a red-haired guy with glasses shoved him out the way.
"Oi Seven, I was talking to her first!" Yoosung replied, sulking.
"You can talk to her again later, it's my turn!" The red-haired guy, who was supposedly called Seven, turned to her, "Happy birthday! Sucks to be you, but I hope this will keep you happy when you feel lonely! I'm Luciel, but you can call me Seven if you want."
Ameli accepted the present he handed her. It wasn't packed in. It was a white robot, in the shape of a cat, with a red ribbon on the head.
"Thank you!" Ameli smiled, "But what is this?"
"It's my latest invention! It's a robot cat designed to help you and cheer you up when you're said," he said, looking down at her through his glasses, before looking around the room.
"Now where did that boy go," he muttered, turning around and heading off.

"I'm Kyoko, happy birthday," A girl, who seemed a few years older than herself, came over and put a present down. She had long hair, with a tint of pink in it. "Oi Makoto, come here," she said, pushing a guy her age with short, brown hair forward.
"Um, I'm Makoto. Happy birthday," he bowed and then turned away, leaving Kyoko hot on his heels.
A girl with yellow, curly hair was next. She had a long, pink dress on, and pink high heels to match, "Happy birthday, Princess! I'm Peach, come find me later and I'll give you some beauty tips!" She put down a present with a pink wrapper, before disappearing off in the crowd.

And then came her family and her friends, who she already knew, and chatted with her, the present bundle by her side growing bigger and bigger. Most of her friends were people she hadn't seen in months, some even years, but they had plenty to talk about, and after a while, the queue was gone. Ameli was chatting with a few friends, when the doors suddenly open.
"I hear there's a birthday party?" Said the voice of the man who just walked into the room. He had short, black hair and wore a black hoodie with black jeans to match. Ameli gasped at the sight of her favourite artist appearing in the room. Eminems eyes scanned the room until they fell upon her and they locked eyes.
"You're the birthday kid, right? Happy birthday," he said, walking over to her, "I'll sing you a song, what do you want it to be?"
"N-not afraid," she managed to choke out.
"Alright." he smiled, going up to where the speakers were. He took the microphone that was ready for him and began singing the song.

Ameli cried slightly. She was back in her room. After Eminem's song they had eaten a massive lunch, and later in the afternoon she'd unpacked the presents before the guests had to leave. It had been a fantastic birthday, and she couldn't wish for it to have gone any better. She looked around. The room was no longer as empty as before. There were flowers in the window sill, pictures on the walls, and her presents within reach on the table beside her. She went to sleep that night with great thoughts of the day.