I have a very good friend - Max, we have known each other since middle school. Now he moved to another city for work, but we are still in touch and often discuss the same topic. Several years ago, a very unpleasant story happened to Max.
He got into a major accident, which involved several cars. I know for sure that in this accident two people were killed, and my friend almost was the third one. His condition was serious, he had several complex surgeries, and then he fell into a coma.
I remember how we were all terribly worried, how his mother was crying because he is her only son, how his bride – Nancy went back and forth in hospital corridors, as a ghost: pale, confused. All that time I was also there, tried to help as much as I could, comforted his mother and Nancy. We have suffered a lot, of course. To our great relief, soon Max woke up. He was in a coma a little more than a week.
Afterwards, there was a long recovery. All this time my friend seemed a little strange. He was not himself. Once I stayed overnight with Max – to watch him. His mother and his fiancée were so terribly tired, so I decided to help them a little bit - let them go home and rest. That night, Max told me what had happened to him during all those days that he spent in a coma. Here is what he had told me. I didn’t know that was in a coma. I didn’t know that I was asleep. I did not remember the accident, and I still don’t really remember it. It was all in a daze, as if it was not me. I just woke up in my bed at home. As usual, I started getting ready for work, it was around 7 am. Only I was surprised that my mother was not home. She was supposed to have a day off that day, but she wasn’t there. I tried to call her, but there was only noise on the line, so I decided that something with the network and decided to call her later. I went out into the street, and it was suspiciously quiet there. No cars, no people. Occasionally someone passed by, although around that time people are always in a hurry to work, there is traffic everywhere.
My bus never came. I stood in the cold for a very long time. Surprisingly, it was very cold, even though it was spring. Why was it so cold? I decided to walk to work. And all the while I was wondering how quiet it was around. I came to my office - and there was not a soul there. Emptiness. There was no one there. Coats were not hanging at the entrance hall, as if no one came here. I called our secretary - Monica, but again all I got was the noise on the line. There were even no ring sounds. I couldn’t understand what was happening. I decided to leave, what else was I left to do? All the way I thought about what could have happened that the whole city got literally extinct?
Why were all the people that I occasionally saw on the street so sad? Of course all kinds of silly apocalyptic thoughts came to mind. I probably watch too many movies. But how could I miss the end of the world, for example? This is simply impossible to miss! I turned to Nancy, because I decided to go and talk to her. To make sure I'm not crazy. The door to her apartment was open, but it was empty inside, again. That is, furniture, clothing, everything was in place, but there was no Nancy and no parents of hers. There was no one home. Only wind was flying around the room.
That completely confused me. What exactly was happening? Of course, I could not call anyone, because except for the hissing the phone did not make any other sounds. I do not know how much longer I walked around half-empty streets until I felt that I was overcome by panic. At some point I just gave up and ran, although I don’t know where I was running and why. Maybe I was just running from fear or uncertainty? I fell into hysterics, honestly speaking. Returning home, I found out that mom was still not there. Last hope pushed me to go to our neighbor – Vicky.
I went to the same university with her son Nick; he was later killed, attacked in the neighborhood, robbed and beaten to death. Aunt Vicky was desperate in her grief, so I often came to help her out and support her. Now I was hoping that at least she would be home. The door to her apartment was also open, too. I came in and listened. It seemed that there was someone in the kitchen. Hooray! So I'm not crazy after all! I ran into the kitchen and was shocked. I saw Nick sitting by the window. He was sitting there, as if nothing had happened to him, alive and healthy. My words stuck in my throat, and I was just standing there like a fool, looking at him and saying nothing. Nick smiled.
