To Express Happiness || Fayne ✔✔

The Medicine 💊

''..stop being a nobody''

'' ...you want a new life..a life full of excitement...''

''So...friends?''

'' You btch''

Aaron jolts up to senses as the ghosts of different people scream inside his head. He is panting, sweating, looking at every corner of the room. However, this is not the room he usual woke up to. There's a vast window, and there's this vast bed. There's a vast cylinder beside that bed. Everything is so vast yet he still feels incarcerated, numb. He shifts his wrist, and it hurts. Above him hung a life-size saline bag. His head suddenly feels heavy as he tries to get up, and is pushed down my two small hands, of a girl. She almost looks like him, with dark eyes and chubby cheeks, her hair straight. 

He mutters breathlessly , ''Irina...?''

''Ariana. Your sister''. She says, her face expressionless.

Her answer makes Aaron shut his eyes tightly, conceiving the mirage deep inside him.

'' What up , bro? You went so off after you reached home last evening.''

He doesn't bother to answer as his eyes follow Mrs. Reeves, entering the room and sitting past him , brushing his hair and landing a kiss on his forehead; giving a smile she had hidden for ages.

'' Aaron...I'm sorry dear. It was my fault that you are here. I should've looked after you, instead of complaining repeatedly.''

Aaron melts inside as he notices his mother's eyes overwhelm with tears.

''It's okay, Ma. I'm sorry too. It's just...I'm facing some new-school-problems that's all. About the letter I-''

''Aaron..''. His mother closes his eyes and shakes her head, reassuring that everything's fine.

The night before, Aaron's quick impulses had gone numb,upon foreseeing the worst tragedies of his life as his mother held both of his death certificates , right before him. Good thing it's over.

''Now you better sleep. Doctor said we can take you home tomorrow. I'll go check on the medics.''

''Sure''.

With two deep breathes, Aaron manages to make his head lighter and then makes himself comfortable. This new room surely looks new, but the setting takes him aback . The simplicity of the hospital ward is what got him. A bed, a table, a door ,a window, and white, white walls. It makes him fall into a pool of nostalgia.

He stares at the blankness of the wall, how he used to stare at it years ago, back when he was a child of 8 and there was nothing else to do. He hears faint voices streaming through his senses ; voices of adults talking, voices of children playing. He grow up with these voices.

He spent his childhood in the colony, as his father was still an active pilot in the Armed Forces. Life in colony was something else.  Just half a kilometer from his home, there was the tall iron gate, isolating them from the rest of the world, like they are aliens . Within that radius, Aaron had to settle his life.  The fewer the people, the more the formalities. Everything was predictable.  When it was exactly 4 pm, you would hear calling bells that don't really require answering. Then, just to not act like a social norm, you have to play some stupid games with some children, again and again and again until it's evening and you have to call it a day. At night, you just  get 1 hr TV time infront of that small cubic TV that your father could barely afford. Everyday was a war ; a struggle inside felt by different people in the family in different ways. Yet, no one said anything. Why would they? Life was normal for them, and they enjoyed their life to the fullest within the perimeter. Aaron's life, on the other hand, was captivated by the abnormality in the normal life. It was not even depression, or just plain boredom leading to guilty sadness, but it was like the ocean. You scream, and you hear it. Others, don't.

Aaron opens his eyes just as the door opens, startling the entire family. A tall, skinny figure appears, his face behind piles of large boxes and an enormous bouquet of flowers. He pops his face to say a struggled 'hi' . Putting all the things on a table nearby, he dusts his shirt and continues.

''Ah... I'm Zack Riley. Aaron's friend. Pleasure to meet all the Reeves at one place.''

''....friend?'' . Ariana giggles while Mrs. Reeves gives a her a noxious look. She lowers her head in regret, while the latter raises her eyebrows.

''Well...yes! It's a pleasure to meet you too, Zack! I guess you're the one who invited him last Saturday. I have to say Aaron is really happy that you called him. God...he really needs people to talk to you know.''

Mrs. Reeves cracks a nervous smile as she, too , feels guilty of what she just said. Just when she wanted to drop this topic, Aaron's weak hand clutches hers following a displeased ''Mom...''. 

Almost in a way of surrendering, Mrs. Reeves nods at Zack and leaves the room, discontented again.

Aaron whistles Ariana to leave, and she does so.

When they are finally alone, Zack embraces Aaron, and suddenness put more affection to it than a usual hug.

''I'm soooo sorry about this. I should've been the first person knowing about you being in hospital''. Zack says while leaving the hug and grabbing a seat nearby.

''...What do you mean?'' Aaron questions with narrowed eyes.

''Irina called me last night at 11, and told me about you so here I am lol.''

......''Aaron...you okay''?

Aaron doesn't reply as he is staring still at the ceiling. For a moment, Zack thought he passed out, so he grabbed his hand and checked his pulses. He was alive, but more alive inside. If there was an oscillator, it would show his heart beats going off the chart. Then it occurred to him: success. Pleasure of a job well done. His body became light despite him feeling weak, his mind more lighter. Blood went into his heart and out came a stream of different vibrant colors: his heart was now a prism. His dream-bubble thwarts abruptly as Zack pinches him .

''  Whoa dude...you gotta stop jumping to conclusions.''

That made them both laugh.

'' What did Irina say?''

Zack clears his throat, seemingly amused. '' Well... she basically said she'll date you once you recover.''

''Wtf?''. Aaron sits uprights.

''Ehhhh got youuu.'' Zack hits Aaron softly with the back of his hand while Aaron shakes his head.

''It's like...she wanted me to know how you're doin', ya know. This is friendship. We are family. Yes, small fights are common, but don't you think they are common in every family? Whatever Shae did...he'll apologize. If not, leave it to me; but stay. The gang needs you as much as you need them, okay? Now eat this muffins that Ashley baked.''

''But Zack...the thing is I ammmmmnnnnnnnn....???''. Zack stuffs the muffins inside his mouth, almost suffocating him.

''Aren't they wonderful?''. Just as he finishes, his phone rings and he stares at the screen, smiling.

''It's Shae, Imma receive the call. Be back soon.''

As Zack leaves the room, his mother enters with a nurse, who is detailing all the medics she needs to buy. 

The door suddenly opens and Zack pops his head out, phone still in his hand.

''Hey Aaron, it's Shae''. Zack ends with a victorious smile.

As Aaron reciprocates his smile, he looks at the clipboard on the nurses hand, thinking, '' Do I need them, anymore?''.