Look Behind You

Chapter 3: Tears

"Where am I?"

Reno groggily got up. He had no recollection whatsover how he ended up in this room. Feeling lightheaded, he scanned the surroundings. A poster of Final Fantasy was posted in the green wall in front of him. Below it was a desktop computer with a lot of pictures of a teenager with his arm around a little girls shouder. To his right was a large drawer with stacks of cothes folded neatly. Finally he draw his attention to his back. A small bed for one person stood there. To his surpirse, there was a person sleeping on the bed.

"Sh*t! Sorry!" Reno gasped and prepared to go out the room. But the person was still sleeping. Totally unbothered with some prick accidentally appearing inside his room.

But then immediately, it hit him.

He gazed at the pictures scattered on the computer. There was no mistaking it. They were his and Mia's pictures. Then this was HIS childhood day's room.

So the boy sleeping on the bed should be..

"What the hell?"

There was no mistaking the face. A teenage Reno was snoring slightly on the bed. Reno was too stumped to realize what's happening. He figured he must be in a dream. He tried to wake up by closing his eyes and willed himself to consciousness. Unfortunately, it didn't work. A crazy idea formed in his mind.

He approached the wall and prepared his head. Figuring out the the pain might be sufficient enough to wake him. He leaned back, and with all force, he drove his head to the wall. He closed his eyes.

"Here goes nothing."

He was ready for the pain, but it didn't come. Instead of a throbbing in his head and a sudden jolt to his body, a feeling of weightlesness registered. To his surprise, he fell to the floor. Reno looked up. He was now staring at a white wall that looks like a hallway. He can see two separate rooms, their doors made of mahogany which was very familiar, one was half-ajar with stickers. He looked behind, only to find out that he can't see his feet! Realizing what just happened. Somehow he can cross walls easily like a ghost. He stood up and went back to his room. Young Reno was still sleeping.

He checked his whole body and saw that he was flickering in and out like a static feed. "This can't be real. I must be dreaming. Wake up Reno."

He touched his face and was relieved that he can still feel them.

"This must be a memory."

As if on cue. A familiar faint moan was heard from one of the rooms outside. Young Reno suddenly woke up and ran outside.

Reno followed his younger self to the room outside with the door half-open.

"Mia! Are you ok? Here take this quick!" Reno saw himself taking off a device's cover and took it to a pretty girl lying on the bed.

"Alright, breathe baby. Take it easy." he said while helping her half sit. Reno rubbed her back gently as the girl gasped for air with the oxygen mask on her face. She finally took it off and smiled at Reno.

"Thanks Reno." she said. Mia hugged her brother tight and tickled him. "Gooood Mooooorning Reno-diculous! Haha!"

The older Reno stifled a cry. Suddenly, all the painful memories of this moment washed over him.

Reno and Mia were the children of two scientists. When they were young, they were usually guarded by their grandparents when their parents were away on research assignments across the world. Reno was just fifteen by then. When their grandparents died, they moved to their own house and Reno was tasked of taking care of her little sister who suffers from acute respiratory condition. Even though their parents wanted to have a private nurse attend Mia, she wouldn't allow it. She always seeks out her brother as her companion and guardian. But unfortunately, a grim accident fell on their parents. While on their way to an assignment to India, their plane was shot down by an unknown jet, which they presumed as an act of terrorism. Following the funeral of their parents, the step-brother of their father reluctantly took them in. Even though they were treated badly by their aunt, they were still thankful because they were still paying for Mia's treatment and Reno's studies. For additional allowance, Reno had a part time job in their local police hub as an encoder. He suspected that the experience he had dealing with the police urged him to take up journalism.

The scene changed. They were now in a cheap fast food chain. Reno saw himself and Mia came in. The girl too excited to be outside and enjoy the day off of his brother. Mia was ogling at the menu with her mouth slightly open. A growling sound made Reno laugh behind her.

"Alright alright, pick whatever you want. Just don't try to clean out my wallet ok?" Reno smiled and petted her head. Mia's eyes widened with excitement. She hugged Reno tightly and pointed at a meal and added an ice cream for dessert. Mia looks a lot like her brother, same face, same eyes. People say that they really look like twins even if their is a long time gap between them. The only difference between the two is that Mia was very sickly, given her medical condition as opposed to Reno's fit stature.

"How about you bro'? What are you gonna eat?" asked Mia who was still checking out the menu.

Reno discreetly checked his wallet and muttered "Nah. I just ate, don't worry about me."

"Alright I'll give you the money and order what you like while I find us a seat okay?" Reno handed him a couple of bills.

"Sure! Thanks bro! I love you!" and pecked him on his cheek.

"Haha, happy birthday Mia." He smiled. He will do anything for his sister.

He left her in queue and picked a seat near the window and dropped hid bag on the other chair to mark it as reserved. The real Reno followed and watched him pull out his pending assignment from school and tried to answer a few questions. He was on the process of getting his calculator when a shrill voice of a woman rang across the floor. The two Reno's eyes were frozen still when she saw a girl swayed dizzily in the middle of a line. It was like in slow motion as the girl slumped to the floor. Two bills were sticking out from her hands. She was nose bleeding.

The two Reno's shouted at the same time. "Mia!"

Reno saw his younger self forced his way from the other customers in line and immediately lifted her head and felt her temperature. Her eyes were dilated and her lips were a beginning to shade to blue. Her breathing was getting labored. Some people were panicking and some were just staring at the unfolding event.

"Quick! Somebody call an ambulance!"

"Boy, don't move her!"

A few people were trying to grab Reno from Mia but he would not let go. He was crying. He was not embarassed at all, he was too desperate.

A few moments later, a man finally presented himself among the crowd.

"Move back, I'll help." said the man. He was bald with a small beer belly. He was wearing a white jacket on top of a silver shirt inside. Reno expressed his relief when he realized the logo on the man's jacket. The man works at a nearby hospital. He performed a series of procedure that's very standard for emergency cases. Mia's breathing became less labored and her lips returned to its natural color . When the siren of the ambulance finally arrived, Mia was unconscious. Reno clasped her hand as she was being carried on to a stretcher to be lugged in the ambulance. When asked by the attending crew to come aboard to accompany Mia, he flashed his hands that indicated to wait for a moment.

He faced the man who helped him and held out his hand. "Thank you sir. I could not imagine what would have happened to my sister if you weren't there."

The man shook it firmly,smiled and said. "Nah, it's okay. Just at the right place at the right time."

Reno smiled back, shivering and got on the ambulance. The attendant closed the doors. The older Reno,still hazy, was looking at her sister with sad eyes.

"This was the beginning of my nightmares."  Reno thought. His smoky figure side by side with his younger self who was rummaging his cellphone from his bag. Furiously dialing someone on the phone, he was waiting for someone to answer the other line. His voice spoke with impeccable clarity when the person he was trying to reach finally answered. Reno almost threw the phone in rage when realized that the voice on the other line was actually from voicemail. He left his message in a hurry.

"We're heading to the hospital, Mia's sickness was acting up again! Please come immediately, Uncle Lecter." He blurted out.