GHOSTS - GRAYSON DOLAN

five: learning

Minutes pass like hours, hours like days, and yet somehow time was still moving faster than it seemed possible. When the boredom hit, everything seemed to move in slow motion. It was like wading through a pool filled with jelly. When they hit a good stride, time passed like it was nothing. It could be ten minutes of conversation starting in the afternoon and suddenly it was nightfall. Neither knew what to make of it.

Grayson and Valerie didn't know what day it was anymore, or how long they'd been in comas, just that they were tired of it. They were bored, and only had one another.

Even when they split up, off doing their own thing, they wouldn't be apart for long. Most of the time, Valerie insisted on trying to sleep--which never worked--they were practically inseparable other than that.

They still annoyed each other, of course. Grayson's sharp tongue would get him in trouble with her often. A quip about her voice being shrill when she yells, an argument over his death-wish, it didn't matter. They never fought long, they couldn't afford to when all they had was one another.

Valerie was still stubborn, still pushing him every day. They'd grown to a mutual understanding that whatever was said wasn't serious. They didn't want to actually upset the other.

The two walk down one of the long hospital corridors, they all looked the same so neither knew exactly where they were today. They're bickering, Valerie elbowing him in the side as the color begins to drain from the world.

"Woah, what the fuck? Grayson, do you--"

"Yeah, dollface. I see it," he breathes both of them freezing in place. "I think it's time."

"Time? Like to decide if we want to die?" Valerie didn't want that right now. The hospital was boring, sure, but she had Grayson. If they were asked to decide now, he would choose death, and... Valerie didn't want to just let him die.

"It's not time."

A man in a black blazer appears, walking toward them. He shakes both of their hands, radiating a cold chill through their bodies.

"I'm Zero. Why don't we go grab a bite to eat and I can answer some of your questions? I know you've been unable to eat while in your comatose state, and I hear you two wondering aloud often. I know this is all a tad overwhelming." He speaks quickly, already bringing them away without waiting for an answer. "This isn't our typical protocol, but usually we allow people to make their decision by now. You two... are different."

"What? Why?" Grayson asks, furrowing his eyebrows.

"Okay, can we slow down? Who are you? What kind of name is Zero?" Valerie cuts in, looking around the diner they've appeared as they take a corner booth. No one seems to pay them any mind.

Zero sighs, "My apologies. I'm a reaper, my job is to help you pass over or let you decide if you would like to wake up. Not everyone gets a choice, of course. Those in more minor comas will wake on their own. But you're both in a position where it could go either way."

Valerie frowns at his words.

She didn't like the sound of that. If they could wake up, why was there a choice to be made at all?

It was more complicated than that, though it didn't seem like it to her. They could make the choice, but there was no guarantee they would wake up. Sometimes people weren't strong enough for it. They'd deny passing on, and they'd try to wake up only to be trapped.

If they couldn't pass, they were stuck, possibly for years. If their family decided not to pull the plug, they would stay trapped in between worlds until the day they were allowed to pass on. Heart still beating, family still hopeful, slowly losing their own mind while trapped.