Reunion Under The Apple Tree -- A DDLC Fanfiction

Chapter 1 : Restarted

'Beep......Beep.......'

I was waken up by a steady, rhythmic beeping noise.

I open my eyes to see a dazzling bright white light shining right into my eyes.

'Where am I......' I thought to myself. The last thing I could remember before passing out is being seriously injured. Oh yes, I was stabbed right in the abdomen and I must have bled out. So this is the afterlife. I must have died in the real world and now I am reincarnated into this afterlife. But does the afterlife include a roof with white lights?

I turn my head slowly to see another figure sitting right next to me. She seems to be a nurse judging by her outfit. 'Hey, where am I? Am I dead?' I asked her softly.

She seems to be taken aback slightly by my sudden question. 'Oh you are awake. Please wait patiently as I bring the doctor in.' She said as she proceed to leave. 'But wait......' I wanted to stop her and ask some more questions but her pace is fast.

I examined my surroundings briefly. I am lying on a white bed, my body being connected to multiple rubber tubes which in turn connects to various apparatuses. The beep sound was made by that bio-monitor next to me. There is also a couch and a table in my room.

Apparently I am not dead. I am in a hospital now. That is one good news.

My observations are interrupted by the arrival of the doctor and that nurse. The nurse stood a few inches a way from my bed while the doctor examines my body closely. 'All vital signs are normal.' He mumbled. He then moved a few steps back before starting to address me.

'According to the ID we found on you, your name is A13 right?' The doctor asked. I nod my head to confirm.

'Hello, A13. I am your attending doctor. You must have a lot of questions right now. Would you mind me giving you an update about everything that happened?' He said.

'Yes please.' I replied.

'Okay.' He continued. 'You were admitted to this hospital with a stab wound on your stomach. At that time you were the most urgent patient in our entire ER, so we dedicated most of the resources and tried to save you. Normally, your wound would be deemed untreatable and you would have been announced dead by the next morning. However, our hospital had just introduced a new method to treat extensive bleeding, and you were the first one to try out this new method.'

'So it seems that your first experiment worked.' I smiled. 'Or else I would have been long dead.'

'That is correct.' The doctor replied. He reach into his pocket and pulled out a syringe. 'See the liquid inside this syringe?' He elaborated. 'That is a recently discovered chemical. We still haven't named it officially yet. Now, this chemical helps patients who are bleeding out in two stages. Stage one, the chemical reacts with their blood, any type of blood will do, to form clots that are ten times stronger and twenty times faster than normal blood platelets. Stage two, the chemical will diffuse into nearby cells, which stimulate cell division by accelerating the cell activities which would shorten the interphase by half and cause the cell to divide rapidly but in a controlled manner so that cancer won't be created......'

'Hold up.' I cut him off. 'English please. I found it a bit confusing.'

'In short,' The doctor continued. 'The chemical speeds up your healing process so that you won't die from excessive bleeding. Unfortunately, this treatment does have a minor side effect.'

'And that is?' I asked.

'Accelerated cell divisions means accelerated metabolism, which takes up a lot of your body energy.' He explained. 'That's why you were in a coma for the last two months.'

I am surprised for a while. Two months have passed for what it felt like mere seconds for me.

'But wait.' I asked again. 'Who paid for this experimental treatment method?'

'Your parents.' The doctor replied. 'And you should be grateful that they dedicated a lot to pay for this. Experimental methods are expensive but it saved your life.'

'But both of my parents were working abroad for like the last 3 years. How would they even know about my condition.' I further questioned.

'They bought a ticket back as soon as we contacted them. You should be glad for having such a caring parents. They visited you every day while you were hibernated. Now, do you want me to inform them that you have waken up?'

'Yes please.'

(3 hours later)

The doctor returned with two people following his back. 'A13, your parents are here.' He said. 'Now, I will excuse you guys for a moment.'

The doctor and the nurse left my room, leaving only me and the two people in my room. I take a look at them.

They are my parents. Even though they left me alone for three years, I can still remember their face clearly. Nothing about their facial traits have changed, except they both looked older. Their hair grew white and the amount of wrinkles increased.

'Mum? Dad?' I said.

My mum approached my bed rapidly and held my leg. 'Thank god you're okay. I really thought we would have lost our only son for a moment.'

'Of course I will be okay. Your son is a tough man.' I tried my best to sound confident in an attempt to comfort my parents. 'I've been through many hardships before but since when have I ever failed to make it through?'

'Do you know you were all over the news? Your incident was exposed and almost the entire city stood by you. They protested for you and eventually the Government revoked all charges against you and the mayor even wrote a speech of apology himself.' My dad said.

'Wow really?' I replied. 'So now I am rehabilitated?'

'Yes, son.' My dad nodded. 'All the officers involved in this incident are either fired or demoted.'

'I am so glad our son made it through.' My mum continued. Tears can be seen forming in her eyes. 'Whoever hurt our son so badly I will make him pay!'

'Mum. He is dead. He got what he deserved.' I said.

'Son, I knew you would make it through. I believed in you. I am glad you are okay now.' My dad said. His face shows way less emotions than my mum but I can tell from his voice that he is concerned as well.

'But the treatment,' I asked. 'It's an experimental. Isn't it, like, really expensive?'

'Son, no amount of money do I value the same as my son's life.' My dad said. 'Besides, we saved up a considerable amount of money in the bank while we were earning wages, in the event that we need to spend a large sum of them just like now. The treatment used up most of our saving but don't worry about our money son. It was worth it.'

'Yeah you should start a habit of saving.' My mum added. 'You never know when accidents strike. The last time I checked your bank account a few months ago you only had ten thousand dollars in your account.'

'Mum. I do save up my excessive money. The reason why there are so little money is because you checked the wrong bank account. That account is for my daily expenditure, not my saving account.' I said.

We three laughed in unison. 'But seriously though, the doctor told me that your condition is excellent. They will observe you for 7 more days and after that you will be discharged.'

'Great.' I said. 'Cant wait to start my new life after that incident.'

(1308 words)