['m being crushed. There's something on my chest. Get it off.]
ndrew is trying to lift his body, but it's being pinned down to the bed. All the lights are off. His eyes are still closed, half awake, half asleep. He is conscious, but immobile.
[Move! Wake up! Why can't I… roll, or sit, or do something. I'm also sweating badly.]
Through sheer willpower, he feels the haze of sleep around him disappear, and he moves his arm to turn on the lights.
[Luckily the switch is close by. What is it that's on my…]
The room lights up.
[Chest.]
Mei is laying diagonally on his chest, sleeping soundly. Their bellies are touching, and her breasts fill up the space between Andrew's arm and chest. He pushes her off carefully, not waking her up.
[At least she is not as heavy as… a pine tree.]
Andrew turns off the ceiling light and switches on a less present lamp. He lets his head rest on the pillow and looks up at the ceiling vacantly.
[Why a pine tree?]
He looks at the time on his phone: around 4 a.m.
[A pine tree… pine tree… there are no pine trees in England. The last time I heard about a pine tree was…]
Andrew halts himself at the realisation.
[When Melissa told me about… their accident. It was a pine tree that fell onto the car. Wait, no, I don't think she ever said what type of tree it was. But, for some reason, I feel like I've been told it was. No. I know it was. But how…]
"Hey…" Mei says drowsily, as she pokes Andrew's arm. "Could you turn off the lights, it's way… too early."
"You're right." Andrew replies, and he switches off the lamp. Mei wraps her arms around Andrew's left arm and smiles. She closes her eyes and goes back to sleep.
[It is indeed way too early, she's right.]
He closes his eyes, and tries to go back to sleep.
Andrew periodically checks his phone, and every time about half an hour has passed.
[I can't sleep anymore. It's eight now, perfect time to get up, right? Mom would say so.]
He pulls himself out from between Mei's arms and steps out of bed. After drinking a glass of water in the kitchen, he heads to the bathroom, not locking the door.
[Even if she's asleep, I'll keep it unlocked. That, or I've already gotten used to it. It feels nice, living together with a girl like her. Calming. Can I really say that after just one day?]
He pulls up his underwear and flushes the toilet.
[Of course I can. I can whenever I feel like it, though one day... is short.]
Andrew energetically exits the bathroom and picks out a book from one of his boxes. A book he has already read. He hops back under the covers and opens it up at the first chapter. After only half a page, he closes it again. His energy sinks as quickly as it rose.
[There's no time for this, but I can't do anything else either. I don't know where to head next. There is no way I can find her, ever. The only place that could have info is the school.]
Andrew drops the book next to his bed.
[I have no way to contact Keil or Sarah either. Or Lin or any of my other friends.]
He covers his eyes with his right hand.
[Friends. Can I call them that, when I haven't talked to them in almost forty years?]
Andrew sighs deeply.
[I can, and I don't want to think about it any further. They still remember me.]
Mei drowsily opens her eyes and rubs them with her hands. She looks at the closet curtains, blocking the sunlight, and then at Andrew.
"What time is it?" She asks.
"Seven minutes past eight." Andrew replies, looking up at the ceiling. Mei groans on an annoyed tone and wraps herself around Andrew.
"Stop waking me up…" She says. "Let's sleep a little longer… while we still can."
[She's always so close. I don't mind it, but it is a little odd.]
Andrew sighs again.
[Maybe she's right. Rest while we still can…]
He puts his arms on her back and closes his eyes. Mei opens her eyes and briefly smiles, before tightening her grasp a little.
At ten in the morning, Andrew opens his eyes again. Mei is still attached to him, sleeping. He moves her arms out of the way and gets out of bed, after which he puts on his clothes.
[Finally slept a few hours.]
He heads to the kitchen and looks in the refrigerator.
[Ready-made, ready-made, ready-made… she's got nothing else. The milk carton is almost empty too, and everything else is just bottles and cans of cola and other sodas.]
Searching through the cabinets, he picks out a box of cereal and fills a bowl with it. He leaves the milk for Mei. She wakes up and stretches her arms into the air.
"That's a lot better." She says while stretching, after which she lets out a brief sigh. "I can't see how people wake up at eight or earlier, though, I have to do that too in a few weeks."
"Why?" Andrew replies.
"Because we… have to go to class? You know that, right?"
"Oh, yeah."
Mei sits up and looks at Andrew.
"What's up?" She asks.
"I… just forgot. I feel like I haven't been to school in ages." Andrew replies. "Which is true, funnily enough." He adds a sarcastic laugh to the last statement. Mei makes gestures to tell him to sit down next to her, and he does.
"So, how long ago did you wake up?"
"End of June, I think."
[I don't remember the exact date.]
"Of this year?" Mei responds, surprised. "Or last year?"
"This year."
"So rehab is only that short…"
"Not really." Andrew says. "She said I was an exception."
"Who is 'she'?"
"Helen, who took care of me there. She helped me a lot, both physically and mentally."
"Helen? You mean the Helen who works at… well, who else could you mean. Helen Oakes was also the one who…"
[Oakes? As in, o-a-k-e-s? Her surname… family name… is Oakes?]
"Hey, don't drift off in thoughts while I'm talking!" Mei says.
"Oh, sorry, that name was just… familiar."
"Of course it is, because she was your caretaker. Anyway, I talked to her on a few of my visits there, so I know her a little." Mei explains.
"Why do you visit there?" Andrew asks, whilst still being half absorbed in his thoughts.
[Oakes… she can't be right, she must mean another Helen. It would be way too coincidental. But, if she is right, that would mean…]
"Well, it's for a friend. She's… in Stasis there, as they call it." Mei starts.
[Stasis, haven't heard that term in a while.]
"Her accident was in the bathroom, where she slipped and hit her head on the shower handle, which was… pointy, to say the least. It happened a year ago, in late June." Andrew focuses his gaze on her face. She's visibly suppressing her emotions. "I visited about a month ago, on the 5th of July." Mei starts. "It was the first time I was able to see her, as she was moved to a glass capsule about three months ago."
"A glass capsule?"
[I don't remember seeing those. And, I haven't seen her either, on July 5th.]
"Yeah, they're quite new, so I don't think you were in one. They're just for visitors, and for show and stuff. I wouldn't be surprised if they showed patients off at some exhibit some time soon. It disgusts me, would they even think about privacy?"
"They would, I think." Andrew replies. "I don't think they'd put people on display."
[She has a more serious side too, besides all that ecstasy and laziness. Someone to talk to is what I really needed.]
Mei lets out a sigh. "We could visit her if you want." Mei adds, out of the blue.
[I'd like to go back there too, though, I don't know if they'll like it if I tell everything that has happened. I don't want to perturb them. I don't want to tell them, but I will ask…]
"Sure, how soon do you think we will be able to?"
[If she's truly related to Sarah, Sarah Oakes.]
When the sun is highest in the sky, a few hours after noon, Andrew gets up from the bed to make lunch. Mei has made an appointment to visit Hulive and her friend the day after tomorrow, on the 11th. From the kitchen, Andrew addresses Mei.
"Hey, how many Helen's are at Hulive?" He asks. "How many Helen's? You really are an oddball. Anyway, just one that I know of." Mei replies. "Helen Oakes."
"How do you spell her surname?" Andrew continues.
"Why all these questions? That's what I want to know." Mei replies with a confused giggle. She has her eyes fixed on the television. Andrew remains silent for a while, contemplating.
[It wouldn't do any harm telling her, but… the way she cried yesterday… I don't want to see that again.]
"I have a friend, Sarah. Her family name was also Oakes. O-a-k-e-s." Andrew responds.
Mei jerks her head towards Andrew and looks him straight in the eyes.
That was scary, her gaze is… intense.
"That is… how you spell her name. So you're telling me they're related? Wait, you didn't know her surname until now? Didn't you look on her name card?" Mei says."She never wore one." Andrew replies.
[What… a name card? If she wore one, I would've noticed. I'm sure of it, she never wore one. No one around her ever said her surname too.]
"Well, she wore one last time I visited. That's how I know her name." Mei says.
[I'll just have to ask her what that's about then. Was she intentionally hiding her name from me, because she knew I was related to Sarah? That would be dumb, but, I guess understandable ina sense.]
Andrew grabs a salad from the refrigerator, and fills a glass with water.
[This is a thing that needs fixing too, if she wants to live healthily.]
"What do you want?" Andrew asks.
"Hmmm… chicken salad and a cola." Mei responds, with her eyes still on the tv.
[Chicken salad this time, not chicken sandwich. Mixing it up I see.]
He takes her order out of the refrigerator and brings it to the bed, also settling down next to her with his own salad.
"Thank youuu!" Mei says as she takes the salad and bottle of cola from his hands.
"If you want, I can teach you a few recipes some day. It's a lot cheaper and healthier than all this ready-made stuff." Andrew says.
"Why? I got these. And I'm still alive and well." Mei replies. She has filled the conversation with silence. "Sowwy, that was a wit wude." She swallows her bite before continuing. "It'd be nice to spend my time another way, so teach me them some time!"
[She might think cooking is hard, or too much effort, but it really isn't when you get the hang of it. Though, that's true for almost anything.]
The remainder of the day passes, with them watching television inside, and the bathroom never locked. After showering, Andrew nestles in the bed besides Mei, who embraces him right after laying down.
"Why are you always doing that?" Andrew asks.
"You don't like it? I can stop if you want."
"No, it's fine, but I was just wondering."
[Her body is actually really calming, whenever she embraces me. It reminds me of�� May's hugs. The warm, loving ones. The ones while we were home alone, or on vacation.]
"I just… don't want you to leave. I don't want anyone I meet to leave." Mei answers. "I've been left behind more times than I can count… even though I was giving them all my love." Tears well up in her eyes.
[Most people can't handle this amount of affection. It's given her a fear of abandonment.]
Andrew puts his arms around her and returns her embrace.
"I understand." Andrew replies. "I don't mind that you are this way, Mei. And, I won't leave you behind. I promise."
Mei starts sobbing quietly. "Thank you." She says.
[I don't know if I can fulfil that promise, but I'll try my best.]
They both fall asleep in each other's arms, with slim slimes on both of their faces. Andrew's first, true full smile since leaving Hulive. A smile of emotional connection, and affection.