Lin shifted underneath a scratchy, thin blanket. He struggled to open his eyes, and when he did he found himself in a hospital room. Suddenly he sat up and began breathing heavily, recalling when he lost his family. He shuddered, calming himself down and taking in his surroundings.
Very soon after he had woken up a nurse with long brown hair tied up into a neat bun walked into the room, accompanied by the scent of freshly used hand sanitizer. She glanced at Lin and noticed he had woken up.
"Ah, good morning sir." She greeted him with a smile.
The sound of her voice made Lin's head throb causing him to rub at his temples.
"What, happened?" Lin managed to mumble out after an awkwardly long pause.
The nurse started to make her way to the machines next to Lin, checking his vitals and heart beat.
"We received an emergency call about a man lying unconscious in the street. When we arrived on scene we found you coated in blood." Her statement held a professional tone, and the weight of it all crashed down on Lin.
For a while his coughing had gotten worse, but he always pushed back a hospital visit, coming up with any excuse to avoid it.
Now, his decisions had led him to this point. Lin sighed, and asked the second question that had long been on his mind.
"What's wrong with me?" At this, the nurse stopped her checkup, and turned to face Lin.
"Since you've been unconscious we have not been able to conduct many tests, so there are many things it could be." After hearing this Lin sighed, and groaned at the thought of medical tests.
-
Lin had spent a couple of days in that room, regaining his strength, and going through numerous tests. Screening, blood tests, and other things Lin did not know the name of, but knew that for him it was a pain in the ass.
Finally, he was expecting his results today. Normally one wouldn't be excited to receive a potentially life changing diagnosis but Lin was just itching to leave, eager to escape from this little personal hell.
The door to his room clicked, and the nurse he had first met along with some other hospital staff entered the room.
The nurse walked until she was right at Lin's bedside, while the others stayed at the door.
"Sir, after numerous tests we have come to the conclusion that you have," She gulped, seemingly attempting to swallow the nervousness down out of her voice, "We have found cancerous cells that originated from your lungs and spread to other parts of your body."
Time for Lin stopped, and the only thing he could hear were her next words.
"You have late stage lung cancer." The nurse soon started listing off treatments, life expectancy, and symptoms. She went slowly, and her voice was gentle.
However Lin did not notice this, his head was blank.
He had only smoked a few times in his youth, but quickly quit. That shouldn't be enough to cause this, why did this have to happen to him? He had just started to get his life on track, so why did things have to end this early?
A realization hit Lin like a truck.
'Do I have anything to live for?'
He hadn't really planned on going to college, never was interested in romantics, and kept most of his friends by for appearances. Most of them had no clue about him or his past.
The only thing he would theoretically live for is his sculptures. Everything else was just what came with living a normal life.
He sighed, and looked up to the nurse with a sad smile.
"How long do I have to live?"
-
Lin had been discharged a little over three weeks ago, and had finally finished packing and selling his belongings with (lots of) help from neighbors and friends.
He stood proud in his empty apartment, and looked upon it with a bittersweet feeling.
Yukiko snapped him out of his thoughts as she rubbed up against gosh shins. A lot had changed over the last three weeks. He had quit his job, sold most of his belongings, packed away his sculptures, and Yukiko had moved in with him. She had grown quite clingy since he collapsed, and they bonded quickly.
All of this was in preparation for a big plan Lin made on how to spend the rest of his life.
He decided he wanted to see the world, so he got as much money as he could together and had started to plan.
Near the end, he would have to travel in a wheelchair, and he would also have to visit the hospital for treatment, but since Lin had pretty much accepted the end of his life that wasn't a priority.
Before he left, he gave away most of his sculptures to friends, neighbors, and acquaintances. It was hard, but he couldn't bring all of them with him.
He kept only one, the first he had made, to bring along on his journey.
Tomorrow, he would fly to his first destination.
-
Nine months had passed. Lin could feel himself growing weaker, but still continued on.
During his journey he met many different kinds of people, and he befriended most of them. Before he left he would always give them a sculpture that he made while he was there.
Somehow, he had become a small internet wonder despite the fact he wasn't on social media sites often. He never posted, just browsed.
People had started to record his journey, and would invite him to stay with them while he was in the area.
People had become quite fond of Yukiko as well, after all she was friendly to almost everyone.
He got cards, donations, and words of encouragement from people all around the world.
Lin had spent these months peacefully, and enjoyed almost every minute.
-
Some people say you know when you are reaching the end of your life, that you know when it's your time to go.
Lin felt this, deep in his bones. He knew it would soon be time. He began making preparations, he refused to die in a hospital bed after all this time.
By asking around and looking online, he found an at-home hospice worker, so that someone trained and professional could take care of his body once he was gone. Because of his online fans, he also found a house in the mountains that he could stay in.
The house was near the edge of a beautiful cliff overlooking a vast amount of large hills, spanning all across the horizon.
He now sat by the cliff, surrounded by shining green grass, sat at a table with Yukiko by his side.
It was a sight to see, Lin, who had grown thin and who's hair was almost all gone from his treatment, sat propped up on a chair. Yukiko sat on his lap, enjoying a can of tuna.
"Well Yukiko, we had fun didn't we?" He smiled, rubbing her head, "I'm sorry that I'm leaving before you, but I hope I made it up with our journey."
He raised his head to look at the horizon, the sun would set soon and the night would grow cold.
But while the sun was still glowing and warm, he grew tired, and struggled to keep his eyes open.
"Thank you Yukiko."
As he relaxed and his head slumped, his last thoughts were of his family.
He hoped he had made them proud, after all he tried his best to live a fulfilling life after they left.
Over his journey he had met so many people, made new friends, and felt fully content.
With his last breaths, all he felt was happiness, a rewarding release.
He had died at age 25, accompanied by the one he cared about most.
Quite a sweet ending, one fit for him.
These feelings are why, when he awoke in a young boys' body, in an unfamiliar world, he could not help but feel disappointment for a moment.