"He's been here for a year now, but I haven't seen that guy receive any visitors," said a visitor of a patient quietly, casting a discreet look at the quiet boy sitting on his bed near the window. "Is he an orphan?"
"Shh!" the patient, an old lady, who was in the same ward as Ike, smacked the silly girl as she whisper yell. "Silly girl. Don't pry into other people's business. This is why you attract trouble."
The teenager, with bright golden eyes, rubbed her head and pouted.
"Grandma, I was just curious —" the girl zipped her mouth, seeing her grandmother raise her hand again. "Fine, fine. Gosh. Why are you always so harsh to your charming granddaughter?"
"Pretty, but nosy." The old woman huffed, glancing at the quiet youth in the corner. Her hard expression softened with sympathy. "Don't bother him. That poor child had gone through a lot."
'Gone through a lot… damn hell you're right, young lady.' Little did the grandmother and granddaughter duo know, the youth they were talking about was unintentionally listening. 'Not just for one year, but also for thousands of years. I have gone through more hell than you can think of.'
Exactly one year ago, Ike remembered sitting on a mountaintop before drinking the black poison. He was so sure that there was only one path he would take if he ever succeeded: death.
But a month later that year, he opened his eyes in a haze, only to meet a confusing situation. His first thoughts were his deep disappointment at 'failing,' only to realize how his originally brawny arms appeared to be bigger, yet no sign of training.
As a person who had spent his life observing the world as he waited for the appearance of another Colosseum, Ike saw his swelling face for the first time in the physician's eyes.
That was not him. That was definitely not his face.
They took his silence as he mulled over his situation as a normal reaction. However, when he chose honesty and told the doctors he remembered nothing, he was diagnosed with amnesia. Hence, they summarized what had happened.
A traffic collision.
They said while Ike was crossing the pedestrian, a truck's brake malfunctioned, ramming through several vehicles ahead. A person who was in the opposite lane tried his best to save himself by avoiding it, only to cause more chaos as the other cars dodged his vehicle as well.
As a result, another car that was trying to get away from this collision lost control and drove off to the pedestrian. Unfortunately for Ike, he was one of those people who couldn't react fast and was gravely injured.
And now he was here.
Stuck in the hospital for almost a year now, recovering from all his injuries. What a life. He sought death, but he ended up reincarnating with his original memories intact.
'They said it was a miracle that I survived and recovered even without the help of the advanced medical technology,' Ike recalled the words he overheard from the nurses while he was half awake months ago, gazing down at his palms while opening and closing his hand. 'Miracle, huh? What a refreshing word.'
Ike fluttered his eyelashes ever so tenderly, recalling how his life back then before waking up in this body. He used to sit for days and stare into nothingness, mulling about something fun to do, only to meet a dead end.
Living an endless life wasn't as exciting as it sounded, because, at one point, an immortal would've done all the craziest things in the world, and doing them a couple more times wouldn't be as fun as the first. It wouldn't even be as motivating as the second time.
"Uhmm…"
Ike arched his brow, peeling his eyes from his hand to the girl standing beside his bed.
"Hello? I'm a visitor of that patient over there." The girl with a pair of golden eyes and short brown hair flashed him a kind smile, pointing at the bed in the other corner. "Uhm… it's just that I've always visited my grandma ever since she got admitted two months ago. And I notice that you always stare at the window, so…"
Ike tilted his head to the side, watching the girl rub the tip of her indexes against each other. He glanced at her grandmother, only to see that the old woman fell asleep. How could she sleep so soon? Weren't they gossiping just a moment ago?
"So, I was wondering if you should join us next time?" her smile grew awkward, and her eyebrows raised. "Please don't get me wrong. I simply noticed that you don't have visitors, and I thought it would be better to be friends and join us. Also, it seemed we're around the same age, so yeah."
The girl's smile slowly stiffened because he just looked at her silently.
'Was he also mute?' wondered the girl, pursing her lips and biting her tongue to stop herself from speaking her thoughts aloud.
"Right… how rude of me." She cleared her throat, offering her hand to him. With a smile, she introduced herself. "Bonnie."
'Bonnie… I know your name,' Ike answered inwardly. 'Everyone who came into that door, the patients, the doctors, and nurses I interacted with, and the visitors. I know everyone's name.'
Bonnie waited for straight two minutes before she awkwardly retrieved her hand. Ike didn't say anything and just glanced at her hand, before fixing his eyes back on her.
"Well, that's embarrassing." She scratched the back of her head, telling herself she should've listened to her elder not to bother this boy. "Well, then, if you don't want to, I won't force you. But if you change your mind, my offer will stand."
She peeked at him once again and sighed quietly, uncertain if he even understood her. But since she already said her offer, Bonnie awkwardly turned to walk away.
"Do as you wish." His voice was dull and rasped, but emanated maturity and a tinge of aloofness.
Bonnie looked back, only to see him looking at the window again. Her face brightened up, with her lips stretched from ear to ear.
"Then I'll bring you fruits next time, alright?" she giggled happily, walking back to the side of her grandmother, while Ike kept his eyes on the clear sky nonchalantly.