"Do you know how long I've been waiting?"
Huh? Where am I? I'm not at the church.
White walls, I'm laying on a bed with a nurse call button next to me, am I in a hospital?
"Welcome back, Yasuhito…how are you doing?" Eri smiled gently at me as she stroked my hair.
She looks different from just a moment ago, a bit older actually, and exhausted.
Am I back in the present? Maybe my time limit is finished and I'm back in the present.
But why am I in the hospital? My mind is all over the
place, I can't remember.
I begin to feel a bit nauseous.
I tried to get up, but I can't move?! It feels like my entire body is asleep.
I can't speak either, what's going on?
Eri begins to stare at me, uneasily.
I slightly smiled at her hoping that would calm her down.
"Are you okay? What's wrong? Stay still, you don't have to force yourself to do anything." Eri smiled back at me, still stroking my hair.
What happened, Eri? Please tell me.
"Where does it hurt?"
Nowhere, could you please tell me what happened?
"Let me call the doctor." Eri pressed the nurse call button and happily told them that I had awakened.
Voices can be heard approaching the room I'm in.
I remember now.
I was involved in a head-on collision, then I was taken to a hospital in critical condition.
The doctors told me that many of the organs were damaged, and I was in between life and death for quite some time.
I have been in a coma for nearly a year. I've been trying to remember why I was driving at night when it was late but every time I tried to remember, it was like something was attempting to prevent me from doing that.
"It's okay, you don't have to force yourself to try to remember. Let's focus on your rehabilitation, and be sure to take your time." The kind doctor notified me.
"Want an orange?" Eri stared at me intensely.
"Sure…thank you." I grabbed a slice.
Eri has been visiting me daily to take care of me. I'm really thankful for that, but I do feel bad. She has her own things to do and I don't want to be a burden for her.
I would often tell her to focus on her personal life but she'd just ignore me or get upset.
My parents and friends from school have visited me, which was really nice.
Yoshito and Miyuki haven't shown up.
A week has passed since I regained consciousness and I've been slowly recovering some of my missing memories.
But I understand why they haven't shown up.
I wish Eri would focus on what's been going on with them rather than taking care of me daily.
"Here you go." Eri offered me another orange slice.
"Where's Miyuki-" Eri shoved the orange slice in my mouth, not letting me finish.
"You wanna see Miyuki, right?" Eri chuckled, appearing exhausted.
Does Eri know what happened between Miyuki and I?
I'm sorry Eri, I know you said not to hurt Miyuki, but that's exactly what happened.
It's my fault, I shouldn't have mentioned wanting children constantly.
"Yasuhito, you remember everything, right?" Eri looked at me curiously.
I told her what I recall and explained everything in detail. As I kept on explaining, it seemed like she really wanted to say something but decided to let me keep talking.
"So, you really want to see them, Yasuhito?" Eri had this disappointment in her face as she asked.
"…" I nodded.
"Okay..wait." She exited the room.
A couple of minutes later passed and Eri, along with Miyuki and Yoshito, stood at the doorway.
Were they already here? Were they hesitant to see me?
"Yasuhito…"
"Yasuhito!"
Miyuki rushed over, clutching the edge of the bed, with a stream of tears falling.
"I'm so sorry…Yasuhito..I'm sorry!" She sunk her head onto the bed.
"Wait…I should be the one apologizing, I made you worry." I patted her on the back.
"Yasuhito..I'm really sorry, I know an apology isn't even close enough to fix this." Yoshito knelt, placing his hands and head on the floor, apologizing profusely.
"Don't blame yourself, Yoshito." I attempted to get off of the bed, but was unsuccessful.
"Okay, let's all calm down now." Eri raised her voice to get our attention.
After we've all calmed down, we were all able to have a conversation.
They told me that everything between Miyuki and Yoshito was all a lie that they both came up with as a last resort.
"I know it '''ll be difficult for you to believe us.." Yoshito looked into my eyes with a pained expression.
I know he's not lying. Being friends with him for plenty of years makes it easy to tell.
"But it's my fault you got into this accident, if only I would have refused the idea, this wouldn't have happened." Yoshito clenched his fists.
"Yoshito, Miyuki, this accident isn't your guy's fault, it was caused on my own, I should have been more careful. I wasn't in the right state of mind, and instead of immediately going home, I went on a drive and ended up in a dark secluded area. Please don't blame yourselves." I weakly explained to them as I can't use my voice for too long.
Being a handicap is difficult, it makes you feel helpless, frustrated, like you're some sort of burden to others.
It's not easy, but they gladly listened to what I had to say.
They patiently waited for me to finish.
That's more than enough for me.
"Since Yasuhito believed you guys, then I think you should believe him about something interesting." Eri spoke up in a bright voice.
"Something interesting? What do you mean?" Miyuki expressed confusion.
"While he was in a coma, Yasuhito jumped back in time to our university days, right, Yasuhito? That's what you said." Eri winked at me, smiling.
"Our university days…man that brings back memories." Yoshito closed his eyes, smiling.
"You should tell us, Yasuhito." Miyuki placed her hand on mine.
Would telling them be a good idea? I'd have to bring up old scars that are probably better forgotten.
Well, they did lie to me pretty harshly. Oh well, I'll think of this as some sort of payback.
"I woke up in the school cafeteria…"