ATLAS
"Come on, just wake up," a woman's familiar voice pleaded, trembling with desperation as I slowly stirred from what felt like an endless sleep. My body was heavy, unresponsive. My vision blurred as the piercing brightness of the room overwhelmed me. I am lying on a soft bed. As my gaze wandered, I recognized where I was. A hospital. But why? What happened?
"Please, Atlas, wake up. I missed you so much," she whispered, her voice breaking as she kissed my hand. It was Marie.
I tried to speak, but no words came. My body resisted every command—it demanded more rest, even though I felt I had been asleep for an eternity. "It's been three years," she sobbed, her tears spilling freely, her hands clutching mine like I might disappear again.
I focused all my strength on moving. Starting small, I managed to twitch my fingers. The faint motion was enough. Marie froze, gasped, and then her head snapped up. Her tear-streaked face lit up with a disbelieving smile as she saw my consciousness return.
"Atlas!" Her voice cracked, joy bursting through her tears as she gripped my hand tightly. "You're awake! Thank God, you're awake!" She showered my face with kisses, her relief spilling over in every gesture. "Doctor! Somebody, please, come quick!"
Within moments, a doctor and two nurses rushed in, their expressions shifting from disbelief to shock as they took in the sight of me. One nurse whispered something to the doctor, who nodded grimly before approaching the bed.
Marie's voice, laced with hope, cut through the tense air. "Doctor, is my husband going to be discharged soon? He's awake now, isn't he? He's fine, right?"
But the doctor didn't answer. Instead, he stared at me, as though trying to process the impossible. His eyes flickered to the heart monitor beside me. It displayed a steady heart rate, but the line was frozen, unmoving.
"Jasmine," the doctor said, addressing one of the nurses.
"Yes, Doc?" she replied cautiously.
"Was the attending physician notified of the patient's passing?"
"Yes, Doc."
"If the attending physician was notified, then why wasn't Mrs. Marie called?"
"I-I..." Jasmine stammered, lowering her gaze.
Marie flinched, her expression shifting from confusion to panic. "Passing? What are you talking about?" Her voice rose, trembling. "Are you saying Atlas—my husband—is dead? He's alive! He's breathing! Look at him!"
The doctor's face remained composed, though the confusion in his eyes was evident. "Mrs. Marie, I understand this is difficult, but…" He gestured toward the monitor, its screen displaying a steady heart rate, yet the line was frozen. "This isn't functioning normally. We also confirmed Mr. Atlas's death three years ago. He was declared deceased at 5:35 AM. There was no pulse, no respiration. In fact, we were preparing to contact the mortician to begin arrangements."
He paused, glancing back at me, then at Marie. "I can't explain what we're seeing now. I can't explain why he's alive."
"No!" Marie's voice trembled with defiance. "You're wrong! This monitor is broken or something. My husband isn't dead—he's right here, awake!"
"We checked the equipment," the doctor said firmly. "There were no malfunctions. His condition was reviewed multiple times, and all signs confirmed he had passed."
No malfunction?
Marie's frustration boiled over. "Then explain why he's breathing! Why is he moving? Don't tell me you can't explain something like this—you're a doctor!"
The doctor hesitated, glancing at Nurse Jasmine, who lowered her gaze. "Mrs. Marie," he began carefully, "I understand your anger, but the situation is... unprecedented. I assure you, we're as shocked as you are. This shouldn't be possible. We need to examine your husband further to understand what's happening."
"No! I've had enough of your so-called examinations!" she snapped. "For years, you've been vague, suggesting risky procedures without clear explanations. You treated him like an experiment, and now you expect me to trust you again? Never! I'll discharge him myself if I have to!"
"Mrs. Marie, please reconsider," Nurse Jasmine interjected gently. "We want to help. If you leave now without proper tests, we won't be able to monitor his recovery—or understand what brought him back."
Marie's eyes narrowed, her voice unwavering. "I won't let you harm him again. If you refuse to treat my husband like the living man he is, we'll leave."
The doctor sighed, frustration creeping into his tone. "Mrs. Marie, your husband's condition is beyond normal medicine. We need time to determine—"
"We're leaving." Her words were final.
I wanted to speak, to reassure her or stop the argument, but my body betrayed me once more. My vision darkened, the sounds around me fading into an eerie silence as I slipped back into unconsciousness.
*****
I'm a work-from-home call center agent, and I just finished talking to one of my clients. Thanks to my wife, I got the job immediately. I'm watching some YouTube videos to take a quick break, and after that, I'll sleep. It's morning, but I can't just shift my schedule to mornings, so I'm awake all night while I sleep during the day.
But my attention was drawn to my phone right beside me; someone was calling.
I picked up my phone and answered the call. "Elias, it's been a while, huh?" I greeted from the other line.
"I heard from your wife that you were already discharged from the hospital two weeks ago. It's been three years since I've talked with you like this. How are you doing?"
"I'm alright. I'm happy that I can live with her now without any worries."
"What happened to you exactly? How did you end up comatose? Your wife didn't tell me everything when you were still in bed."
"The doctor said there was a deadly poison in my body that caused neurological effects, leading me to a coma because it disrupted my brain's function. That's all I know."
"How did you get poisoned? Did you eat something? Were you exposed to chemicals or something?"
"I… I don't remember, honestly."
"You don't remember anything?" he clarified. "Not even a bit?"
"Yeah, I can't give you an answer. Even I want to know how I ended up poisoned."
"What kind of poison?"
"The doctor doesn't even know what the poison is—it's a new and undefined variant."
"For three years, they still can't figure out what kind of poison corrupted your body?" I didn't bother to say anything. I just stayed silent, waiting for him to change the subject. "Alright, at least you're doing fine now. By the way, before you went into a coma, you left your laptop here. Do you want to pick it up?"
"I left it?" I asked, only now realizing that the laptop sitting on my bed belonged to Marie. "Right, I'll be right there."
"Alright, man, I'll be happy to see you and have a little conversation. I'll be waiting. Do you want wine?"
"Sure, I'll be there shortly."
When I arrived at Elias' house, we exchanged a firm handshake, squeezing each other's hands with joy. Then, we stepped forward for an embrace, clapping each other's backs, smiles on our faces. "Looks like you bulked up, huh? Hitting the gym hard?"
Elias laughed. "Yeah, I have to keep my wife's eyes only on me." We both laughed before he continued, "You lost weight. You were asleep for so long, huh? In three years, I've never encountered or heard of anyone who's been in a coma for that long."
"You're not the only one who's shocked," I said with a smile. "I don't even know how I survived."
He shook his head and gestured for me to come inside. He told me everything that happened in his life while I wasn't there to see it. I listened intently while sipping my wine. A lot had happened to him, and he even had a child now. That made me wonder what my wife was doing while I was comatose. I knew she had to work to pay the hospital bills, but when I wasn't around, who was with her? Did anything happen to her while I was in a coma?
"You're lucky to have Marie. Even though you were in a coma for three years, she never left you. She was willing to wait for you and do anything for you, even if she had to take a lot of risks and go through painful decisions. Sometimes, she even forgot about herself because of you," he said. "When you weren't around, my wife and I made sure to remind her to take care of herself. She was so focused on you that she forgot she had her own life too."
I lowered my head slightly and muttered, "Marie…"
"Make it up to her, Atlas. You really need to make it up to her."
I smiled. "I will."
I didn't stay there long; Marie might already be home from work and wondering where I went. When I got home, she greeted me with a wide, sweet smile that reached her ears.
"I'm home," I smiled back as I gave her a gentle kiss on her forehead.
"Where did you go, dear?" she asked.
"To Elias' place. I just picked up my laptop, but I ended up drinking a little with him."
She laughed. "You missed drinking?"
"I really did," I said, chuckling.
"Come on in; let's eat," she said with a grin, hugging my left arm. "I cooked your favorite dish, dinuguan."
"Really? Thank you, dear."
"Anything for my husband."
We started eating. Afterward, I washed the dishes and told her to go rest. She just got home from work, while I had been working without sleep as usual. I'd stayed a bit longer at Elias' place, and the traffic on the way home made me late.
After washing the dishes, I decided to check if my laptop was fully charged. Once it was, I unplugged the charger, sat on the couch in the living room, and opened the gallery.
I have a habit of looking through the pictures or videos I save daily. I love saving memories, which is why the gallery has six thousand pictures and over one hundred videos. Most of them are of places we've been or stolen shots of Marie. I'm obsessed with photography—I even have pictures of animals and products I've taken.
As I clicked on the video category, my eyebrows furrowed when I saw a video I didn't remember filming. I decided to play it. After a few seconds of static, I skipped ahead, and I was greeted by my own bloodied face on the screen, which made me wonder.
"God, I don't know where I am," I panted in the video. I was inside a house, stumbling down a filthy, dim, crumbling hallway. "I've been wandering around here forever, but… it's like this hallway never ends." Suddenly, a creature let out a blood-curdling scream, deep and guttural, and I heard things crashing in the distance. In the video, my face was frozen in terror as I looked back, trying to see what kind of monster might be behind me. My hand shook as I filmed, my breath ragged. "F*ck, f*ck, f*ck! It's here!"
The creature's scream echoed through the video, growing more horrifying with every second, filled with raw rage. I was running as fast as I could, but in the background, I could make out bloody, huge tongues creeping through the darkness. Red eyes wrapped around them, unblinking and grinning, fixed hungrily on me. The tongues twisted and pulsed, reaching—ready to close in and devour me whole.
"Atlas!" I almost dropped the laptop in shock. The Atlas in the video was staring directly at the camera—directly at me. His gaze was unnaturally fixed, unblinking—cold and empty, as if nothing alive remained behind those eyes. "Help me," he whispered, my voice trembling and close to tears. "I'm begging you, please help me—" Then, the video cut off.
I couldn't help but stare blankly at the laptop, not knowing what to do. What the hell happened to me in this video? What the f*ck was that creature?!
I almost jumped when someone called me. It was Elias. "Hello, Elias. Why are you calling?" I greeted calmly, as if nothing had happened.
"I'm very sorry for disturbing you at such an hour, but that angelic woman you mentioned when we were kids…"
I raised an eyebrow. "Why are you bringing that up? I already forgot about that weird woman until you reminded me. Did something happen?"
"I tried to ignore her. When you left, she was standing by the post in front of my house. She hasn't left, and she's still staring at me. I asked her if she needed anything, but she just remained quiet…" He sighed heavily. "Forget it. I'll call the police. I'm sorry for disturbing you again. Goodnight."
He ended the call, and because of what he said, I couldn't help but worry about him and his family.