| a.k.a. Good Morning, Lion-kun! | ||
|---|---|---|
A nearby table has a few tokens of well wishes; a couple cards and an ornamental vase long absent its aged flowers make up the majority of what is there. It's...not much. A deflated metallic balloon, flattened to display the colorful and shiny Get Well Soon on one facing is taped to the wall above the head of the bed. What was once perhaps hope for a quick recovery from a select few found overshadowing by an unfortunate truth: the occupant of the bed has been there a long time. Too long. Perhaps not even aware of the ongoing treatment, the patient has had long-term attachment to intravenous intake, intubation feeding, and daily care to move and flex the basic joints to reduce muscular degradation and bedsores. Those on call even have waste bag replacement duties. It's impossible for the bed-bound patient, unconscious as he is, to even fully recognize any visitors that stop by. There are visitors. Right? Yet, for as busy as the room can be at certain times of the day, it is calm and quiet. The same as it has been every day at most hours for some time; for far too long. Nothing changes. That's a good thing, medically. But, then something does. Measurements shift. Not much, but it's there. Somewhere, down the hall, staff of the hospital are notified. The occupant of the bed is a six-foot-five-inch tall lion. Grievous wounds, long since healed, have left the lion severely, brutally scarred. Scars snake their way up and down his arms, along with a particularly gruesome gash over his right eye, with many more hidden beneath the light hospital gown he’s dressed in. As the quiet beeps of machines echo through the silence of the hospital room, something happens. The lion’s ears flick, as if trying to react to the soft beeping. It isn’t much, but it’s enough. His eyes begin to flutter, trying to open for the first time in a long, long time. Kazi the Lion stirs, ever so slightly. Slowly, VERY slowly, the lion starts to become aware of himself, of the deafening silence he’s surrounded by, of the far off sounds of something beeping. He tries to move, unable to make his body cooperate with him. His mind, awake but very sluggish, keeps telling his body to move, to open his eyes. Why won’t it cooperate? What is wrong with him? Fear begins to take hold as Kazi slowly realizes that something is very, very wrong with him. How much time must seem to pass between then and the next as confusion and ache serve as company, yet at some length -- one that is surprisingly short from another perspective -- the door latch, in all its well-oiled compliance, perhaps deafeningly announces the presence of somebody entering the room with a turning click. It slowly closes on its own behind the figure that enters, but that moment alone grants the ear the spanning spectrum of sounds of business beyond. With a click, they are silenced once more. The individual moves in nearby. Close. Very close. The first thing done is the checking of vitals and state of the various noted supplies. The person speaks, soft yet clear in a practiced way, as she handles these readings. "Stirring a bit, Lion-kun?" It seems that the presence of the young patient has been long enough for some amount of familiarity to be gained. Her voice may or may not sound familiar. "Just checking up on you. Seems your heart rate is picking up, a bit more activity, breathing..." The figure puts down her clipboard and turns to look over the patient. Eye movement, though not fully opened, but that's not unexpected. Comatose patients can even be fully unconscious with opened eyes. "Connections look secure. Are you awake, Kazi?" Something makes contact with the patient's hand in one of the most basic possible tests. "Can you squeeze my hand for me?" Panic starts to grip the lion as his mind wakes more. The silence, the crushing darkness... The young lion is terrified. He can’t remember anything. Kazi screams internally, while there is no outward reaction. *Move, body! Open your eyes! Please! Somebody! Anybody! Where am I? Help me! HELP!!!!* Suddenly, he hears... something. He can’t make out what it is, but there is definitely something. The sound... a voice, perhaps... is muffled and distant, like he is far away, or underwater. Is he underwater? Kazi’s mind desperately yells for his eyes to open, and after fighting for... minutes? Hours? Days? He has no sense of time in this nightmarish existence. After fighting for some time, a thin sliver of light appears in front of him, a literal ray of hope to the terrified young lion. Then, he feels something touch his hand. More muffled sounds... it’s definitely someone speaking to him, he decides. *Whoever you are, help me, please!!* Kazi pleads with his body, crying internally. He’s so scared. The muffled sounds feel like they are closer now, slowly clearing up. Someone is definitely speaking to him. He can't hear clearly yet, the words are still very muffled, as if he is floating just beneath the surface of a lake, but is he imagining it, or did he hear the word ‘hand’? He SCREAMS at himself to squeeze his hand, to let whatever or whoever is there know that he’s here, that he needs help... that he’s ALIVE. Outwardly, the change is barely noticeable unless one is specifically looking for it. The lion’s eyes crack open just the smallest amount, but it is enough. As the soft-spoken woman’s hand lays in the young lion’s, asking for him to squeeze her hand, a miracle happens. It’s not much, but Kazi’s body responds to his internal screaming, his fingers flexing in the woman’s grip. The nurse audibly exhales at the reaction. Her jaw moves a little as if trying to form words to speak, but she quickly follows up with a few more sounds: "Very good. Very, very good. Squeeze my hand again, if you can." Eyes shift from the lion to the machines nearby. The nurse maintains that hold on Kazi's hand and gives it a little squeeze of her own while using her other hand to notify the doctor on duty through a text page about the sudden development. "I want you to know, Kazi, that you're in a safe place: Sachi Are Hospital. My name is Nurse Ureshii and I'm here fighting to help you wake up all the way, too." It's frustrating for the nurse, too, because there's only so much she can do besides being a vocal and present anchor. She doesn't talk too much. She waits for replies or responses to stimuli before offering other words of encouragement or statements of safety. It can be a painful process reviving from a coma. It can also lead into smooth transitions to normal waking life. "You can do it." All alone, Ureshii stands vigil until the doctor can arrive not wanting to pull away. "I'm right here." That sliver of light slowly expands, pushing away the deep, crushing darkness, as Kazi’s eyes open more, about halfway. The light of the room, despite being set to a pale, neutral tone comfortable for most animals, is overwhelming for the young lion opening his eyes for the first time in years. He may as well be staring into the sun, for how bright it appears to him. His head throbs painfully, his vision extremely blurred and somehow... wrong, but he can’t figure out how. Kazi’s hearing is still muffled. Most of what Ureshii is saying goes unrecognized by the lion, but he does hear the word ‘again’, and feels a pressure in his hand. She must be holding his hand. He tries to squeeze his hand in hers again, his body responding better this time. Rather than his fingers just flexing against her palm, they actually curl and he squeezes her hand with a light pressure. The lion’s ears twitch as his head crests the surface of the metaphorical lake, Ureshii’s words drawing him in, anchoring him to the waking world, even if he can’t understand what she’s saying. He doesn’t know this woman, but right now, she is his guardian angel, pulling at his consciousness. He picks up ‘safe’, ‘ho...tal’, ‘fight’, and ‘wake’. Ho...tal... Hospital? Wait, was he in a fight? An image surfaces in Kazi’s mind... a face. A gazelle... no, not a gazelle, something is wrong. He can’t tell what is wrong with it, but for some reason this person terrifies him. Outwardly, his heart rate spikes and his grip actually tightens on Ureshii’s hand, a few tears spilling down his cheeks. He screams in his mind, while outwardly only producing a short gagging, choking sound, due to the tubes down his throat. *No! Stay away from me! Someone, please, help me!* The young lion likely isn't the most aware of what happens next as his pulse quickens and the monitoring systems nearby beep in protest. The image of the nurse nearby, for what might be seen by the panicking Kazi, blurs in the overwhelmingly dim lighting with that of a larger shape. There is talking -- rapid, complicated, technical -- between the nurse and another. Whatever trauma is upsetting the patient, for however it may internally seem, is reflecting outwardly with a sudden sense of medical urgency. The nurse's grip squeezes one more time before having to pull away to procure and measure something from a vial with a syringe. The other presence leans in to check some vitals hands on, including the observation of the state of Kazi's pupil dilation. "Snap out of it, kid," comes at least one line from the masculine source before stepping aside so that the nurse is able to inject the mild sedative solution into the IV line running into Kazi's arm. "Come on, Lion-kun. Leave it behind and come back to us," urges Ureshii. Strangely, a third presence and voice seems present, too, albeit briefly, as, even without being able to see, there is the notion of somebody else leaning in close to clearly whisper into Kazi's ear...even though the room only holds the doctor, the nurse, and the patient. Two words. Almost a command. The presence and voice are strangers, but eerily fleeting in some unknown familiarity. Wake. Up. The perverted face of the gazelle fades as shapes come into Kazi’s view against the light. His vision is still extremely blurry, but he can make out a person-sized shade in the bright light, which he figures to be the woman holding his hand. The light dims more as another shade enters his view. He feels the pressure on his hand as she squeezes it once more, a couple tears shimmering in the corners of his eyes as she releases it suddenly. *No, please don’t leave me! Don’t let me go! Come back!!!* Kazi’s hand flexes, trying desperately to hold on to the woman’s hand as she pulls away, lest he lose his grip on everything. The deeper, more masculine voice startles him in his confusion, his vision clearing just a bit to see the outline of a male. Who is this man? Immediately, the image of the strange gazelle comes back into view, clear as day, sending Kazi’s heart rate skyrocketing again. He feels something cool around his arm, the light and shades in his view dimming as his eyes sag, the sedative taking effect. *No, please... I don’t want to go back...* Wake. Up. After what feels like an instant to Kazi, his eyes snap open, the light painfully bright as the world finally comes into view, a little blurred, but visible finally. His eyes dart back and forth, taking in the sanitized, nearly empty room. A man and a woman stand over him. He squints his eyes, blinking them, trying to clear his vision more. He strains to open his right eye, but he can’t seem to. He becomes uncomfortably aware of something in his throat, trying to swallow what he assumes is food of some kind. As his eyes look to his left, he sees the IV tube attached to his arm. He lifts his arm slowly -- it’s so heavy -- reaching for the woman standing by him. The nurse steps forward, no doubt taking up much of Kazi's pained field of vision, offering the young lion a relieved smile. She gently touches his hand, but it's not the same solid grip as before. "There you are! Just- Just relax. You probably have a hundred questions, but don't try to talk. You'll have time for that in a bit." There will have to be observation, tests, and, hopefully, relocation to a different room for eventual patient release from the hospital. Some recoveries from comatose status can be remarkably quick. "Just know that you're safe right now. We'll try to get you cleaned up and, if lucky, can try to get you something soothing to drink or eat very soon." Nurse Ureshii is a raccoon dog. She almost completely blocks the view of the doctor in her excitement, though, and it's only clear that the doctor is flipping through some paperwork. "All right," his voice states. "Now comes the fun part." It's a process that will take time, but with some patience the newly awoken Kazi will be a few tubes fewer with a sore throat from them and talking might feel like trying to breathe glass, but that's all part of it. Later that week: Kazi doesn't just have one doctor. A few have different responsibilities, although the medical aides and nurses all seem to be linked to the ward itself. They all come and go, all with different schedules, and all with the same basic questions. It's not as if the doctors seem to care so much that Kazi is getting better so much as not getting worse; it's a hell of a distinction to make. After all, his body has had time to heal while in bed. Now it's a matter of mental healing and rehabilitation. The lion's doctor for that makes visits, too, but this visit -- this time -- feels different. This isn't the usual scheduling. The psychiatrist enters, makes sure the door clicks shut, then walks across the small room to the window. It's raining again, today, too. As usual, his clothing is crisp and clean and his tie is neat and his face just doesn't match the aesthetic. At least it might be something Kazi and his psych doc have in common, what with such scars, and...they both seem to be blind in one eye, too. Reaching into his white coat's pocket, the doctor removes a pack of cigarettes while undoing the window clasp to slide it open with the other hand. "Glad you're awake. Technically, I'm on my break, so let's make it a quick chat." Who the hell smokes in a hospital room? At least the movement of air from the rain couples with the ventilation of the room itself to push the smoke out completely as he lights up. The giant panda peers over at Kazi's bed with a look that says he knows more than he wants to let on. "Go on, ask me anything. I might not answer you, but you need a chance to ask anyway and it's more than you'll get from the other staff." Kazi sits in his unfamiliar bed, in the unfamiliar hospital room, looking over the cards and the balloon from his old room. He has shrugged his hospital gown off, laying in the bed in just a loose pair of boxer shorts, wicked looking scars, some surgical, some not, crossing over his chest and abdomen. The scrawny lion looks up from the cards in his hands as he hears the soft click of his door opening. He must have looked over these cards a hundred times since he woke up, his fingers tracing over the words written in them, trying to find some familiarity in the writing. He feels so lonely now, alone in a new room. He hasn’t seen the nurse who had been with him since he woke up... Ureshii, was her name? Kazi’s ears flick as the door clicks shut and his gaze follows the panda across the room, shock registering on his face when the man pulls out a pack of cigarettes, followed by a lingering gaze of longing as he lights one up. He takes a small sip of water from his bedside table and speaks, his voice soft and gravelly from two years of silence. His throat feels like he’s trying to swallow glass, rather than water. “...I don’t suppose I could have one of those, huh?” Kazi chuckles quietly, knowing immediately the answer he’s going to get. Shaking his head just a bit, a grim look on his face, he looks back down at the cards in his hand and keeps speaking. “Seriously though... nobody here has given me more than a minute or two, nobody is willing to actually sit and talk to me. I have to know. What the fuck happened to me? Was I in a car accident or something? A fight? I don’t remember anything before waking up here, with scars all over my fucking body, and my eye completely fucked... I know who I am, but I don’t know who wrote me these cards, I don’t know where I am. Does anybody out there know who to contact? Does anybody that actually knows me know that I’m awake? I’m afraid to sleep, because I’m afraid I’m going to wake up and have lost ANOTHER two years. I have nightmares when I DO sleep... I keep seeing this weird, deformed gazelle. I have no idea who he is, but he scares the shit out of me.” "Right," says the doctor at length after giving the lion plenty of time to just let everything out. "So, the short answer is that you'll remember when you're ready to remember and, when you do, it's probably going to really hurt." The panda exhales a stream of smoke from the side of his mouth out of the window. "Physically, I mean. Emotionally, too." The psychiatrist leans against the broad window near the opening and rests his unoccupied arm along his lower belly while regarding the kid. Young adult, sure, but still a kid. To the doctor anyway. "The long answer is that you were a sopping pile of blood and fur that nearly needed a wet-vac to collect all the goop, but the animals here managed to put you back together again -- somehow -- and whatever stupid set of circumstances lead to such a messy end don't matter so long as you have a second chance." The panda neglects to say where this happened, which was telling enough to a beast that frequented that part of that city not too long ago. "Hope you make good use of it. As for loved ones, well... This is Sachi Are. University Hospital for Dodome U." That's in Zebuth, a good few hours from Denko by train. "It takes time to contact people and scheduling during a work week to visit. You don't remember the folks you were living with?" He doesn't say parents and somebody Kazi's age could live alone or board at a University, but that's not fully what the doc is implying at all. Kazi scrunches his face up, putting his hand on his forehead as the psychiatrist speaks. He can't help but notice that the request for a cigarette was ignored, as well as any mention of the gazelle. His head throbs painfully as he tries to think, to connect the writing in those cards to anything he might reasonably be able to recall. The lion grunts as he squeezes his eyes shut, rubbing his temples. After a few minutes of silence, he opens his eyes and swings his legs slowly off the side of the bed, gripping a walker and carefully making his way to the window ledge, looking out across the medical campus. “I can’t remember almost anything. My head hurts whenever I try to. I see like... a house? A big house. A boarding house, maybe? I really don’t know.” Kazi licks his lips, wetting them as he looks far to his right, keeping the panda in his view. *That’s going to take some getting used to,* he thinks. He stands silently, staring at the panda for a little longer, before turning to look out the window at the rain for a short while. As he stares out into the rain, the image of a vaguely familiar looking black lion comes to mind, seeming to smile at him through the window. Kazi squints and scrunches his eyes again. He knows that lion, he just knows it, but who? “...There’s a lion. Not me. Roommate, maybe?” "Maybe. Was it only one? Look, don't force it right now." Cigarette cradled between two fingers, that hand rests against the window sill while his other hand reaches up to rub along his short snout between his eyes. "It's just that I'd prefer to send you home with people you trust rather than calling up people in your records. You may fully recover in a few days, you might not fully recover at all, but you have a better chance of healing being around animals you're more comfortable with." This isn't the way the doctor usually goes about things, especially concerning patients that have been knocked out for a couple years, but the panda is in a tough position of knowing too much and knowing he shouldn't share it all at once so soon. "We'll get you some additional physical therapy options available to get your movement trained back up again and, well, learning to see with vision impairment. It's massively frustrating at first, but take it from me: You'll get there sooner than you think if you can stay positive." He makes the mistake of exhaling too far away from the window and begins waving it out the best he can while grimacing at himself. “It’s only one lion that I can see, yes. I feel like I know him.” Kazi blinks repeatedly, the image of the lion in the window fading as he does. He sways as his head throbs painfully, gripping the walker nearby so that he doesn’t fall over. Having one functioning eye is horribly disorienting still, but as the doctor says, he’ll get used to it eventually. Kazi struggles back to his bed, laying his head back and closing his eyes as the doctor talks some more, nodding along. It may not seem like a lot, but that much movement is still a struggle for him. He knows that the physical therapy will help, but things feel so bleak at the moment. He hates this feeling of weakness; a five foot walk to a window shouldn’t fatigue him as much as it does. “I don’t know how you do it, doc. I feel... I don’t know the right words... vulnerable, maybe? Not being able to see, it scares the shit out of me. Don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful for everything, to be alive, but I’ve seen myself in the mirror. I look like someone pushed me through a wood chipper. I know damn well not all of these scars are surgical.” A few tears well up in the corner of his eyes as fear and sadness tug at him. He picks up one of the cards again and just stares at it, tracing the words with a finger as he has done so many times before. For all of his knowledge, the panda is better at dealing with meat-crazed Carnivores than situations like these. Taking one last drag from his cigarette and holding it, he reaches out the window to dab the smoldering leaf into the dampness of the light rain running down the outer wall before flicking it away. Leaning forward a bit more, hand moving to the window panel that slides, the doctor exhales deeply over some few seconds before pulling back and shutting things tight with the latch. "We're always changing, kid. Always getting nicked and bruised in the day to day. One stranger's side comment can stick with you for weeks, if not years. We get hurt, we heal what we can, we adapt, and continue living." He begins to walk over to the bed and looks down at the card being held. "Honestly, it's better to see the scars of our past than to ignore them. They remind us that no matter how terrible things may have gotten, we're still here, still fighting another day." Digging something out of his pocket, a well-worn hand reaches over to tuck something behind the lion's ear: A single cigarette. "Fear through trauma is the mind's way of recognizing what hurt us so we stay away from it, even if it won't let us remember who, why, or how we were hurt. You might remember. You might not. You might have to face the root of those fears. You may never see them again. Too many what ifs. You're going to have to take control of what you CAN control, so that means getting an income, a place to live, going to your therapy, making good decisions and being a good person. It's less about the past behind us and more about the future before us that matters." The psych checks his watch. "Break's up. Better go. Two last things, kid..." The scar-faced panda peers down at the lion with a gaze that speaks of somber seriousness. "Number one, do yourself a favor and stay away from meat. You may have been unconscious when you showed up, but you still had the shakes for weeks in bed." A grim hint about the past, perhaps. "And two, when you're ready, use your bedside tablet or a phone and look up the new funding changes by the new CEO of The Horns Conglomerate. The press releases, not the articles." Video, not text. Kazi may not know who the deer is, but some of the security that follows him around might look familiar. Kazi smiles a bit, reaching up and running his fingers over the cigarette that was placed behind his ear. “Thanks doc, for everything. Really.” He watches as the panda leaves the room. When he’s alone again, the lion picks up his bedside tablet and starts tapping around on it, looking things up. “Horns Conglomerate, huh? Why does the doc want me to look up something like that?” He taps a bit more on the tablet until a video comes up of a recent press conference. Before Kazi presses play, he slides out of bed and makes his way to the window where the panda had been smoking, opening it again, and finding a half-used book of matches left there, intentionally or not. He chuckles to himself as he picks them up, slides the cigarette out from behind his ear and lights it, taking a deep drag on it and relishing the wonderful, terrible feeling of heat and smoke filling his lungs. He knows it’s bad for him, especially in a hospital, but he doesn’t particularly care at the moment. Just the familiar feeling of the cigarette in his mouth gives him a small sense of security, of normalcy, a feeling he’s been missing since he woke up. He makes sure to blow the smoke out the window as he presses play on the paused video. Basic subtitling on the recorded broadcast shows that the recent clip starts with an animal speaking at a podium in front of a crowd of videographers, photographers, and press eager to ask questions. A tall stag named Hartsford is addressing the gathered group with a general statement over fiscal growth and projected outcome for the quarter year. Honestly, except for business investors, it's all a bit boring. The Horns Conglomerate is perhaps THE richest investment and banking company on the island and the island isn't small. Why would watching this be of any importance to Kazi? With a humble bow of his head, the stag turns to direct attention to another. One introduced as Louis the Red Deer, CEO and son of the Founder, Oguma, and absolutely none of this would be any surprise to Kazi. Horns Cgl. has always been an Herbivore powerhouse with an unforgiving bias in who they employ or which matters they invest in to address. Camera flashes go off as the camera swivels to the side stage to see this Louis approach. He's...small, has a doe-like face, but also wears a calculated stare to match his professional smile. Black-suit-wearing security, most likely bodyguards, accompany the buck after one of the security lions -- one with a flat-top cut mane -- just off-stage gives the deer a pat on the back. The bodyguard caribou -- a female Herbivore whose suit barely hides her muscular physique -- and a lion -- one with very dark fur, freckly facial spots, and a big glowing smile -- that follow along take up position behind the CEO as he begins his address. "...is how we plan to offer better rates to those with low incomes without outwardly jeopardizing high-value investments..." says this Louis, going on and on, question after question, about complicated business talk and how it affects customers and investors...for Herbivores, Carnivores, and Hybrids. Not only does the suggestion of Carnivore customers and investors seem crazy for Horns Cgl., but the CEO is openly discussing Hybrid politics on broadcast. However, that may not be the foremost thing for Kazi to notice, if he's even listening at all by that point. Kazi sits on the small ledge by the window sill, slowly smoking his cigarette, trying to take his time with it. It’s his only one, after all. His eyesight glazes over occasionally as he watches this press conference. He sighs, speaking to nobody in particular. “Why the hell did the doc want me to watch this? Shit!” The lion flails his hands toward the window, as smoke wafts into the room from his mouth as he speaks. *Dumbass. You’re gonna get the doc in trouble.* Then something of interest actually catches his attention. His head throbs as he catches sight of a lion patting this Louis on the back. Why does that name sound familiar? Why does the sight of that lion make his head hurt? They prod at something buried deep down in his mind, and then he sees it. The deer takes the stage with his two bodyguards, and he sees it. HIM. That dark furred lion he saw earlier. Kazi grunts and clutches his head painfully as his headache intensifies. He’s not paying attention to the video anymore, he can hear the deer speaking about something financial, but he’s focused on the lion behind the deer, staring at him for several minutes as his headache pounds against his skull. “...Agata.” Kazi speaks the name of the lion, knowing somehow that it is correct. He knows this lion, he’s shared meals with him in the past. They lived together. They... worked together? “Shi...shi... FUCK! Come on!” His head throbs particularly painfully once; he’s so dizzy, probably a combination of the headache and the fact that he’s inhaled too much smoke. Kazi snuffs the cigarette on the wall outside the window, letting the rain wash away the ash, as he flicks it out, latches the window, and climbs back into bed. Some time later: It’s been several weeks, and Kazi is excited, but also quite nervous. Today’s the day. He’s been working hard with multiple therapists, physical and emotional, and it’s finally happening. He’s leaving the hospital today. He got a visit earlier this morning from the nurse, Ureshii, with a few gifts. It was nice of her to visit on her day off. Some snacks, a card (he added that to the small stack of old get well soon cards), and a small backpack to carry things in. He stands in front of the mirror in his hospital room bathroom, scrubbing his face and looking himself over. The lion staring back at him looks miles better than the lion he saw there weeks ago. He’s groomed, but more importantly... he’s smiling. Kazi stomps his foot lightly, testing the weight of the new boots that were acquired for him. They land with a firm ‘thud’ on the tile floor. Nice and heavy, just the way he wanted. The jeans hug his hips nicely, and the bright white tank top shows off his toned body in just the right ways, despite all the scarring, his ropy tail swaying slowly behind him as he adjusts the eye patch over his blind eye. The lion takes a deep breath and starts packing up his things, minimal as they are, in the backpack; four cards, a metallic balloon, he even kept the vase. Even though it’s just a vase for flowers, it has a bit of sentimental value to him now, something to remind him that somewhere out there are people who care about him, waiting for him to remember them, and dammit, he WILL remember them. He tucks away the snacks in a different pouch so they won’t be crushed, along with a pack of cigarettes the doc snuck him last week. A wallet with some money is tucked into his jeans, and a piece of paper with the name of his destination on it goes into his pocket. That’s everything. Not much, but it’s all his, and he’s ready. Kazi opens his door, hesitating for just a moment to look back at the now empty room, then makes his way through the hospital ward, thanking those who’ve cared for him these two long years and saying his goodbyes, stopping once more as he reaches the automatic door at the front of the hospital. The door slides open, and Kazi takes a deep breath, steeling himself as he steps through the door, into the unknown. He doesn’t know what’s going to happen from here, but he’s alive, which is more than many who’ve gone through what he has can say. He pulls the paper out of his pocket and reads his destination aloud to himself. “The Hidden Condo...” | ||
