Myne

fifteen

It was late in the evening when Emi returned home. She said her goodbyes to Kim and Erica on the street in front of her building. Thanked Kim’s brother West, and then said goodbye to him too. And rushed up the stairs, because, one, she liked the exercise, climbing up the stairs to her apartment at least once a day, and two, the elevators were too slow and she couldn’t wait. 

The moment she stepped onto the hallway of the fifth floor, she felt a wave of uneasiness wash over her. “It’s just your head,” she kept telling herself, over and over, with every step toward her apartment. She first reached 503. The Raisons’ apartment. She didn’t pause, even for a breath. She walked on, to 504. There, right outside the heavy, brown, wood door, she stopped. She turned, to face the door. And just stood there. She didn’t need to knock. She had a set of keys. To the keychain with fiery eagle with its wings spread wide and its beak open like it was screeching a warning to the little food far down below that it was coming, were attached keys to her apartment, Rain’s, and other important keys. The bunch of keys still didn’t make for a heavy or a noisy lot. That made it easy for them to always be on her person. She didn’t reach for the keys in her jacket’s pocket. She didn’t reach for the doorbell. She didn’t knock at the door. Something was off. She could feel it. And she wanted to understand exactly what it was, before doing anything. She needed to. 

Try as she might though, she didn’t really find anything. Her head was too much of a mess to figure things out. She could only brace herself, and knock at the door. Even now, she couldn’t bring herself to unlock the door with her keys and walk in. There was no answer. That convinced her she was right. Something was terribly, terribly wrong. 

She looked toward the door of her apartment. Wasn’t that too quiet too? She walked over. Knocked. Rang the doorbell. And, nothing. This time, she reached for the keys. The keys were jingling with her trembling hands. She pushed the key into the hole with some difficulty. Turned it. Swung the door open. Walked in, expecting to see her mother, at least. The dark apartment, the lights not yet switched on, and quiet because she was the first one back, greeted her. She was overcome by fear. She grabbed her phone. And called her father. 

Jordan answered after the very first ring. 

“Honey, where are you?” He asked, without even a hello. And that was something he never did. He was a stickler for formalities, for etiquette. Only the gravest emergency could have him flustered enough to forego with etiquette. 

“I’m home,” Emi answered. “I just came back. And, everything’s quiet. Rain’s not answering the door. No one’s home. What’s going on?” 

“Honey, you need to come over to Arthur’s now.” 

“Rain?” 

“Yeah. It’s happened again. Come quick. We’re all here.” 

Emi didn’t need a push. She didn’t speak another word. She rushed back out. Locked the door. Threw the keys, with the eagle, into the jacket pocket that was still warm from their presence. Ran back down the stairs. And continued on to Arthur’s Greenfield Hospital, which might not be the town’s biggest hospital, but it was one of the only three in town. And that was something. It was even bigger than many from the nearby towns. And was even comparable to some of the bigger ones in the cities, maybe not in size, but definitely in facilities and the doctors. Arthur’s truly deserved its fame. 

It was a half hour jog from the apartment building to Arthur’s. Emi would have hesitated, paused for a minute, thought it through, if it was any other day. Today, she didn’t have brain space left for any thinking. She was running on reflexes. She needed to get to Arthur’s. Quick. And so, she ran. Twenty minutes, without break. Good thing she ran the warm-ups with the volleyball team. And practiced with the track team. She was good, even if not particularly talented. And that was good enough for her. She only needed to be in a better shape than most regular people, for her dream job. All of it proved to be of the greatest use today. She broke into a sweat, and was breathing hard, but nothing unmanageable, when she reached Arthur’s. She called her father again, from the lobby. 

“I’m here,” she said, the moment he answered. 

“Where?” He asked. 

“Lobby.” 

“Stay. I’m coming down. Stay by the potted plants, in the right corner from the entrance.” 

“Okay.” 

She did as asked. She stood by the plants as tall as her. She was as quiet as the plants. Even there, at the lobby of a busy hospital, she attracted eyes. Her breathing was almost even by the time her father reached her. 

“Come,” he said to her, taking her hand and leading her up to Rain’s room. 

“What happened?” She asked again. 

“Yuki came home early. Found Rain in bed. In her room. Seemed asleep. But wouldn’t wake. However much Yuki shook her. She worried. Called us. Even after we went over, Rain wouldn’t wake. We had seen it before. Recognised it immediately, even though we didn’t want to. We wanted it to be anything but like last time. But, it was. We brought her here. Dr Abrams was also here. Luck. Or fate. Don’t know. He’s looking at her now.” 

Emi felt her heart fall. It had happened. The worst thing possible. Was she responsible? Had her talking about it with Kim in the car somehow made it happen again? Was Rain going to be okay? Were they going to be okay? 

The questions were endless. But the moment they stepped into the room inside which Rain was asleep on a hospital bed, everything fell silent. Emi stared at her best friend. And felt out of breath. 

The old man with the white hair, in the white coat, looked at her gravely. He didn’t even try to smile. A glance was all the greeting he could manage, and all that was needed in the situation. He turned his attention back to Rain. Studying the machines she was connected to. Reading the reports in his hand. Mumbling to himself, like he was working out a perplexing problem. In the end, he sighed, almost in defeat, and looked at the parents and the best friend. 

“I can’t say it’s good news,” he said. His voice was old, but strong, and deep. The last time they met, he joked that he would have been a voice actor if he had couldn’t make it through medical college. “It’s no different from last time. Everything’s fine. All the reports, all the parameters, are within range. She’s healthy too. It’s like she’s asleep. And, like last time, we can’t figure out why. But then, it’s only been an hour since she’s been here. I’m sure we’ll figure something out. At least more than what we already knew. Something new. Something that will definitely bring us closer to the answer, if not directly to the answer itself. Please don’t worry too much. She’s okay. She’s just asleep. Think of it only like that. And she’ll wake up soon.” 

They all nodded. The old doctor then stared pointedly at Emi. And spoke in the most serious voice. 

“You’re always together, are you not? Tell me everything that has happened in the last few days. Last few weeks, if need be. Anything different from usual. Anything unusual. Anything out of character, out of place. However small it might be, however insignificant it might seem. Remember it all, and tell me. We need every little clue.”