Premonition

Chapter #4: To Be Thankful

As Keiji fell in a heap onto the floor of the room, he clutched his eyes. The light from the open hallway felt ten times brighter, and he could not see properly. It was as if he was directly looking at the sun, the heat and brightness overpowering the sensitivity in his eyes. The pain shot directly into his skull, like a nail into wood.

“Close the door!” Keiji said as he struggled with the pain.

“Oh my god! Keiji!” Sarah exclaimed. Closing the door now, with the room darkening again, Keiji immediately felt relief wash over him. “Are you ok?” Getting up from the floor, Keiji rubbed his eyes and looked around. Things were back to normal, and he could see again.

“I’m not sure what that was, but I think I might be over sensitive to light…..is the light in the hallway normal? Or did they pump up the brightness?” Keiji questioned his sister.

“No, they’re exactly the same,” Sarah said. Thinking quickly, she reached into her purse and rummaged through it until she found her sunglasses. “I have these, but they’re kind of girly.” She handed them to Keiji who put them on.

“These should do,” Keiji said.

“You might be experiencing a side effect of NX7, Keiji,” Sarah said thoughtfully.

“I think you’re right Sis,” Keiji said. “Otherwise I’d be able to see in that hallway no problem. Are there other side effects I should know about?”

“We can discuss them later,” Sarah said. “For now, let’s focus on getting out of here.”

“Ok, nice and slow…..again,” Keiji said as he opened the door to the hallway. As the light flooded his vision again, he still experienced some pain, but it was mitigated by Sarah’s glasses. Thankful, he entered the hallway. There was no one in sight, except for the nursing station at the end of the hallway. And even then, there were only two nurses. “Do I look suspicious?”

“Just keep your hood off, and wear the sun glasses. We should be fine,” Sarah said as she began walking to the end of the hallway. Keiji followed her. As they walked, Keiji noticed Sarah had grown a tad bit. She was now up to his shoulder in terms of height. Keiji himself was only five foot seven. She had cut her hair shorter as well; her black hair now in a pixie cut. While passing the part of the hallway with see-through glass to the outside, Keiji briefly looked at reflection. His black hair had grown out, but was tied in a ponytail. ‘Probably, courtesy of Sarah,’ he thought. As well, he was cleanly shaven – another telltale that Sarah had helped maintain his look throughout the years. Looking back at Sarah now, he knew he was really lucky to have his sister. As they approached the nursing station now, one of nurses recognized Sarah.

“Hey Sarah, were you able to get a conversation out of him today?” the nurse said as he handed over a paper for her to sign.

“I did! Yes. He was very responsive today,” Sarah said. She signed her name on the paper.

“Oh, I didn’t know you came with a guest today,” the nurse said as he gestured to Keiji, who was standing behind Sarah.

“Oh, he’s my friend from work, he a bit shy though,” Sarah said.

“That’s fine, he just needs to sign out too,” said the nurse. He handed over the paper to Keiji. Thinking quickly of a pseudo name, Keiji signed his name but backwards. He waved to the nurse and both he and Sarah exited wing 4 without a hitch.