What is happening!?

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... tick-tock, tick-tock...

Ouch, geez.... It hurts . I can't open my eyes.

Pain greeted me before consciousness did. But still somehow I manage to open my eyes.

An unfamiliar ceiling stared back at me.

I tried to look around, but the movement sent a sharp pain splitting through my skull. Everything around me was blurry. I blinked. Once. Twice. The world gradually sharpened around me.

The first thing I focused on was a clock on the wall. It's almost 12 o'clock. Almost midnight. Or noon. I couldn't tell. I wasn't sure I knew what day it was, or how long I'd been lying here, or even where here was. My mind felt like a room with all the furniture moved — familiar enough to navigate, but wrong in ways I couldn't quite name.

I tried to sit up.

But I felt something heavy on my hand. I turned my head slowly and looked down.

" Rony."

He was slumped beside the bed, his head resting near my hand, fingers loosely laced through mine. Asleep. I stared at him for a moment, something small and quiet tightening in my chest.

" Rony! "

I shook him gently. He stirred, blinking against the light, and then his eyes found mine, and went wide.

" Alice! "

He pulled me into his arms, in a tight embrace. That caught me off guarded, but I hugged him back. It was feeling like he was about to cry. He was gripping me like I might disappear if he let go. Like I was something he'd almost lost.

I felt him shaking, just slightly.

"Rony." I pulled back enough to look at his face. "What happened?"

I asked him with full of curiosity and uncertainty.

" Ummm. "

He hesitated for a moment then broke the hug and looked at me. I saw a bit of happiness and sorrow mixed in his eyes. There were dark circles under his eyes. It was feeling like he didn't sleep for days. I was admiring his face really carefully.

" Alice! "

" Hum!? "

I got snapped out and looked at him.

" I am so happy to see that you are awake. I thought I was going to lose you too. "

"What do you mean?" My voice came out smaller than I intended. "Lose me too — Rony, what are you saying? Who else did you—" My head throbbed. I pressed my fingers to my temple.

"I don't understand. I don't understand any of this. Where are we? What happened to me? Where is everyone? I'm not understanding a single word what you are saying. And my head is hurting so much. "

"Alice, breathe." He placed a steady hand on my back. "I'll tell you everything. Just breathe for a second."

Rony was patting my back, tried his best to calm me. But the pain in my head pulsed like a second heartbeat.

"Okay," I managed. "Okay. Start from the beginning."

" So what exactly happened and where is this place? Also why I was unconscious and how long I was unconscious? And where are the others? "

I asked Rony while trying my best to relax.

He was quiet for a moment, choosing his words carefully the way someone does when they know what they're about to say will break something.

" Umm. The first thing is, it's my house. The villa besides the sea that my family owned. And.."

" And what Rony? "

" Actually you got into a huge accident. "

" What!? " My stomach dropped.

"Not just you," he continued, his voice low and careful. "All of us. You, me, Yang, Ali, Crystal, Johan — everyone."

The room felt like it tilted.

" What are you saying!? "

" I'm telling the truth. "

A long silence stretched between us. I already knew — somewhere beneath the confusion and the pain, I already knew what he was going to say next. But knowing didn't make it easier to ask.

" Where are they now? "

Rony didn't answer right away. He just looked at me, and his eyes said everything before his mouth did.

"They're gone, Alice."

The words hit me like something physical.

Water started to fall down from my eyes automatically. My vision got blurry because of the water.

"It's okay," Rony whispered, pulling me close. "It's okay."

He hugged me tightly. I hugged him back and started crying loudly.

* sob sob sob *

* waah *

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...After some time....

I didn't know how long I cried. Long enough that my eyes ached. Still I was feeling like crying even more. But there was no water left in my eyes and my whole body was hurting. I was feeling like a living dead body.

" Alice, here, have some water. "

Rony offered me some water.

I took it and drank slowly. The cool water grounded me just enough to notice the room again — the soft light, the faint sound of the sea somewhere beyond the walls, the weight of Rony's presence beside me.

I handed the glass back. "Thank you."

Rony set the glass aside and sat down beside me. Placed his hand over mine. And hesitated for a moment, I could feel him gathering himself. Then started to talk.

" Alice." His voice was low, careful. "I don't know what to say to comfort you. And I know nothing can comfort you right now. So all I can do and say right now is, I'm with you and my parents are also with you. Even if they can't make it in person just yet. They heard everything. They will be here as soon as they can." He squeezed my hand. "So please try your best to live on, don't give up. I know it feels impossible right now. But I'm not going anywhere. I'll be with you, for as long as you need me, for the rest of my life if it comes to that." "

My eyes filled again. I didn't trust my voice, so I didn't use it. I just leaned forward and hugged him, pressing my face into his shoulder.

" I understand." I managed, barely above a whisper.

* sobbing *

He held me without saying anything more. And for now, that was enough.

Right now, Rony was the only family I had left. The thought of losing him too was unbearable, more than I could let myself think about. And yet, at the same time, some quiet and terrible part of me whispered that I didn't want to be here anymore. That the weight of this was too much to carry.

I wasn't brave enough to ask what had happened in full. Not yet. Not today. The details were out there waiting for me, and I knew they would have to come eventually but right now, I didn't have the strength to face them.

So I made a decision, small and fragile as it was: I would let things be, for now. I would breathe. I would stay.

That was all I could do.

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......To Be continued......

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