Mirage (ON HOLD for revision)

Chapter 12: Wake up, Mari

Matt could only say what he thought was true to the best of his knowledge, “I don’t know.”

She hasn’t spoken since. It was fine, Mari often keeps quiet like that anyway.

Dropping his backpack on the floor even as he rummaged in it for a book, Matt leaned against the wall and started reading just loud enough for Mari, had she been conscious or listening, to hear.

It was Mari’s favorite story, a short story she read in their textbook in Fourth Grade. It took ten minutes for Matt to read. Afterwards, he would replace it in his bag and start massaging Mari’s legs the way the nurse taught him to. Somehow, Matt suspected it wasn’t really important, that the nurse only taught him that because he kept staring at Mari for hours, but he did it anyway. There was nothing else to do after all, except on Fridays when Matt does his homework.

“I talked to Dad last night,” Matt said quietly, “he’s still stuck at work. But he sends his regards.”

Nothing.

The silence stretched for an hour, suddenly broken by the old woman’s wail which sounded more like a shriek. The nurses rushed inside, and then they called for a doctor. The doctor flashed his little flashlight in the old woman’s eyes, and then injected something in her right arm. After five seconds, she was in deep slumber.

“Still here?” the doctor asked Matt, adopting a lively tone.

“Yes,” Matt simply replied, “Is she dead?”

Just as the doctor’s question wasn’t meant to offend, to ask why he was still there, Matt’s question was nothing but pure curiosity. Or perhaps, subconsciously, everyone thought it wasn’t as innocent as the face of he who asked.

“No, Matt,” the doctor replied, patting Matt’s head, “she’s just sleeping. She was in pain earlier so I gave her something to put her to sleep.”

Matt looked at the old woman curiously, then at Mari. “I guess you can’t give Mari something to make her sleep, huh,” Matt said absentmindedly, sounding like a question.

 “Your sister just woke up a couple of hours ago. It would be good for her to stay awake for a while,” the doctor replied. “Want me to check your heart?” the doctor asked animatedly as if they were going to play some sort of game.

“It’s alright now,” Matt simply replied as if in decline, but he stretched out his hand anyway, “It tingles sometimes, but it doesn’t hurt.”

“I see,” the doctor said noncommittally as he studied the scar on Matt’s wrist. “Did your sister say anything?”

“No, not really. I read her the story again. I guess it’s boring to her now that I’ve read it so many times,” Matt replied.

The doctor let out a wry, awkward laugh, obviously forced. “I’m sure that’s not the case. Why don’t you bring her favorite mixed tape next time, if she has one? I’ll see if one of the nurses has something to play it on. It’ll be our secret,” the doctor said as he softly replaced Matt’s hand on tap of Mari’s.

“OK,” Matt replied.

“Did any of their relatives drop by today?” the doctor asked once they were outside the room.

Matt used to listen to their conversations for lack of anything better to do. The repetitiveness finally got to him; hearing the same questions and the same answers was hardly any fun for a ten year old.

“No. I spoke to them last the other day, same thing. They said to call them once it’s ok to take the girl out. I tried calling again yesterday and today but they’re not picking up,” the nurse replied.

“OK. Have someone get the kid a sandwich. And if he brings a CD tomorrow, borrow a player from the staff and teach him how to use it,” the doctor replied. “Those idiots, they expect her to get well all by herself. She needs an expert, god damn it!”

Even the doctor was beginning to lose his patience.

Just before six, the nurse came in and gave Matt a sandwich. Once the nurse left, Matt tore a small, bite-size piece and slipped the rest in his bag. He pressed the piece against Mari’s lips. She ignored him, just like all the other days. He did it in front of the nurse once. She put a hand on Matt’s shoulder and pointed at a bag filled with yellowish liquid hanging from what looked like the coat rack at home. She said that it’s Mari’s food, so it’s ok if Matt eats the sandwich by himself. OK, Matt said then, and never did it in front of the nurses again.

After sunset, Matt picked up his bag and gave Mari’s hand a light squeeze.

“See you tomorrow, Mari,” Matt whispered and left.

The three day camp which starts on the following completely escaped Matt’s mind. Once he came back, he was forbidden to go out of the house, locked inside since it was the weekend, because his uncle and aunt were going out of town. Matt spent those two days in Mari’s room, staring out a hole in the covered window, waiting for the couple to return. As soon as they got back, before they could completely open the door, Matt slipped past them and broke into a run, grabbing his rusty old back on the way and headed for the hospital.

He did not stop to greet the guard, and the guard, although surprised to see him, let him run through without protest. He was a familiar sight to everyone, although everyone was also surprised to see him running. It was different from the usual poker face and measured footsteps. By the time he burst through the ward Mari was in, he was already out of breath.

“Matt!”

 Matt held onto the doorframe as he took deep breaths. His eyes clouded for a second as his brain fogged from lack of oxygen. He continued to take deep breaths, one after the other, all the while wondering if he was hallucinating or not. Despite the ringing in his hears, the loud bass his desperate heart makes, he was sure heard Mari call his name.