Tethered

Chapter 1

"WAKE UP!" You jolted awake to the sudden sound. Frazzled, you looked around the room to see where you were. Pasty white walls and the faint sound of a heart monitor met your senses. Looking down, you saw many tubes connected to your arms. As you reached to touch your face, you noticed you had a breathing tube connected to your face. Where am I? What happened? Oh yeah I got hit by a truck. But I'm here, so I'm alive right? Phew.

"(Y/N)-CHANNNNNNNNN!!!!!!" The sudden noise startled you and you turned your head to the left just in time to be embraced by someone. "(Y/N)-channnnnn. I'm so glad you're okayyyyyyy....."

What? "-chan"? What the... Nobody calls me that. The person hugging you sounded familiar, like a distant memory from the back of your mind had finally resurfaced and was trying to scratch its way out.

"I was so worried about you. Are you okay? Do you need anything? Food, water, anything?" That scratching at the back of your head worsened; you definitely knew who this girl was. Who? A name, just give me a name.

"(Y/N)-chan?" THINK BRAIN, THINK. The girl was very pretty, with cascading brown hair that formed itself into a thick braid halfway through. She had slightly tanned skin and large oceanic blue eyes. WHY WON'T YOU GIVE ME ANSWER? STUPID BRAIN. Suddenly, as if someone had lit a spark in your mind, you found a name.

"MEI?!" You were most certainly taken aback from the girl sitting in front of you. The Mei you knew definitely didn't look like this. Your Mei had brown hair, yes, but it was a darker color and was usually pulled back into a smaller braid. Her eyes were also definitely not blue; in fact you remembered them as a dark brown, almost black. Hey didn't she have a beauty mark above her lip?

"You remember me! That's good, at least you don't have amnesia." You rubbed the back of your neck. Everything felt sore.

"Uh, where am I? Last thing I remember was getting run over." Mei cocked a brow and tilted her head a bit in confusion.

"You fell off the roof, (Y/N)-chan; everyone at school saw it. You've...been asleep for a while. We were starting to worry that you wouldn't wake up." Mei looked down to her lap and twiddled her thumbs. After a long pause of silence she looked up at you with teary, closed eyes and a large grin. "But you're here now! And you're going to be okay." Huh?

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Your mother and sister came by the hospital shortly after Mei left. You didn't notice any drastic changes between the two, but your sister had her hair in two pigtails instead of keeping it down. Your mother cried at the sight of you being awake and promptly left to talk to the doctors about your health. You were left with your little sister, who was playing a game on her phone in the seat next to your bed.

"Ai?" Your sister looked up and turned to you with a bored expression on her face.

"Eh? Did you need something?" Ai set down her phone and turned to face you.

"How long was I asleep for? I can't... remember much before I blacked out." Your sister looked down and refused to meet your eyes.

"You've been in a coma for about a month. The doctors were starting to lose hope and planned to unplug you from life support today. It's a good thing you woke up. I would never forgive you for going and dying on me!" your sister huffed and crossed her arms with a pout. You raised a brow at her. Your sister never acted like this. What the f*ck is going on?

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For some strange reason you had no problem walking after you were discharged from the hospital. Wouldn't my legs be all jelly after lying in bed for a month?

"Dear, do you think you'll be able to go back to school soon? I don't want you to fall behind the other students," your mother said as you boarded the train.

"School? Uh.." Shoot. What school do I go to again? "Sure mom."

"Hopefully you can come back for the start of the new semester. Don't worry dear, you'll be fine." I guess.