Anaesthesia. oneshot

Anaesthesia

That day, Miu was only supposed to drive Lena home.

The wisdom tooth extraction had taken less than an hour. The dentist assured them everything had gone perfectly, and before discharging Lena, gave just one warning: the medication hadn't completely worn off yet, so for the next couple of hours, she might say whatever happened to come into her head.

Miu nodded knowingly.

She'd seen dozens of videos like that.

People coming out of anesthesia usually asked about dinosaurs, cried over cats, or became convinced they could talk to the ceiling.

Nothing unusual.

So when Lena stepped out of the treatment room, walking carefully and staring at her own hands as though she'd never seen them before, Miu could barely hold back a smile.

"Everything okay?"

Lena didn't look up right away.

Then she studied Miu.

Very carefully.

Far too carefully.

"You're real."

"I certainly hope so."

"Good."

She nodded to herself with deep satisfaction, as though she'd just solved a very important problem.

"I was afraid I'd imagined you."

...

They walked slowly toward the car.

Lena stopped several times to look at the clouds.

Then she asked why pigeons never smiled.

A little later, she apologized very seriously to a trash can because she'd accidentally looked at it too sharply.

By then, Miu was almost getting used to all of this.

She helped Lena into the passenger seat, fastened her seatbelt, and was just about to close the door when Lena suddenly caught hold of her sleeve.

"Wait."

"What is it?"

Lena frowned.

"I have to tell you something."

"You can tell me later. Let's get you home first."

"No."

She shook her head with such determination that Miu stopped without thinking.

"If I wait... I'll get scared again."

This time, the words sounded different.

The usual haze was gone.

Miu crouched beside the open door.

"What are you scared of?"

Lena looked at her for a long time, as though trying to remember the right words.

Then she said quietly,

"That you'll stop being my friend."

Miu smiled despite herself.

"I won't."

"Everyone says that."

"Lena."

"No, let me finish."

She looked incredibly serious.

About as serious as anyone could look with one swollen cheek and an ice pack in their hands.