A loud ringing sound filled his head. Miyano tired to tune it out, he wanted to stay in the blissful darkness. The ringing was insistent. He groaned, slamming the pillow to his head. The ringing seeped in anyway. Next there was banging. He growled under the pillow. He just wanted the world to go away. If Sasaki..
The name made him sit up. He blinked. How had he gotten back to his room? The last thing he recalled was running out of the bakery.
"Answer your phone. Why is this door locked?" his mother called form the other side of his bedroom door.
"Um, I don't know. When did I get a lock on my door?" Miyano asked.
"Just answer the phone!" He mother called again. "I need to sleep." He heard her footsteps stumble back toward her room.
Miyano picked up the phone. The screen showed Sasaki was calling. Tentatively he hit the answer button. Nothing happened other than the ringing stopped. He waited a moment.
"H, hello?" he said.
"Miya?" the soft voice answered. "I'm in the hospital can you come?" Sasaki sounded out of it.
"What hospital? What happened?" Miyano was out of bed. He scrabbled to find clothing while keeping the phone between his ear and shoulder. Sasaki gave him the name of the hospital.
"Please hurry." The phone went silent as those words lingered in the boys ear.
Suddenly, while tying his shoe, Miyano recalled his frantic run to he bakery. How long ago was that? He wondered. He looked at his fully charged phone. It was just after midnight. He frowned. He didn't recall checking the time when Sasaki texted all those blank messages. Wait, how long was he in the hospital? Ash told him hospitals are the most haunted places...
Miyano ran from his room. He snatched his jacket off of the hook as he dashed down the steps away from his apartment. He ran all the way to the train station. The train pulled in. Miyano tapped his hand against his leg waiting for the few late night passengers to exit. He jumped inside.
The doors swished close. He was off. He didn't know what was going to happen. Hugging himself he curled up on the seat as the train sped on toward Sasaki. What happened? Miyano wondered. He recalled the blank texts, how he tried to call back, how Sasaki wasn't real...
Miyano let out a moan at that last thought. No, that wasn't right. He wasn't crazy! Sasaki was real! They were friends! They... the tears rained down his face as he hugged his legs tightly to him. He pulled his phone out. Flipping to his messages he saw Sasaki's face smiling up at him. The pain in his chest eased a little.
He opened their text conversation. There wasn't any blank texts. The last text was Miyano sending the question mark but Sasaki had only texted to verify where they were meeting the day before. Miyano shivered. Was this real? Was he...
He shook his head. Pressing the call button on another picture he waited. Three rings, just as the fourth started, it ended. A groggy voice answered.
"Hello?" it said.
"Hirano, you know Sasaki, right?" Miyano asked dreading the answer.
"Miyano, what's wrong?" Hirano sounded more awake now. When Miyano didn't answer he went on.
"Of course I know Sasaki. We have been friends since middle school." He stated.
"Then, then I'm not... it is all real?" Miyano muttered.
"Miyano tell me..." Hirano began.
"Sasaki is in the hospital. I'm on my way to see him." Miyano said.
"Wait? What happened?" Hirano cried.
"I don't know." Miyano whispered.
"OK, I'll meet you there." He hung up.
"Sure." Miyano told the silence.
He spent the next few minutes flipping through the pictures on his phone. He had several of him with Sasaki. The train eventually pulled into the stop Miyano wanted. Hurriedly he got off. He walked out of the station checking to see which direction he needed to go. Out here the dark was illuminated by many signs, street lamps or other buildings, it didn't seem so lonely.
Miyano figured out where he needed to go. He set off to walk the few blocks. He followed the GPS on his phone until he saw the hospital. Walking in he glanced around. No one was at the information booth. He was sure it was past visiting hours. How was he going to find where Sasaki's room was?
He looked down at his phone. Clenching his fingers around it he tried to think. A voice broke his concentration.
"Did he tell you what room he is in?" Hirano appeared beside Miyano.
"Uh, no." the smaller boy shook his head.
"What an idiot. Call him then or we won't be able to find him." Hirano instructed.
Oh right. Miyano sighed grateful to know what to do. He pressed the call button under Sasaki's photo.
"Miya?" the soft voice asked.
"What room are you in?" Miyano demanded, his worry making his voice come out harsher than he intended.
"Um, hold on..." Miyano heard some rustling then Sasaki was back.
"313." He said.
"On my way." Miyano hung up telling Hirano the room number.
The boys headed to the elevator. Hirano pressed the button for the third floor. When the door opened again it was to a dimly lit area. They stepped out. The elevators appeared to be in their own short hallway. Hirano led the way around a wall. Here life seemed to be normal. The nurses were at their station, the lights were bright overhead. Hirano walked confidently down the hallway. Meekly Miyano followed behind him.
They found Sasaki's room. Hirano didn't even knock. He pushed the door open. The bed closest to them was neatly made. There was a light on over the next bed. Hirano walked around the curtain. Sasaki looked up at him. He opened his mouth to say something, when Miyano stepped from behind the blond.
"Miya!" Sasaki held his arms out.
In rush of relief, Miyano dashed forward. He wrapped his arms around the tall ginger's neck.
"You're alive!" they both cried hugging each other tightly.
"What is going on here?" Hirano asked.
"How did you end up in the hospital?" He added when it looked like the two before him weren't going to answer the first question.
"I, um, well." Sasaki scratched at his head.
Miyano sat on the edge of his bed. He told Sasaki about his weird dream. How the old woman said she hadn't had a son.
"That's odd." Sasaki muttered.
"My sister is nearly five years older than me. Mom had three miscarriages between her and I. At least two were boys." He explained.
"So, what if you went to another reality?" Hirano said.
"One where Sasaki's parents stopped trying before they had him." He offered.
"Um, maybe. But until now, I didn't know that." Miyano muttered.
"Tell us how you ended up here." Hirano took a seat in the chair facing the bed.
"Well, I left the train station..." Sasaki began.
He told them how he left Miyano at the train station. He had walked out to the sidewalk. There had been a rush of people just as he exited the doors. He was swept up in it. For awhile it made him feel warm, happy even. He tried to shake off the image of Miyano that he had seen before getting on the train.
Then as he came up to the crosswalk, he stopped behind several people. Looking up, he saw that the light was red so he waited. He thought about texting Miyano but didn't think the boy was home yet. He was just putting his phone away, when he felt someone bump into him.
Sasaki looked up as he staggered forward. He had been certain that there had been at least ten people before him waiting to cross the road. The cross light was still red, but now he was first in line. The bump made him stagger forward. He felt the car hit him.
He recalled flying upward, but not landing. He explained how he saw himself flying among the clouds for a long time. A voice called to him. It sounded like his sister. He floated back down, but it was so cold. He didn't want to wake up. He could hear beeping sounds and muffled voices.
"The next thing I knew I was in an emergency room. My mom and sister were beside me." He told the boys listening to him.
"The doctor said I would be ok, but thought I had a pretty severe concussion. They wanted to keep me in here over night." Sasaki muttered.
"Where's your mom now?" Miyano asked.
"I told her I would be fine. That she should go home to get some sleep. She did." Sasaki muttered.
"So, why did you call him?" Hirano pointed to Miyano.
"I've been hearing whispered voices..." Sasaki mumbled.
"Not this haunted stuff again?" Hirano complained.
"Stop it!" Miyano cried. He glared at the blond.
"Sasaki is a sensitive. He can sense spirits or things like that. Hospitals are horribly haunted!" He cried. Reaching over he took Sasaki's hand.
"The emotional scaring that goes on here, the dying the whatever! It leaves a mark!" He explained.
"I'm really glad you came." Sasaki smiled.
"You should get some sleep." Miyano offered.
Sasaki rolled over curling his arms around the boy. He laid his head against the soft chest. The steady beating rhythm of the teen's heart lulled him into a sense of security he heard Hirano mutter something about being cute. Sasaki smiled tightening his hold as he felt Miyano covering up his shoulders.