Beep. Beep. Beep.
The distant, high-pitched rhythm of a heart rate monitor echoed inside her head, like the ripple of a church bell tolling through the air at midnight. Her mind was a haze, eyes fluttering ever so slightly open only to view a world of pristine white walls through blurry lenses.
...Where am I...?
This question lingered in her mind for a moment. A mixed tang of lemony cleaning products and pungent bleach wafted through to her nostrils, a scent she hadn't inhaled in what felt like decades. The crisp, cool sensation of bedsheets encompassed her slender body like a baby wrapped in a swaddle.
Her vision cleared, ever so slightly. The grand plafond she half expected to see overhead for some reason, did not exist to greet her this morning. All her eyes stared vacantly at was a bitterly familiar, plain white ceiling.
In a practised movement, she gingerly sat herself upright without jostling her arm - the prick of a needle caused her skin to tingle with discomfort. She carefully removed the oxygen mask from her face, a strand of brown hair falling over her shoulder as she did this.
This place is...
As her dull brown eyes roamed over the familiar plainly-furnished and pristine room, she sighed very softly. A square window with plain curtains allowed light to pour over the mundane room. The only splash of decor in sight was the glass bottle of white aster flowers dappled with yellow, sitting languidly on the sill.
That, and the clumsy painting of a white bird - pinned to the wall. A gift from a child patient she had befriended during her time here. Though the illustration resembled a chicken, he had proudly proclaimed it was "A majestic Phoenix who could protect her from any harm."
Remembering the way his small face simpered confidently as he said this, jogged her memories ever so slightly.
Right, I'm in the hospital...
Where else would I be?
She laughed sardonically in her head, but her lips didn't have the energy to smile. The crippling sensation through her body was as painful and difficult to bear as she remembered. For some strange reason, her mind felt a little bit too blank. As though she just experienced the wildest of dreams, only to forget everything about it the moment she woke up to reality.
But this time, something about it was strange.
She couldn't shake the feeling that something salient was hiding in the shadows of her mind. A memory locked tightly away - yet to be revealed. Did that dream have something to do with it? Whatever it was, she couldn't recall it now.
...Oh well. If I forgot about it, it probably wasn't that big of a deal.
Just then, the subdued click of the door resonated through the room, and a familiar middle-aged man stepped inside. His deep blue eyes brightened with a smile at the sight of her, the white coat adorning his slender figure almost as blinding as the rest of the room.
"Miss Hanna, you're awake! How are you feeling?"
His cheerful voice felt like a siren in her ears. Wincing, Hanna averted her gaze and slowly lowered her head back against the pillow.
"...Like crap."
Her succinct response elicited an amused chuckle from the bespectacled doctor, hair like sunshine curled around a handsome face that beamed at her radiantly. The soles of his shoes clopped delicately over the tiled flooring as he moved towards the window with that familiar, swanlike grace.
"It's such a beautiful day out! After I check your vitals, do you want to go for a walk with me?" The doctor's voice melodiously resonated through the air and his chirpy energy somewhat distracted Hanna from the pain jolting throughout her body for a moment.
Though he made that offer, the both of them knew it was going to be just him doing the walking. Simultaneously laying their eyes on the silver wheelchair in the room, Hanna heaved a sigh. "I would rather stay indoors for today, Doctor. I still have a novel to write, after all."
"Ehhh?" The blonde man's lips pressed into a slightly petulant look, like that of a pouting child. "Again? Come now, keep an uncle company, would you? You really love that story of yours more than anything."
For the first time in what felt like a while, Hanna nodded her head with a wan smile. The laptop resting at her bedside table glossed over and reflecting the edges of the boxy walls of the hospital room.
"It's hard to explain. But I feel a strange connection to this story. Perhaps because it's the first one I've ever written myself."
The doctor was quiet for a moment, but she could feel his gaze transfixed to her smile. As she glanced up at the bespectacled blonde, her usually dull brown eyes glistened like golden honey under the sunlight.
"I want to finish it before I run out of time."
Those words were so full of effervescent hope, despite the gravity of death looming over her like an invisible, dark cloud. For as long as she had been here - everyone at the hospital, including Hanna herself, was aware of the singular path she had left to walk.
She was dying. But the fear of it hadn't consumed her. Not even as her health deteriorated and her life slowly ebbed away. Right now, her body was holding tightly onto the little energy it had left. But Hanna stood at the cusp of life and death.
Human nature was geared towards fearing the unknown. Death was often a topic many wished to avoid, for the pall of dread accompanying it instilled terror in those who could not handle the idea of what came next. It was the only thing no living human could comprehend. Not until it happened to them.
Hanna had every right to be suffering and wrought with such horrors in her final days. She was still young, having barely reached adulthood before everything changed. Even her doctor often prodded at her feelings to try and draw out her inner fears - to leak out her frustrations and let him comfort her. Even at death's door, she deserved to feel loved before departing.
But the determination in those honey-golden eyes glistened with more life than he had seen in any living human. Her weak smile radiated with an independent strength that melted all the frigid sadness away. Even as she suffered from her wilting body, Hanna never gave up on her lifelong dream.
Time was of the essence. If she couldn't finish her novel while she was still around, she would die without having ever reached her goals. Her life would have been a failed one. Rather than fearing death itself, she was afraid of dying before being able to do what was most important to her.
The doctor's smile stretched over his face like warm butter whenever he heard her talk with such a dreamy and devoted look on her face. She was so admirable - one of the strongest patients he ever had. As Hanna watched him step closer to her, she blinked quizzically when he gently placed a hand to her head. The affectionate gesture made her slightly confused.
"...Doctor?"
He continued to smile at her, before a soft chuckle resounded from his chiselled lips. "I've finally found you."
Hanna blinked.
Finally found me?
What a strange thing to say...
Just as she began to contemplate the implications of his words, a strange darkness began to fog Hanna's mind.
"Huh...?"
Her body began to slowly fall into a numbness as her thoughts dwindled into nothingness.
What's happening...?
Hanna closed her eyes, descending into another long, sempiternal slumber. But before her mind turned completely off, she heard the familiar voice of her doctor whispering something to her once again. His dulcet tones were kind and comforting, and helped her feel at ease. As though she was falling asleep in a bed of flowers.
"Don't worry, Hanna. Your body just needs a little more time, so get some rest. We can talk later."
"..."
"I promise I'll do everything in my power to assist you. After all..."
"He asked me to watch over you. And I don't plan on letting him down. Ever again."
______________________
NOTE
A bit of a short chapter and a look into the life of Irene's past self with a not-so-mysterious figure who suddenly became more relevant 👀
I like how although this is supposed to be a romance novel, I've been so caught up in the rest of the plot that the actual main relationship has become like a second thought to me. This story has me really immersed as ideas keep coming to mind, and it definitely will be growing a bit heavier/tense in the coming chapters.
But don't worry, romance will blossom ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) Soon our cute little charas aren't gonna be so little anymore.
Also, here are the results from the mini poll I linked several chapters ago. To the 34 readers who actually voted, thank you all so much for participating! I actually found the outcome pretty surprising lmao.
These were the results (as of 6th May 2023).
Considering the fact that I'm always receiving comments begging for Mikael to be ML, I was expecting the results to bend towards him as well. But Daniel ended up in the lead and remained in the lead throughout this entire time 😂 at one point he had 10 votes more than Mikael. It actually makes me happy there's a lot of people silently supporting Daniel because I'm always seeing "MAKE THE ML MIKAEL!!!" in the comments.
Just a reminder that this poll won't influence my end decision on ML and I will solely write based on my feelings and what my gut tells me is best. I just did this to get a rough idea on readers' opinions :'D
I'll do a survey like this again in the future just to see how things fair out. As of now, I'll officially be closing this poll. I hope more readers vote in the next one whenever I decide to do it :'D Also, we're so close to 400k reads, which is a pretty huge milestone. I've already written the next chapter in advance so I'll publish it as soon as 400k has been passed.
Thank you all so much for reading, as always! Please stay tuned for the next chapter ~ (' ▽｀)