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◇° CHAPTER 10: Encounter °◇
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To see is to make believe.
To hear is no choice.
But to touch, is another tale.
~mirthykayla
Accepting her fate, she started walking around the hospital. No, she couldn't walk through walls but people who did bump into her felt nothing while she felt the impact.
It felt a little depressing not being able to drink tea and not being able to cheer someone up. Those are the two things she loved most about being Hazel Dora Keenan.
She danced to the security guy's music and felt lighter. There's nothing stopping her from doing whatever she likes. Not money, not food and definitely not her deepest fear of wasting time. She was already dead!
She laughed as she crossed the road, the music still playing in her ears.
"Nothing is stopping me now!" She yelled towards the sky. "What now? Am I stuck like this until my mom decided to unplug the machines? What should I do now? Are you giving me a chance to fix something? Tell me!" She grew angrier with every word.
She stomped off, not heading anywhere in particular. She somehow knew that being too far from her body is a bad idea.
The music in her head was still playing, like the security was following her from hospital. She didn't mind it though, midnight blues are always very melodic.
She caught a reflection of herself on a glass window by a store further down street. Her skin looked better than what her actual body looked like in hospital. She had color, her lips were healthy and her hands were as soft as she always knew them.
Before she knows it, she was on top of a building. Looking at the beautiful scenery of the city before her. It looked too familiar. She hadn't realised time fly by, it was already sunrise. The small breeze made her hair move to her face.
But that's not what made her blood freeze,
"Hazel?" Shock and joy laced together in one word from a voice that sent shivers down her spine.
Could he see her? She refused to turn around in case she was hallucinating.
"Am I hallucinating? Fuck, fuck, fuck..." It was Matthew, Hazel turned to see him. He thought he was hallucinating just as she thought she was. It had to be amusing.
He was rubbing his eyes, then he turned around to give her his back.
"How the hell did I even end up here?" Hazel asked with a low voice, she knew this looked familiar but she didn't think she was on Matthew's rooftop. This is where they spent their mornings, watching the sun rise with cups of steaming camomile tea.
She took slow steps towards Matthew, "Matt, you're not hallucinating." She felt her eyes sting. "I'm here," she tried to touch his shoulder...much to her dismay, her hand went through him.
Matthew finally turned and looked right through her, "I don't know if you can hear me because you're not dead...but if you can, I really miss you Haze." His voice broke. "I even see shadows of you if not silhouettes every now and then." He laughed dryly, then reached into his pockets, fishing out a cigarette and a lighter.
When had Matthew started smoking? Hazel staggered back. From both sadness and disappointment. She thought for a moment there that Matt could see her, and now he was smoking?! How long had she been in coma?
She took him in, from head to toe. He looked so different! Distressed and out of shape.
Matthew was one to keep his body in shape but now, he had a small belly fat showing on his tight long sleeve vest. His beard was all over the place! His hair...Jesus Christ.
"What the hell, Matt?" Hazel laughed until her eyes teared up again. "You look horrible!" She doubled over.
Matthew only scoffed at his own thoughts, smoked and went back inside where she followed him. She observed him from a distance as he dragged his feet around. She understood what he felt, she missed him too but she wouldn't have ever thought it was this bad!
She needed to know how long she'd been laying there, but today she'd spend the day with Matt. Following him around like a lost puppy that she currently was.
He prepared to begin his dreaded day. Matthew always loved waking in the morning to get ready for work. But now, he wanted to wake up and see Hazel's face. Not his God forbidden hallucinations! He banged his hand in the kitchen counter, causing his wrist to ache. He abandoned his breakfast and stood, rubbing the wrist. Hazel was startled, she wanted to ask what was on his mind but, it is useless is it not? To ask questions when you're clearly inaudible?
She watched as he grabbed his motorcycle keys. This surprised Hazel who had hoped that he'd take a car so that she can steal a ride from him. How was she supposed to ride a motorcycle with a man who thought he was riding alone? She doesn't even know if she can teleport or do anything ghosts are said to be able to do. She doesn't even remember how she got here!
How can she make him take the car? She thought hard...but came with nothing.
Matthew was already exiting and she grew more frustrated, "Take the car, goddamnit! Please?" She crossed her fingers and hoped for the best.
Matthew looked at his palm, holding the keys and he put them back into the bowl, taking the car keys instead.
"Yes! Yes, yes, yes!" Hazel chirped and clapped her hands happily. She followed him into the garage and because she couldn't hold anything physical, she couldn't open her own door. She awkwardly climbed over Matthew, who seemed unbothered, to the back seat.
"So, where are we going love?" She asked happily from the back seat. Yearning to uplift his mood with her contagious bubbly self.
Matthew just sighed and drove off. Hazel sang to the songs playing in the radio, while Matt remained glum.
She noticed that he was heading for the hospital, and her singing ceased. She thought they were going to his workplace. She didn't want to watch him cry over her. Her mood soured as she watched and assessed his face.
He had dark circles around his eyes, his eyes showed red veins. This meant that he has not gotten proper sleep in months!
Her heart broke. She had been stupid not opening that parachute as soon as she was supposed to. Being an adrenaline junkie was bound to be her downfall. Now everyone was hurting more than she ever will. She had turned Matthew's life from successful to sour. She didn't even want to think about what her family was going through.
Tony was so excited about her accepting the offer she got from the state government. It meant she would be something like 20 minutes away.
Matthew had talked about moving in together, about spending more time together. He had wanted to patch up for lost time and pick up where they left off. She had loved the idea. And now...here they were. Stuck in different realms.
So near, yet too far.
"I was so stupid Matt, I'm really sorry. " She hurried out of the car before he closed the door. She didn't want to find out what would happen if he did.
Determination was written all over his face. She didn't understand what was going on. She wanted to know what was eating him up.
She was jogging next to him trying to match his long strides. They stopped by the receptionist and he was allowed in to her room.
Immediately when he got there, he took out a small box. "Hazel, if you can hear me, you need to wake up. I need you. I want to make you my wife and make you happy...please."
Hazel eyed the box with sadness. "I want to wake up too. You have no idea how ugly you look..." she giggled then continued, "I want to give you a proper haircut and shave off that beard. I want to take those morning jogs with you and watch you be the best version of yourself," her voice lowered with ever word, "I want to marry you too."
Matthew chuckled, "I'm hearing your voice in my head, Haze. I think I'm going insane." He rubbed his face, "This morning, the wind carried your scent. Where we drank tea together, remember? The cool breeze wafted into my nostrils with exactly how your skin smells. I can't explain it, but it was like rain and grass and cinnamon and...just natural! I didn't even realise I loved the smell of your skin until this morning! I know that smell and I love it! You need to come back before I get deranged." He sighed, slightly laughing.
Hazel decided it was useless to talk since he couldn't hear her so she sat next to him and looked at her body. As Matthew was talking about business and everything being better than a month ago, she touched herself, her physical self.
This caused her heart to skip a beat, of course the machine would register that and alert Matthew who then narrowed his eyes at it and back at her.
"You can hear me..." he whispered.
Hazel knew that Matthew was not asking her, he was clarifying. And for a moment she thought he is an idiot for believing that she can hear him just because the machine made an abnormal beat...it could be because of anything else but that.
She realised the hope in his eyes. It makes no sense to think someone in life support can hear you...but she understands where he comes from.
She then decided that she should respond in a way he would understand, she touched her physical hand again. Causing the heartbeat to skip again as a shiver ran down her spine.
Matthew broke into a grin, "I knew it! The doctors don't know you like I do. I need to tell your family..." he drew out his phone and Hazel panicked. Something in her was against that idea, so she hurriedly laid back onto the bed, and slowly leaned back towards her body.
It was like getting in a sleeping bag, the legs never felt threatened but as soon as the heads connected, the heart rate doubled and the machine went crazy.
This caused Matthew to stop, "You don't want me to do that?" He panicked for a moment.
Hazel wondered how she could say yes and she touched her own hand on the bed, causing the heartbeat to skip once. That was a yes!
"You better take that as a yes." She giggled watching his face glow.
"Okay, I won't tell your family. But what if they want to take you off life support? How do I stop them? What if money isn't the issue? Maybe they want closure. I think they need to know that there might be a chance of you waking up Haze, that way they will be more patient." He rambled on.
"Nobody wakes up from life support Matt, I'm really sorry. If my family wants to let me go, it is well within their rights and I'd advise them to go for it. You need to accept that I'm gone, Matt." She sat next to him and tried to brush his head. Of course she couldn't.
But Matthew felt something tugging at his heart. Maybe Hazel wanted her family to plug out her life support. He now knew she can hear and respond somehow, so she had accepted her fate and he felt like she would want him to do the same.
But he shook his head, "No, Hazel. I can't live without you! I mean...all those years we weren't together were bland. I never knew I was missing something until you...you made me fall in love with you again. Within a month! You're good at capturing souls..." he seemed deep in his thoughts, "...just as you capture those perfect moments with your camera." He chuckled.
Speaking of which, "Where is it? My camera?" Hazel asked, suddenly missing it.
It was always around her neck but she had not seen it that day she went for sky diving. She decided it wasn't a good idea anyway to drop from the sky with a camera around your neck, they used body cam to capture the moment.
Matthew just held her thin hand and took a nap on her lap.
"Oh Matthew, I'm really sorry." Her heart ached for him.
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Let the adventures begin.
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