Kotori sat in a white room and looked through the glass wall in front of her. On the other side of the glass was her childhood friend and girlfriend, Umi. She couldn't even remember when or how it happened. It hit so suddenly that it took until now to realize the gravity of the situation.
Umi was talking with another doctor in the other room. Kotori couldn't hear a thing, but Umi spoke with a smile on her face. Why was she so happy? Does she understand what's going to happen?
She looked down at Umi's arms. It had been a month since the condition hit but she was quickly unable to walk. Kotori thought back to what Umi had called it.
Emery-Dreifuss. A rare muscular dystrophy disorder that affects primarily the skeletal and heart muscles.
It all started with Umi complaining about the pain in her ankles, elbows and neck. Then her muscles started to weaken and waste away. Within a month, she was unable to draw her bowstring back any longer. It proved difficult for her to even get out of bed every morning.
Last weekend was where it all started spiraling down. It happened while the two of them were relaxing in Umi's room. When Kotori left to grab some snacks, she returned to see that Umi had fainted onto the floor. She panicked and dropped everything in her hands to help Umi. She felt for a pulse, it was there, but it was unusually slow, much slower than an average person.
After arriving at the hospital, it took a couple of hours for them to regulate Umi's heart rate and return her back to whatever was normal for her condition.
She looked through the glass and watched as Umi waved the doctor goodbye. It pained Kotori to see the ocean blue haired girl inside of that room. Umi wanted to grow up and become a biomedical scientist and this was the most ironic twist of events.
Umi had always boasted about curing kids of diseases and that she would discover the cures to save the world. But here she was, unable to even help herself.
Kotori stared intently at Umi through the glass wall. She wanted to feel Umi's touch again, but she was no longer allowed to enter the room in the fear of injuring Umi's deteriorating muscle condition.
However the glass wall did have a few holes in it for the two of them to communicate. Umi looked over at the saddened Kotori and smiled. Why are you smiling like that at me?
Kotori pulled her chair forward and put on her best smile, "Hey Umi-chan..."
"Hi, Kotori..." Umi raised her arm weakly and placed it against the glass wall. Kotori responded by placing her own hand on the glass where Umi's was, "I miss touching you..."
Kotori nodded and noticed a few tears starting to roll down Umi's cheeks, "Umi-chan what's wrong? Are you hurt?"
"I don't have long, Kotori..." she replied.
Kotori felt her heart sink and her hand dropped from the glass, "What do you mean?"
"The condition... They said that they can't stop it... Eventually I'll go into cardiac arrest..." Umi explained.
"What? Why aren't they doing their job?! They're supposed to cure you!" Kotori's voice raised and she pounded on the glass.
The force of the hit vibrated through the glass and into Umi's hand, causing her to retreat in pain.
"Umi-chan, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do that..." Kotori calmed herself as best as she could, "There has to be something we can do... What about the research you have done?"
Umi began to explain all the research that she had done on her condition. She used large and scientific words so it was hard for Kotori to follow. Her head started to hurt and she couldn't understand any of it. She felt useless, she couldn't do anything to save the girl that she loved.
"I'm sorry, Umi-chan... I don't understand any of this medical stuff... I can't do anything for you..." Kotori hung her head and stared at her feet.
Several silent minutes passed as the couple stared at the ground in disbelief. They weren't allowed to do the things that they loved. Kotori wanted to hold Umi in her arms and tell her that everything would be alright. She wanted to kiss and hold hands with her girlfriend but the glass wall prevented them from doing so.
There was still so much that they wanted to do. So much that they wanted to experience together, but this glass wall kept them apart. Umi couldn't go anywhere any longer, she had to stay in this dreaded white room for the rest of her life hooked up to a machine to help her heart beat normally.
Umi took a deep breath and smiled gently at Kotori, "It's okay Kotori, thank you for everything..."
"What're you saying? This isn't goodbye, Umi-chan!" Kotori pushed herself against the glass.
"Let's just chat while we still have time together..." Umi replied.
From that moment on, the two of them spent everyday talking to each other. Kotori always had a story to tell after school and Umi was always there to listen. They didn't talk about any of the technical stuff, they promised each other that they would chat like they used to.
They weren't able to touch each other, but there was no doubt that the two of them were connected. They felt what each other felt. They laughed together, and smiled together up until Umi's last moments. Even as her heart slowly gave out, she glanced at Kotori through the glass wall and smiled one last time.