Disclaimer: This is based of Harry Potter, which is J.K Rowling's. Title based off Richard Siken's poem 'the long and short of it'
Sometimes he wakes up to a meadow, with the sun in the sky and the wind playing across his hair. Ginny is there, and her red hair is everywhere, and she just smells so good. He's happy in the meadow, at least, he thinks he is, he can't really tell his feelings on his own anymore (nor does he want to), but he can feel this beginnings of a smile tug at his lips (he doesn't let it go further than that, until he's sure he's happy), then he looks at Ginny and she is laughing and smiling so he decides that he's happy
HP
Sometimes he wakes up on a boulder in the middle of the ocean (it looks like it) during a storm, and he's alone and his back hurts, and his head is pounding, and there's no sun, there's no meadow, not a spot of red anywhere (he tries to make himself bleed later to remind himself of the colour of her) He can't hear himself, but he knows that he's screaming, maybe for rescue (but really nonsensical bullshit is slipping from his lips) He's sad on this boulder, at least he thinks he is, Ginny isn't there, and Ginny has now become his everything, and so that decides it, he's sad (it's logic really)
HP
Other times (the moments have become few and far between) he is lucky enough to wake up in his hospital bed with Ginny curled in the seats, and he can see red everywhere. This time, she kisses him like she hasn't seen him in years and he realises that he must have been gone a while (he tries to ignore the fact that he will leave again, it's fact) This time, Ginny isn't smiling like she was in the meadow but she's trying and since he can't see himself, he can't figure out whether he's happy (he settles for happy because Ginny is there) she talks nonsensical things to him and he tries to respond to the best of his ability (he tries to make her laugh). When she stops babbling, she looks at him for a long time and he looks at her and sees that she's smiling (happy) but on the verge of tears (happy?), and he's so confused so he asks for a mirror
Ron and Hermione visit later and they look happy (he can't bring himself to mirror them, they don't matter like she does) They stay for a while and they talk and talk but he can't bring himself to listen. Ron talks to him about Quidditch and Hermione about the ministry but he doesn't care about any of that (when did he stop caring about anything other than her) He can't find Ginny and he thinks of the meadow, (he was happier there, he thinks) she was always there, and he can't find her here (selfish). She comes back immediately after Ron and Hermione leave and he's happy again because she looks happy (he thinks) He holds her hand and she smiles again, and this steels his resolve, he will wake up in the room again, to make her happy, because she's more important than anything else (this will make him happy too)
HP
He wakes up to the meadow and for the life of him, he can't remember why he left (happy)