(Aelita's POV)

Hospitals were boring. I could only remember being in the hospital when the supercomputer battery was dying, and even then I had been bored unless someone was around. It was past midnight now, so the place was fairly quiet other than the occasional scream of pain or a child's cry. I wrapped the pillow around my head, hoping to drown out the noise, but to no avail. I groaned loudly in frustration, already missing my dorm room. I closed my eyes, forcing myself to at least relax since sleep was nearly impossible.

"What about when she gets older?"

"She'll be fine, Dear. Medical science is advancing quickly, by the time this affects her there will already be a way to cure it."

"Mommy?" I called out to the darkness. "Daddy?"

I knew the voices were in my mind, but something made me call out. What was that memory? I closed my eyes again but the memory wasn't going to come back. My heart shuddered in my chest, causing me to curl up into a ball of pain and setting of an alarm from one of the machines. There was a rush of footsteps and someone shouting, but I was too focused on trying not to cry. Someone was trying to pull me from my position, two people pinning my legs to the bed and two people pinning my arms. A mask was forced over my mouth and the air tasted funny. There was a pinch in my arm and within seconds, I felt relaxed, almost dizzy.

"Aelita? Can you hear me?" Someone shined a light in my eye. I wanted to push their hand away but I couldn't move.

"I want my mommy," I muttered mindlessly.

"I'm here, Lita darling."

I couldn't tell where the voice was coming from, and the fact that I couldn't lift my head to try and find it was enough to send a couple tears from my eyes. As quickly as it came, I was able to move again, though I felt different. It hadn't passed in a mere few minutes, however, but almost two hours. I looked around the room, tired but my chest no longer hurting. A doctor sat in a chair in the corner, scribbling on a clipboard, his eyes practically glued to the machines connected to me.

"I'm hungry," I mumbled. The man jumped, staring at me for a moment before smiling.

"Welcome back!"

I frowned. "I didn't go anywhere."

He shrugged. "I guess to you you didn't. But to me it looked like you were stoned out of your mind, sleeping with your eyes open or something of the sort. Kind of like being hypnotized. It took the pain away though, didn't it?"

I stared at him, not sure what I was hearing. The man was completely insane. "Can I get something to eat?"

"Sorry, kiddo. Not until that stuff leaves your system. Don't need you zoning back out and choking." He walked over to me, shining a light in my eye. I swatted his hand away, glaring at him. "Feisty little thing, aren't you? Matches your hair."

"My hair is pink."

"Really? Looks red in this light." He held my wrist in his hand, staring at his watch. "So how long has your heart been hurting?"

"It's nothing. Can I go home soon?" The lack of sleep and explanations was starting to get to me and I was growing incredibly irritated with this man.

"Why are you so angry?"

I stared at my hands. I wasn't angry really, I was just scared. Jeremie had pointed out before that when I got scared I lashed out or ran away. I never really noticed until someone pointed it out though. I shrugged, curling up under my blankets, not wanting to talk anymore. "Can I just go to sleep?"

"Sure."

"What's your name again?" I asked with a yawn.

"I'm Dr. Schroeder."

I giggled, thinking how similar Schroeder and Schaeffer sounded in my drugged mind. I could feel myself falling into a deep sleep, unsure if it was the drugs or if I was actually that tired. Whatever it was, though, it felt great.

Codelyokocodelyokocodelyoko

"Here, Aelita!" Jeremie handed me a box wrapped in metallic pink paper, a large maroon bow on the top.

"What is it?" I asked, though I knew all I had to do was open it to find out.

"It's a present. You've lived on Earth for a year now. Think of it like a birthday." He smiled at me, blushing a little.

I opened the gift, Jeremie using his dorm key to cut the tape on the box. Inside was a series of small gifts, ranging from a cute keychain to an iPod touch. Movies, my favourite candy, a stuffed bear. "Thank you Jeremie!" I laughed, hugging him.

"I didn't know what to get you, so I got a little of everything." He hugged me back.

Suddenly, things started shifting. It wasn't Jeremie anymore, but Ulrich. I stepped back, not sure what I should do, or if I could do anything at all. I was glad Ulrich was here, but I wanted Jeremie back.

Codelyokocodelyokocodelyoko

"Aelita?"

I forced my eyes opened, blinking back the sleep. Jeremie and Ulrich both stood over me, odd looks on their faces. "Hey guys," I smiled sleepily at them. "What's going on?"

"Here, Aelita," Jeremie grabbed a napkin from my breakfast tray. "Your nose is bleeding."

"Really?" I grabbed the napkin, wiping at my nose. There wasn't much, but it still made me feel ill.

"I brought the things you asked for," Ulrich said, holding up my maroon satchel. I smiled beneath the napkin, though my mind was elsewhere. "Do you want anything else?"

I shook my head, ignoring the growing pain in my heart. I couldn't look at Ulrich, because I didn't know what I would feel, and I didn't want to look at Jeremie because I knew how exactly I would feel. I loved Ulrich, he had opened up a whole new world that Jeremie was too preoccupied to show me, but it didn't change anything that had already happened.