An alarming thought to anybody listening to this. This dream was different.

It wasn't like it normally was, where Frisk was one of the people in it, or even looking upon it from above. Frisk was falling. They weren't even completely sure that it was a dream. It could've been a lot of things, ranging from simply a daydream that they were too caught up into something as extreme like a coma...in fact, now that they thought about it, it was probably a coma. Their chest had felt like a popped balloon, no longer able to expand. Their lungs were busted.

Another alarming thought. Frisk was dead.

The experience was indescribable. Yet. Frisk would try to explain. If anybody was going to understand, it was probably themselves, or those who bothered to listen to their pleas. And they needed to think of something anyway to not go crazy.

Frisk was falling through colors, sounds, life, memories, everything blurred like their dreams. But these memories didn't belong to them, they were all new. Everything was blurring together all around them, surrounding them like water in a pool. They felt like they were floating softly in the pool, just barely underneath the surface of the water. They wanted to open their eyes, but they couldn't. Something was telling them it wasn't time to open their eyes yet.

Maybe they were being judged. Their mother had always said that when people die, there would be a man up in heaven to judge their life to see if they were good enough to be in heaven. Maybe all these memories were other people's memories and that they were in the equivalent to a waiting room.

But that didn't make any sense. They weren't able to see, but they knew that there were memories and everything like that floating around them in a haze. Even despite that, they could hear the colors. They could taste the nostalgia surrounded the memories, flickering with familiarity like a flames on a birthday cake. The colors and memories spoke to them, grabbed their skin, pricking their body for attention. Every now and then, Frisk was able to hear a voice. It was muddy, as if spoken to them while they were under water. What the voices were saying didn't make any sense to them though. And, like the dreams before, parts were missing.

"...rate is dropping, need the….stat!"

"What...history?"

"Do they...before?"

They continued to float. They didn't know how long they were there, silently asleep with everything going on around them. They were still in this waiting room of peace. Frisk felt a little nervous for their judgement, but had never felt safer than they did in that abyss of color, of life. It was peaceful, it was warm, it was a sanctuary from the outside world.

And right now they really didn't want to face the outside world. Not with what just happened. They would really rather just stay in the abyss for a while longer.

Then, just as they were thinking about staying here forever, their feet felt something underneath them and they touched the grassy ground beneath their feet and stood, getting up from the pool of color at last. They didn't open their eyes just yet, still feeling that it was not the right time to do so. But, they did feel the grass springing up between their toes. They still felt the soft soil being squeezed beneath their feet. They could feel the soft green plants underneath them, brown underneath that. They were able to feel the life that was coming from around them. If they listened closely, they could be able to hear some chirping in the distance. Bats and crickets.

It was nighttime.

But where was it night?

"Frisk?"

They opened their eyes.

They were in a meadow. Yellow flowers surrounded them like water in the ocean, covering the green, grassy, meadow in a light, soft color. The moon was so big that it didn't seem natural to the human child, but they accepted it regardless. Something had told them that they had seen a lot weirder. The meadow was beautiful even with the strange moon, and the flowers only added to the beauty. It had brought a small smile to the child as they reached down to take a cursory glance at the flowers. They were pretty.

"Frisk!"

They looked up.

There, in the distance, was a figure.

The first thing that the human had actually felt with their senses was the soft cotton beneath their fingertips. They could feel the threads carefully sewn together in a strict formation that formed into a gentle sheet that was currently covering their body. The scent of soft flowers on the sheet were present as well, giving them an impression that the sheets were recently washed. That was clue number one to where they were. They didn't know how to do laundry just yet and their parents scarcely washed their sheets. Frisk was not at their (human) home, that was for sure. They weren't sure about the monsters. Did they have to do laundry as well? Frisk liked to think so. It'd be weird to not do laundry!

The second thing that they had felt was something poking their skin in two different areas. One was the part of the top of their hand and the other was the inner part of their elbow. It was a weird feeling, something was holding it in place but it didn't quite feel normal. Like rubbery tape? And what was poking them? It didn't feel like it was hurting really, but it didn't feel right. They didn't particularly have anything quite like that as far as Frisk knew, so they weren't somewhere that they had a bunch of belongings. That ruled out school and home, the only places that Frisk visited the most...or at all.

Along with the unfamiliar, funny poking feeling that they had felt on their arm, they had something like that on their face. They could only feel it if they really concentrated on anything other than their nostrils, where it felt like something was tickling the inside of their nose. On their face, there was a light weight resting on their face, held in place by smaller rubber tape. It hadn't really any feeling to it, but if they had to label it with a name...plastic maybe? Plastic lines held by rubber tape was on their face, tickling their nose. It only made Frisk confused further.

And then there was the beeping. It was a constant, high pitched sound that eventually forced into the notice of the child. It kept a steady rhythm to it and was pretty loud and obnoxious. Frisk was positive that they never heard it before at any place that they've been before. Maybe once on the television, but that was a while ago. They were almost certain now that they were somewhere that they didn't know and immediately felt a dislike to the place.

If their eyes were so lead-heavy, they would've woken up fully and tried to identify where the hell they were.

But Frisk's eyes were heavy even when they were closed, so they decided to let their fatigue take their body once more. Then, they promised themselves, when they woke up, they would find out where they were. But until then, a yawn escaped Frisk's mouth, they would let their body sleep once more.

Their body had a nice tingle all over when they eventually woke. This time, their eyelids were lighter than before and allowed a small struggle to fully push them open. When they had, everything was bright and they quickly shut their eyes from the change of lighting. To allow them to get used to the light, they squinted for a few seconds before slowly allowing them to open a bit more.

Once they were adjusted fully, they were able to look around. It was pure white every where they looked. Sunlight appeared next to them on their right, pouring over their bed, warming their tired body in the most pleasant of ways. Frisk now understood why animals would always nap in the sunlight when it poured through the windows, it was so relaxful. The threads that their fingertips explored from earlier were the bed sheets, snowy white, and covering them tightly. The sheet colors matched their walls, curtains...everything that Frisk's eyes glanced over seemed to be white except for the door, which was a wooden door, and their outfit.

Was heaven really so white?

Their outfit wasn't white, along with the door. Their...outfit(?) seemed to be something like a pajama dress...thing. But it was too thin, easily the thinnest thing that they had ever worn. It felt like it was something for a trash can, honestly. It had that rubbery feeling and had some texture to it as well, but why, they couldn't figure it out. What was it? Whatever it was, it had teddy bears on it as a pattern. The bears were happy and reaching out for hugs on it, along with other activities. Frisk thought that it was kinda cute and examined the different bears doing different things, some reaching for hugs as said previously, others were playing with each other, doing something sporty, or cuddling with each other with hearts around them.

It made Frisk feel a bit lighter, honestly. Comforted.

But the white room wasn't really comforting, especially with them waking up alone in a strange place with things poking their skin and a computer next to them screeching that beeping noise. It was starting to get annoying with it constantly going. They didn't even know how long they were asleep or where their family was! What if something had happened? What if something bad happened and Frisk wasn't there to help?

Their throat was sore.

Frisk leaned back into the fluffy (white) pillows and sighed deeply, closing their eyes once more to give them a short break. With a light groan coming from their throat, they reflected on how they were tired still and wanted to know what was going on. Why were they still here? Or...here in the first place? Where were the monsters? Where were their parents? Did their parents even come? The last thing that they remembered was Pyrope hitting them and knocking their breath away, and then things got hazy.

Frisk shot their eyes open once more and thought about what just happened.

They had taken a deep breath.

Ecstatic, they did it again. Their lungs didn't even rattle with effort.

Breathing clearly was great, was easy, and felt so much nicer on their lungs, as if it were a natural thing to do!

Well.

Frisk took another, clear, breath and cracked a smile. That was amazing! That hadn't ever happened before! As far as Frisk could recall, they weren't able to take that good of a breath before. Usually it was adulterated by something in the air, damn you allergies, or something had rattled in their lungs to cause them to wheeze or...or something! But this, this was totally different!

Frisk let out a small laugh that didn't require much use of their throat and let themselves fall back into their pillows.

While they were focused on their new ability, the wooden door creaked open and in came somebody with a clipboard. "Hey, you're awake!" They greated with a soft smile. "How're you feeling?"

Frisk blinked at them and glanced to the window. They didn't know how they were feeling, really. Did the new lady mean physically or mentally? Physically, better than ever before! The body was finally reaching equilibrium, or at least getting there. Homeostasis felt fantastic, Frisk was discovery. But on the other hand...their mental stability was a bit off. Frisk wanted to know where they were? They were about to ask the strange lady, dressed in deep blue...pajamas? They definitely looked like pajamas, at least...They were about to ask her where they were before the lady read their mind and gave them an explanation.

"You're in the children's hospital," they turned to them as they checked the beeping machine next to them and wrote something down on their chart. "I'm your day nurse. My name is Sarah," they turned to Frisk. "Can you tell me yours?"

Frisk stared.

"I just want to make sure you're able to talk." The lady laughed. "No need to give me that look, pumpkin."

After a second's worth of hesitation, they slowly cracked their mouth open. "F...Frisk." Their voice was cracked as well, making them want to cough a bit.

The nurse noticed and sat down in the chair next to their bed. "Frisk, I need a big favor from you. And you're the only one who can do it," Looking back, Frisk wasn't sure if it was because of the medication or if they honestly felt determined, but they listened to the lady with a face of a child was ready for the challenge. "If you need to cough, you need to do just that. Can you do that for me?"

Frisk nodded. "Good!" They reached over and playfully patted Frisk's head, trying not to give much attention to the discoloration of their cheek, where Pyrope had struck. "You're already such a great patient!"

That made Frisk puff out their chest with a bit of pride. The lady was nicer than Frisk would've thought.

Thinking of their throat once more, Frisk sat up a bit on their pillow and groaned a tiny bit. "Can...I.." They had to stop and give a small cough before looking at Sarah.

The nurse watched, reading the child's mind once more. "Need some water?"

The child nodded.

The nurse stood and walked out of the room. They were gone for a few seconds only before the returned with a paper cup, also decorated with colorful characters, of water. The nurse wearing the pajamas handed Frisk the cup and instructed them to drink it with small sips instead of big chugs. Frisk had giggled when the nurse had joked with them about chugging an invisible cup of water then laughed too, spilling the invisible water all over Frisk. Then they played with Frisk, pretending to clean it up and apologizing for being so clumsy, delicately patting the bed with a pretend towel where the water had spilled all over.

Frisk really liked this nurse.

They watched tv for a short bit, (Frisks room had a tv! All their own! They could even choose what show to watch!) before they had to go check on other kids on their floor. Frisk smiled. The kids needed a good nurse and so far, Sarah was the best one that they were ever going to get. After watching an hour or so of watching cartoons, Frisk had felt that familiar fatigue biting at their body. Frisk wasn't ready to go to sleep, they wanted to stay up longer to try and find where their friends were, but lost the battle with their eyes before long.

They didn't dream this time when they had fallen asleep, but they were sure that they felt somebody next to them in their bed and familiar voices talking all around. It had made Frisk feel a bit better, especially when somebody had held their hand for a really long time.

The next time that Frisk woke up, there was Sarah checking on their charts at the foot of their bed. Frisk smiled softly and picked up their arm to wave quietly at Sarah. Sarah looked up and waved back at them just as quietly. The sun wasn't covering the room and when a cursory glance at the window revealed a setting sky, Frisk looked back over at Sarah with a bit of a frown. "Do you have to leave?" They whispered.

"Yeah, my shift's almost over. But don't worry, my nursey friend is gonna take care of you during the night. Her name is Gabriella, but if you call her Gabby she'll tickle you for grins and giggles," Sarah winked at Frisk, casting a smile at them again.

Frisk moved their mouth a bit, trying to get moisture back in. Their mouth had made that "tap tap" sound trying to do so, awarding them another colorful cup of water. Frisk had asked how long they were asleep, and got an outstanding answer of two days!

The first day was normal, with all the medication they were on, it would be normal to be tired and sleep all day, especially with all that happened. The second was a carry over of the first day, along with the fact that Frisk was still on a few different types of medications. Tomorrow they should be awake for most of it, and they could probably go home after the fourth day.

Frisk wanted to go home now.

When they voiced this, Sarah sighed, sat down in the chair next to them and smiled. "You wanna know something? Your family came in here today during visiting hours, and were with you the entire time. They held your hand, watched cartoons with you, one had even fallen asleep next to you," Sarah playfully smiled at Frisk and gave them a small giggle. "It was pretty cute."

"My mom or Pyrope?" Frisk had asked, tilting their head to the side in a questioning gesture.

Sarah inhaled sharply. "Well, neither were here. I don't think you'll see them for a while," Sarah closed her eyes for a second or two and unclenched her fists. "But I'm talking about your family, your monster one." Frisk seemed to perk up at this and she continued. "The skeletons and the goat looking one," Sarah's grin got bigger as she continued on. "The yellow one and the fish lady. They were all in here. The smaller skeleton had crawled up in the bed with you and had fallen asleep." Sarah laughed at the memory. "I had to make him get off, it's against the rules to do that, but it was really cute."

Frisk had grinned along with her nurse.

"Oh! That reminds me," Sarah got up and jogged out of the room before returning with something behind her back. "I have a present for you from them!"

She held out her arm, which carried a stuffed fox toy. The fox itself was covered in a deep orange color, along with splashed of white and black in the appropriate areas. The toy was also dressed up with a bow and tie and had a smile sewn onto it's face, making it seem very fancy. Frisk felt like it needed a mustache to make it completely fancy, but decided that it would wait until later when they could get their hands on a marker. The tail was extra puffy, giving it a oval shape that made it seem all the more cuddly. All the lines, colors, and everything else was so fine and detailed that Frisk gasped audibly at it and reached out to take it upon seeing it.

Never given a toy like this before, Frisk hugged it close to their chest and inhaled it's scent. It had the faintest hints of cinnamon butterscotch pies to it, which prompted Frisk to hug it closer to their chest with tears pricking their eyes.

Sarah watched with a look of indescribably joy on their face. Her eyebrows were tilted, a small smile blooming, and she sighed peacefully. Sarah loved kids, and this was one of the better parts of her job. She loved giving the toys or presents to the kids that the parents left behind for them, it always made them feel so much better despite whatever illness brought them to her work. And this child was no exception to that.

Truth be told, their biological parents (or step dad in this case as well) weren't going to take care of them anymore. The bruise that decorated Frisk's face was proof enough of how the step father treated Frisk and the neglect to take care, or even notice, of the poor child's asthma was the final straw for the Child Protective Service agent that was dealing with Frisk's case. Immediately, the goat lady had requested to adopt the child and it was in the successful process of going through. Despite the monster/human thing going on right now with the rest of the world, anything was better than the system and the agent was just glad that they were able to avoid it this time, especially with all the extra paperwork on it. Frisk wouldn't ever have to go through it as long as they were taken better care of. Honestly, Sarah thought that the child was going to have a much better life with their monster family that their human family.

As they said goodbye to the small child, still hugging the fancy fox, Sarah smiled to herself. Yes, the child was going to have a much better life.