Aww...nobody reviewed on Chapter 15 :'( Sowwy if it was bad...I weally weally hope that this chappie will be better! :)
DISCLAIMER: Vocaloid ain't mine.
Chapter 16
IA's POV:
"Shh…don't cry…everything's going to be fine…"
When I my eyes snapped open, I was standing in a semi-dark hospital room, beside the bed. Grim and dull, the gloomy room was completely silent, except for the steady beeping on the monitor. There was a hard-backed chair besides the bed, which I hesitantly took.
I felt strange, as if there was a floating sensation in my gut. The corners of my vision were blurred, as if I were in a dream.
The girl lying on the bed was Rin Kagene. She was covered by her blankets up to her chin, like a child. I could see the hard lump of her broken ankle's cast underneath the blankets. Sleeping peacefully, Rin breathed softly and rhythmically.
Smiling in relief, I rose from my seat and glided out the room, determined to find my other friends and their conditions. To be honest, I couldn't remember much about what had happened in the last few days, but I felt that something was wrong.
"D-does he, does he even love me?"
I walked past countless doors in countless hallways. I had no idea where I was headed to, but my feet guided me as if they had minds of their own. Whenever I passed anybody-be it a doctor, nurse, or guest-they always brushed past me like they were in a hurry.
"Yes, I'm sure he does."
It was almost as if I were invisible. I pondered it, and then shrugged it off. I approached the door to another room, and my instincts told me to open it.
This room's occupant was Len Kagamine. He was sitting on the bed, holding his arm out for a shot. There was a nurse in his room, deftly cleaning her syringe. I knew her quite well, because of my dad's position. She was quick with gentle hands, and had a kind, if not outspoken, personality.
"There, there, now…don't move…got it!" She muttered, before quickly bandaging Len's arm. He barely even winced. "The way things are going right now, you'll be better in no time. That Kagene girl too, she's doing fine," she muttered.
Satisfied, I once again left the room and closed the door softly behind me, but not before hearing her say,
"It's the doctor's daughter I'm worried about."
Passing the crowded waiting room of the hospital, I head the hushed but worried murmur of voices.
"They're all fine, but…"
"Poor Dr. Yowane! His own daughter, too!"
"Now, now, folks, there's still a chance! They're still trying to save her, so there's still a chance!"
"Don't worry, she'll definitely be alright! She has to be!"
"Yes! Let's all pray for her!"
Slowing down slightly to listen to the conversation, I frowned in confusion. Dr. Yowane's daughter? That was me! But, they said something about some people trying to save me? I was fine, though…I was standing right outside the room, wasn't I?
Like before, my feet thoughtlessly guided me to another door. Like the waiting room, an anxious chorus of voices sounded from within. However, this time, the sound was even more urgent, almost panicky.
Directly outside the door were two people sitting on a bench, conversing quietly in voices that dripped with stress.
"No! This can't be happening!" whispered Hatsune Miku. Her face looked panicked and her eyes sparkled with unshed tears.
"Don't worry, I'm sure she'll be fine. She's a strong girl," Mrs. Hatsune said, draping an arm over Miku's shoulder. Pursing her lips, she added, "Those other two are recovering quickly. The boy with the sword and his girlfriend? They're getting breakfast for us right now, as we speak. So why shouldn't IA be fine?"
"They said that it'll be a miracle if she survives…"
My own brow furrowed in concern. Who were they talking about? Me?
But I was right here, I was fine, I wasn't…
I looked down at my trembling, clammy hands and realized that they were semi-transparent.
...I wasn't dead…
Eyes widening in horror, I stumbled to the door of the operating room and attempted to open it. But my hand slipped right through the handle.
…was I?
Again, I tried to open the door, but my hand slipped through again. However, I couldn't glide through the door; an unseen force seemed to push me back.
I remember now…I got stabbed in the stomach…
Looking down at myself, I realized, with horror, that I was becoming more and more see-through by the second.
"No…no!" I cried. As if she knew what was happening to me, Miku's lips trembled and she buried her face in her mother's shoulder.
Again, I went to the door and struggled to open it. Suddenly, I felt a jolting pain in my gut, where I had been stabbed, and I finally glided through the wood, like a ghost. I was a ghost.
A huddle of surgeons was bent over the table, whispering to each other frantically. Their assistants hurriedly handed sharp tools and instruments to them, with pale faces and terrified eyes.
The graph on the monitor was beeping slowly, getting flatter as I watched. It meant that the patient's heart was failing…
Beep, beep, beep.
Do miracles actually happen? I wondered. Miku and I needed each other...Miku! I would miss her so much…
All of the surgeons, as if seized by uncontrollable panic, started to work even more frantically. They knew that the patient was on the verge of death.
Please let a miracle happen, I pleaded. Dad…Mom…there's so much more time I want to spend with my family…
Beep, beep.
As the saying goes, the patient was "on death's door" mere moments ago. Now, she was dangerously teetering at the threshold already.
A miracle will happen…I tried to convince myself. Miku's friends: Rin-san, Len-san, Megurine-chan, Kamui-kun…so many people I wanted to get to know better and have fun together.
Beep.
To make precious memories with my loved ones…
Beep…
I will definitely help you out of this…
Utter silence filled the room. It was so quiet that you could have almost cut it with a butter knife.
"…"
The beeping had stopped. The patient was dead.
I guess the miracle didn't happen, after all.
One by one, the surgeons slowly straightened up, shaking their heads at each other sadly. Under their masks and goggles, many pairs of teary eyes blinked mournfully at the corpse of Yowane IA.
No…No!
"Wait! I'm not dead! I'm right here! I'm right-" I started shaking as the room grew brighter and brighter. A blinding white light swallowed me, and I felt myself flying upwards.
Fleeting images flashed across my eyes.
I saw Miku and me when we first met, my family laughing happily together, and Miku comforting me when I was upset. I saw me comforting her when she was hurt.
"Let's be friends! Forever and ever and ever!"
I saw Rin and Len playing with each other as little children, Len when his sister's lover died, Rin when she joined Crypton Club, and Rin and Len at school, studying together.
"Yowne IA…she was the bravest friend I ever had…"
I saw Miku, with tears streaming down her face, gently setting a bouquet of roses down on a brand new her was a crowd of people, all wearing formal black clothes. Some of them anxiously glanced at Miku, as if wanting to comfort her, but her grief was beyond handling.
"Hey…have you seen Miku-san?"
"No…she told me she was going somewhere…"
A vision flashed before my eyes, one of a teal-haired girl standing at the edge of a tall building. Shadows covered her face, and she took a deep breath.
"Miku! Stop, don't do it!
"Please don't jump, Miku! We love you too!"
"She wouldn't want you to be like this, Miku!"
"NO!"
And then…I saw Mrs. Hatsune, shakily clutching a crumpled sheet of notebook paper. She clamped a hand over her mouth, tears streaming down her face.
"N-no, M-miku…why? W-why?"
The paper that the crying woman was holding was covered in teardrops and ink blotches, but from what I could see, its shaky handwriting read:
…died because of me…my fault…can't bear to live with that…I love you…please don't cry…I'm sorry, everybody…I don't deserve to live…she should've been saved instead of me…goodbye…
My eyes widened with horror as I realized what was happening in my vision.
"No! Stop! STOP! I CAN'T-"
Someone grabbed me by my wrist, jolting me back to reality. Gradually, the heartbreaking scene faded.
I was near a fast-flowing river. The water was clear, yet murky at the same time. It reminded me of a foggy mirror, or a misted window. I could vaguely see dark shapes moving beneath the surface of the water. Also, the soft lull of whispering voices seemed to be coming from the water as well.
On my side of the river, the bank was bare and desolate, like a desert. The ground was covered in many small pebbles. Their sizes, colors, and textures varied: from the size of a house to the size of a grain of sand, from midnight-black obsidian to pale ivory, and from glistening smoothness to jagged roughness. The rocks stretched on for as far as my dimmed vision could make out under the colorless gray sky.
Thick fog obscured the opposite bank, so I couldn't see anything at all.
The person who was holding on to my arm was a vaguely familiar teenage girl, who appeared to be some years older than me. She had long golden hair tied up in a side ponytail, and was wearing a light, silvery cloak. Beneath the cloak, the girl seemed to be wearing a school uniform that resembled our school's.
"I-um…thank you…" I said hesitantly.
"…"
"W-who are you?" I asked, my eyes widening in confusion. The girl seemed to be almost glowing.
Gently, she let go of my arm. "That's not important. What we have to do now is help you go back."
"W-what?"
Blinking her calm golden eyes, the girl took of her cloak and draped it over me. It was evident now that her uniform was the exact same one that Miku, Rin, Luka and I wore.
"Come on." She turned around and walked away.
Startled at the girl's abrupt actions, I weighed the situation carefully for a moment. If I followed her…I had no idea what was going to happen, and I didn't like not knowing. However, the place I was in seemed boring, so boring that I was sure nothing would every happen here. If I stayed, it would be for eternity.
Fingering her cloak, I decided to follow the golden-haired girl.
Two girls were curled up together under a picnic table at the park, attempting to hide themselves from the storm.
"D-does he, does he even love me?" One of them asked the other.
"Yes, I'm sure he does." The older girl replied.
After comforting her friend, the older girl had returned home, to loving parents and a warm, comfortable bed. She thought that her life was perfect, so naturally, she wanted everybody else to be happy, too.
Weeks after, her uncle visited her family's luxurious mansion.
"Oh my, Miku! You've grown so much!" She had leapt into his arms, and he spun her around playfully. Her parents had laughed adoringly.
Until later that night, when both the uncle and the girl disappeared. After hours of searching, they found their daughter on a street, covered in bruises and half unconscious. Her uncle was nowhere to be found.
The next morning, the mother shook her daughter awake abruptly.
"Miku. Up. Now."
"Where are we going, Mommy?" she had whined, rubbing her eyes drowsily.
Her bedroom door had been flung open. "Hurry up! We have to go NOW, or he'll find us!" The girl's father was saying. His brother was coming, and he would definitely try to steal the family's fortune. By kidnapping, or even killing, the five-year-old daughter.
They had scurried into their fancy, white car and drove off.
After a few minutes of driving, the parents had found that they were being followed by the man. Driving at top of speed, the girl's father had attempted to escape, but his brother deliberately crashed into his family's car.
The family's car had lost control and plowed straight into two little children, at an intersection.
"Rin! RIN!"
Gasping, I opened my eyes. The golden-haired girl was gazing at me intently.
"W-what was that?! How did you-"
"You have to go back, IA. Your friends need you, and you need them."
I knew that she wasn't just talking about the vision she just showed me, but the vision she pulled me out of, earlier. The one about the horrible events that would happen in the future, if my death happened.
A sudden, chilly breeze blew across the who-knows-where. I shivered and drew the silvery cloak tighter around my body.
"This place…why I am here? Am I dead? Do you really think I can go back?"
The corners of the girl's mouth twitched upward in a small smile. "Miracles do happen, IA. But only if you make them."
Behind the golden-haired girl, a boy appeared. Blowing his pinkish-red hair out of his eyes, he let the girl slip her hand into his, and they both looked at me solemnly.
Everything started to blur. The cloak suddenly grew burning hot, like fire. Right before the place completely disappeared, the girl called out, "I'm Neru, by the way. Kagamine Neru."
Once again, my eyes snapped open. This time, however, I was wearing an oxygen mask and lying on an operating bed, with a group of shocked surgeon's faces staring down at me.
YAY YAY YAY YAY YA- *gets murdered*
Hahahaha this was so cliche, wasn't it? There's this movie called If I Stay that's kinda like that. It's goooooooood! :) Anyway, sorry if this chappie was bad, but I weally weally hope you wiked it. REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW-
Please review, everyone, and stay tuned for Chapter 17! Thank you!
~Rikasa