I wake up and see a vaguely familiar ceiling above me. I lift my left arm, which hurts like hell, and see a human arm with an IV in it. Was it really all a dream brought on by the meds? I look around, I'm in my hospital room and clutched in my right arm is my trusty tablet. I'm alone, my friends must be resting or working, I'm sure they'll be here later.
I look around and see the same medical equipment hooked up to monitor me and keep me alive for a few more minutes. It sounds and smells just like I remember. I guess it was all a dream, there were some bad parts, but I feel disappointed, I would have preferred it to have been real. I lie back on the bed and grab my tablet, maybe I can check for new episodes, since I have nothing else to do.
I hear the door open and see a flash of red out of the corner of my eye. I immediately think of Ruby, but then I remember that her hair was blue at the end of the dream. I look anyway, but it's just a red-haired nurse coming to check my vitals on the computer. She doesn't even say anything, just writes something in my chart and leaves.
Now I feel more alone than in the dream. There Ruby was with me, here I am alone. Yes, my friends will visit me and be here when I die, or at least they were in the dream when I died. But it's not the same feeling, even though it was a dream Ruby felt like more than a friend.
'I miss her already.'
I read a few manga episodes to distract myself and then fall asleep for a while. I wake up when my doctor enters the room and stands by the bed.
The doctor says, "I see you're still with us."
"Yes, at least for a few more minutes."
The doctor says, "Well, the fact that you survived this long means there may be hope. I contacted a colleague at my university who is in research, specifically organ research. You may be able to go through an experimental procedure that could keep you alive."
"What kind of experimental procedure?"
The doctor says, "Well, it involves using animal organs to replace human ones. I know how that sounds, but let's face it: you have too many damaged organs and you'll never make it to the waiting list for organ transplants. You only have a few days left at most."
I look around like crazy, but the room is empty, am I hearing things, is it the drugs, why is it the voice from my dream?
She said this was a dream, I'm so confused! I stop and calm myself to think it through, if I had to choose I would choose this to be the dream.
If this is a dream, how can I prove it? Obviously pain won't work, I'm already in terrible pain. I need to find something to prove this is a dream, I really want to go back to the other world!
Girl's voice: "You must hurry up and wake up if you want to live!"
I jump when I hear the voice again, but this time when I look up I see a ghostly figure in the corner of the room. She looks to be about thirteen, has long hair and is wearing an old dress, but that's all I can see before she disappears.
She looked familiar, but I don't remember how or where I'd seen her before. Well, if he's right and this is the dream, I have to prove it to myself.
They say you can read things in dreams, but only if you've read them before. I grab my tablet and look for a manga I've never read. When I find one, I open it and it's blank!
This is a dream! How do I wake up now? I guess I'll try pain, so I grab the IV and rip it out of my arm.
"Ahh!!!"
It hurt like hell, but I'm still here, I need to try something else. Maybe if I can get myself drugged into unconsciousness, then I'll wake up again in the other world. I quickly rip all the monitor wires out of my body. When the machine stops working, it only takes about thirty seconds for the first nurse to arrive, I start flailing on the bed and struggle as she tries to hold me down.
I feel bad for causing them so much trouble, but I keep telling myself that this is just a dream. As I expected, I soon hear someone order me to be sedated. When I feel the needle being stuck in my arm, I stay still and concentrate all my willpower on waking up. I am hopeful and try with all my might as the darkness claims me, I have only one thought, and that is to see Ruby again.