Beep. Beep. Beep.
In the quiet hospital room, a girl lay resting on a narrow bed, the steady rhythm of the monitor the only sound in the air.
"Nggh…" She slowly opened her eyes. An unfamiliar ceiling greeted her, pale and sterile. Confusion crept in as she took in her surroundings.
Where am I?
She slowly pushed herself into a sitting position.
She darted her eyes around the room and noticed a boy sleeping in the far corner, his head resting on his arms atop a table.
Leon… he brought me here… and he waited for me.
Emily tried to lift herself off the bed, wanting to get closer.
But as soon as her foot touched the floor—thud!
She fell to the ground.
The sound made Leon wake up instinctively. Seeing Emily on the floor, his eyes widened.
"Emily!"
He rushed to her side and carefully helped her back onto the bed.
"Why did you get out of bed?" he said, worry clear in his voice. "You know you're still weak."
Emily groaned in pain. She looked into Leon's worried eyes.
"I–I'm sorry," she said, her voice weak.
Leon gave her a gentle smile before standing upright.
"Don't worry. I already told your parents I brought you to the hospital," he said. Then, trying to sound reassuring, he added, "You don't have to worry about the bill. My dad said he'll cover it."
He said it with a hint of pride.
"T–Thank you, Leon."
Emily lay back down on the bed, staring up at the ceiling once more.
Seeing her friend in such a miserable state, Leon tried to cheer her up.
"Uh—hey, Emily… Do you want me to buy you some snacks?" he said. "I know it's late and all, but there are still some places open."
Emily turned her head to the side to look at the frantic Leon.
"Sure… I'd love that," she mumbled.
"O–okay! I'll be right back," Leon said. He hurried to the chair he had been sitting on earlier, grabbed his wallet, and headed out of the room.
Emily let out a soft sigh.
She glanced around and spotted her phone on the table beside the bed, then reached over and picked it up.
Click.
"Ugh… it's so bright," she muttered as the screen's light washed over her face.
After lowering the brightness, she checked her messages.
Several missed calls—from Mommy and Daddy.
Mommy, Daddy… I'm so sorry I made you worry, she thought, a tear slipping down the side of her face.
She wiped her tears away.
Maybe I should video call them and let them know I'm fine, she thought.
She took a breath, then made up her mind and went through with it.
She sat upright, flicked on the light beside her, and used her hand to sweep her hair into place.
She checked the time on her phone—9:30 p.m. Mommy should still be awake—and pressed the video call button.
Brrt… brrt…
Emily's eyes widened in shock as she saw her reflection on the video call.
Ting!
"Hel—" Emily ended the call immediately.
"Wha–what?" Her voice trembled with dread and confusion. "Why are the color of my eyes different?!"
Ring… Ring…
Emily looked down at her phone. Mom was calling her back.
Oh no, what do I do?!
She declined the video call and called back, this time choosing a regular voice call.
"Hello, Emi?" her mom's voice came through first.
"H–hi, Mommy," Emily said, trying to keep the panic out of her voice.
"Are you feeling better now, my dear?"
"Yeah… I feel a lot better."
"That's wonderful. I'm so glad to hear that," her mom said softly. "You know, you should thank your friend Leon. He's the one who brought you to the hospital."
Half-listening to her mom on the call, Emily switched on her front-facing camera and checked her reflection again. Her irises were now a dark shade of red.
"Emi… why don't you want to video call me? You normally like it this way."
The sudden question made her body tense.
"Um… ah," she stammered, trying to make an excuse. "I'm going to sleep soon."
"Oh… I see. Well then, rest well, Emi. Tell Leon I said hi. Love you!"
Emily waited until her mother ended the call. She placed her phone on the table beside her bed and pulled the blanket over her entire body.
She closed her eyes, trying to remember what could have happened—what made her once-blue eyes look so demonic.
Then suddenly—Click.
The door to the room opened. "Hey, Emily! I'm back, and I brought some snacks and your favorite boba tea," Leon said cheerfully, holding all the food in his hands.
"I ran as fast as I could so I wouldn't keep you waiting," he added—but then he froze when he saw Emily hiding under the blanket.
"Hey… Emily, what's wrong?" Leon asked, his tone now filled with worry.
"I think… I'm infected with something," she said, her voice muffled under the blanket.
Leon placed the snacks on the table beside her bed. "What do you mean?"
He gently lifted the blanket, revealing Emily with her head bowed to her knees, hugging them tightly to her chest.
"You look fine to me," Leon said.
"My eyes," she whispered. "My eyes are infected," she added, worry creeping into her voice.
Leon gently lifted Emily's chin toward him. "Okay… try to open your eyes," he said softly.
Emily slowly opened them—and saw Leon standing right beside her.
His expression tensed for a moment before quickly softening. "There's nothing wrong with your eyes," he said.
"Wait… what?" Emily quickly grabbed her phone and turned on the camera.
As she checked her reflection, her eyes seemed to have returned to their dark blue.
No… I definitely saw it. That wasn't just my imagination.
Leon held a boba tea out in front of her. "Maybe you were just imagining things. Here—drink up."
Emily took the drink from Leon's hand and took a sip, while Leon opened a snack and sat down on the bed beside her.
"Anyway, even if you were infected with some disease, the doctor would have told me by now—they did a medical exam while you were unconscious," Leon said in a reassuring tone.
Leon offered some of the snacks he was eating to Emily. "By the way, the doctors told me you can be discharged tomorrow. They'll just give you some pills, just in case," he said, taking another bite.
"Ah… Leon, thank you for taking care of me," she said timidly.
Leon heard her words and blushed. "Y–yeah! It's no big deal."
"My mom also says hi," Emily added.
The two of them talked quietly as the night stretched on, the soft glow of the bedside lamp casting gentle shadows across the room. Outside, the world was silent, but inside, laughter and whispered words filled the space between them. For a moment, everything felt calm, and Emily could almost forget the fear and worry from earlier—unaware that this would be the last day she would know peace.