Chapter 8

The building is nothing like a hospital. It was child friendly with every length of the corridors painted with green trees, yellow and pink flowers, a red barn and a long beach. I held Karen's hand as we pass by each room wherein in each bed, a child would be sleeping with these transparent tubes taped into their nostrils and wrists and more wires on their foreheads and their chests, connected all the way to bleeping sound machines and heart beat scanners. Each room was colored in gray and their curtains are dark as night would look like without the shining stars and beeming moon.

"Come on Penny." Karen grips my hand tighter as we enter an office. Unlike the rooms I've passed through, this one was the complete opposite of warm. Everything is white, the walls, the sitting chairs, the picture frames, the window pane and the floor. Mom would kill me if our house was this spotless and I make a tiny drop of dirt. Adults would love this interior. I sit beside Karen and the door swings open.

A tall blonde, probably in her late 20's enter the vicinity of the room. She sits across Karen and I, and I know she's an angel in disguise. Karen and her shake hands and now mom gestures me to position up front to her.

"Hello Penny." Honey-like voice escapes her red tinted lips. The whiteness of her teeth can compete with the table between us.

"Hi." I eye her, then Karen, and back to her.

"You're probably wondering who I am." She keeps her smile.

"You're Dr. Cameron." Both of them give a shocked look, as if it's their first time hearing me say my first word. I point my index finger on the name tag pinned to her lab coat.

"You're very smart Penny." I give her the smile she wanted and Karen looks and adores me even more.

"Do you know why you're here?"

"I don't know."

"Well, you're here because you have the answers to my questions. And I can answer some of your questions too if you have any." I look up at Karen's face with her brown locks framing her facade. She mouths 'it's okay', and I believe her.

"I'll try to answer correctly."

"I know you'll do well." Dr. Cameron grabs a pen from her coat's upper pocket and reached for the papers at the table. I can read my name on it but the other writing are just too much, too alien for me.

"Ready?" She asks one more time and I nod.

"Alright. It says here that you just celebrated your birthday?"

"My 6th birthday."

"Did you have fun."

"Yes."

"After the party, what did you do?"

"I helped Karen clean up."

"Weren't you tired?"

"I only had 2 visitors because the others left. And I wanted to have more pizza." I look back at Karen and I couldn't see a sincere smile anymore, but she's still beautiful.

"What time did you go to bed?"

"I didn't sleep until it was 3 o'clock. The next morning." After I answered that question, Dr. Cameron starts to scribble something on the paper. I must've answered wrong.

"And when you slept, did you have any dreams?" I pause and look for the right answer even if I knew I never had any. Ever since I was conscious and I have finally established my senses and understanding, I knew I was up to no good. And I know the right but unnacceptable answer to her question.

"It's okay Penny, you can answer anything."

"I might get it wrong again."

"You're doing great honey." She leans over to ensure me I was 'doing great', but that was too late. I sigh heavily and give my response.

"I don't dream often." She rests her back at the chair.

"When was the last time you had a dream?"

"I don't remember." I look down on my pink swampers. I hear her pen dashing through the papers. She finally stops writing.

"Penny. I'm going to tell you a secret." I lean closer as if we're about to discuss a new nuclear launch scheduled on the 4th of July. "Did you know that you're one of the few who can only do what you do? You have a secret power. You can make your dreams disappear, and that's not just it. You can stay up awake for as long as you want. But, you can't overuse your power because what happens when superheroes lose control?"

"They become villains?" She chuckles at my direct response.

"That's possible, but they can also grow weak. Without proper control and limit of their powers, they will fail to take care of themselves. And that's what I don't want to happen to you. I'm going to help you figure out a way to take control of your powers and maybe if the time comes that you don't want it anymore, we can get rid of it."

"Why would I want to get rid of it? Superheroes liked their powers didn't they?"

"Of course they did, they

thought it was one of the best things they've ever had. But they missed their family, friends and the feeling of freedom. They missed being normal and not worrying about anything every second, every minute." Dr. Cameron grabs me by my chin.

"But I'm here to help. To help you figure things out and help you with what you want. I'm not here just as a doctor, I'm here as a friend." I smile at her. Her tan hand smell like cocoa and her sincere eyes convinced me.

"You smell good doctor."

"Really?" she pulls away. "I make cookies for the children here. Would you like to try them?" I clap my hands and wiggled my tiny legs while Karen calms me down. Dr. Cameron calls out for someone called Brenda and told me if I followed her and behaved good, she'll give me 3 pieces and an extra 2. I cling unto Brenda leaving her white office. When I turn to look back at Karen, I can see her receiving tissue from a box handed to her by Dr. Cameron. She wipes under her eyes and I wonder why she had to do that when the office wasn't even hot and the AC was completely turned on. Dr. Cameron taps her back and I thought to myself, I'll be a good girl when I get to the kitchen because I want that extra 2 pieces of cookies, for Karen. Maybe that's why she looked sad too.

Tita Anita arrives with two identical meals and drinks. And it's hard to believe that the usual meal I would order was coincidentally exactly the same as Tokyo's. He said a couple times that he doesn't read my mind nor does he have the capability to do so. We say 'Salamat po' at the same time and start to dig in to our tummy's content.

"We need to figure out another alternative for me to stop the dreams. You pinning me is too much." Tokyo grabs a knife and slices a piece from the sausage, pierced it with a fork and held it to my face.

"This is so good!" I groan annoyingly.

"Tokyo! Are you even listening to me?"

"Chill!" He puts the slice into his mouth. "I'm very fine with it but if you insist, we should do plenty more experiments. Can you try to wake up now?"

"Not while I'm having a good breakfast. I'll do it once we're done finding out new things." I take a sip from my drink. It slightly burns my tongue but I didn't mind and scooped up rice with the shiny runny yolk pacing it's way through the fork in the most satisfying change of speed you could ever witness.

"Who else knows about this thing? I meant the fact that you can't sleep on time and you don't do dreams."

"Karen, Gabe, Mason and..." I pause not wanting to finish the list in my mind. Tokyo looks at me with confusion, it's just a dream but I feel a slight pinch right at the heart. "and Dr. Cameron."

"You went to the hospital because of this? No offense alright?"

"I was too young when I started realizing that I had Insomnia, only that time I didn't know that was the term. After I got discharged from the center, I got to do most of my breathing exercises by myself. But she helped me a lot through the years." I wipe my mouth with a napkin and placed my left hand on the table doing my mannerism.

"Do you think she might know the solution to this?" He asks licking the tip of his fork.

"I believe she does." Tokyo clicks his tongue and stands up grabbing my coat.

"You should pay her a visit. I bet you know her office." I make an involuntary nod and placed cash and a tip on the table. Right after we walked out of the cafe, we ventured to the bus station. My hands in my pocket and Tokyo skipping steps again. I can't believe it, I'm about to see her again. A part of me is creeped out and scared but apart from that, I feel anxious. I can't wait to see her. I miss her white office. I miss the look of natural tan on her. I miss Brenda too but I miss her a lot. I might get the solution to this and probably, I might get an extra piece of her cookies if I behave good.