Hallucinations

I wasn't sure when I fell asleep beside mom's bed. But when I woke up my eyes were swollen from all the crying last night.

Just a few days ago we were happy and excited about our trip but now here she was lying on the hospital bed.

Aisha and Aunt were still outside the door. They were waiting for me to go out. They were worried for me too.

But I just couldn't accept this reality.

Suddenly aunt Rukhsar came inside and stood behind me. She put her hand on my shoulder and said "don't break. Be strong, at least for your mother. We will search for ways to cure her."

I didn't reply to her. Nothing came out of my mouth. It was hard for me to even talk.

Rukhsar sighed when she saw how I was acting. She then pulled me up and said with anger "why are you acting like this? You cry all day won't save her. Go home and pray, god will hear you."

I was surprised by her sudden outbreak. But that was it. Aisha also came inside and looked at me. I can see her red eyes. She must have been crying all night too.

"Let's go. You can go home now. I have already talked with the doctor. You need to recover too. Be strong." Rukhsar aunty said and dragged me by my hand.

I only followed her without saying anything. She was dragging me with her. Aisha also followed us without saying anything.

:::::::::::::::::::

A few days passed by like that. I was staying at Aisha's house for the last few days. Aunt took leave from her work for a few days.

They never left me alone. They try to distract my mind and I was grateful for their help.

They talked with me a lot. Aisha won't leave my side unless she needs to go to the toilet or during shower time.

Rukhsar aunty also prepares many tasty foods that I like, for me. They ate with me. They tried their best to distract my mind.

I didn't know what I would have done if they weren't there. They were the only 'family' I had. I thanked them many times in my heart.

::::::::::

My mind calmed down a bit after these few days of staying with them. As my mind calmed down I also started to notice a few things. Things that I ignored until now.

The first thing I notice is the floating word on top of Aunty Rukhsar's head. It looked like how a game character has a name or something like that floating above their head. But it wasn't their name, like a game.

What's more, it was not just her but I noticed the same for many women. Mom also had similar words on top of her head.

I tried to touch the word but my hand passed it like it was just an illusion.

I didn't ask anyone about it thinking that I was going crazy. Well, I was injured in my head. So there was a possibility.

But the thing was that it wasn't just aunt and mom. All the women I saw on my way to the hospital and home, they all have these floating words on top of their heads.

There are also a few strange things I noticed. Only mature and older women have these floating words. Because I didn't see anything above Aisha's nor on any other young girls.

There are all kinds of words on those women's heads. But the most common words I noticed were strength, defence, endurance, and Agility.

Those were the basics a game character's status has. I had played a few games so I knew this. But there were also a few that were different.

Like aunt Rukhsar. She has a word that I hadn't seen on another woman. Just like mom, she also has a name that I am familiar with but have never seen the same word on another woman.

I didn't know what they were. Those words made me curious but I didn't ask or tell any. Afraid that they will think that I was going crazy. I didn't even tell Aisha either.

::::::::::::::

I was sitting in front of the window and looking outside. I was actually looking outside but looking at the dot left corner of my eyes.

This dot never left my vision. No matter, whether I move my eyes left or right or close them, it will always be there.

I tried to touch it but like those words, my hand passed by it. I tried to shake my head but it would still be there.

"What are you? Why am I seeing all those weird words?" I murmur to myself.

There was this lingering excitement at the back of my head. Something was telling me that it can help me to cure mom.

I have read some fictional books in the past, during my boredom. During that time I read about those systems in Chinese novels.

One time I thought that I got a system which was funny. Those were things from fiction and this was reality.

I tapped my finger on the armrest of my chair and thought 'let's try that.'

I thought that I was really going crazy to even try that.

"Status," I said with a red face from embarrassment.