2 Realization

No. This calendar might just be here because they never changed it. This was cousin Dante's home, right? He's barely home from his work overseas, so it's to be expected. I sighed and tried to calm myself down.

I was just hit by a car, well, a vehicle, it was no wonder I panicked. I walked back to the bed, sat down, and started collecting my thoughts. I should have been in a coma for almost year, then my aunt moved me here for rehab. But then again, not all people could move right away after they woke up from their coma. Yet, I could move freely without feeling anything out of place with my body.

I started checking myself. I was wearing a white tee and brown shorts with two front pockets. A small butterfly picture was on the right pocket of the shorts. I raised my feet and sat crosslegged. Then I started pinching and massaging all over my body. My feet were fine, they didn't seem wounded at all, I didn't feel any pain. My hips felt surprisingly alright. Considering most films show how people were hit by cars in the hip, feeling my own hip and felt nothing after all that was shocking. I'm not complaining, though. My hands are fine, my back and head? Also the same. So... The same question still applied.

Did I just jump back in time?

The door opened and revealed a handsome young man in checkered shirt. The young man looked at me calmly, before coming over.

"Hi... How do you feel?" he asked, taking his seat next to me.

I studied him for a few seconds. He was my cousin, Dante. He was 3 years older than me, and he was the sweetest cousin I've ever had. He was always overseas, working as an assistant manager of a company. Why was he here?

"Cousin Dante?" I confirmed. "Why are you here? Aren't you working overseas?"

He frowned at me and started looking at me with that gaze. I've never liked that gaze of his. It's like he's staring deep into me, like I'm... Transparent and... Exposed. Cousin Dante was always a perfect guy. He's handsome, good at everything he did, and very—no scratch that—highly observant. Was it still too late now to think of marrying him?

Wait, no, that's not important right now. The point was, his gaze could also indicate that he had no idea what I was talking about. And—oh—he was calling me, I didn't noticed.

"I'm sorry?"

He smiled warmly, "Do you want some bubble tea?" he repeated.

Oh yes... He was also the one who got me addicted to bubble tea.

We went downstairs. I sat by the kitchen counter while he boiled the water. I was still very confused at the situation, but I'm guessing I'm in a coma after that accident and I was dreaming about the past.

"Are you hungry too? Want some lasagna?" He offered behind the counter.

"Mmm yeah. Sure." I answered absentmindedly.

As I sat there, I looked around the room. The kitchen was also the dining room, as far as I can remember. The sink by the window, the cupboards were white with drawings of blue waves, and a vase of lavender. I turned around and saw the living room. The brown couches with Kirby pillows, comics and mangas stacked in the TV's lower cabinet, and I could see a pair of those sliders people use for skiing. I forgot what it was called, I never went skiing.

Seeing that ski slider thingies reminded me of one thing. Cousin Dante quit skiing after the accident involving me around a year after my field project. He spent his time with me in the winter and we went skiing on a resort. But something happened, and he quitted.

After realizing the situation, I sighed. This was my near-death experience. I felt very comfortable near him that I always look forward to meeting him. This was the heaven I've always hoped for. I turned around again, this time to look at him. But I found him looking at me instead. I smiled. Let's enjoy this dream to the most.

"Aren't you cooking the lasagna?" I asked while smiling.

"It only needs some heat."

"The bubble tea?"

He pointed at me. No, at my chest. I looked down and saw a cup of tea right there. That was fast. At that point I smelled vanilla rising from the cup and tickled my nostrils. It smelled so sweet...

I raised the cup in my hands. It wasn't warm like I thought it would be, it was cooler. He was boiling water just now, what did he boil in that kettle then? That was when I saw him lifting a cup to his lips. Oh the water was for his own drink... I took a mouthful of the sweet nectar and chewed on some bobas. Sweet, sweet dreams.

"What did you dream today?" He asked me.

I swallowed before replying, "What?"

"You said I work overseas. Was I working in America?" he smiled playfully.

I frowned at him. "No. You work in Germany."

"Poor you then."

I pursed my lips. Right. I just remembered I was very doting, and he used to tease me with it. In fact, I was very spoiled when it comes to cousin Dante. I think almost all members of my family loved him. I missed him so much.

He stared at me for a few seconds before propping his elbows on the counter in front of me. "I have no class today and tomorrow. What do you want to do?"

Since this was just a dream, I might as well go all the way. "I want..."

So I enjoyed my time with dreamy Dante. And then the next day, and then the next week, until it went on for three weeks. We went to children school festivals, sight-seeing, or just went out to eat. He never did once ask me about my trauma, or anything related to my work. I could say I really enjoy this dream. And I began to doubt those people who call this near-death, cause this was near-heaven.

About three weeks after I woke up, I received a call from my parents that dad would pick me up tomorrow. I got a bit disappointed by this news, because that would mean leaving this safe-haven and my never-to-be-husband. But I guess you can't be very greedy both in the real world and dream world, and my parents also held special place in my heart too.

I snuggled to Dante on the couch. He stroked my hair while we watched an episode of Fullmetal Alchemist from his laptop. Tomorrow, my dream with him would be over.

"I'll miss you." I whispered.

I think I feel him smile, or maybe I wanted to think I made him smile. Then he replied, "I'll miss you too."

He hummed. Then he paused the anime and looked at me, "Lynn."

I looked back at him.

"I know it's been hard. But I like how you're improving each day. You looked genuinely happy, and that came from me, so you know I'm not lying."

I didn't know how to respond, so I just nodded.

"Tomorrow, you're going home. People may ask, and you might have to tell them again and again. But I want you to remember. You—" He paused and touched my cheek, "Are okay. You can still walk ahead. And what just happened wasn't your fault, or your friends."

He leaned in closer to me and kissed my forehead. I could feel my face heating up. All I can do was nod and snuggled closer to him. I didn't know what to say. But thankfully, he didn't want me to and just held me there until I fell asleep.

The next day, my dad came and we went to the airport. Dante saw me off, and I finally managed a squeal when we settled down on the seats. Other girls might fawn over their celebrity idols and proponents of the country, but I fawned over my own cousin.

Sadly, my dad didn't take it as an ordinary fangirl-ish squeal and thought I was having a fit.

He grabbed my hands and spoke to me, "It's alright. We will move to a better school and you'll never have to deal with all of those things anymore."

Listening to his words made me feel like falling from the highest point of Niagara Falls into the deepest part of Marina Trench. So it seemed that this was near-death experience after all.

"No, dad, I don't want to move yet."

"But Lynn, you almost died. And I don't want to live knowing my daughter is constantly in danger," he said."

I frowned deeper, "Dad, you're dead already. Stop pestering me, I don't want to go to heaven yet. Let me go back to my body."

Then suddenly, I felt a stinging sensation on my cheek. I touched the skin he just slapped.

"I can't believe you changed this far after you're back from that god forsaken village. I know you're having a problem accepting your loss, but saying I'm dead is just unacceptable. I shouldn't have let you go. We will have a talk on your behavior after we reached home," He said.

I widened my eyes. He just slapped me. But that wasn't what I focused on. He just said I was back from that village and that he wasn't dead. And this... This... Pain... Too...

This wasn't a near-death experience. This was real.

I really had regressed.