Afterlife?

LATER IN YEARS OF TIME

CHAPTER 1: Afterlife?

I dreamt of a star, shining brilliantly in the sky. The star hovered among anything else, and I wanted to hold onto it. I dreamt of a star that was as shiny as my dream. The star in the sky was so brilliant it made my eyes blind.

No one wanted to take a look at it since the star was just out of reach, but for me, it is something that calms me down.

My life is like a star in the sky. It is in the sky, no one can reach it and no one will be able to understand why it was shining so brightly. Yet, the star is not my life. The star was so bright, I couldn't look straight. I wanted to know what was in the star, but to no avail, I am a mere human.

I had a dream that my life was a shining star but the light in the star died off. The source of energy suddenly died, and my body died too right after. I stopped breathing and died.

But the dream felt so real I couldn't believe it didn't happen.

No, it happened. It was just that, I traveled back in time.

****

It was the same scent she always smelled. It was a smell she wished she would never smell again. But the presence of the smell woke her up. Why would she smell something when she had died? She died on the same day and day since she met him.

There were subtle noises in the background, there were footsteps, sounding troubled, pacing back and forth. There were sounds of pushing the patient's monitor and there were voices exchanging words with each other. They are likely the doctors and nurses in this Hospital.

"Doctor! Sh-she's awake…. Doctor, she's awake!!!" A yell seemed to pierce into her ears. It was a loud voice just beside her. Thereafter there were footsteps that immediately approached her. They were heavy footsteps and sounded like they were in a hurry.

The nurse who called the doctor was shocked and looked at the doctor, baffled at the situation. This patient felt no chance anymore, but it was such shocking news to have her woke up in this kind of situation. It had been years and years, but every time the doctors felt like the chance was increasing, it would die down. Who would have thought that right now, in this unexpected situation, she would open her eyes and even blink. There were times when this patient opened her eyes but then again, after that, she would close it again and acted like nothing happened. Which is why the doctors stopped hoping that she would get better. Their hopes always shattered every now and then.

But the patient was staring at them, looking like she was new to this world.

On the other hand, Audrey was baffled. Is this the afterlife? Bitter then. Why would her afterlife have to be this sad and truly breaking her fragile heart? Before this, she had her heart broken by knowing that yesterday was the last day she would live. That was why she felt like she had no energy anymore. It was also the reason why she felt like she had lost all the hopes there in this life. Moreover, why would she hope when she knew herself that it was already impossible? No way this is the afterlife. There was a saying that the afterlife is beautiful and magical, but this is not an afterlife. This can't be the afterlife.

So, what is this?

"… Miss Audrey…?"

The doctor, who had already arrived in front of her, asked in a soft voice.

Audrey, who was in a daze, didn't look at him because she still didn't know what to do. The doctor sighed and faced the nurse,

"She seemed to not understand the situation. I will check up on her right now, but her mind seems not in the mood. Look at her eyes, it's unfocused. What did you do to wake her up?"

The nurse blinked a few times before stuttering to answer, "I-I… don't know… I was just tidying the mess… on the bed. Doctor, is she not well?"

The doctor looked at the nurse, frowning and appeared as if he couldn't understand what the nurse was saying. Patients like Audrey wouldn't be awakened by such a thing. It should be something that triggered her mind or some sort of thing that would wake her up, but the nurse did nothing. How can she be awoken by that? It was not the doctor who was not happy about the news, he was, but it… it was just hard to believe.

The doctor furrowed and slightly shook his head to put off his uncomfortable thoughts.

He again looked at Audrey and slowly, he reached out for her shoulder and shook her body.

"Miss… Audrey… I am calling for you. Can you please look at me?" he gently asked, making sure that he wouldn't make her feel uncomfortable.

Audrey right now lifted her gaze to meet his and blinked her eyes. Her thoughts were still why she was here in this dimension; it was new and felt different than she usually experienced. Even the people around her looked like they were confused. But she knew these two very well. Ever since she was a kid, these two are the only ones who stayed by her side in this Hospital.

The nurse whose name is Angela, who likes this Doctor very much but is also focused on her work, as of right now. She missed those days when Angela would immediately shift her blushing face with a serious and solemn expression. She blinked her eyes and recalled the name of this doctor.

His name is Doctor Lawrence Benrick. This doctor is such a genius that he studied in Harvard for four years and became a doctor in this renowned Hospital, which is also known as luxurious. This Hospital was called with the nickname of throwing gold on every payment the clients must pay. Audrey blinked her eyes.

Why can't this afterlife end soon? She was tired of waiting and waiting that her life would get better. This also has no meaning if she can't be with 'him' anyways.

She looked away from the doctor and stared at the ceiling.

But the doctor clicked his tongue and told the Nurse, "Make sure you keep your eyes on her. Alright?"

"Noted, Sir."

Angela saluted at him, and he only nodded at her. He noted something in his small notebook before hurrying to his next schedule.

Angela, who was left alone with Audrey in this big VVIP room, deeply sighed and meaningfully looked at Audrey.

"Miss, do you not remember me anymore? You used to tell me how cute I am every time you woke up." Angela pouted and sat beside her, patting her head as if she was still a little girl. Audrey didn't move or reprimand her for what she was doing. Angela was surprised.

Every time she patted Audrey whenever she's awake, Audrey will always glare at her as a sign that she better take her hands off of her hand from her head or else, Angela will not like the consequences.

Angela looked at her hand and slowly, she took it back. Maybe Audrey still doesn't like patting, but she couldn't tell her to stop because her memories are still hazy. Audrey has been such a pitiful kid ever since.

Ever since she was 8, she got this Leukemia, and it gets worse and worse as time goes on. Actually, when she was 13, the chances of her being saved were visible but after only months of her chemotherapy, her condition didn't seem to get better. Her parents decided to only take her physical medicines instead of going into the chemotherapy phase, since the opportunity of her being saved will only deflate with the chemotherapy.

The doctors didn't want to argue with them, so they respected their decision and only gave her the medicines she had been taking since she was young. She is so young, yet her life is already this miserable. Angela couldn't imagine how hard it was for this young Lady to experience such a miserable life. She couldn't experience normal things ordinary people naturally experience because she had to always check upon her situation. To every circumstance, Audrey is in, she must always think about her actions else, she will die at one simple mistake of decision.

There was one time when she almost lost her life, and it was only two years ago. It was such a painful experience for Audrey that she also ended her life right then and there.

But now, here she was. Staring at somewhere Angela couldn't pinpoint where.

Angela looked at the ceiling and told Audrey, "Miss, don't worry, I will always be here at your side, so you don't have to always conceal your emotions from me. Tell me your sorrows and I will listen."