Sofia is dead

Time warps and everything seems backwards. My eyes are not fully opening; I'm trying hard, but they're only half-open. My mind blurs until it feels like I'm floating. When the beds seem to move across the floor before snapping back into position, I frown because it's weird. What's happening? Why do things look so strange?

Suddenly, something crawls on me, and I try to shake it off, but moving is difficult, as if I'm tied up. I'm tied up again. No! I struggle, but I can't free myself, and more bugs crawl on me. I try harder to shake them off, but it doesn't seem to help.

I scream and fight against the restraints, and suddenly they disappear. Mandy sits across from me and runs his hand through my hair.

'M... Mandy, is that you?' I murmur very slowly.

He looks at me, smiles back, and nods lightly.

Mandy was my favorite patient. Seeing him always made me happy. He was a drug addict, but I wanted to help him recover. I tried my level best to enter his comfort zone, but I was never able to succeed, unable to step outside of my own thoughts. I ask him, 'How are you, Mandy?'

A tear rolled down from his eye to his lips, but he was still smiling. Why was he doing this?

'It's easier when you give up,' he says.

Mandy never gave me even an ounce of love or any kind of attention. I'm his doctor, but he always kept his distance from me. So, seeing him look at me with concern makes something twist in my chest. Detente.

It's fine," he tells me. "We are family." He lies down next to me so we're face to face and continues stroking my hair, an unusually soft smile on his lips.

I stare at Mandy's face, taking in all of his lines and scars. His whole life looked like this—old, tired, and drugged. He never listened to anybody. Nurses always complained that Mandy wasn't taking his medicine. He always asked for drugs. Mandy was so addicted that we had to give him drugs as part of his treatment, gradually reducing the amount over time. After a while, Mandy came under control; he had some sense, but he still asked for drugs. Sometimes he would hide or throw away his medicine. It felt like Mandy maybe didn't want to get better.

We had to force him daily to take his medicine, but one day, during my routine rounds, I went to him, and he asked for medicine. I gave him the medicine. He gave me a soft smile and went to sleep, and he didn't wake up again. I still remember his smiling face.

But if Mandy is dead, then how is he here in front of me? How is this possible? Am I dreaming?

I look at him again. Bubbles form around his mouth, and some float in the air.

Suddenly, he begins to convulse, and his eyes roll back in his head. Staring into the whites of his eyes makes my hair stand on end, and I squeeze my eyes shut. Jesus.

When I open them again, Mandy is gone. Instead, Sofia is lying next to me. Her eyes are frozen, and vomit is coming out of the corner of her mouth.

No. I fight against the effects of the drugs and manage to lift my head, but it starts to palpitate.

I grab Sofia's shoulder and shake her, my words slurred as I say, 'Sofia, get up. You have to sit down. Sofia.'

As I regain my senses and the effects of the drugs wear off, I feel the pungent stench of vomit.

'Sofia,' I whisper.

I sit up, lean over her, and try to take her pulse, but I'm not sure if I'm doing it right or wrong. It feels like I've forgotten everything from my 10 years of study.

I put my finger under her nostrils, but no warm air comes out.

'Shit,' I moan. Struck by both intense fear and grief, I quickly move away from her.

After so many days, finally, someone here felt like family. She prayed last night that I would escape safely, and now this.

I couldn't tell her last night that maybe we could still be saved, that maybe time could help us. I wanted to tell her that we could escape, but now what's the use?

She is dead.

Jesus, Sofia is dead.

I raise a hand and cover my mouth as I breathe in gasps—fast and short.

The twisted hallucinations I had while high begin to bombard me as I look at Sofia's lifeless body, but no tears fall. With her lifeless body in front of me, closing my eyes only brings her dead face to my mind.

That's going to happen to me if I don't get out of here. I'll end up like this too.

I press my face against my knees, but it hurts, and I have to raise my head again. I take a deep breath, the bile in my stomach churning and threatening to come out.

My eyes scan the room, and I realize that the one with the lost look is no longer there. The other two are curled up under the blankets, fast asleep.

Where did the girl with the lost look go? Has she also died? Jesus.

I shake my head, struggling to process it all.

I need to escape, so I stand up, leaning on the wall. I can't hear anything.

My head is spinning, and I feel extremely dizzy. No vomiting, please.

Move on. I have to escape.

Suddenly, the door opens, and Dino comes in. He looks at me, and my body finally loses control. I was about to fall when he catches me in his arms. The effects of the drugs still haven't completely worn off.

He says something, and I see guards coming into the room. They check Sofia and say something. I try my best to open my eyes, but my mind is dizzy; everything is spinning, everything is spinning.

Throw her in the sea; she's of no use to us now,' Dino said.

Hearing this from Dino, I was shocked, but I didn't know what to do; my body is not under my control, and everything looks blurry.

I try to see. The guards are lifting Sofia and taking her outside. One is holding her arms while the other is carrying her legs. How can someone be so cruel? She's dead, and they're treating her like an animal.

'Rupanzal,' Dino said softly in my ear. I look at him and, finally, close my eyes. Tears are falling from my eyes. He picked me up in his arms. That's all I remember before I fell back into unconsciousness. Darkness enveloped everything around me.