Silent Recovery (being edited)

[VANE'S POV]

"I am… Vane Terrance?" I questioned, even though the answer was obvious, but it was too surreal to accept.

"Urgh…" A potent headache hit me—even my body was aching, my surprise initially numbing them.

Every muscle in my body ached; they felt like lead, and my brain as if subjected to a heat stroke—searing pain.

I inhaled deeply, the encroaching darkness in my vision; a consequence of my injuries, and I laid down, blinking to remove the darkness.

My head felt TV static; feeling the flow of blood, and as if a brick was embedded into my mind, feeling a blocky headache.

Patiently breathing in, the darkness slowly dissolved, and my mind felt less blocky, giving way to proper thoughts;

I focused on my dream—Vane Terrance; who was he? How were we connected? Why did we share the same face? What could be the reasons…?

Making no progress, I decided to the address the nagging hunch I had—did I possess Vane Terrance? Then what of my clothes?

Thoughts spiralled out of control, the influx of information surged; speech, behaviour, demeanour, memories—everything.

"Uhh—urghh," I groaned in pain, the urge to run—jump and scream till my throat bled was suppressed, and my body trembled;

It hurt to stay still—I want to get up, but I couldn't, it hurt to remain here, my body needed an outlet, yet, it was denied one.

"DOCTOR! HE'S AWAKE!" a bewildered nurse shouted, but why the fuck did she shout? Stupid woma—I can't lose control.

I attempted to bit down on my lip, but my jaw hesitated; my brain prevented it, but how do they do it so easily in fiction?

STEP STEP STEP

Footsteps—I had to hurry, I have no other choice.

"Haa- haa- HUP! Ugh- arhh- uh-," I groaned in pain, biting down on my lips and pinching my elbows as hard as I could, clearing my thoughts momentarily.

In this white room, the only color was my blue gown, and the two people in my room— their brows touching their foreheads, and their eyes wide open, as if gouged out.

They performed a brief diagnosis on me, and I could feel a cool sensation enveloping my body—mana.

"Am I dreaming, nurse?" the man seemingly in his 50s, weatring a green overcoat and black pants, asked the nurse.

"No, doctor… um, I already pinched myself, s-so uh…" the old nurse replied, shocked, to his not-so-rhetorical question…? What!?

'Did I wake after several months or something?', I wondered, as I felt nothing unusual in my body.

In fact, except for the pain; I had all my limbs intact, without any infection, so I couldn't have been crippled, right?

This world's mana truly is powerful, to revitalize me to this extent, but I knew that wasn't the full picture; "Uh—doctor…?" my hoarse voice pulled him out of his stupor, and he shook his head.

"Yes, yes—Um, sorry, Mr. Vane, that was quite unprofessional of me, I sincerely apologize—well, uh, I don't know how to say this but… uh." the doctor circled, only serving to worsen my expectations.

"It's fine, please brief me," my curt response didn't bother him, however, and neither me—I was thoroughly disoriented.

"Mr. Vane… It seems you don't understand the condition of your body when you arrived here, allow me to brief you, may I proceed?" I nodded, and he proceeded;

"Well, here's your report; multiple hairline fractures (small crack in bone), 2 transverse fractures (crack across the bone), crushed carpals, torn ligaments and tendons, muscular atrophy, punctured lungs, destroyed liver and intestinal perforation, multiple lacerations, multiple stab wounds, hemorrhage (internal bleeding), hemostatic imbalance (improper hemostasis), hypovolemic shock (heavy loss of blood), organ failure, infected wounds and the list goes on.

And sir, you have my respect, because just how the fu- cough cough ahem, I mean, just how did you even manage to walk, let alone survive? Not only that, I hear you came from the forest, after being caught up in the war, but this… just how?" the doctor said, but immediately added;

"Don't even get me started with how troublesome it was to diagnose you. Thank God we had advanced mages who could scan your body thoroughly; if you were somewhere else, then bid goodbye to your life as we had to put you through intensive care.

The bottom line was—you were rapidly healing, responding extremely well to the treatment, almost completely patching you up, and don't ask me what those terms mean, you're better off not knowing." he finally concluded, taking in a deep breath as if a weight had been lifted.

The problem was… I knew all those terms, and my eyebrows involuntarily rose higher, as his list of jargon was unloaded on me.

This… this was too much to take in; just how much was my pain numbed down by? Heck, just how did I even manage to survive in one piece?

I was transfixed, not out of fear, but out of amazement—my mouth slightly ajar, and my mind, still recovering, was sent into shock.

There are no words to describe this, but I can confidently say that any doctor who looked at this patient report would immediately close it down, thinking it was a joke or that I was a dead man.

The doctor and the nurse looked at me expectantly, awaiting a response.

"I understand doctor, I really messed up my b-" I was about to say, but I was interrupted by him;

"I'm not sure 'messed up' summarizes your condition, but to answer your probable question; 2 weeks—you heard me right.

Even with our best healing mages, I don't think that's possible let alone plausible. We all thought you would die, Mr. Vane, yet, you not only survived but did so in only 2 weeks! 2 damn weeks!, Just how!?" he said while raising both his arms and dropping them as if he said something unbelievable.

He curbed one of my doubts but raised more, because a practically dead man was brought back to life, a miracle—no that word was an understatement.

I wanted to contemplate my predicament, but I had no time for it; I need to be alone for a while.

"Thank you, doctor… and nurse—I am truly grateful for your treatment," the least I could do was thank them, rather, I didn't know what else to say.

"Sure, Mr. Vane, but you might want to thank Corporal Lee. He was the one who put in a word to save you. He was a good soul, always has been, and that's why you're lucky, because anyone else would've rejected you.

After all, with these kinds of wounds, surviving in the forest alone, coming from the war and whatnot, what's stopping one from saying you weren't suspicious? He wagered his position, so you better be worth the effort." The doctor subtly warned me, but that was understandable.

"I understand, doctor; I'll thank him later, and follow the procedure after I recover," the doctor smiled as I finished—I caught onto his intentions, and he prescribed what I should do.

Nevertheless, nothing was free, and someone has to pay, and I'll be paying them with whatever I can, be it information, money, or even slaving off.

The doctor and the nurse left, but I couldn't establish equilibrium in my thoughts—I was occupied with wondering if the previous Vane had a unique physique.

The past life of Vane Terrance, or rather my past now, had nothing relevant to this situation, he barely got injured, only minor scratches and such.

His ability to heal wasn't displayed at its maximum, yet, if I were to think otherwise, I had no leads, and the system was offline.

Now, I was left, delving through my thoughts—most of which were bland, and he was empty; absolutely feeling nothing.

Maybe he was born with a neurological complication like Alexithymia or had brain damage or some complication I didn't know.

The thoughts settled in—his life didn't affect to me to a great extent, thanks to his emptiness, and through the gray, there were only a few colourful moments;

When his mother went to their neighbor's home to socialize after shifting to the countryside, he found Aria, and the mothers had great affinity met often, and by virtue of their mothers, these two were forced to meet.

"Vane, meet Aria! Aria, meet Vane! You share the same age, and the same neighborhood, you both can play together, you know!" Avery suggested, to a depressed Aria, and an indifferent Vane, both sitting on the sofa.

However, all Vane did was… nothing and things got awkward fast, forcing the depressed Aria to speak something, crumbling under the gazes.

"Hello."

"…"

"…"

"…"

"Vane, say something to Aria, dear~?" his mother asked lovingly, and he complied uncharacteristically;

"Hello."

"…"

"…"

"…"

"I think they're just embarrassed Teresa—hahaha, let them be in Aria's room for a while, she has a lot of toys they can play with, right Aria?" Avery asked, chuckling dryly.

"…Yes." her response lagged, monotonous in a different way from Vane.

"Haha, she's just sad that her father passed away a few months ago—just give her time, Vane, and she will open up to you, I promise." she said, her voice carrying warmth and a silent sorrow.

"Oh! I'm so sorry to hear that Mrs. Avery!" my moth-, Tere—ah, I'm having trouble referring to her, but time didn't wait;

"It's alright Mrs. Teresa; it was more than half a year ago, you needn't be worried, haha." Avery smiled, but her sorrow was evident in her downcast eyes.

We were sent to Aria's room, and they left us on the second floor; their voices; barely audible, and I sat on a chair near her writing desk, while she laid down on her bed.

The blue room has a bed at the corner—the desk opposite, and a shelf filled with dolls, wooden building sets, and whatnot.

Aria snuggled into her bedsheet closing the curtains, and turned on the night light, indifferent to Vane's existence—not like he cared.

Vane, as he usually was, didn't utter a word, nor looked at her and silently stared at the wall, as if in pensive thought, he sat on the chair for hours.

I sometimes wonder what's going in his mind, perhaps he was vacating the physical realm for a fantasy counterpart? Or was he daydreaming?

Nevertheless, his mother called out, and Vane left the room, leaving Aria alone in the room, not interested in her one bit.

This cycle went on to continue, their mothers oblivious to their kids' reluctance—no indifference to each other, but one certain time Aria spoke to Vane-

"Hello—Hel-?", a voice interrupted my thoughts, and I turned to the source.

"Hello… Hello? Uh, are you there?" a man with a deep, confused voice, called out to me.

I saw a man in his 30s, wearing civilian clothes. His brown eyes were fixed on me, and I noticed his blue hair, quite fitting for a fantasy world.

"Yes?" I asked, curtly, but I didn't bother.

"Vane, I believe?" I nodded, and he continued;

"Well, I'm the man who saved you a few weeks ago, Corporal Lee. It's good to see you survive, after all, with your condition…" he trailed off, but I understood what he meant.

"I understand, Corporal Lee, and I sincerely thank you for putting in a word for me." I thanked this man, for reasons more than one.

"You're welcome Mr. Vane, but there are more urgent things at hand, and I apologize if this may seem insensitive, but I assume you know the procedures? I hope you will be cooperative." he queried, consequently drooping his smile.

After all, this was a military facility, and they have already attached a bracelet to me, probably to restrict mana and any other magical artifacts with me.

"I understand Corporal Lee, I will do so after a while if that's fine?" I asked, to which he smiled and responded;

"That's totally fine, you can wait here until you're rested; please inform the nurse when you're ready." he finished, and made small talk about my condition and left soon.

But I could do anything but smile, as I knew I had long days ahead—this was way too much for a newly transmigrated man,