There was no darkness.

Darkness implied space, depth, and silence. But this was something worse- an absence so complete it felt unfinished, as though reality itself had forgotten this part halfway through creation.

’Where am I?’ That was the thought Leon wanted to have, but he couldn’t even have it because just like this place, his thoughts were still and silent.

Here, everything was still except for time.

Time no longer moved in straight lines, for some reason Leon could tell. Seconds did not pass, hours did not exist, there were only fragments drifting endlessly through a dead ocean of unconsciousness.

Sometimes, he floated. Sometimes, he fell. And sometimes, he could remember what movement even was.

The world reached him in broken pieces.

A faintly familiar voice would appear sometimes from impossibly far away, muffled beneath layers of water and static, distorted until language became meaningless noise. At other times, he heard faint sobs.

And occasionally, a sharper sound pierced through- a monitor beeping, hurried footsteps, the now familiar faint tremor of someone crying beside him, but even those moments dissolved before he could truly grasp them.

Leon couldn’t sense deeply, he could only feel superficially like a speck of dust floating helplessly through a desert.

He was insignificant.

He could not open his eyes, he could not feel his body. At times, he wasn’t even certain he still had one.

There were moments where awareness flickered briefly to life like a dying matchstick. In those moments, panic came first- a primal, suffocating terror that lingered long after awareness left him.

He would try to breathe deeper, try to move a finger, force his lips apart to scream that he was still here...

...but nothing answered him.

It was a terrifying state of existing- no movement, no voice, and no proof of existence. Just existing.

It was like being buried beneath an ocean inside his own flesh.

Dreams bled into memory until he could no longer separate either from reality. Faces appeared without names, hallways stretched endlessly before folding into childhood bedrooms.

Conversations repeated themselves in warped loops.

’Mr. Raya, he’s bleeding! We’re losing him...!’

’Add pressure to his chest!’

Who is Mr. Raya? Where was that? He had no idea, not like he could retain the thought for long.

Sometimes, he relived old regrets with horrifying clarity though he didn’t remember their origin. Other times, entire years vanished from his mind like torn pages from a book.

And worse of all was the loneliness.

Not ordinary loneliness, but cosmic isolation- the sensation of being locked behind an invisible wall where life continued somewhere impossibly far away.

He could sense people reaching for him sometimes- a hand squeezing him, a distant voice begging him to wake up.

And that too... that warm presence that was always there even while others left, though it still felt impossibly far away.

It all felt unreal, like echoes from another universe he no longer belonged to.

Eventually even fear grew tired. His fragmented thoughts slowed, his memories dimmed around the edges.

Reality became softer, thinner, and harder to hold onto.

And somewhere in that endless drifting silence came the most terrifying thought of all: What if he had already disappeared long ago... and only the shell remained behind?

And that was when it happened.

CRKSH!

Leon broke through the fourth wall, and then...

Blink!

He opened his eyes.

Immediately Leon opened his eyes, the glare of the LED light hit him with force and like a vampire, he recoiled slightly as he tightly closed his eyes back.

And then for the first time in what felt like forever, thoughts came rushing back into his head in a coherent manner, no longer fragmented.

’Wait, what happened?’

’I’m awake?’ He was stunned.

And there, he felt it- the subtle warm presence that was always beside him even when every other one left.

Unlike before, it no longer seemed impossibly far away, it was close.

And now, he could sense even more. He could sense the heat from it, and he could hear the soft tired snoring coming from that direction.

’I-it’s a person!’ Leon was shocked. ’I’m truly awake!’

Calming down, he opened his eyes again, this time slowly to let his eyes adjust to the bright light, then he looked in that direction.

And then he saw her.

Her brown hair now looked auburn, thicker and fuller somehow, and it was tied in a neat bun behind her, covered with a bouffant cap.

With a serene look on her face, she slept beside him, resting her head on the side of the bed where she snored softly.

Leon blinked. ’Tyla?’

’She’s the one who’s always been beside me?’

Beep! Beep!

As his senses gradually returned, he finally heard the sound of monitors beeping around him, only then did he realize that he was in a hospital.

His body was connected to multiple drips.

Leon blinked again, and that was when she felt the stir as softly, she woke up, rubbing her eyes.

Her eyes were tired and bleak, clearly sleep-deprived.

The moment she was done rubbing her eyes though, just as she was about to stand up, she froze as she felt a pair of eyes staring back at her.

For a long time after that, Tyla couldn’t react as she stared at the familiar pair of black eyes that were staring back at her, deeper and blacker than before.

"You’re awake". Tyla finally found her voice as she whispered hoarsely.

But unlike her hoarse but relatively calm voice, her body wasn’t calm as shaking, her brown eyes instantly welled up with tears and before she could stop herself, she threw herself at him, gently hugging him as her tears flowed.

"You’re awake... you’re awake... thank God!"

"Ouch, that hurts". He said, making her release him slightly, then he grinned. "Just joking. You thought I would die?"

"Shut up!" Tyla snapped, hugging him even tighter.

Leon still felt weak all over, but he forced himself to raise a hand and gently pat her on the back.

Then, out of curiosity, he asked. "How long have I been, you know, unconscious?"

She hugged him even tighter. "It’s been 4 months you doofus!"

’Huh?’