( PH 2 )
The smell came first not the memory not the image.Just that sharp, metallic scent.
Anie's fingers tightened slightly.even in the present… sitting alone… that smell returned.faint but enough.
Her breathing slowed not by choice.
But because something inside her
had already begun pulling her back.
not to a place no a moment It had been evening that day.
not dark yet but the light was fading.
the kind of time where everything looks softer… quieter… almost safe.
Anie remembered walking fast her steps uneven.her mind distracted she didn't remember why she had gone that way.
That path wasn't part of her usual routine. narrow street half-lit too quiet.
But something had pulled her there.
A feeling unclear uncomfortable and then she saw it.
A shape collapsed near the wall at first
her mind didn't process it.just a person
someone hurt.she slowed her steps uncertain now.
"Hello…?"
Her voice had been small careful no response.she took another step closer.
And then
the light shifted.
and she saw the blood It wasn't a small amount.It wasn't something you could ignore.
It was everywhere on the ground on the wall.on her clothes Anie froze her heartbeat stopped.For one second
her mind refused to accept it.then
it broke.
"…No…"
She ran fast too fast dropped to her knees beside the body.hands shaking
breath breaking.
"Hey—hey—!"
She turned her gently carefully afraid of what she would see and then she saw her face.everything inside Anie collapsed.
"…no…"
It wasn't just someone It was her, her best friend.The one who always laughed first.the one who stayed even when others left.the one who knew her silence without asking.
Now lying there covered in blood unmoving.
"Hey—!"
Anie's voice cracked louder now desperate .
"Look at me… please—"
Her hands pressed against the wounds instinctively.not knowing what to do not knowing how to help.warm blood soaked through her fingers,
"No no no—this is not—"
Her words broke apart her vision blurred.
"Stay with me—!"
A weak movement her friend's fingers twitched.Anie froze,
"…hey…?"
Slowly painfully her friend's eyes opened.not fully just enough.
"…Anie…"
That voice weak broken but still
hers.
"I'm here… I'm here—"
Anie leaned closer tears already falling.
uncontrolled,
"Don't talk—okay? We'll go—hospital—"
Her friend shook her head slightly.
"No…"
Her hand moved barely something was in it.a small notebook a diary.blood-stained edges torn she tried to lift it failed.Anie quickly held her hand helping.
"…this…"
Her voice trembled.each word felt like it cost something.
"…don't let it…"
A breath shallow painful,
"…leave you…"
Anie stared at her not understanding
not fully.
"W-what…?"
Her friend's fingers tightened just for a second around Anie's hand.
"…promise…"
A whisper barely sound Anie nodded immediately.without thinking without questioning.
"I promise—"
The diary slipped into her hand her friend's grip weakened.eyes closing.
"Hey—HEY—!"
Anie shook her slightly panic rising fast.
too fast.
"No—stay with me—!"
No response her chest moved but faintly.too faint Anie's hands trembled harder.
"Help—!"
She shouted.
Voice breaking into the empty street.
"Someone—please—!"
Everything blurred after that sirens voices.hands pulling her back the diary
still in her grip.the hospital lights were too bright.
Too white too cold everything moved fast.people running machines commands.But Anie stood still outside the room.just like now her hands still stained.
Even after washing even afte scrubbing.It felt like it wouldn't come off. a doctor came out once said something.she didn't remember what.
Time passed or maybe it didn't minutes felt like hours.hours felt like nothing,
She sat stood walked wat again the diary rested in her lap.the didn't open it.
Couldn't because opening it would make everything real.the door finally opened again.that moment she remembered clearly.
Too clearly the doctor's face the silence before words.
"I'm sorry…"
That was all it took the world stopped.
not slowed, not shaken stopped.
Anie didn't cry immediately that came later much later.At that moment there was nothing.no sound, no feeling just emptiness.
The memory didn't end there because it never really ended.It stayed Inside her.unfinished,back in the present Anie's fingers tightened around nothing.her breathing uneven again her eyes slowly opened.
The hospital corridor returned cold.
silent the name on the wall blurred.
Synapse Medical Complex.,,
The memory broke not suddenly,
but like something slowly slipping away.
Anie's eyes opened the present returned.cold silent unforgiving.
The white lights of Synapse Medical Complex stared back at her unchanged.just like before she stood still for a moment.As if her body needed time to remember where she was.
Then she moved slow steps heavy.
The ICU door was right in front of her.
glass closed unreachable her gaze lifted.
Inside Eli unconscious motionless the machines beside him blinked softly.
"Beep… Beep…"
A rhythm that felt too fragile too uncertain.Anie didn't blink she just stood there watching.
The same place…
The same waiting…
The same fear…
Her fingers tightened slightly.
"…no…"
A whisper barely there her chest ached.
not sharp,not loud but deep.
Because she knew this feeling she had lived this moment before.and she had lost someone.her breathing became uneven.
What if…
The thought came uninvited,
What if I lose him too…?
Her heart clenched hard she took a step closer to the glass.
Her reflection faintly visible over his still body.
"…don't…"
She whispered again this time it broke.
Because she wasn't talking to the moment she was talking to him.And then like a crack through her thoughts
a voice returned. A memory soft fading
but still there.
"…Anie…"
Her eyes widened slightly that voice,
"…don't be scared…"
Her best friend's voice from that day from that room.from that moment
she never escaped.
"…even if I'm gone…"
Her vision blurred,
"…you have to stay…"
Anie's fingers pressed against the glass now unconsciously.
"…don't break…"
Silence the memory ended just like it did back then.incomplete unfair.
Anie stood there frozen between past and present.her eyes slowly shifted back to Eli.unmoving,
And for the first time a new fear took shape inside her.
not loud,not panicked but terrifyingly clear.
If he doesn't wake up…
Her lips parted slightly no sound came out.because this time
she understood something she didn't before.
Losing someone once…was pain.....
But losing someone again the same way…might break her completely.
her hand slowly dropped from the glass.
"…please…"
A whisper shaking now...,
"I can't…"
She closed her eyes tightly.
"…not again…"
Behind the glass the machines continued their soft rhythm.
"Beep…"
"Beep…"
and Eli did not move...,,,,