CHAPTER 2 Wandering Souls

Lance and Peter LEAVE the Surgery ICU, apparently trying to avoid hearing their important conversation even though no one in the hospital could see or hear them.

Lance sat down in one of the chairs

out of the ICU. Peter told him, between them was

there was Maya, its pet bird. "Didn't anyone see Maya too?" he asked. "Because pets are not allowed here."

It laughed out loud. "Maya is not a pet. She is my friend. And yes, no one can see her either."

"W-what am I?" he asked anxiously. "Am I still human? Am I dead?"

"You're still human, and you're still alive," Peter replied. "Your soul just separated from your body."

"Will I still be able to return to my body?"

"Difficult, but not impossible."

"How? I don't want to stay like this for a while

life. I'm still young, I still want to do a lot."

"I wish you'd thought of that before you went crazy," Peter said shakily. "You really are people, every time you regret it is too late. You can see the regret when you didn't get through or like the result of what you did."

"Thanks for judging," he whispered. "How can I get back into my body?"

"It depends. There are comatose patients who suddenly wake up. And when they wake up, they are suddenly pulled back into their body. There are comatose patients who never came back because their body gave out, and they were just allowed to disappear completely. ."

"Are you saying I should just wait for my body to wake up?" he asked worriedly.

"You. If that's what you want to do," Peter replied. "You're not dead yet. You're not in heaven yet and you're not even in hell. Let's say this is purgatory."

"P-purgatory?"

"This is where souls like you go, souls that haven't completely passed away," it explained. "There are also the stray souls, they are the souls who have passed away but cannot leave because something is holding them back- be it the will to live, unearned forgiveness, or an unfinished mission."

"And you? What kind of soul are you?"

"I'm the watchman," answered Peter. "I am the one who opens the tunnel to heaven and hell. You can also see me as a guide, I support souls like you."

Lance wanted to ask more questions but he was stopped when Mara suddenly passed in front of them. He peeked inside the ICU and entered. Lance stood up and followed his friend inside.

He put on a lab gown and approached her body lying on the bed. The girl sat next to him and held his hand. "I don't know if you can hear me, Lance," it said. "I can hardly sleep because I know it's my fault why you're like this."

"Mara... I hear you. Don't blame yourself," he told his friend.

"It's my fault why you got into a fight. It's my fault why those men chased you." Mara wails next to his unconscious body. "It's my fault why you're taking your life now, Lance... I'm sorry! I'm really sorry."

"It's your fault," he said even though he knew she wouldn't hear him. "They're insulting you, do you think I'll just let them insult you in front of me?"

"I know I can't do anything for you, eh," Mara continued. "Mrs. Floresco scolded me a while ago, I feel like you were there defending me. Maybe I just got used to it

there you are."

"You felt me!" he said very happy. "You felt me ​​there!"

"Wake up," Mara continued to talk to her body. "You've missed a lot of lessons. There's a lot waiting for you to come back."

"I'll wake up, Mara," he said. "I'll wake up, I promise."

He wiped his tears and let go of her hand. "I'm leaving. I still have many requirements," he said goodbye. "Get well, Lance. I hope you wake up tomorrow."

He left the room and Lance was left inside.

What should I do to get back and wake up in my body?

Lance opened his eyes SLOWLY. The first thing he saw was the white ceiling and flourescent light. Little by little he moved the fingers on his hands and feet.

am i back he asked himself hopefully. I'm back.

"What are you doing?" asked Peter sitting next to him.

"I'm back," he said expectantly. "Get up there on the bed. You're still a soul."

He stood up and turned to the bed where his body was left. "That's how they are

I watched, when they return to their bodies, they just lie down in their bodies and wake up."

"What do they know about taking lives?

It's nothing," he said with a confused look. "I'll leave first,

I have things to attend to."

"Is there paper work in purgatory?"

"That's how it is," he replied. "I will prepare your admitting papers in heaven."

"There's nothing like that. I'm not ready to die yet," he said firmly.

"I'll leave you alone. I hope you stay out of any trouble while I'm gone."

"You always leave suddenly. You just said goodbye. And how can I be harmed if no one sees me?"

"Long story," said Peter. "Be on the lookout for crows. And don't stray too far from your body."

"Why?"

"That's it. Just follow the advice. You're only here at the hospital. Go around first if you want, or you're going to show dirty fingers to the people you hate again

you."

"Did you see that?"

"Maya just told me."

"Does the bird talk?"

"I told the rest of you about Maya. She's the only bird that can talk like a human and still hold a conversation," said Peter.

"Your pet bird is strange. Can I pet one like him? Do you have a dog?"

"Maya is not a pet. She is my friend. And you can't have a pet. Only when you wake up."

"Alright, go now. You might get caught in what you're doing and it's my fault if you get sick of your job."

"You're joking," he said with a smile. It has left the ICU and gone forever.

Lance was busy trying to wake up his unconscious body. He yells at him to get up, open his eyes. He screamed anything in an attempt to shake his body and make his eyes open, but he failed.

"Power of the mind!" he said firmly to himself. He concentrated and stared intently at his unconscious body.

You opened your eyes. You opened your eyes. OPEN YOUR EYES! He repeated the mantra in his mind. Now! feel even more sorry for myself, I'm going crazy. Disappointed, he stopped what he was doing when a few moments passed and still nothing happened.

He left the ICU and walked towards the nurses' station where the endorsement of the outgoing shift to the incoming shift had just been completed. He joined the nurses' rounds with the patients.

The nurses are already in the fifth room. Inside there was an old woman lying on the

Hands Mali

bed and reading a book.

"How are you, Ma'am?" one of the nurses asked the patient. "Are you ready to go home?"

"Yes, yes," the woman replied. "I'm excited. I can finally rest in my own room. I'm getting impatient because it's taking time for my husband to pay the bills."

After examining the patient, the nurses moved to the other room and Lance looked around. A young woman who had just had surgery to remove her appendix was the patient in that room. He listens to what the nurse says. He feels, by what he is doing, he has done his duty.

Rounds were completed throughout the ward. He saw about forty patients. He looks like a child brought to work by someone. He just sat in the empty chair at the nurses' station and watched the nurses work.

I'm like a human CCTV, he joked to himself.

He got up again and walked around the different parts of the hospital-listening to people's conversations, watching surgery in the OR, hanging out in the delivery room, and passing by the cafeteria where he felt hungry for the first time. because of the delicious smell.

I wish I could at least taste the food, he requested.

Lance continued to tour the building

Charles Fred Agustin

until he got to one of the busiest parts of the hospital, the medical ward. People are very busy, the stress level is high in that part of the hospital. People can't compete with the amount of work that needs to be done. He peeked through every door he passed and saw more and more patients with serum and tubes in their bodies.

He reached the end of the hallway. Inside the room in that part, he saw a woman lying unconscious. Next to the woman is a man sitting and watching her. The man is in his fifties. He broke through the door of the room and went inside.

It was dark inside the room because the light was off, only the light from the window and the turned on television brought life inside. The man was alone watching over the patient. A replay of a basketball game was shown on TV. He knew that game because his grandfather watched it when it first aired and it was the reason why his grandmother couldn't watch her favorite TV series so the two didn't talk for a week.

He approached the lying woman and stared at her face. For some inexplicable reason, his chest heaved when he saw her gentle face. She's pretty...

He heard the chain clink on his chest that he now couldn't see. His chest felt like it was going to break

Heast Over Matter

with the strength of his heartbeat. He touched his chest and felt it thump as if something wanted to escape from it.

He was about to touch the girl's face when suddenly he noticed something at the end of the room- a crow watching him. What the... why is there a crow here? He remembered what Peter had said that he had to be patient if there were crows around. He also remembered that crows eat wild souls.

He slowly left the room while not looking down at the crow in the corner for fear that it might suddenly grab him.

He sprinted back to the Surgery ICU. He didn't want to become the crow's dinner and completely lose hope of returning to his body. His chest was still pounding - now it was because of the fear he felt.

He fell down when he suddenly bumped into something.

He was hit so hard that he was lying on the hospital floor.

"What is that? Be careful!" The voice of the woman he bumped into was angry.

"Sorry..." he apologized. But he immediately stopped when he realized that the woman he bumped into was talking to him. "Y-you see me?"

"You think I'm blind?" it was a flat answer. "W-wait, you see me too?" it asked that neither

believable

Both of them didn't move and just itched inside for a while. Happy because finally someone can see him. But who is the mysterious woman that he accidentally fell in love with?

That's how surprised he was when he recognized her gentle face. "I-you!" he exclaimed. "You girl in the medical ward!"

"Huh?" said the woman who obviously suddenly became reluctant. "B-Maybe you're wrong. B-Maybe that just looks like me."

"I can't be wrong. You're that girl!"

"Said no, you scoundrel!" The woman ran away quickly as if she was scared.

He chased after her but the woman ran so fast that she disappeared from his sight. He continued to search for it throughout the building.

It means that we are in the same situation as that beautiful girl. That was Lance's conclusion. He's also comatose, he's a wild soul.

He tried to find the girl who was the only one who could see him, but she seemed to disappear like a bubble.

Why did he run? Why was he afraid? He does not know the answer to his own question. He just wanted to go back to his unconscious body. There he spent time in.

wondering why the mysterious woman suddenly ran.

NEXT to the vendo machine near the lobby where the people were just standing there was a woman with a beautiful face-Nicole. He carried something heavy on his chest—and it wasn't because of the chain that he couldn't see anymore.

I've been like this for almost a month. No one can see me, no one can talk to me. A ghost. And when someone finally saw me, what did I do? I ran and got scared... Shouldn't that guy be the one who scared me because I'm a wild soul?

He wanted to scream in disgust at himself. He was trying to get his mind off of what happened just a few minutes ago. He wanted to go back to where he saw the man he bumped into. This is the only one

he hopes to be able to talk to his father. "You're just here." A man suddenly sat down next to her. "What are you doing here complaining?"

"Peter!" he said with great joy when he saw Peter with the bird Maya.

"Nicole!" the man shouted, mimicking her reaction.

"Peter!" he exclaimed again, then left. "You're kidding me."

"You're funny," he said. "What is

happened and you look like that?"

"Someone saw me earlier," he replied. "For the first time, someone saw me!"

"I've never known a living being to see a soul. This is new."

"And he touched me," he added. "I mean, we collided."

"Ahhh..." Peter laughed.

"What's funny?" again he was disgusted with the man.

"What you saw was not a human but also a soul. Only a soul can touch the

his soul mate."

"Huh? That means… that guy is…"

"He could be a ghost or a wild soul like you," she cut him off. "Why did you leave your room? Didn't I tell you that you shouldn't be away from your body anymore? You've been unconscious for over a month."

"I know, but I'm hiding from the crow. May

a crow entered my room," he said

Nicole. "I went out first to avoid the crow." "That's a few this week, ah," said Peter. "We have to make a move."

"What should we do to stop the crows?"

"Negative emotions call the crows. Your daddy's sadness that he feels calls the crows."

"We have to send my daddy away?"

"It's possible. We can also ease his heart so that your daddy's feelings don't call for the attention of the crows anymore."

"How?" Nicole asked wryly.

"During his sleep, you enter the world of his mind. There you have the opportunity to meet, talk, and hug. There you will have living flesh," explained Peter. "Talk to him, tell him not to worry."

"Can I do that?" He was very happy with what he heard. He can finally talk to his father. In more than a month that he was in the comatose stage, that would be the first conversation between his father and son.

"Yes, but that won't be easy," said Peter. "It pays off."

"Hello?"

"Each time you do that the rusts that eat away at the chain that connects you to the only thing that will cross you into the world of the living will increase." It stuck its index finger to Nicole's chest and the chain connecting her soul and body appeared.

The chain on his chest is almost full of rust, some parts are already frayed.

"Are you ready to do this? Would you still do it even if your time was sped up?"

He smiled at Peter as if he had heard nothing. "Of course. I'm positive

that I'll find my way back. I'll definitely wake up soon. "You think so positively, that's what I like about you." It smiled. "Even if you're obviously skeptical."

"I know there are people who have worse problems than me. And who am I to complain?"

"Have you made up your mind yet?"

"Yes. I'll do it, not only for those crows to beat me up but also for my daddy."

"If you're so prepared, this is what you should do..."

He listened carefully to the steps he had to follow to accomplish his mission. Maya left to chase away the crow that was lurking in her room.

"You can't stay inside your father's dream for too long, understand?" Peter reminded.

"00."

"Because if you take too long, your chain will break down faster. Remember that you can't really enter his mind. You will only have an influence on his dreams."

"I will remember." He couldn't wait any longer. Finally he and his father can talk.

FROM the stand Lance watches a woman sitting next to his no

that I'll find my way back. I'll definitely wake up soon. "You think so positively, that's what I like about you." It smiled. "Even if you're obviously skeptical."

"I know there are people who have worse problems than me. And who am I to complain?"

"Have you made up your mind yet?"

"Yes. I'll do it, not only for those crows to beat me up but also for my daddy."

"If you're so prepared, this is what you should do..."

He listened carefully to the steps he had to follow to accomplish his mission. Maya left to chase away the crow that was lurking in her room.

"You can't stay inside your father's dream for too long, understand?" Peter reminded.

"00."

"Because if you take too long, your chain will break down faster. Remember that you can't really enter his mind. You will only have an influence on his dreams."

"I will remember." He couldn't wait any longer. Finally he and his father can talk.

FROM the stand Lance watches a woman sitting next to his no

I feel. Just like before... I begged her and Papa not to separate.

"Don't get involved, Lance. This is for adults," he remembers his mother saying when she begged him not to separate her and his father. "Go up to your room with Dean first."

It was the same when he begged her not to marry Uncle Stephen. He seems to have no importance in his parents' lives. Ever since the two decided to separate, his thoughts have no value in them.

Does Papa being their parent mean saying hello every month and giving alimony?

Lance bit his lip to keep from crying, but the tears finally came when he heard his mother humming a familiar song. lyon was what his parents used to sing to both of them and Dean when they were putting them to sleep when they were kids. It had been a long time since he had last heard that song, when their family was fine.

Lance hugged himself. He feels that his chest is gradually falling apart due to the pain and sadness he feels. All he wanted to do was hug his mother.

I feel. Just like before... I begged her and Papa not to separate.

"Don't get involved, Lance. This is for adults," he remembers his mother saying when she begged him not to separate her and his father. "Go up to your room with Dean first."

It was the same when he begged her not to marry Uncle Stephen. He seems to have no importance in his parents' lives. Ever since the two decided to separate, his thoughts have no value in them.

Does Papa being their parent mean saying hello every month and giving alimony?

Lance bit his lip to keep from crying, but the tears finally came when he heard his mother humming a familiar song. lyon was what his parents used to sing to both of them and Dean when they were putting them to sleep when they were kids. It had been a long time since he had last heard that song, when their family was fine.

Lance hugged himself. He feels that his chest is gradually falling apart due to the pain and sadness he feels. All he wanted to do was hug his mother.

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