Faint murmurs of worry and wonder embraced my weak body.

I felt a light pinching on my left forearm and a liquid continuously intruding my veins. A non-rebreather mask created an unwelcomed pressure on my face, but maybe I should had been grateful of its presence, because it was my source of oxygen. I savored the comforting smell and feeling of the cold, refreshing air traveling through my nostrils and lungs.

The distant conversations continued. I could not make out any complete statements. I wanted to respond to the voices but I couldn’t bring myself to do so.

Where was I? I wanted to open my eyes, but I had no strength left in me to do so.

It was as if my neurons did not connect and my muscles refused to execute my commands. The weight on my eyes seemed much too heavy for me to disregard it and open my eyes. I couldn’t sit up. As I centralized all the energy - or lack of - I had left in my pathetic state, the most I could do was flex my arm, causing my hand to twitch slightly.

Turned out, I ended up moving my left arm, causing the tube that perturbed my skin and muscles to pull towards me. The sound of metallic ringing enveloped the room and immediately silenced the conversations of those in the room.

“Janice! Are you okay?” a frantic voice asked. I was not able to pinpoint the face of the owner of this voice, so I tried opening my eyes.

I contracted all the muscles surrounding my eyelids, yet I was only greeted with pure darkness. I let out a breathless sigh into the mask and took a deep breath of oxygen to try again.

Blink after blink failed.

I began to grow frustrated at myself, but before I completely gave up, my eyes slowly fluttered open, revealing a blurry scenery before me. My pupils struggled to adjust to the sudden greeting of fluorescent light and I was able to make out the outlines of three male figures before me.

“Jiayi! You’re finally up! You scared me!” a sweet voice squeaked. It was Luhan.

I responded with a weak and unconvincing smile, but I was almost definite that no one saw that through my mask clouded with perspiration.

“Jan! Are you alright?” a pair of warm, protective hands secured my left hand. I turned my head to the left to be greeted with a male’s face where creases of stress and frustration were apparent. It was Eli.

I nodded faintly while my heart dropped in disappointment. Perhaps I was not able to identify the owner of the voice bef