There was a hell of a lot of commotion I perceived, as I slowly regained consciousness enough to hear what was going on around me.

Honestly, I thought I was dead by now, although I couldn’t quite insert the pieces together as I lied there trying to wake up fully. What I assumed to be a mattress was uncomfortably under me, a bit too firm for my liking as I could only try to move my seemingly heavy limbs.

I had no idea how long I had been out, and I tried so hard to remember what the reason for me to end up here was. My mind seemed to play endless fragments of screeching tires, shocked gasps and sirens echoing loudly after a while. However these noises were so short-lived that they didn’t seem to stay for long.

Why did a girl’s cry for me to wake up and small droplets landing on my face struck deeper than that?

I could feel the numbing pain on the probably stitched up wounds on my body; wounds that I was scared would turn into never fading scars. This wasn’t what I would call an ideal situation, and with a bunch of voices screaming and arguing I figured that the other’s around me wouldn’t say the same.

For a moment I wondered what was going on, as I could not pick up a single meaning of their words. It all sounded like gibberish or it was just broken up so badly like a radio with a bad signal.

Maybe I would understand better about it all when I woke up properly…

Maybe.

When I was sure a good while had passed, I had regained more of my consciousness although I couldn’t get myself to open my eyes. The lid that was above them felt too heavy for me to bother to lift, as I just let them stay shut, while a dull headache formed itself.

I started to hear more of those small fragments from the accident that got me here; the sound of the crash itself, the memory of the pain through my body as I could remember feeling blood running down my hands as I agonizingly tried to lift it up as if to get a better view.

Then my mind suddenly said something about scarlet and a girl rushing over to me, that voice telling me not to go, to keep my eyes open although I could only do the opposite as the pain was too much to bear.

The sounds of people talking, the pain pounding all the way to my bones, the smell of gasoline and taste of copper where all evident in my memories; yet I couldn’t get a single image in my brain for some reason.

 “Ara?” a voice called out then, something familiar about it as I with an instinct wanted to reach out, to find that voice calling out for me, to figure out who it was.

However, I couldn’t feel my hand lifting itself one bit, although the twitch I managed to send through my fingers could maybe be seen as an improvement. How long had I been out?

“I’m sorry, it must have been a muscle twitch; it happens very often,” another voice that I could not recognize, and I wanted to say that I could hear them, but my muscles seemed to deceive me as nothing happened. Not even my lips would try to move an inch, even if my lungs were obviously breathing.

I liked to believe it stayed like that for about an hour more, but I wasn’t too sure of time before I lightly gained the strength to part my lips, but it took me a while to figure out exactly what to say.

No one seemed to notice, as nothing happened, but I could hear a soft voice speaking not too far away. It appeared to be a girl reading something out loud, carrying the words and sentences throughout the room with her way of almost beautifully narrating the words.

“In vain I have struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed,” the girl read on, something shaky about her voice the more she continued with the English book. “You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you.”

It fell a bit silent after that, before suddenly the echo of a book closing went through the room. The closure and the sound that followed felt so loud to my ears that I almost wanted to cover them, despite the fact that it probably went unheard by most.

“That was it for today, I assume,” the voice continued after a moment. “You still haven’t woken up, after all this time, but I hope you at least will soon Ara.”

I wanted to ask how long I had been out, because by the way the girl spoke it seemed to be a while, but I kind of didn’t want to believe it as I could only lay there. For a moment I didn’t know what to do, as everything seemed like a huge blur to me.

Then, without comprehension, without precaution the voice that spoke so softly suddenly seemed to sing a song. A song which carried a slow tune, had no instrumental to back it up, yet her voice seemed to be the only thing needed.

“Those shattered fragments of gold blocks on the floor,
and subtle warmth taken for granted by some.
Only to glance at it, only to pass by it
I’ve come around back to today.”

My ears could only pick up the slightly trembling voice to the girl who sang with such emotion, her breath probably a bit unstable yet her singing so softly made me forget it in an instance. It was as if the buzzing sounds of machines, my heartbeat, and the wind blowing through what must be an open window just stopped the moment she continued.

“On your lips trying so hard to lift up a smile,
and like that shadow that lingers over still.
Everything’s cold as an unbearable chill,
only now stands alone of you and I.”
 

I had no idea what that song seemed to remind me of, but it awoke a sense of familiarity as something about a girl with one expression came into my mind. With eyes dark, yet filled with mystery and unopened emotions that she must have hidden. The thought instantly made my heartbeat quicken.

“Within this time tonight in shimmering light,
and this to your eyes that shine even more bright.
Brilliant Krystal that didn’t quite become
there lays my cold aluminum heart alone.”

Then, almost as if something just threw itself over me, I finally pieced what all of those odd fragments were in my head.

I understood the accident now, how it all happened as I stupidly stood in the middle of the crossroad just to get the girl with scarlet red hair to notice me. To let her know that all I did was wrong and that I really, really wanted to be with her despite everything.

“Krystal…” was the only word I could utter through my already slightly parted lips, wondering if it was even audible enough to be heard by the girl whom I couldn’t see.

A small amount of movement was heard, before a soft yet warm hand held onto mine as if I were to slip away any second. The feeling sent pleasurable feelings throughout my veins, despite my slightly drugged down state, as I could almost feel like letting out a smile.

However, as much as I wanted to open my eyes to see the girl I realized I had loved all along, her voice interrupted my idea.

“Don’t open your eyes,” Krystal began slowly as her voice sounded oddly clearer than before, as if my hearing had improved drastically. “But I have been told to tell you this right away so you don’t get too surprised by the realization.”

I could only let out a sound of understanding, my head too tired and weak to make out even a single nod as I laid there.

“Ara, the doctors told me they managed to save you, but there was one thing they weren’t too sure if they could save…” Krystal then took a deep breath, almost as if she was more nervous than I to know the news. Then, after a long moment of silence of me thinking nothing could become worse, it had. It was so bad to the point that I think it might have ruined every single dream I had ever obtained.

“You have lost your vision; but they don’t know yet if it is temporarily or permanently.”