Ramen, Nurse, Human

Human beings. They are cute creatures, smart, intelligent creatures, creatures that can sense danger. They each have the five senses: Smell, Taste, Touch, Vision, and Hearing. Without these, they would be completely useless in a world where if you are not useful, you are worthless. 

Fire burning deep within the void. A scream. Then two more. Then, a single word.

Run.

EPISODE 5

"Hey, Hiacho! What happened to you?"

"Oi, Nobara. Tell them kids to leave. He's still not woken up."

A few heartbeats pass, then stop.

"Hey..Hiacho? Are you okay?"

I wake up, my head feeling lighter than a helium balloon. The ceiling blurs then comes into focus. Lines. Hundreds of them, feigning a sense of direction. My hand twitches involuntarily at my side. My eyes are barely open, yet I turn my weightless head to the right. And see..

"Oh my God! Hiacho, are you okay?!"

A hand grabs mine, squeezing it tight as water falls from the sky. 

"Hiacho, I was so worried!", Lisa sobs, her face a mess. "What happened to you?? I know that a incident like that can hurt people a lot, but now you're just.."

A corpse. Deader than any corpse, yet still living. 

"Hey! Don't overwhelm him like that! The poor boy suffered a seizure." 

A seizure. That's what they call it? Do they call suicide a bunjee jump then, too?

Or a fire, air?

"O-okay.", Lisa says regretfully, leaving my hand as she folds them into her lap. 

"I don't think you get what I mean.", the lady says, making a tsk sound and hovering over me worriedly. 

"You need to leave."

"Oh.", Lisa says, her face turning crimson. "I'll leave."

A few more beats. Then, they too, stop.

The lady sits down to my right on the now vacant chair that Lisa had made vacant. She looks at me, a pitiful and sympathetic smile on her face. "That girl has visited every hour for the past 25 hours.", she says, her hand tucking a stray hair behind her ear. "She really does love you. Is she your sister?"

I stare at her. "Who are you?"

She makes a face that's either acceptance, confusion or denial. Then it turns back to normal. 

"I'm your nurse. You can call me Nurse Nobara."

"And who's the old guy?"

"What? Sorry, I don't what you mean."

"Who's the old guy?", I ask again, a bead of sweat trickling down my forehead.

"Which old guy? I am the only one who works here, hon."

Another one. He caught another one.