Act 4

I stayed "awake" in grief for a few days until I had to go back into the chamber. In the days that followed, I missed Rose so much, our conversations, dancing with her. The hospital continued to grow and grow, with more patients coming in and more patients going out. It was as if nothing had happened. It was devastating.

The chamber was very rudimentary at first, but it grew into a big machine. The doctors no longer had to give me injections as before; they adjusted it so that the machine would do it by adding the dose of medication and pressing a few buttons. It became easy to understand after watching it a few times; maybe I could even do it myself.

I went on in the lost flow of time, doing only what was required of me. I think describing this routine so often is getting tiresome. I was already used to getting into the machine early, as there was nothing left in the world that made me want to be awake.

Just as I was surprised by so many misfortunes, there were other things that continued to surprise me. For example, one of the nurses who took care of me told me that I would not have to go back into the chamber for two years, or even longer, depending on my condition.

Two years seemed incredible. The longest I had stayed "awake" was maybe two months, I can't remember exactly. I was happy and scared at the same time. There were so many children and teenagers in the hospital that it felt like an orphanage. What I noticed most about them were their bracelets. Some were green, some were yellow, and very few were red. This confirmed what Rose had told me earlier.

Every time I thought of her, I felt lonely, and although I wanted to talk to someone, I couldn't make friends with anyone. I didn't want to spend the day with someone just to go to sleep, wake up and find out that they were dead. I was so devastated that it was as if my feelings and my heart had died along with my loved ones. I didn't want to lose anyone else.

So I decided to spend some of my time watching TV by myself, or when I went to the cafeteria to eat, I would watch the other kids laughing and having fun. How could people with serious illnesses manage to smile and stay positive? Isolating myself made me sadder; I didn't smile anymore.

I began to feel that happiness was not for me. That I was born to have everything taken away from me. My dreams. My legs. My parents. My friends. My time. I knew my health was getting better. But at what cost? What if I died after going through all this? My thoughts went from bad to worse. I became sadder and more withdrawn each day.

I stopped paying attention to my surroundings. I didn't care what happened outside; it wasn't important if I couldn't be a part of it. My thoughts were so heavy. I put my arms on the table, put my head down and started to cry.

Everyone had been so supportive up to that point, but I didn't know if I could go on. I was without strength. I lacked hope. I was alone.

"You're a smart girl, Emília."

In the midst of the chaos, I heard Rose's voice as if she were there. I raised my head, and on the table, where there had been no one before, there was a group of three boys and two girls. They were all wearing red armbands. One of the boys called out to me.

"What?" I replied a little gruffly.

"Don't cry, everything will be fine," he said with a smile, and the others behind him smiled and left.

I was speechless. Then I became angry. My sadness was gone, but I didn't need anyone's sympathy.

From then on, I didn't cry anymore. I couldn't remember their faces very well; I looked for them in the hospital, but no matter how hard I tried, they seemed like ghosts. They appeared and disappeared.

Days passed and that group didn't reappear. I was in a storm of emotions. On the one hand, I wanted to know who they were. On the other hand, I didn't want to make friends with someone wearing a red wristband because they would soon die. My curiosity grew with each passing day, and they didn't show up anywhere.

I was furious. Only when I had lost all hope did the boy reappear.

"I'm glad to see you looking better," he said, intruding.

"Of course, I don't have your face."

He got serious and didn't seem to like my answer, but then he laughed, which confused me.

"That was a good one. You really seem to be getting better. My name is Marco."

After he introduced himself, another boy came and sat down with us.

"Hi Marco, are you sitting with the new girl?" he asked Marco, then turned to me and said, adjusting his glasses, "My name is Mauricio."

One by one, the two girls and the other boy who had been with them sat down at the table where I was.

"I'm Ana," she introduced herself with a smile.

"You can call me Beatrice," she said quickly.

"Rafael," he said a little shyly.

Mauricio looked at my bracelet and asked, "001? Why such a low number?"

I had the same question when I saw the number.

"Probably because I'm the first patient in the hospital," I replied with my deduction. When I said this, everyone at the table was amazed and surprised.

"Wait a minute! What's your name?" Marco asked.

"Emília," I said, stunned by everyone's reaction.

Everyone was in awe, and I still didn't understand why. I looked around to see if there was a staff member in uniform, and I could see my name, just as the boys had said.

Naturally, I was in shock.

"You see? It's your name," Beatrice said.

"All this time and I hadn't noticed," I replied.

"So she's a celebrity here," Rafael concluded with a smile.

"People here have a lot of affection for you. It may not seem like it, but you're an important person in this hospital. A celebrity," were Rose's words that came to mind. Of course, I became emotional. My eyes filled with tears. I was grateful for what the hospital had given me, the opportunity to follow my dream.

"There's a face I didn't think I'd see so soon," Marco said.

"Stop teasing!" I said, laughing.

We all laughed, and the tense atmosphere from before became more comfortable. We said goodbye so that each of us could have tests and physiotherapy. We also had extra classes to make sure we didn't fall too far behind in our education.

When I was alone again, I wondered if I should have talked to them. But as the days went by, we kept seeing each other and talking, and before I knew it, we had become good friends.

"How did you all end up here? Do you have dreams?" I asked curiously.

They looked at each other, wondering who would speak first, and Marco took the initiative.

"I used to play soccer before I came here. My dream is to become a great player. But in the middle of an important championship, I got sick, and my parents took me to the hospital, where I had to stay".

And what was common in everyone's story, what made me curious, something I had wondered about for a long time, was that they all didn't know what disease they had.

"Do any of you know what illness you have?" They all looked at me and no one answered, which showed that the answer was obvious. No one knew.

"I asked Rose, but she wouldn't tell me. From the symptoms you described, I don't think we have the same disease, but we all have the same red bracelet."

I looked around before continuing to see if there was a doctor nearby.

"I think it's fair for you to know as well. Anyone wearing the red bracelet is in danger of dying. I've seen a lot of people die in the hospital, and most of them were wearing this bracelet."

You were shocked. Who wouldn't be? Knowing that you could die at any moment.

"Don't worry, I'm alive so far, and it's been a long time, so I think we're going to be okay. Rose told me to stay positive, so look at it in a positive way. I'm telling you this because I thought I'd be alone forever. I'm sorry, Marco, that I treated you badly. I've lost so many people; I didn't want you to be next.

There was an uncomfortable silence until Rafael was the only one who surprisingly had the courage to speak.

"My father used to say that no one is born to be alone. We all need important people in our lives. People to lift us up when we're down."

He was right. Before I met her, I was sad and hopeless. I wasn't living. I was happy that they wanted to be my friends.

"You're right," I said, moved.

"Emília, I want you to be happy. Today we share our past, present and future; that means we have an inseparable bond."

Marco held out his hand with the bracelet, and Mauricio did the same. The other three followed. I was confused, but in the end I extended my arm as well.

"What matters is that we are together, even if we are no longer here, our bond will not be broken."

"Yes, we will remain friends even after death," Mauricio said.

I was very happy.

"Thank you guys."