Act 8

"Emilia?" A woman's voice called to me. It was the nurse who woke me up.

I was still crying when I looked at her.

"You really are a troublemaker," she said, laughing. "How could you escape from your own room when I told you to wait for me?"

"My friends. Where are they? Where am I?"

Her eyes told me she understood my sadness, she had seen many people lose their loved ones to the passage of time in this hospital.

"It's going to be okay, Emilia," she said as she stroked my head. "The doctor said he had to give you this."

When I looked at her other hand, I saw another object, it looked like a small television screen, but it was suspended in the air.

On it were the faces of three adults, frozen as if in a photograph. Then she started the video.

"Hi Emilia. Did you miss us? Well, probably not, because it seemed like a few seconds to you, but to me and these guys," Marco said, smiling, while he showed the other two who were standing next to him.

"Hello Emilia!" Beatrice greeted, waving.

"Hi Emilia!" Mauricio greeted as well.

Marco! Beatrice! Mauricio! So they're alive? I thought as I took a closer look at the recording.

"It's been a few years since we woke up, and guess what? We're all cured! That's great news."

"Ana and Rafael weren't as lucky as us," Mauricio said sadly. "But they fought as bravely as we did."

"We decided to record this so that when you woke up, you'd come looking for us," Beatrice said.

I was so happy, smiling and relieved to see this video as tears streamed down my eyes.

"I have to admit that I was wrong to suggest that we run away. I'm truly sorry. If you hadn't convinced me to stay, I would have done something reckless and led everyone to their deaths. The hospital didn't lie to us. That day when I collapsed, I realized how important what I was doing was. I'm sorry for scaring you, but I want you to know that I'm okay.

"Hey! We're okay too," Beatrice said as she took the camera out of Marco's hand.

"Yeah, they're okay too. I hope you wake up soon because we're all waiting for you."

And then the screen went black. The video had ended.

But something was wrong. Something inside me told me that something was very wrong with all of this. I looked around and saw all these different lights and noises, and when I compared it to the recording, it was very different.

"They're dead, aren't they?" I asked, just to be sure.

The nurse thought it best not to lie to me.

"Yes."

It was as I thought, I cried like I had never cried before, I felt like all the water in my body was coming out of my eyes.

On the other hand, the nurse tried to get my attention back to the screen.

"There's another video you need to see, miss."

"Hey, Emilia. I became a great soccer player, made a lot of money and bought something for you. Don't tell anyone, okay?"

As soon as Marco finished saying that, the nurse handed me a box.

It was a regular cardboard box, looked like a shoebox, what could be in it? I opened it and the first thing I saw was the color red. I was so emotional that I couldn't see clearly. But they were red shoes! Just like Camille used to wear. How long had it been since I had last seen her?

"How did he get these?" I asked the nurse in amazement, who just pointed at the screen.

"I searched and searched, in many countries and different places, and found a collector who kept all sorts of things, negotiated, and got it. I really hope you like it. You have to follow your dream, okay? I want to see you on stage, acting," he said as the screen slowly faded back to black.

"Thank you, Marco," I whispered as I cried, holding on to the shoes.