Since the day Lea woke up, Alan visited the hospital more frequently even though he wasn't allowed in the Special Care ward where Lea was currently recovering.
"Good evening, Nurse Kim. How's Lea today?"
As usual, Alan stop by the nurse station to ask about his sister. Nurse Kim had been in charge of taking care of his sister from the very day she was transferred to New Hope Hospital six years ago.
"Lea is doing very well. Today she was awake close to two hours."
Hearing that, Alan inputted that piece of information in the note app on his phone where he kept a record of Lea's daily condition.
Nurse Kim silently watched his brotherly devotion with the warm, affectionate gaze of an aunt.
Then, she deliberately clapped her hand to get Alan's attention and said, "I just remembered, someone left you a message."
Alan looked up from his phone. Given the nature of his job, he was suspicious of anyone trying to approach him in this roundabout way but did not show it in front of Nurse Kim.
"A message? From who?"
Instead of telling him, Nurse Kim took out her phone from her pocket and beckoned Alan to come closer. Then, she pressed the play button.
"Hi, Al."
Alan was taken aback. The voice coming out of Nurse Kim's phone sounded weak but he instantly recognised his sister's voice.
The recording continued after a short pause, "I head from the nurse that you've been coming to see me everyday. You must miss me a lot."
Alan unknowingly smiled as he listened attentively with teary eyes.
"Even if I say that you don't need to wear yourself out for me, you'll still do it anyway. So, just do it in moderation."
Alan wanted to deny that he wasn't tired at all and at the same time, he was embarrassed that she knew him too well.
"Promise?"
"I promised."
Alan responded even though it was only a recording.
It was a short one-minute recording but Alan was happy and most of all, relieved that he got to hear Lea's voice again.
When others could be in the same room as her, Alan alone couldn't. That's how its always been for an Awakener with a family member diagnosed with Hibernation Syndrome.
Six years; seventy-two months; two thousand and one hundred and ninety days, he could only see his sister through the monitor screen.
Nurse Kim hugged him and patted him gently on the back, comforting him for his solitary battles, "You did really well for holding on for the past six years, Alan."
Like a boy crying for his long-lost family, Alan could no longer stop the tears he's been holding back from falling.
.
.
.
Lea opened her eyes to a new day still stuck in the hospital bed.
'What was I dreaming about?'
She couldn't remember except the lingering feeling of longing for something.
She slowly blinked the sleep away before pushing the call button.
A couple of minutes later, Nurse Kim came in with a bright smile.
"How are you feeling today, Miss Lea?"
"Sleepy but not as much as yesterday."
A man with a muscular build and stern face push a wheelchair into Lea's hospital room while Nurse Kim helped her sit up on the bed.
'A fitness trainer?'
That was Lea's first impression of the unfamiliar man.
"This is Dan," Nurse Kim introduced. "He will be helping you with your check-up today."
Lea just noticed Dan was wearing the same nurse uniform as Nurse Kim, though the fit looked too tight on him because of the muscles.
Dan just quietly nodded after being introduced before parking the wheelchair next to her bed.
Because her body was currently frail, it did not take too much effort for the two nurses to move Lea from the bed to the wheelchair.
"If you feel uncomfortable in any way, please let us know. We can stop and take a break." Nurse Kim covered Lea's lap with a blanket and continued to say, "As for your parent, they said they'll come early and wait until your check-up is over."
A health check-up was immediately scheduled when Lea was able to stay awake for more than four hours which was today.
Dan slowly pushed the wheelchair to the door.
"Ah, wait."
Nurse Kim's hand was already on the door handle when Lea stopped her. This will be her first time stepping out of the hospital room. For some reason, she was nervous.
"Can I bring the voice recorder with me?"
"Of course."
Nurse Kim brought the voice recorder from the bed and gave it to Lea. Since the day Lea recorded the voice message for Alan, the two siblings had been exchanging messages through a voice recorder; an exchange that required Doctor Timur's approval.
Lea held the voice recorder which had become her only source of comfort, tightly to her chest.
Nurse Kim and Dan waited patiently until she felt ready.
Deep breathe in, breathe out slowly.
"Okay, ready as I can be."
Lea faced the door as if she was getting ready for battle. When the door opened, the bright light dazzled her eyes.
Jump to five hours later, the check-up was completed with Lea falling asleep in the examination room.
Dan moved Lea's sleeping figure to a bed that had been prepared beforehand while Doctor Timur conveyed the result of the check-up to Lea's parents.
"Most of the tests showed your daughter is in healthy condition. For her recovery, first, we need to focus on increasing the weight she lost before starting physical therapy."
The sleep specialist also added, "Regarding Miss Carter's Hibernation Syndrome, seeing that she's gradually staying awake longer with each passing day, the mana particles seemed to have almost completely assimilated in her body. But to be completely sure, we'll need to apply for an assessment at the association."
Lea's parents showed their relief but then looked concern when the association was mentioned.
"Won't that be difficult for our Lea?"
Doctor Timur understood their concern since the association is the very last place for a patient with Hibernation Syndrome to be in.
"I'm not suggesting she take the assessment now, your daughter is in no condition for that. The reason we brought up the association is because they have the technology for an in-depth assessment and it is accessible to the public. Unless you're acquainted with an Awakener with the skill to detect mana particles or know someone who does, the association is our only available option right now. Plus, they don't charge as astronomically as the private sector."
Lea's parents fell silent after listening to the doctors' reasonable suggestion.
Mrs Carter turned to look at where her daughter was peacefully sleeping. She noticed the voice recorder placed beside the pillow and thought of her son. Her son and daughter used to be almost inseparable when they were little but Lea's sudden illness forced them to be apart.
While she was choked with emotions, beside her, her husband spoke to his phone, "What do you think, Al?"
Alan, who had been listening via video call, responded, "I'll make the arrangement immediately."
.
.
.
Lea opened her eyes to the dimly lit hospital room and the first thing that came to mind was not the result of her check-up.
A hologram screen that seemed to only be visible to Lea and no one else was floating right in front of her eyes.
[World's system congratulates the individual 'Lea May Carter' on your awakening]
The first time Lea saw the hologram screen, she tried to delude herself into thinking that she was half-asleep but days passed and it was still there.
'Shouldn't it disappear when I've been ignoring it 'till now? So persistent.'
"Reject."
The hologram screen didn't react to her word.
'It's not going away. Does that mean it's too late for me to refuse the awakening?'
Before Lea became completely dejected over the missed opportunity of rejecting the awakening, she tried one last time.
"World's system, I refuse the awakening."
Lea rephrased it to a proper longer sentence but the hologram screen was still there, unchanging.
She sighed deeply.
For now, she decided to continue ignoring it and reached for the voice recorder to listen to a new message left by her brother yesterday.
"Lea, it's Al. Mom said that we're going to have a big family dinner the day you're discharged from the hospital. Dad is already planning to make all your favourite food for a whole month. When I told them that dessert is your favourite food, you know what mom did, she hit me!"
Lea chuckled then she heard an exaggerated gasp.
"Wait, I don't think you're supposed to know about the big family dinner. Lea, don't tell mom I told you!"
Lea had to pause the recording because of how loud her brother sounded.
"You should've just re-recorded it again, why keep it for me to listen?" She softly murmured, but she understood his intention - in case she felt bored being by herself in the hospital room with no TV or tablet to watch her favourite shows.
The other day when Doctor Timur went on his long explanation about Hibernation Syndrome, one thing he said particularly stuck on Lea's mind and that was, "For reasons yet to be determined, people under Hibernation Syndrome go into a seizure when they are inadvertently exposed to anything and anyone with mana particles."
'Anything and anyone with mana particles, he said. By that logic, that means… Alan couldn't see me at all for six whole years.'
When Lea came to realise that, she was distraught and also worried about her brother. Knowing his personality, he must have blamed himself for her condition.
At first, Lea recorded a message to give to her brother was because she wanted to console him. In the end, he was doing the same thing to her.
Lea played the voice recorder again.
"I'll treat you to a dessert buffet so keep it a secret from mom."
A smile crept on her face, mostly from imagining what kind of dessert she wants to eat after her discharge.