Michael woke up to the sound of voices. He could hear that they came from a man and a woman, and familiar ones at that. Despite everything sounding like he was underwater, he was able to recognize them as his parents.

Naturally, they were arguing.

He was only able to pick up perhaps every third word, but Michael was able to get the gist: apparently he was hurt and needed to be brought to a hospital. In regards to his injury, he had no clue of the nature of it; contrarily, he felt completely fine. However, when he attempted to voice this, he found himself unable to force any sound through his lips. Luckily for him, the fight between his parents seemed to dying down, so rather than trying to speak he focused on listening.

"--happened, anyway? How did he end up like this?" he heard his father demand. So much for the argument coming to a close. The man was speaking in an icy tone, the one he reserved specifically for Michael's mother. He did extend the tiniest bit of courtesy by speaking in Cantonese--though all that really succeded in doing was making it easier for them to bicker.

"I told you, I don't know," the woman responded snappishly. "I came back and he was already lying there."

Thanks to the fluorescent bulb hanging above his head, Michael was completely incapable of seeing anything the moment he opened his eyes. It didn't affect his hearing, however, and he didn't fail to pick up the irritable sigh from his father. Just from living with the woman for seventeen years, Michael thought it safe to assume that his mother was rolling her eyes in response.

Any further conversation was cut off by a loud cry, one that Michael later realized had been ripped from his own throat. Not a moment before, he'd felt fine--in fact, he couldn't even feel his body--but all sensation came flooding back to him in an instant. He was almost convinced he was being snapped in half from the pain he experienced, or some other awful equivalent. Both his mother and father looked down at him, yet he comprehended neither that, nor the fact that he was lying on the ground. Michael attempted to focus on something, anything other than the stabbing pain in his back, but nothing helped. The agony overwhelmed him, and once again, everything turned to black.