Previously

As everyone is yelling or screaming over each other, the sound of my rapid soul beat rings in my ears.

Time passes by quickly but my pain worsens.

Everyone's voices are muffled as the sound of sirens cut through the hushed yelling.

I squeeze my eyes shut from the pain and before you know it, I feel myself getting lifted and placed down on something soft but also hard.

The last thing I hear before the ambulance takes me away is,

"St_y str_ng, (Y/N)..."

Now

The ride to the hospital was a bumpy trip.

Different levels of pain continue to strike at my soul.

"When was the first chest pain experience you had that caused a mild discomfort?"

"I-I don't k-know...last n-night?"

"What hurts? Your chest, soul, or heart?"

"M-Mostly my s-soul..."

"Do you feel dizzy at all?"

"A l-little bit r-right now, a-actually..."

"Shortness of breath?"

"Hmm..."

"The caller said you coughed up blood. Is that true?"

"Ye—"

Another scratchy feeling comes from my throat.

I start hacking it out.

The nurse quickly grabs a tissue and puts it over my mouth before I cough out the splatter of blood.

"I guess that answers my question.

How's your soul feeling? Any palpitations?"

"Well, y-yea...s-sometimes, it f-flutters and sometimes b-beats fast..."

She asks me a few more questions and before you know it, we arrive at the hospital.

As they unload the ambulance cot and take me in, my soul continues to feel pain, but only a dull one.

They put me in a room and onto a more comfortable bed.

They tell me to wait...

On my left are machines and other hospital equipment that I could only hope that I would never use.

On my right is a nightstand with a small, petite lamp and a chair next to the bed.

A variety of colored couches and armchairs are pushed up against the walls.

And a bathroom is placed in the corner of the room.

I stare out at the window on the right side of the wall, keeping a hand on my heart to steady its beat.

After a while, the door opens and a man with a doctor's coat and glasses comes in.

He looks like he's in his thirties and has chocolate-brown hair, green eyes, and a beard.

"Miss (Y/N) (L/N)?" He reads his clipboard and adjusts his glasses.

"Y-Yes..."

"Hi, I am Dr. Denmark. How are you feeling today?"

"O-Okay, I-I guess..."

"You were sent here through the ambulance, correct?"

"Mm-hm..." I nod.

He goes on to ask me a few questions and leaves the room for probably a diagnosis.

As the door closes, a shadowy figure forms in the corner of my eye and moves closer to me.

"..."

It stands beside me with its hands behind its back and creepy red smile, as if it were dripping with blood.

A chill crawls up my spine but I don't make a physical reaction.

"This isn't funny, Inverse."

The figure shape shifts.

'Awww, is little (Y/N) tired of playing with me?'

"Actually, yes. You're annoying," I say matter-of-factly.

'Tsk tsk that's not very nice."

"And?" I retort, crossing my arms over my chest.

'And I think you underestimated me. So I'll show you what I can do.'

She put her hands in front of her and floating on it is my soul, all cracked and damaged.

'It's fake,' I reassure myself in my head.

'Is it?'

She grabs the soul and squeezes it tightly.

As an uncomfortable feeling forms in the middle of my chest, I sit up. A tightness in my throat stops me from breathing.

"Haa...aah..h.a..." I gasp.

The light around me changes in brightness and my head starts spinning.

"S...sto...op..." I manage to squeak out.

She lets go and the soul in her hand disappears.

I take in a big gulp of air.

"Dang...it, Inverse..."

'Does that prove to you that I'm not as weak as you think I am?'

I ignore her question and continue to catch my breath.

'I'll take that as a yes,' she sneers cruelly.

I take some more time to breathe and lean back on the bed.

When I calm myself down, the sound of footsteps comes near the door.

'See ya later, partner," she exclaims playfully and disappears.

Dr. Denmark comes into the room and glances at me with an uncertain look.

I sit up straight and am the first to speak up.

"I-Is something wrong, d-doctor?"

He takes a second to sit down on the chair next to the bed.

"Your condition is mildly concerning but also puzzling for you age," he states with hesitation.

"W-Well...what i-is it...?" I ask, anxious for his next words.

"At the current moment, our best bet on your condition is a soul disease."

"S-Soul...disease?"

"Before the monsters returned to the surface, we were only aware of our physical condition. However, now that the knowledge of a soul is known, new conditions and diseases have been discovered. Soul diseases are only a recent thing."

I continue listening on, terrified for the results.

"Your disease is admittedly quite common but it is also extremely dangerous if left untreated."

The anticipation slowly eats away at me.

"So having said that, you have Fractural Spiritus Syndrome.

...but I still don't understand how you could have this at such a young age..." he mutters under his breath.

"Hm?"

"It is a type of condition that happens when the soul is fractured or cracked in any way.

The condition doesn't allow determination to be produced which means it cannot get to the rest of the body.

This, in turn, can cause organ failure, starting at the lungs.

This explains the first symptoms of the syndrome, coughing up blood and shortness of breath.

The tissue around the lungs starts deteriorating so the blood gets into the lungs where it is coughed out.

Next, it targets the core of your body, the heart.

It stops the blood from pumping to areas of the body where it is most needed like the brain.

This causes more symptoms like heart palpitations, dizziness, and fatigue all around the body."

"D-Do we h-have any t-treatments or c-cures...?" I ask, shakily.

Thinking about the possibility of death at 17 makes my blood run cold.

But I hang onto that last bit of hope I still have.

"Unfortunately, no cures have been found but we have found that patients who have their friends and family for emotional support along with a few other factors have a better chance of recovery.

However, it really is still a 50/50 chance."

"S-So, what's our s-solution?"

"For now, we'll keep you here to make sure you're in a stable condition. After that, we'll let you go. How does that sound?"

I nod, twisting and wringing the corner of the blanket.

"And if you don't mind, could I see your soul?"

A hesitancy shows on my face.

"We know that it is damaged but we don't know how much."

'But I can't let him see...!'

I shake my head, refusing.

"You know what? It's okay, never mind. But something I do need from you is to hook you up to this beat monitor to your left. It's to check your heart and soul beat to make sure they're steady."

He grabs a wire and a patch from the machine and holds it up to me.

"Put it in the middle of your chest."

I take the patch from him and slide it under my shirt and place it in the middle of my sternum. It sticks on like a band-aid and the machine lights up.

On it shows two lines, the top one labeled heart, and the bottom labeled soul.

Their beats are relatively the same with mostly the same ups and downs.

On the sides are what I assume to be words but they are too small to see from my distance.

A knock comes from the door and I slightly jolt up. The door opens and reveals another nurse.

"Dr. Denmark?"

"Yes?"

"You have another patient."

"Tell them I'll be right there."

The nurse nods and leaves the room.

"I am incredibly sorry but I have more business I must attend to. Keep the patch on you. I'll come back later to check on you, okay?"

"O-Okay..." I reply, putting a hand on my chest, feeling my soul's beat.

He gets up from the chair and goes over to the door, putting his hand on the doorknob and unlocking it.

He turns his head and looks at me one last time before leaving the room, the door clicking softly behind him.

I sink back into the bed and see Inverse's shadowy figure take shape again.

She walks over to the side of the bed and smiles at me with a smug grin.

"Hmm..." I turn my back on her and sigh.

'Hmph. Rude,' she teases playfully

"Says the one who stole my soul so that you could see me in pain."

My eyelids flutter as I desperately trying to stay awake.

I snuggle in the blanket and rest my head on the pillow.

'I'll just shut my eyes...

For a little...'

Before I'm about to fall asleep, a knock comes from the door.

I open my eyes again.

"(Y/N)?"

As I sit up and the door opens, Inverse waves goodbye and disappears again.

At the door are Mr. Ink, Mr. Error, Cil, and PJ.

"Goodness, (Y/N)! Are you okay!?" Mr. Ink rushes up to me and gives me in a big hug.

"I-I'm okay, M-Mr. Ink," I hug back, signifying to him that I appreciate the gesture.

He lets go.

"What happened?" Cil asks worriedly, furrowing his bone brows.

"I-I was coughing u-up blood and having c-chest pains."

"Did the doctors tell you the cause?" Mr. Error cuts in.

'Should I really break it to them...?"

"T-They...they said I m-might have a s-soul disease..."

"At such a young age?"

I nod.

"Poor thing..." Mr. Ink pats my head.

"Is it...Fractural Spiritus Syndrome?" PJ speaks up after being awfully quiet for so long. It's unusual to see him to silent, considering his typical loud and bold personality.

Everyone turns to him and turns back to me, awaiting an answer.

"H-How d-did you k-know?" I ask, stunned at his question.

'How could he possibly have any idea?'

"I—um..." he stammers, struggling to find a way to explain himself, "Well, you showed all the symptoms...so I assumed..."

"What exactly is 'Fractural Spiritus Syndrome'?" Mr. Error asks.

"All I know that it happens when the soul begins to crack due to emotional instability. I don't know much about the soul disease other than that and its symptoms."

"What are the doctors planning to do about this?" Mr. Ink turns back to me.

"T-They want to k-keep an e-eye on me f-for a b-bit and then l-let me go..."

"Did they say how long?"

"T-They only said until m-my soul is s-stable..."

They continue asking me questions and I answer every single one until I start getting sleepy.

I cover my mouth as I yawn.

"Are you tired?" Cil questions.

"A-A little..."

"Take a nap. We'll get the rest of the information from the doctors." Mr. Error speaks up.

"A-Are you s-sure?"

"Rest up. You need the energy," Mr. Ink reassures me.

"O-Okay..."

I lay down on the pillow and face them. Everyone starts getting up but PJ stays.

"Aren't you coming, PJ?"

"I'll catch up. Don't worry about me."

I watch as they close the door on their way out.

PJ, who is leaning on the wall, crossing his arms and with one leg up, looks at me with this expression I can't quite describe.

It's a mix of concern, warmth, and a few others I couldn't identify.

"Don't forget that we deeply care about you, (Y/N)."

My soul skips a beat.

"Hmm..."

He looks away from me and turns his head at the ground.

"I don't want anyone telling you any different...normally or during your condition.

You don't deserve that kind of backlash..."

He doesn't say anymore and silence washes over us.

I wait a few moments before murmuring,

"C-Come here..."

He turns to me with confusion but obeys anyway.

I sit up again and put my arms around his rib cage, hugging him.

'Ahhhh too short!'

He freezes up for a moment positioning himself to match my height and hugging me back.

"I-I'll be o-okay..."

He lets out a shaky breath and squeezes me a little tighter.

I sigh with content and close my eyes, smiling a little.

After a while, he releases me and wipes his eyes with his arm.

"A-Are you c-crying...?"

"No..." he says, clearly lying.

I reach up to his face and take his arm away from his face.

He doesn't resist.

His eyes are a little watery with a few tears running down his cheeks.

I use the back of my other hand and wipe them away.

As I touch his face, his cheekbones flush a faint magenta but I don't question it.

"Sorry..."

"D-Don't apologize."

After finishing, I plop back down into the pillow.

"T-The others are p-probably waiting..."

"Oh, right."

He reaches into his jacket pocket and pulls out two rectangular objects, one of them with a cord.

"Here, your phone and a power bank."

"O-Oh, thanks!"

I take them from him and he goes over to the door to leave.

"Get well, okay?"

"O-Okay, thanks."

Before he closes the door, he waves one last goodbye.

I wave back and he leaves, the door clicking behind him.

'I should probably take that nap...'

I put my phone on the table, with the screen of my phone faced down.

"Hm?"

Something has been slipped in between my transparent phone case and my phone.

I sit back up and take off the silicone phone case, revealing a folded piece of paper.

I unfold it, recognizing it as PJ's handwriting.

Hey (Y/N), it's PJ. Cil realized that he doesn't have your phone number and forced me to write this letter to you. Here's his phone number (top) and mine (bottom).
Wishing you a fast recovery

Sincerely, me
PJ

Below that small paragraph is a different handwriting, Cil's.

(Y/N)! I hope you're okay...I'm sorry I wasn't there when whatever happened happened. I wish I could have been there to support you...
But remember to get lots of rest. Hang in there! Betters days are coming!

Sending lots of love and hugs,
Cil

Under everything are two series of numbers with a derp face doodle on the side.

"Heheh..."

I take out my phone and add in the new numbers, Cil as

Cil-namon Roll

and PJ as

PJ 💜

'Oh crap—!'

I delete the heart on the name but my soul flutters as if it's trying to tell me something.

Curious, I add the heart back and my soul skips another beat.

My mood suddenly changes from puzzled to delight as I smile to myself.

I save his contact and out away my phone to take that nap that's been waiting for me.

~A/N~
Yea, I don't really have anything to say—
•-•

Word count: 2621 words (including A/N)

*nopes out in homework*