The buzzing hum of machines filled the sterile white room with a soft, mechanical rythm. Each beep from the heart monitor was a cruel reminder of uncertainty. Kelsey Reed sat beside the hospital bed, her hands wrapped around Mike's with a quiet desperation. His skin was warm. Muscles that once held her close now lay motionless beneath the sheets, twitching only on rare occasion as if triggered by intense nightmares.
For over a week, Mike had remained unresponsive, neither awake nor asleep, suspended in an almost lifeless state. No sedation. No injuries. Just… gone.
Kelsey leaned in close, whispering the same encouraging words into his ear she had since day one.
"You're going to wake up, Mike. I don't care what's happening out there, just come back to me. Please." Her voice cracked on the last word, the plea barely audible above the hiss of oxygen cycling in and out of the mask.
The doctors at the military medical facility had offered her little hope. He was in a high-energy neural stasis, they said. More active than a coma, less structured than a deep sleep. Something they had never seen.
Words like "trial," "divine resonance," and "astral displacement" had begun creeping into the physicians' notes, but they all meant the same thing: Mike's mind was somewhere else and they had no way to reach him.
Kelsey remained by his side.
She adjusted the thin blanket draped over his chest and looked out the narrow window. The sky was overcast, the sun a pale disk blurred by clouds and the pollution in the sky. Something about the world outside felt… unnatural. Still. Like the earth itself was holding its breath waiting for a massive change.
The door opened behind her, and a pair of light footsteps entered the room.
Debbie's soft voice brought a ripple of normalcy into the quiet. "He's still stable?"
Kelsey nodded without looking up. "Same as yesterday. Same as last week."
Debbie gently set a small thermos and two cups on the table. "Brought you chamomile." She pulled up a chair beside her. "Have you slept at all?"
"A few hours last night. Maybe." Kelsey's eyes didn't leave Mike.
"You need to take care of yourself too. You're not helping him if you collapse."
Kelsey let out a bitter laugh. "I know. But I can't leave him alone. Not after what we've seen. Not after how fast the world is changing."
Debbie looked at Mike's face, peaceful despite the disconnection beneath it. "He's strong, Kelsey. If anyone could survive… whatever this is, it's Mike."
Kelsey gripped his hand tighter. "I just wish I knew what he was surviving."
A silence fell between them. Not awkward, but heavy.
Debbie broke it. "There are whispers in the halls. The other patients, the ones undergoing awakening are starting to shift. Some are muttering in languages no one understands. One of them… grew feathers."
Kelsey blinked, stunned. "Feathers?"
"Wings," Debbie whispered. "Only for a moment. Then they vanished."
They sat together in silence, both staring at the man whose body remained still, but whose consciousness might be fighting gods on the other side of some trial or could change into something else at any moment.
"I swear I heard him mumble something last night," Kelsey said suddenly. "He moved his lips."
"What did he say?"
Kelsey swallowed. "He said, 'Kill the feathered bat.'"
Debbie's expression darkened. "That's… concerning."
Kelsey shook her head. "It's nonsense. A dream. Just ramblings in his nightmare."
But deep down, something in her stomach twisted. A coil of dread beginning to tighten.
From the hall, a flicker of movement caught her eye. A tall figure in all white clothes with hair like molten gold turned the corner just out of sight. She stood up and went to the door, peering into the corridor. Nothing.
She returned to her chair, shaken.
"You saw something?" Debbie asked.
Kelsey nodded slowly. "Someone. But he was gone."
"Probably a doctor," Debbie offered, though her tone lacked conviction.
But Kelsey didn't believe it. Something had changed. Not in the room but in the air, the way the floor felt beneath her feet, the sound of the wind against the windows.
She didn't feel right. It made her feel like she did when they were on a trip to Chicago. Some men had followed them when they were walking to a comedy show she booked to surprise Mike. She hadn't seen them but everything just felt wrong while they were walking. The men eventually tried to rob them, claiming Mike and Kelsey got their shoes shined and didn't pay. One man had grabbed her arm creating a situation for Mike, who threw money at one of the men before taking her away from them.
Even a bad memory made her miss Mike even more. She knew how much he loved her. Tears began to form.
Mike, wherever you are… come home to me. Please.