There’s someone there.

An exuberant male voice cut me short, and if I had any control over my muscles I would’ve instinctively jerked my head in his direction, but frustratingly I was left to just SIT there and stare into the absolute darkness.

“Finally! Got the last wires plugged in, you’re looking great Kiyomi – if I had known you’d been conscious already I would’ve made things more comfortable for you. Bear with me just a moment, I need to finish this”

I knew that voice! A surge of relief washed over me at the sound of his distinctive Hachijō dialect rambling on about something very computer-technical sounding thingy he had to finish. Different emotions toiled within me, one of the more prominent feelings I remember was relief. Relief at not waking up with some stranger.

I wanted to thank him but I was unable to make a sound, it felt as if the words were stuck deep down in my throat. I couldn’t get anything over my lips and it started to frighten me more than just a little. ‘what the fuck is going on here?!’