Lily giggled. Behind her, cheerful arcade music played, mixed with the crisp clink of coins dropping.
"Senior Brother is winning claw-machine dolls for me."
"He said tonight he's staying up all night to celebrate with me, making up for all the birthdays I never got to have."
"Senior Sister, can you stop using work as an excuse to bother us? Men hate clingy women the most."
Every word was a poisoned thorn, stabbing precisely into my festering chest.
I was waiting to die outside the ICU. They were at an arcade grabbing plushies.
"Give him the phone!"
I practically roared it.
"Lily! I got it!"
Adrian's excited shout came through the line, with a childish glee I'd never heard before.
"Come look! It's your favorite bunny!"
"Wow! Senior Brother, you're amazing!"
Lily cheered, her tone dripping with smugness.
"Senior Sister, did you hear that? Senior Brother's busy making me happy."
"Oh—he's calling me. Gotta go, okay?"
Beep—
The call cut off. Mercilessly.
At the same time, the elevator doors opened.
Ding.
Crisp. Piercing.
I lifted my head and ran straight into several nurses pushing a gurney out of the ICU.
A white sheet covered it.
Beneath the sheet—a human-shaped outline.
Everything went silent.