"What an honor it has been."
I look up at the sky, my breath weak, tired, slipping away.
In these moments you'd think a person would go over all the things he wasn't able to do, the regrets he carries with him aswell as the fear of not knowing what's next.
And they're right.
There were a million things going through my mind: all the "What If's" the "Why me's?" and what not.
But there wasn't anything I could do, even if I wanted to. Noone I could call. It was final.
I was dying.
.
.
.
Lifes funny in a way, one day you're having the worst day of your life and suddenly you're a winner of some awesome ship cruise or something.
Other times you're enjoying a pleasent day and boom! - your mother dies..
.
.
.
But just like this story, that is only beginning.-my life will not end today.
.
A bright light, blinding, almost painful stings my eyes.
My vision blurred, a sharp ringing pierced my ears..."this is it" I thought.
But jokes on me for spoiling the story, I wasn't going to die. -Once I came to and realized I was in a hospital bed it all klicked.
"No way" I thought, feeling silly for being so emotional, brushing it off, when really I should've been more aware of my situation.
I was in fact injured, not sure why and when I got here, but I was injured for sure, feeling weak.
I looked around the room hoping I'd see a few people going by, trying to soothe my confusion.
.
.
.
Not a single soul at sight.
"What the heck, it sure is quiet here.."
I decide it's better for me to get up, look around, see if I can find anything unusal given my situation. The room doesn't spark my intrest, it's as normal as any other room of it's kind.
I get up, it's best I check up on my body, so, I head to the given restroom.
I wash my face, clean myself up and head back.
As I open the door however I'm met with two doctors looking at me.
.
There is a long silence, I stare and they stare back. - "There vibe is so off..." goosebumps. "What the heck do I do.."
I say something before this uncomfortable silence goes on any longer.
"Um..hello..was I in you're care? Could you possibly tell me what happened? I don't remember anything." I clear my voice as I speak. I must've been out for a while, my throat is as dry as the desert.
They just continue starring, not uttering a single word.
One of the doctors fixes his glasses and looks down for a moment.
"Sorry, we..we didn't think you'd still be here after.."
?
"After what?"
"You don't remember anything, do you?"
"..no?"
The doctor sits down, shooing the other doctor out of the room. "Please, take a seat." He directs me to a chair acorss from him.
I sit down, cautious.
He sighs.
"Sir, do you recall what your name is?"
"My name?" I ask. "I apologize but honestly all I can remember is that I was laying on a field. I was sure I was dead. Come to think of it, how did I end up here??"
"I'll get to that soon enough." he says.
"What the heck..this is getting more and more confusing by the minute." I think to myself.
I blink a few times, the confusion clearly visible on my face.
"I'll start from the beginning." He clears his voice.
"You weren't exactly found..I'm not sure how they actually brought you here..."
"That doesn't matter now."
He rubs his forhead.
He seems even more perplexed than me.
.
"Alright, I'll just come out and say it."
"You, sir, are the first ever human to have lived over 200 years, frozen in time."
I blink a few times more, trying to comprehend what he just said.."200 years..??"
He nods. "Someone must've found you, if you don't remember going into the freezing chamber yourself.
.
"Anyway, because you have been here the longest our team decided, that they would focus on you first."
"Since then it has been a week, trying to defrost you, without damaging any vital organs."
He fixes his glasses again.
"We thought someone had gotten rid of you, because you took longer than we estimated.
"We were deeply wrong." He laughs, rubbing his neck.
"I'll give you a moment to process before we continue."
.
.
.
"How are you feeling?"
.
.
"I feel tired, very tired. Also I think I'm still injured. My last memory backs that up pretty well."
"Did you notice anything?"
He shakes his head.
"No. We checked everything for the past centuries."
"Your body must still feel the shock of some ancient body trauma and of your 'sudden' resurrection."
"I see.."
A slight relief embraces me, it fades away quickly though, knowing I am nothing more than a lost soul for now.
I look around for a moment trying to gather my thoughts.
"What was the purpose of this?" I ask.
He looks up from his notes meeting my eyes.
"The purpose of all this?" He asks. -I nod.
"Well.." he puts his notes down, now holding both his hands as he explains.
"Initially, it all was a question of what if. Being able to live past your time and seeing what the future was like, was a dream come true for some people. -For those who didn't feel like they belonged into their timeline. Others wanted to study and observe the drastic changes time would bring to humankind and it's ways. If we would even make it that far." He laughs.
...
"There was a lot of fantasy involved in what people imagined they could do with such a timelaps, maybe even start fresh, dissapear into a new identity, life."
"For you however..I have no clue."
"Every case has an assigned document for the patient or as we call them 'Jumpers' to avoid confusion and care for them like their bodies require. As you would have to undergo multible medical scans to assure a safe trip to the future. You had to write down which year you wanted to be unfrozen and what we could do with you, if the defrosting fails, signing a disclosure agreement."
"If you believe it or not, you are our first Jumper to ever survive. Not to mention the longest we have kept frozen in our chambers."
"Others have died, trying to unfreeze them?" I ask feeling slighty disturbed.
.
He sighs.
"Well yeah, turns out freezing human beings kills them usually instantly..while in theory it should work, we didn't have the capacity to care for every single Jumper equally."
"So.." he continues.
"For now we have 300.000 Jumpers alive and thriving in their chambers. All waiting for their time to be unfrozen. Looking back, we lost more than we are proud of.
We started with 2.7 million Jumpers, losing many over miscalculated treatments."
"Technology wasn't that evolved back then...in these fields."
..
"Coming back to you."
"There was no document left behind in your case."
"The only thing we know: you have been here for atleast 200 years and counting. Which makes me just as curious as you are about yourself and all the other questions laying in the open."
I look down, unsure what to make of all this, if I even remember anything beyond the last painful moments of my near death expirience. Did I even have a name? I didn't know, couldn't. There was noone I could go to, where to even start. This world must be so different now, how would I get along?
"I know this is a lot." The doctor says.
"But do not fret, I am here to take care of you, that is what I was trained to do. You and I will be partners from now on. A helping hand, maybe even friends!" He smiles.
"How about we get a little familiar? There is no need for so much stress right after waking, don't you think?"
I nod once more.
"Im Graham, your personal guide from now on. Any way you want to be adressed?"
A sudden sting melts into my brain, not painful but surely overwhelming. It calls out to me, caught on my tounge.
"Ezekiel."
"That's my name."