|| Adrien's POV ||
It's cold.
I don't know when it started, but nothing is going the way it should.
*CLANG*
"Maya!"
*BIIIP*
Seeing another empty bed, I turn and run through the frozen hospital corridors.
The neon lights are flickering, as they always do. I'm out of breath, my breath fogging up the air with every exhalation, but it doesn't stop me.
*CLANG*
"Maya!"
*BIIIP*
It's still her hospital room, still her unmade bed, and she's never there... But there's still that heart monitor, making that constant noise, as if it's mocking me.
I turn around again and ran to the next door.
*CLANG*
"Maya!"
*BIP* *BIP* *BIP*
I don't know if it's a nightmare, but she's there.
Maya, pale and motionless in her bed, the curtains dance in a gentle breeze, cooling the warm room.
"Dad?"
Seeing her open her eyes and sit up, I instinctively step back.
"No... it can't be..."
I see her smile; her smile has always been my ray of sunshine.
"You're having a nightmare"
she says softly, getting out of bed and walking toward me.
"And I've come to make it stop."
I step back again, but my body is stopped by the wall behind me.
"I... I saw your body... You're..."
She presses a finger to my lips, her smile returning.
"Shh... This is a dream. And in dreams, hugs are allowed."
Then I feel her small arms wrap weakly around me. I close my teary eyes and hug her back.
For a second, I thought I felt real warmth.
When I open my eyes, we are no longer in the hospital but in a field.
She takes two steps back, her hands behind her back, the grass squeaking with each step, and a smile appears on her lips.
"See, Dad? It's better here, isn't it?"
I can feel the springy grass on my knees. Looking up, I see the pastel blue sky and feel the comforting sun on my skin.
Then a thought crosses my mind. It makes me lower my head.
"If I wake up, you'll disappear."
She comes closer to me again, kneels too, and I feel her little hands on my cheeks.
Looking up, I see her face, her smile still there, not as pronounced as before but still there.
"No. When you wake up, I'll still be here. Not like before, but I'll be here... In your dreams, in your stories, I'll always be with you. I promise."
She brings her hands closer to her own face, closes them together, and blows on them. When she opens her hands again, there is a flower. A white flower with heart-shaped petals.
"When you see this, you'll think of me."
I see her placing the flower in my hands. Then I feel a gentle pull.
As everything around me begins to blur, I hear her voice again.
"This isn't a goodbye, Dad. It's just good night."
When I open my eyes again, I see the hospital ceiling.
"Mr. Dreamweaver, are you okay? You fainted."
I watch as the nurse comes over to me and helps me sit up in bed.
I look at my right hand, which is closed, open it, and see it.
The same white flower with heart-shaped petals.
I look around me. It's not a dream. I can feel it.
My gaze returns to the flower, and I bring it close to my heart with both hands, thinking of my daughter.
"Yes, I'm fine, thank you," I say with a smile.
.
.
.
|| 3rd person POV ||
Feeling her connection to her father fade, as if sensing him waking up, Maya's smile faded.
Then a determined look appeared in her eyes.
"Those who are lost, those who are sad, those who are alone, you deserve a smile."
Then her head turned toward a child crying in the distance, and like a shooting star, she disappeared in that direction.
THE END