Afterlife Dream

Once I got back home, I started looking for my tablet.

Mom unpacked my hospital bag a while ago, so I should find it in my bedroom. I practically turned the content of my bedroom upside down, but I still was unable to find my tablet.

Eventually, I decided to just ask my mom.

"Moooom?" I called, poking my head into the kitchen. "Mom, do you know where my tablet is?"

Mom was cutting the potatoes into even-sized cubes while chatting on the phone with her best friend, Mrs. Emerson. The phone was on speaker.

"I tell you, Judy. That stupid bank teller really infuriated me... Oh hey, Danny. What's up?"

Before I answered, I heard Mrs. Emerson's high-pitched voice from the phone.

"Oh, Danny, HONEY! How are you, dear?"

"He's wonderful, Judy. You would not recognize him when you come to visit again. By the way, when are you coming to visit? Didn't you say that you wanted to come last week?"

"Mom, Mom..." I mouthed at Mom, hoping that she would look at me.

Mrs. Emerson was making some kind of excuse for not visiting us. Mom gave me a quizzical look.

"What?" she mouthed back.

"Mom, I want my tablet," I whispered. "I want to play some games."

"What tablet?" she asked with a frown.

"Are you still there?" Mrs. Emerson demanded to know.

"Oh yes, Judy, of course. I know the weather was awful."

Mom rolled with her eyes while grinning at me. I grinned back but she still had not answered my question. Meanwhile, the curry soup on the stove started to bubble.

"Oh, wait a second. Judy, my soup..."

Mom took off the lid and the fragrant aroma of curry soup quickly filled the kitchen. I took a whiff and sighed. It smelled so good.

I still did not want to give up, so I pestered my mom a little longer.

"My tablet. You know, the one I use to play games on?"

"What games?" Mom dumped the potato cubes and carrot slices into the curry soup.

"Mmmm," she hummed after tasting the soup. "It tastes heavenly. Judy, you are so going to regret that you did not come to visit me last week..."

I shook my head and gave up. When Mom was on phone with her gossip buddies, I should not even dream about having a decent conversation with her. It would be much better to go back to my bedroom and try to find my tablet one more time.

Not sure why it irritated me so much when I could not find my tablet even after searching for the whole day.

In the end, I gave up and assumed that it was lost or maybe we accidentally left it at the hospital. Either way, there was nothing I could do about it so I read the schoolbooks that we bought that day instead and prepared for the upcoming 8th-grade exams.

When Jaden arrived home, he immediately sought me out for some ball game.

"Danny, let's play," he begged.

I blinked at my brother who was holding a basketball in his hands. He was grinning from ear to ear.

"Sure," I said. "Give me a bit."

I put my book aside and put on some coat.

"Where is yours?" I frowned at Jaden.

"No need, we are just doing this for a bit."

"Mom will not like it," I pointed out.

"Eh," he said with a shrug while bouncing the ball along the corridor. "She won't know if we don't tell her."

"Jaden Weston!!!"

Mom's voice thundered from the kitchen. Both of us unwittingly flinched.

"I better not see you outside without your jacket on!"

I nudged Jaden toward the coat hanger and he groaned. "Fine, Mom!!!" he shouted.

Jaden and I used to play some ball games in the yard when I was still not that sick. At that time he was no more than a dwarf. And the ball that we used to play with was a light, plastic ball.

Sometime around last year, Dad hammered a basketball hoop at the outside wall. He and Jaden played regularly, but I never had the chance to. No need to tell you guys why. You all knew why.

It was thus rather enjoyable to finally be able to play with Jaden.

While we threw balls at each other, Jaden talked about school. He also went to St. Louis Academy, and he was currently in grade 5.

"My teachers are ogres. I have so many homeworks," he complained.

"Then why are we still playing ball here?"

"I don't know," he mumbled.

What kind of an answer was that? I dragged Jaden by his neck toward the house.

"Let's go, I also need to study for my 8th-grade exams."

When we got into the house, I suddenly remembered my missing tablet again. I poked Jaden at the center of his back. "Jaden, did you see my tablet?"

"What tablet?" he asked with a frown.

"You know. My tablet. My gaming tablet."

Jaden shook his head in confusion. "I don't know, did you have one?"

I started to grow impatient. What was this little guy talking about? Of course he knew! He...

A searing pain spread from the center of my skull as if someone just hammered a nail into my brain. I inadvertently squeezed my head with both of my hands and crouched down on the floor.

"Danny? DANNY? MOM!!!!"

It hurt so much that tears started to build up in my tears. I could hear the sound of rushed footsteps approaching, and then Mom grabbed my chin and forced me to look up at her.

"Danny, what happened, baby? Look at me, LOOK AT ME!"

I let Mom forcefully pull my face in her direction. Our eyes met, and suddenly the pain was no more. She looked terrified.

"Danny...?"

I blinked.

"Yes...?"

Mom's worry quickly turned into rage. She glared at Jaden and then at me alternately. "Do you guys think that this is funny? Never joke about this kind of thing ever again!"

"But Mom, Danny fell just like that! I wasn't making a joke!" Jaden shouted in defense.

Mom rubbed at my head. "Danny? Is everything alright? Did you really fall?"

I nodded curtly.

"I had a headache but suddenly it is all better now. I don't know what happened, Mom."

I hated it when Mom looked so concerned.

"Do you want to rest a few more days? We can tell the school that..."

"No!" I interrupted her in a haste. "I am fine! There are still a few days before school starts anyway. I will rest as much as I can. Please don't notify the school," I begged.

It was already a wonder that St. Louis Academy agreed to take me in despite my poor attendance record before I quit the school. And I was allowed to get to 9th grade too! I did not want the principal to think that this was just a prolonged episode of terminal lucidity and that I was going to waste their time and die soon anyway.

"Please, Mom," I begged.

Mom threw her hands into the air in resignation. She then pulled me up to my feet.

"Fine," she snarled. "But if anything hurts, ANYTHING, then you must come to me in all honesty and tell me what's wrong."

"Promise," I said hastily.

When Dad came home, Mom told him about my little attack episode right away. Just like Mom, Dad immediately went into panic mode. He grabbed me during dinner and asked me in all seriousness, "Danny, does it still hurt? Should we take the time to visit the hospital?"

I shook my head fervently.

I just recovered from pneumonia. I did not want to be sent to another department because they suspected that I had something in my head. Or because they thought that I was going nuts.

"Maybe he was tired from playing with Jaden," Dad turned to Mom. "He got the headache after he finished playing, right?"

Mom rubbed at her chin. "That is true, indeed. Jaden, did you accidentally hit Danny with the ball?"

Jaden shook his head. He looked terrified when he stole glances at me. The realization hit me like a giant boulder. I knew what it meant. He was never going to ask me to play another ballgame with him ever again. Who would if what followed was a thorough investigation like this?

"Dad, I am fine," I insisted.

Both Mom and Dad looked skeptical. I knew that they would forcefully drag me to the hospital the next time I got a similar headache. I did not want to go at all. For all that it mattered, I was not sick at all. I already recovered and I stood by that statement. I refused to accept any other explanation.

Jaden did not ask me to play or do any strenuous exercises with him again. We played a lot of video games together in front of the TV for the rest of the week.

Before I knew it, Monday arrived.