Breath. She heard those words spoken upon her, whispered into the lobe of her ear, like the wind that cools the land on a hot summer day. When she opened her eyes, she was in a vast ocean, under the surface, fighting for the breath she couldn't get. It was becoming useless, her legs became tired, and she felt herself sink farther, and farther down into the depths. But in that moment, she could feel something push her to continue and a voice roared in her head, but it was not her own voice, but that of a man growling in her head. You've got to keep fighting. Don't look down at the depths, but rather at the light of day! God or no god, we all fight for the same reason: To live. Her eyes closed at that moment, but she could feel a ray of light slam into her face, like a  slap on the cheek, and she could feel her legs kick harder at the water, pushing at the current, she found herself gripping onto something, that pulled her up to the surface, and for once, she had finally truly opened her eyes.
          The person was gone. The water, the sun. Where did everything go? But as everything grew clearer, and her senses slowly started swimming back in, and she could feel a hand move away from her wrist, and a snug blanket draped upon her. Her chest hurt, everything was hurting, but she could feel her pulse slowly gain back what it had lost. Life. Tears flowed down their faces, and all she wanted to do was reach out to them, give them a shoulder to cry on, but that was hard, when you were the person they were crying for. Or when sitting up at that moment was a struggle, with an oxygen mask over your face, and wires, and now an IV was being stuck in her arm. They couldn't find a vein, they kept sticking the needle in but then when they checked for blood, none.
In the corner of her eye, she could see a red flash of hair, wild and curly, and at that moment, she could easily tell who it was, even when things were blurry, and dull. Elodie hugged her as hard as she could without being yelled at, and cried. "Don't scare us like that! I don't want to loose you." She sobbed, grabbing her hand. "Pinky promise me right." With an open hand, she brought it down on the one holding her hand, before curving her finger. Promise? But there was no sign back, just a shake of her head. That's a promise I can't keep. She signed back.
That promise would be broken easily, way too easily, and as she laid there, with monitors and oxygen, she knew this would be a hard life. Suddenly, a thought opened up to her. Meet me down stairs. 5 o'clock. PM. She then paused. What time is it?
         "It's 2 in the morning. Your mom heard you gasping, in your room, after leaving you when you said you were fine and could wait till after the night passed." Elodie shook her head in disbelief. "She now feels guilty about everything, because she knew about the fever." Her hands then started moving. Next time, just let her take you to the hospital. If you die and never come back without taking you to the hospital when she knows you are not well. "Just sleep now."
At those words, Celia let out a sigh of relief, and closed her eyes. But this time, sleep didn't come so easily, and lots of coughing interrupted it. Even when it was hard, Elodie still held her hand and hum lightly to her, in which she so badly wanted to hum back, and she slowly drifted off to sleep. Elodie watched her for a bit longer, before leaving the room.

"The quiet is sometimes the worst medicine for sleep if there is no one by your side, but with someone holding your hand, sleep comes so easily."
-Celia Azar

The hospital was more active by now, the clock had just turned 5, and through all the noise between the doctors and patients, there was a tik tik tik sound above it all. Celia was walking down the hall, dragging along her IV and oxygen behind her. She was dressed in black sweatpants and a loose, long sleeved, white shirt. Her clothes were a mess, as she had struggled a bit with putting on her clothing. On her way to the elevator, she tried to better adjust herself, before looking at herself through the clear glass window at one of the offices.
Every single thing about her showed that she was underweight and was malnourished. Her shirt was slipping off her shoulders, and her spine and her shoulder blades were very prominent, so were her ribs under that shirt. The doctors at home, where she was now, often stated that either her diet would have to change, or a surgical gj-tube would need to be placed. Meaning surgery. In America. Another surgery for that great life of hers. Not gaining weight is so great. What posh.
After finally entering the elevator, and going down to the base floor, having to endure the sound of screechy metal, she spotted Elodie within seconds, waiting by the entrance way of the hospital. Their eyes locked on each other. Unlike her, Elodie was well kept, her wild, curly hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and her clothes fit her perfectly, as it aligned with the posture of her body.
But to her, none of that mattered, and in her right, she held a Dahlia flower, in which the shop keepers sold at their shops, while in the other she held a medical grade mask, which she started shaking in the air, grinning. "How did I know you were going to forget this?"
         The two of them burst out in giggles, as Elodie side stepped to go behind her and placed the rings of the mask around each ear, before placing the flower behind her ear. Celia felt her fingers across the petals of the flower, frowning at this slightly. "I wish I could give you something."
          Elodie shrugged her shoulders, grabbing onto her hand and pulling her out of the hospital doors, acting quickly, though Celia was a bit slow as they ran together around the elevated village with oxygen and everything. As they headed closer and closer to the heart of the village, people decided not to stare anymore, as it became normal for the sick kid to roam the land. When they reached the center, Celia started pulling Elodie, towards the outdoor market. It was there lucky day, it was that once in a year thing, where the shopkeepers held festivities, and as they found their way through, they found beautiful ball decorations that were covered in plant designs, and white sheets that had branch designs on it with slight tints of gold in it. Everything seemed perfect. Throw pillows with pine trees watercolored onto them, Dahlia plants were being sold for the season, with red and white infused together to create a frosty look, and stones coming in different varieties such as moonstones, Amber, pearl, amethyst, and rose quartz.
When the sun had begun to set below the trees, with sweat dripping down their foreheads and empty water bottles, they made their way back to the hospital. The IV pump had lost complete battery and was just now a mobile pole, and the salt from her skin burned her eyes slightly. When they made it to the hospital, they went up the elevator and to her room, where Doctor's scolded her for her foolishness, but soon they all left and after charging the IV pump, Celia fell into a restless sleep.

"Some people are willing to take the risk, live a wild life, while many hold back in which they don't have such a great life."
-Celia Azar