It was raining on his way to the hospital.

The young executive found temporary shelter under his

blue umbrella and lost that protection for a few seconds when he entered his car. Due to the
heavy rain, that narrow time gap between one shield to another was enough to make his long
blonde hair and random parts of his torso somewhat wet.
His nose managed to catch a familiar scent during his short trip from the house to the car. Its
natures fragrance that cant be defeated by any perfume company no matter how hard they try.
Petrichor, this pleasant smell can be enjoyed freely by anyone every time the rain pours.
Tummy turned on the radio like he normally would but quickly turned it off as soon as he realised
that the songs were close to inaudible; the rain was simply too loud. When the traffic forced him
to stop for a moment, the blondie made use of his ears to listen closely to the sounds caused by
the rain hitting various objects and his eyes to watch the wiper blades hitting the raindrops right
and left before they could form a layer on the windshield.
He remembered the times he spent with Jessi sitting on the porch when it was raining. The roof
protected them from getting wet, and they could just focus all of their senses to enjoy the rain.
The smell, the sound, the view, were all too familiar for Tummy. But the picture wasnt complete.
It was missing something.
Jessi was missing. His girlfriend wasnt available for him to cuddle once it got colder. He had to
bear the unpleasant temperature without the warmth of Jessis body. That rainy day felt a lot
colder than usual.

The hospital welcomed him with the typical sight. Although, it was more crowded compared to
his earlier visits because rain is usually correlated with influenza. Accidents also tend to occur
more when the road is slippery.
Tummy walked past the patients. Some of them seemed pretty relaxed and he could immediately
assumed that their problems werent severe. Some of them looked pale and lethargic; he could
assume that these people needed medical attention.
Besides the patients, the group of people that existed in abundance was of course the medical
personnels. Although no matter how fast those nurses tried to walk from one room to another
ushering the patients to the lab, pharmacy, and doctors offices the number of patients still felt
overwhelming.

The third floor was less densely populated compared to the first floor. Tummy walked through
the hallway and found Jessis room without even looking at the numbers written on the doors. He

had been visiting the place everyday and his mind subconsciously memorized the amount of
steps needed for him to reach the room.
The first thing that he did was lean down and kiss his boyfriends forehead gently. Jessi didnt
respond so Tummy assumed she was asleep. Even if she had been awake, her response wouldve
been close to none since her body was too weak to produce any significant reaction to the
stimulus.
Tummy sat beside the bed and looked at the calendar. He did the counting and concluded that
Jessi had been dreaming for 85 days. Ever since the car accident, the girl had been wavering
between life and death, was not dead but not truly alive as well. Since sometimes it was also hard
to tell whether Jessi was awake or asleep, Tummy used the term dreaming. You have to be
asleep in order to dream but in your dream, you are awake.
It was Saturday so Tummy didnt have to go to work. The blondie could spend the whole day
accompanying his girlfriend. Treating the small roomnot that small because luckily Tummy
could afford the VIP room but nevertheless its still an inpatient roomas his second home, he
spent his visiting hours to work on reports, watch TV, read novels, take a nap, stare out of the
window, stare at Jessi, and every time he caught any movement from his girlfriend, he would
hold the girls hand and tried to talk to her.
Sometimes Jessi would answer, sometimes she wouldnt. Sometimes Tummy would worry when
his girlfriend stayed silent for too long and called the nurses only to be told that Jessi just needed
some rest. Then Tummy would patiently watch her gorgeous girlfriend rest.
People say you should always find the good in the bad, it will help you get through things,
somehow. There was one good thing about Jessis condition, she wasnt fully aware about being
in a hospital. Therefore, she wasnt bothered much by the tubes resting in her nostrils or the one
administering fluid through her veins.
Also, the dreadful design of the room couldnt upset her due to her condition. Jessi wasnt a huge
fan of dull colours, so the all-white room would not appeal to her.
Tummy didnt know the guy that built that hospital but he knew that white must be his favourite
colour. The wall, the floor, the sheet, the pillows, the sofa, the whole room was dominated by
white. Tummy himself didnt care much about colour before the accident but the monotone
atmosphere of the building was starting to drive him crazy.
He would have brought Jessi to another hospital if only the company that he worked for didnt
have collaboration with this one. Sadly, most of the medical bills are covered by his company and
that fund would not have been accessible if he had chosen another hospital. So he just had to
adapt to seeing the colour white for as long as his eyes were open.

Nghh.. Jessi grunted and Tummy immediately focused on her.

Hey, I brought something for you, Tummy quickly grabbed his bag and took out the furry
creature that had been hiding inside.
Jessi smiled at the sight of his black cat. Pets were not allowed in the hospital of course, but
Tummy managed to smuggle the black cat in. It wasnt that hard since Andre was really lazy and
quiet. Tummy didnt close the bag because he was afraid that Andre might suffocate and the cat
just slept all the way to the hospital.
Andre let Jessis weak hand pet him for a while before freeing himself from his owners. He curled
up on the floor and resumed his sleep. With him on the floor, it was like someone just dropped
black ink onto a paper. Jessi sighs in satisfaction at the sight of the black spot.
Tummy held his girlfriends hand and tried to start a conversation as usual but somehow he could
feel that Jessi was different. It was the same weak hand that he had been holding, from the same
owner that he knew all too well but the touch itself was foreign.
He knew it was coming, he didnt know how but he just knew. He could feel Jessi slipping away
from him even though his hands were holding him tightly. He could feel that their time was
running out and he didnt know what to do. He wasnt ready. He needed more time with Jessi.
But the clock kept on ticking.
The person in front of Tummy knew it too. She was ready to leave, she just needed to gather her
strength to say one last sentence.
I love you.
And Jessi fell into a deep sleep, the one that she would never wake up from.