The Boy in White

The knock on the door startles me from my sleep. I rub my eyes as I adjust to the light. I pick up the remote laying on the coffee table and turn the TV down. Sluggishly, I walk over and open the door.

“Hello,” I say while yawning.

“Hi there, I’m Daniel and I’d like to talk to you about-.” The boy in white said, the words tumbling out of his mouth.

“Sorry” I interrupted, “I’m not interested.”

I attempted to shut the door, my body begging me to go back to sleep. The boy, Daniel, shot a hand out and stopped the door from closing.

“It’ll only take a minute of your time.”

His voice was forceful, almost threatening. I blink a few times before lazily smiling at him and turning around.

“Sorry, I’m not interested.”

“Ma’am-.”

“Goodbye.”

I practically slam the door in his face. I let out a sigh and trudge back over to the couch. No sooner had my face hit the cushions, did I hear another knock. Taking a deep breath, I slowly get up again and make my way over to the door. I pull it open and open my mouth to tell Daniel to go away but am cut off when I realise no one is there. I look around for a few seconds before a flash of yellow catches my eye.

Looking down I notice a marigold sitting on my doorstep. I stand, staring at it for a minute before picking it up and going back inside. I place the flower on my coffee table and flop onto the couch. I flick through channels on my TV before I feel sleep tugging at my bones again. Getting comfortable, I allow myself to get carried into darkness.

The knock on the door scares me from my sleep. I blink aggressively as I adjust to the light. I pick up the remote laying on the side of the couch and turn the TV off. Listlessly, I walk over and open the door.

“Hi I’m Daniel, and I’d like to talk to you about your-.” The boy in white says and I can’t help but feel as if I’d seen him before.

“Sorry.” I cut him off. “I’m not interested, thanks.”

“Ma’am, you must listen.”

He sounds desperate now.

“I’m good, have a nice day.” The words taste familiar in my mouth. I shake my head and turn to close the door.

“At least take this.” Daniel says as he shoves a marigold into my hands. He walks down the path leading to my house and mutters something to himself. He seems to disappear a few seconds after walking away. I rub my eyes. I must be seeing things.

I drop the marigold onto the coffee table, I barely even notice that there are now two. As soon as I fall onto the couch I’m out like a light.

The knock on the door wakes me from my sleep. I groan as the violent light hits my eyes. I accidentally step on the remote lying on the floor. I pick it up and put it back on the coffee table. I open the door grumbling to myself.

“Ma’am you need to listen to me. You need-.” The familiar boy in white starts to talk.

“Wait a minute,” I start. “I’ve seen you before somewhere.”

“Yes you have, but you need to listen to me.”

He looks panicked. I furrow my brows trying to remember where I have seen him before. The boy in white is still talking but I’m not listening.

“Take this.” The boy says as he throws a marigold at me. Huh. I feel like this has happened before. It takes me a minute to register that the boy has already gone.

I close the door and walk back towards the couch, the strange boy still on my mind. Still holding the marigold, I sit on the couch. Lost in thought I don’t notice the other marigolds starting to move. The boy in white appears in my living room.

Startled, I fall over. I rub the arm that I just fell onto and look over to the boy. Daniel? As Daniel starts walking over to me, I scramble backward which proves difficult because of my sore arm. I go to speak but nothing comes out. Daniel looks worried, very worried. I feel like I have seen him before, before the whole marigold thing. But where?

“Please, you need to wake up.” Daniel reaches down and picks up the other marigolds.

“Wh-what.” I have no idea what he is talking about. Wake up? What does that mean? I am awake, aren’t I?

“Please!”

“What? I don’t know what you want!” My heart is now in my throat, beating wildly fast. What the hell was going on?

Daniel crouches down and holds out a hand. I hesitantly look at it. I don’t know him, but I feel inclined to trust him. He holds his hand out further and I tentatively take it. He pulls me up and gives me the marigolds. I go to ask what he’s doing but he holds a finger up to his mouth to tell me to shut up. He moves his hands around mine and squeezes.

“Please wake up.” He gestures at me. “Say that.”

“Please wake up…” I scrunch my eyes shut as I say this.

I crack one eye open to find that I’m in a white hospital room. The fluorescent light is assaulting my eyes. I can’t move my body. What’s this thing on my face? I can’t breathe. The light is too bright, too bright. I can’t think. I shut my eyes quickly trying to regain control of my breath. A loud beeping noise makes it difficult. It’s too loud. Too loud.

I feel a hand on my arm and I open my eyes. A blurry face is looking down at me. The face comes into focus and I gasp. Daniel! I search frantically for anyone else in the room. I can see, I can see a few doctors. What is Daniel doing here?

“Oh, thank goodness you’re awake.” He sits down on the chair next to me. “Hi there, I’m Dr. Daniel. You’ve been in a coma for 3 months.”