The surface Midori was in seemed to be more comfortable than usual. She clenched her eyes lightly before opening them up. She was in the same bed she was sleeping in before with Atlas. Recognizing the place, she let out a small sigh in relief. She got up from the bed and opened up the curtains. The sun was as dazzling as it always was in there. It never rained. She did the same routine she did last time; she went to the bathroom, brushed her teeth and washed her face.
She went down the stairs and decided to look around the house again. After a while, she concluded that Atlas wasn’t there. She sat down in the same couch, her mood completely down. Thinking about how close she was to getting back home mortified her. She felt an immense need to see Atlas. Midori brought her hand to her heart.
— What is this feeling…?
Midori stood up from the couch. There was only one place that could make her feel better, more relaxed. She exited the mansion and started to walk around the neighborhood. The place felt very lively, but Midori felt alone in the world. It was only him with whom she wanted to be with. Intuitively she knew what path to take, and as she thought, she arrived at the woods again. In the distance, she noticed the cabin that had caused her a lot of pain. She diverted her gaze away from there and tried to walk quicker to get out of there as soon as possible.
She felt more relived with every step she took. When she was closer to her goal, she stopped on her tracks.
He was there. Drenched in water, right below the waterfall. In was the same way they had encountered the first time. That imagery brought back memories to Midori. She smiled unknowingly, Atlas noticed Midori, so he got out from the waterfall and made his way to her, who was still inside her little bubble. Atlas moved his hand in front of Midori, but they didn’t follow the movement.
— Hello? Earth to Midori? —Atlas snapped his fingers a few times—.
— Oh! —she blinked a few times— A-Atl-
Midori once again took a look at Atlas. Being drenched in water, his chest was completely visible through the thin material of the shirt he had on. Midori couldn’t help but blush and look away. Atlas looked down and noticed the state he was in. He just chuckled at it.
— Can you accompany me back to the mansion so I can change clothes?
Midori, still blushing, nodded without saying anything else. Atlas started to walk first, Midori following in his steps right behind him. The entire way to the mansion was spent in silence, Midori was feeling really nervous. Her heart was beating rapidly and she was very confused as to why was that happening, “Is he feeling the same way?” she kept asking to herself. Truthfully, she wanted to know how Atlas felt about her, but it was impossible for her to ask him.
When they arrived to the mansion, both made their way to the room. Atlas went inside the closet and looked for a shirt between the many that were there. Midori just sat at the edge of the bed, admiring the view she had from the window. Atlas went to the bathroom and changed to fresh clothes. When he exited the bathroom, he lay down softly besides Midori on the bed, making her jolt from where she was.
— What were you doing there? —asked Midori—.
— I was just taking a natural shower. You should try it one day; it’s really refreshing and relaxes your muscles.
Midori raised an eyebrow.
— Wow, you know a lot about this.
— About what?
— … Nothing, forget what I said. — Midori lowered her eyes and tried to change the topic— Do you want to explore a little more? —she turned her head, looking at him— I think there are still places we haven’t gone to.
— I’d like that. I’ve explored a bit more of this place before you arrived, but I’m sure there are things I haven’t seen yet.
— Then we have a deal.
Midori extended her hand, Atlas looked at it and smiled. But before he could reach out, Midori disappeared, and wakes up panting. She sat up on her bed and clenched her teeth in frustration. It seems that a massive hustle outside her room, in the hall, woke her up.
— GET ME OUT OF HERE!!
She could perfectly hear the voice of a man screaming with all his strength.
— THIS ISN’T AN HOSPITAL!! LET ME GO!!!
And then she couldn’t hear him anymore. Just the whispers on the other nurses, and a heavy noise as if they had thrown the man to the floor. After that, there was only silence.
Midori gulped down. She couldn’t deny that all of that terrified her a little. She was scared. But then she remembered that she had promised to explore the oasis with Atlas and all that fear she was feeling started to slowly go away. She just wanted to go back to sleep to see him again. She covered her head with her pillow, clenching it tightly with her hands. She was trying everything to go back to sleep.
After a few, very long minutes, she finally fell asleep. She desperately stood up from the bed and searched for Atlas but she couldn’t find him. She punched the bed in frustration and ran to the entrance, but Atlas wasn’t there anymore.
TO BE CONTINUED.
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