Daniel (1)

It's been two months since I've arrived in this world and at least half of it I've spent unconscious, but I guess my body - because it feels like mine now, a constant struggle no more - must have been fixing itself whether I was conscious or not.

Recovering not recovered.

I'll have to keep a look out for any side effects death and possession could have on a body. If that's what I'm doing... possessing it. I don't think so but this is extraordinary enough and I'm clueless enough to not rule it out for now.

In the past month I got a better idea of what exactly I'm up against. Where in Drake's timeline we are. I asked my mom to bring me some of my notebooks once I was able to stay lucid for long enough stretches of time. I started making notes in my mother tongue from Before which should throw most people for a loop if they try to snoop.

Whenever I woke up my mom would be there. Day or night. Sometimes we would just be content knowing the other is okay while we sit in silence, and sometimes we would talk.

Knowing where I stood in regards to dad took off an invisible weight my mom seemed to have been carrying. Knowing that she wasn't alone, that I supported her in whatever path she chose, shifted something though I can't tell yet what.

Dad visited a handful of times though it was clear he only did so because he had to and not because he wanted to. Because it looked bad if he didn't. It makes me wonder if he was always like this, or if Drake had just been unable to see him for who he was before he broke any semblance of decency. Mom would usually leave the room within a minute of his arrival to get some coffee. I'm not entirely sure where they stand right now. Maybe one of these days I'll ask her, though I would rather she tell me herself.

I spent my time awake learning since I was bound to a bed as I was. My phone helped me learn more about the outside world and my social media brought me up to date to what my classmates were up to. I'm honestly flabbergasted by how much personal information teenagers these days willingly share online.

One of my acquaintances from school - still too early too call him friend - would come by to bring me my homework and catch up. The first time he showed up I didn't recognise him, but apparently my lack of reaction wasn't that off.

Despite the bright and happy child I know Drake to have been once upon a time I learned that he became quite adept at wearing a mask when needed. This was particularly the case for people he didn't know that well. He trusted easily but he wasn't as trusting as I first thought when I went through his memories it seems. At least once I experienced them as my own. Maybe despite being betrayed by family he hoped for more.

His name was Daniel.

I still don't really recognise him, which likely means he played an insignificant role in Drake's life not only up to this point but in the rest of Drake's life as well. I have very vague impressions of the people he went to school with before he had to transfer schools, probably because memories of pain and anger overshadow the more mundane ones.

The first time he visited he was surprised when he looked at me. The only reason I could tell was because his eyes widened slightly when he saw me. I must look quite a state to have incited that reaction in the first place. At that point I had still been unable to take a clear look at who I now was, and my mother refused to bring me a mirror. Even the camera in my phone was busted, likely due to the fall, so all I had to go on was a vague impression I could get from my phone's dark screen.

Whenever he visited my mom would welcome him and leave us to get some much needed fresh air.

When he first visited, "You look like shit" are his first words to me. At least he doesn't mince words. They also intrigue me because he's the first person calling it like it is. I feel like shit so of course I look like it as well.

"Thanks."

"Sorry" he says not looking sorry at all.

"You're not."

"I'm not" and his eyes dance as he says it. I didn't know eyes could do that.

He didn't say much during his visit but whatever spark I saw when he first entered disappears when he gets down to business and hands over the homework. Looking back I feel as though that may have been the only honest clue I got for who Daniel really was. Which was basically nothing but still.

He brought me a detailed list of the topics that had been covered and what I had missed while I was hospitalised.

Apparently the reason he hadn't visited earlier was because I wasn't deemed fit for outside visitors yet. I understood because in the beginning I would sometimes pass out when I would become overwhelmed in some way. These instances decreased and I slowly earned some patient privileges. One of these privileges was the right of external visitors from outside the family. Though it didn't feel like much of a reward since I wasn't expecting anyone to actually use it.

That someone made use of it still surprises me.

Daniel is a boy of few words. He's about my age, or well how old Drake is right now,16. I wonder how age works for me, am I supposed to add up all the years I've lived to those Drake has? Where exactly am I mentally? Older than a teenaged boy for sure, but simultaneously a teenaged boy myself as well. The growing pains in addition to the bruises and broken bones are enough proof of that.

He's tall and I have a feeling if we stood next to each other he would be taller than I am. Since he isn't particularly talkative and we aren't that close, so I don't really understand why he visits at all. One visit would be sufficient but after his first visit it becomes an almost weekly occurrence.

He doesn't necessarily need to come here himself to hand me the homework, I could get it mailed online easily enough. But he still does. My mom is clearly happy to see I'm not a complete loner and that I have friends - or at least a friend. Acquaintance-friend to be more exact but I won't burst her bubble on this one thing.

He's strange.

Some quick internet stalking after his first visit showed ... practically nothing. He was like a ghost. His social media presence almost non-existent. I may have thought the ease with which people share their information online stupid, but it added predictability and credibility to someone's existence. Not finding anything, in this day and age, isn't really normal. Except for a handful of accidental photos he was captured in from other classmates there's nothing.

Maybe still waters run deep? He could be vehemently against social media. Increased research would show in the future the adverse effects on mental health that social media can have. He couldn't be bothered to put in the effort. He could be camera shy. He could also have something to hide.

There's just something about him that has me on edge.

I play along because I have nothing to lose. His visits break up the monotony a bit, and it's nice to see another face regardless of how expressionless it is most of the time. It also makes my mom happy and I won't take that away from her.

The visits are usually about as long as it takes for my mother to come back. He takes it as a signal that he's done his time and doesn't stay for further chit chat.

Maybe someone told him to keep my company? Though I don't understand why anyone would do that. Maybe he and Drake are closer than I initially thought? Unlikely. Drake is the type to hold memories of those he cares about close to his heart. I would have known. Maybe he came here as often as he did to figure out if I tried to kill myself and spread the gossip at school? Kids these days are cruel enough for stuff like that, but somehow he just doesn't seem the type.

In the end it doesn't really matter why he comes, because at least he comes. The mystery that is Daniel also keeps me entertained enough for when I get tired of contemplating my existence and that of this universe. As well as the potential destruction of it. Unlike the many questions that come up with that, the mystery of Daniel is still something that I could figure out concretely, in theory. Not that I've made much progress yet, but that's really only a matter of time.

It also keeps me entertained when I'm not allowed to even think of leaving my hospital bed yet. Something else to focus on.

I might just ask him one of these days.

Sometimes he'll say some of the other students told him to say 'Hi' and 'Get well soon' on their behalf. I don't know if I believe that, but I tell him to say 'Hi' back.

He doesn't talk much about the others. He doesn't really ask me any personal questions. He inquires about my injuries and how I'm feeling, but it feels like he's going through a checklist.

During one of his visits, curiosity got the better of me and I just askef "why do you visit so often?"

He stills, his eyes widening again. Clearly not expecting me to call him out on it.

"Because we're friends" he finally says but the pause is too long. He knows it. He knows I know it. I just raise an eyebrow at him, which... realising that my eyebrows are capable of solitary upward movement is awesome and kind of the highlight of my day.

He just stares at me, again not having expected me to call him out on that.

"Because I'm the class representative" he finally says. If it was just that, why did he have so much trouble just saying it?

"And..." I prompt him.

His eyebrows furrow at that slightly.

"And nothing" he says closing this line of questioning. I look at him long enough for him to understand that although I'm letting it go for now, this conversation is by no means over. Then I change the subject and ask about some other mutual acquaintance-friends of ours.

The conversation is cut short when my mother comes back with some snacks, and he hurries - fast walks? fast shuffle? - out the door.

Suspicious.

I wonder what he's hiding. I'm sure my expression must have looked slightly off because my mother does that eyebrow thing - I must have gotten it from her, and clearly she has the ability to convey way more with that one movement than I could hope to do still - and I shrug.