The story of self - harm

"That was terrible. Your parents weren't even able to process the situation and we, somehow managed to get you in the hospital", Luna said as she put her head on headboard remembering that night.

"Yeah, but if it wasn't for that night, we would have never come across him, again", Aleena said and the anger was visible in her eyes as she recalls her past, Alex.

"Exactly!", Ryle exclaimed.

That night when Aleena was admitted to the hospital, none of them had the slightest idea of whom they were going to see. The one person that they were searching in the whole world happened to have been in the city itself.

The ambulance rushed in the hospital premises and the door slide open. Quickly, Ryle, Luna and a nurse took out Aleena on a stretcher and hurried inside the ICU. On the way from the entrance to the room, Aleena could see faint images of people, nurses and few doctors, running and walking around.

"Mr. Wilson's grandfather is here, doctor", a nurse said to which the doctor responded immediately as if she knew the patient and Mr. Wilson, "I am coming".

The voices and images were fading and Aleena felt like she will be in a state of tranquil if she closed her eyes for once. Everything will be sorted and she will be in peace. Giving up on her life felt like the best choice she could go for. Once decided, Aleena's eyes almost closed and the door of the ICU room was opened, but then, something made Aleena force herself to open her eyes.

A man dressed in a white shirt and torn light blue jeans stood at the entrance and he rushed towards a room. Though nothing was clear enough, Aleena could still figure out who it was.

"A-Alex", she tried to scream but her mouth only supported her with mumbling the name which no one heard. Darkness took over those faint lights and images but Aleena had found the fire to guide and warm herself during the deepest and darkest moments of her life.

After being treated for the whole and day, she finally regained her consciousness. When she opened her eyes, she saw herself surrounded by her two friends who were sleeping on the sofa. She tried to sit up straight but ended up dropping a glass that was placed beside her on the table. The noise woke Ryle and Luna. At first they thought they were dreaming but seeing each other shocked, they knew they couldn't be dreaming the same dream and rushed towards Aleena to check on her.

"You woke up, finally", Luna's words were barely understandable because of her crying and talking at the same time.

The three of them hugged and a small smile appeared on Aleena's lips.

"I shall call the doctor", Ryle said.

He brought the doctor who then declared that she can go back home and left. The news was a happy one and Luna immediately called Aleena's parents to inform about her returning. The doctor was aware of Aleena's mental condition and so there was no need for formalities like calling the police.

"What happened? You don't look happy....", Luna asked.

"How would she be happy! All she wanted was to scare us and leave us with another scar", Ryle said, almost breaking down.

"N-no....Ryle, it's not really what I wanted", Aleena tried to say with her almost inaudible voice.

"Oh really? Then why didn't think about us, you family, your father?"

"Ryle, she's not in the condition to ans—", Luna tried to interrupt but Ryle was flowing with emotions and didn't listen to her.

"Why not? She does this every now and then. We all live in fear of losing her at any moment", Ryle burst with tears rolling down his cheeks.

"I-I didn't mean to hurt anyone of you....I wanted to escape", Aleena said with her quivering lips.

"That's not the solution, Aleena. You can't simply give up on your life to escape the problems", Luna said and held Aleena's hand.

"I know, I know, Luna....I won't do this again. I promise Ryle", she said and stretched out both her hands to get a hug.

Ryle's anger vanished and he went ahead to hug the both of them. Aleena felt better and she knew that her two friends would do anything to for her. As they were hugging, Aleena looked towards the door of the room where there was a small glass window. There she caught the glimpse of a man who just had passed by. That made her recall all the faint images of Alex that she saw before she fainted completely.

She loosened her hug and said, "He's here....I saw him. Here's here, Luna, Ryle".

"What! Why would he be here? Are you sure you are not hallucinating?", Ryle asked.

"Trust me he is here. I have seen him before I went unconscious", she said affirmatively.

"Okay. We trust you. Let's search for him in the hospital", Luna said.

Ryle and Luna went out and tried to search Alex in everything floor and room possible, but they couldn't find him anywhere as the hospital was too big and by any chance if he knew that they were there, he could easily hide anywhere or might have left the hospital.

After searching a floor each, Ryle and Luna meet near the elevator to discuss. Both of them were very tired after searching dozen of rooms to find Alex.

"We can't find him this way. There are so many rooms left", Luna said.

"What should we do then?", Ryle asked.

Luna thought for sometime and then, her eyes went up to the CCTV camera.

"Ryle, CCTV!", she exclaimed.

"Got it", Ryle responded as they knew what had to be done.

They quickly searched for a map of the hospital which was present in one of the notice boards. They figured out where the security room was and carried out their plan. The plan was simple but it was going to be effective. All they had to do was, go near the security room and somehow, bring out the security guards out of the room and keep them distracted until one of them had watched the CCTV recording of the previous day and the present.

Luna and Ryle went downstairs to the ground floor where the security room was. Then, Ryle stopped at a distance pretend to be on a call while Luna went near the room and deliberately fell on the door. The noise was loud enough to bring the guards out of the room. They tried to help her stand on her feet, but Luna acted as if she couldn't stand.

"Ahh—ouch!....I don't think I will be able to stand up", Luna cried.

The guards looked at each other and then looked at her before asking where she had to go. She replied she had to go to the third floor. There were no staff members present at that moment so the guards had to help her. One of them went to bring a wheelchair and placed Luna on it. As soon as they passed the room, Ryle quickly went inside and started checking out the recordings.

What will Ryle find out? Was Alex really there or was Aleena imagining things then?