Blinkers #Wattys2016

* 3 * Apfel Mills

Planet: Axium

Star Count: 3

Beep... Beep... Beep...

Silence hung uneasily in the air, filling Apfel's lungs with the utmost dread that he has never felt in a long, long while.

The green line on the Heart Rate Monitor rises and falls in an almost rhythmic pattern, its small zigzag lines mocking - teasing him to push himself onto the edge. He had to clamp down the urge to punch the darn thing in irritation.

Camillia rests limp on her pure white bed, a ghostly smile tugging at the corners of her thin lips. For a second, he actually believed that she was going to burst out laughing. "Well, look at you," she says, her once deep violet eyes a lighter shade, glassy with hidden tremor. "Visiting me in the hospital out of the blue... You should have called!"

Apfel shrugs at how her shrill voice demoted into nothing more than a whisper. It sounds really strange - foreign, even. Totally not the kind of girl he thought she would ever be. "I would have," he replies, barely managing to mask the pain that threatens to swallow him, "If you were allowed to use gadgets in here."

That was true, because for some reason, the Reptilian faculty refused to have anything to do with their human technology - specifically little phones smaller than their reptile claws. It was not uncommon in the area, though. The natives of Axium are fascinated yet terrified with what the former inhabitants of Earth could do.

"Hmm... point taken!" Camillia chirps, then stares at the recycled bag of paper he's carrying.

Apfel raises a curious brow, though he is aware of what she was sniffing out for already. "What?"

"Did you happen to bring me pocky sticks?" she asks shyly, flushing pink a little.

Rummaging in the paper bag, he presents the said Japanese treat. Despite her current state, Camillia couldn't help but beam lying down at the sight of it. "These aren't for you," he informs her before she could speak.

Her mouth goes slack; Apfel smirks, amused seeing priceless, dumbstruck expression. "Huh?! Why?!" she whines childishly.

"Because I said so," he pops a chocolate-flavored pocky in his mouth upon tearing the package open, delighting in the delicious taste.

Camillia frowns; golden strands hang across her head like an unfinished bird's nest."But they're so broowwwnnn!"

"And I'm sooo hungry."

Defeated, she mutters, "Jerk."

He playfully winks at her. "Don't you forget that."

Looking around, Apfel suddenly realizes how he grew so familiar to this environment: medicine which possess queer scents, the chipped indigo paint, the red that frequently soaked Camillia's sheets...

Outside, the sun peers through the open window, blazing a bright orange. It's a particularly hot morning. Thankfully, the air-conditioning countered the unbearable heat. Camillia, as to be expected - seems to be enjoying such weather, gazing dreamily at the scenery. "Pretty..." she comments, solemn.

She tries to giggle, but ends up coughing in the process. Alarmed by the reaction, Apfel rushes over to her side. "Cams, are you alright?" He studies her face, anxiety churning his stomach as he notices her other 'brand new' features: pale, sunken cheeks... Her frame is practically reduced to bones, the skin pulled on a bit too tight for her skeleton.

'Oh, god, no... Not again.' Apfel bites his lip to stop it from quivering.

Salt stings his eyes; it takes him a moment to realize that buckets of tears were rolling down his cheeks, like an endless waterfall. Nostalgia causes him to tremble.

This went on on a daily basis, but never quite serious before.

A seizure - probably the hundredth time today - attacks his sickly blonde friend. In turn, she jolts, shaken- uncontrollably rattling the mattress and what it seems like every furniture in the four-walled room. She gasps, uselessly clawing above her in an attempt to grab onto something.

In the brink of panic, Apfel takes hold of one of her hands. He may not have been used to tending to the unwell, but he knows for a fact that this one wasn't normal, tossing and turning around similar to a crazed animal. Her breathing hitches. "Cams," he croaks, knees giving way in fear of losing this goofy, unexpectedly ill rainbows-and-unicorns idiot. "Don't leave me... Please..."

As he pleads, the reptilian doctor and a group of following nurses come rushing inside. They pry Apfel roughly away from Camillia, preventing him from getting anywhere near her. Shouts and hastened mumbles are all blocked out when he screams her name, desperate to stand by her in such a gray-washed event.

The last thing he remembers is her mumbling these three words with her final breath: "Please, forget me."

And the syringe the doctor had at the ready, with a mysterious serum swishing inside. He injected the contents into Camillia's arm- then the door slammed shut.

Hours later, news about her welfare is announced; and Apfel must say, that he is not surprised by the outcome.

His colorful companion, whom he has always secretly loved and cherish, was no longer of this world.

Then, just like that - his own universe is plunged into a dull, boring monochrome, as the colors bleed out.

Except for one that oddly resembled the drug that the doctor had used.