Rose Tinted

A man has to walk to the hospital with the love of his life. The walk takes an unexpected turn which threatens his reality.

My ears were ringing. I opened my eyes to the blurry image of the blue clouds overhead. It took me a few seconds to recover from the agonizing dizziness I felt. The ringing slowly faded away. That is when I heard her voice. She seemed distressed.

"Are you alright? Can you hear me?"

I turned my head towards the sound. My blurred vision was slowly getting better. My eyes were fixed upon the convoluted image of her face. She seemed a little relieved now.

"Thank god, I was so worried."

My vision was now clear. I could see her face properly; it comforted me. She held my hand and helped me up. As soon as I was on my feet, she embraced me. My racing heart slowed down when she held me in her arms.

"What happened?" I asked.

"You just collapsed all of a sudden, I didn't know what to do." She replied while tightening her arms around me.

"How long was I out?"

"Not long; a couple of seconds."

"Well, that's good then. Let's go back home?"

"No way. We're going to the hospital, it's just round the corner. You need to see a doctor. Right now. Can you walk?"

"I think."

She put my hand around her neck and gripped my waist tightly. We were walking on a pavement by the roadside. Everything seemed familiar, but I don't recall ever being there. The unusual silence of everything around me was making me anxious, but the warmth of her hand holding mine calmed me down.

"Where are we?" I asked her.

She looked at me from the corner of her eye and didn't answer. I didn't feel like questioning her again. I remained silent and continued walking with her.

The eerie silence of this neighbourhood suggested that it had been empty for a long time, but the houses around us looked "new", as if they were being taken care of. I looked inside one of the houses to our left; it was empty. I looked inside the next house; it was the same. This made me uneasy, my heart started racing again.

"Are you alright?" She asked me while gripping my waist tighter.

"Where are we?" I asked anxiously.

"Don't worry, I'm here with you. Everything is alright." she whispered in my ear.

Her voice calmed me down; I stopped worrying about the empty houses. After walking for a few minutes, I realized there wasn't any turn. The road stretched endlessly.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"To fix you up." She replied, smiling.

"How far is the hospital?"

"Not far." She replied, loosening her grip around my waist.

"Are you sure you know where we are going?" I asked.

"I know very well, thank you." She answered, indignantly, now digging her nails into the skin of my waist.

"That hurts." I told her.

"I love you." She replied, kissing my cheek.

"I love you too." Was all I said.

We continued walking down the road. After a few minutes, she let go of my waist and removed my arm from her shoulder. I didn't mind because I was able to walk fine on my own. She was smiling when she held my hand instead. It made me smile as well.

I wasn't keeping track of time, but after what felt like an eternity, I noticed the sun was starting to set. The sky was turning orange from blue. I wasn't worried about the time as long as I held her hand.

"I like this." I said.

"Me too." She replied.

After some time had passed, I saw a turn in the near distance. I should have been relieved to know that we were nearing the hospital, but I wasn't. As we came closer to the turn, my heart sank in my chest. I stopped walking. I was hoping she would stop as well, but she didn't. She left my hand and continued walking. I wanted her to stop, but I couldn't call out to her. I stood there for a few seconds and then followed after her, unsure of what to do. I caught up with her and held her hand again. She looked at me and smiled. We continued walking towards the turn. I was starting to feel afraid; I think she sensed this and held my hand tighter. The feeling of dread only got worse as we got closer to the turn.

When we finally arrived at the turn, I was on the verge of breaking down. I looked at her, with tears in my eyes.

"I don't feel like going." I mumbled.

She held my face in her delicate, warm hands and softly brushed her lips against mine. I inhaled the sweet warmth of her breath as I closed my eyes. Time stopped for the while our lips met and the world around us seemed to fade away. I felt the growing warmth in my heart as she slowly pulled away.

She wiped my teary face with her sleeve and wrapped her arms around my trembling body. She held me for a while. I felt at ease in the warmth of her arms; I felt safe. Looking into my eyes, she said,

"It's alright, I'm with you."

The sound of her voice stirred peace in me, I wasn't feeling so scared now. I held her hand tightly and we walked into the turn.

I could see the hospital at the end of the road. It seemed significantly older than all the other buildings here. As we got closer to the building, I could see that a lot of its paint was either discoloured or chipped off. It was decrepit, with vines and moss growing through the cracks in its concrete. I was a little concerned to see its condition, but not as much as I should have been. After about two minutes of walking, we were standing at the gate of the hospital. It was completely dark inside; I could not see any light coming from the hospital except the illuminated neon sign that read "Eden's Gate Hospital" in bright red.

She let go of my hand and walked inside the building. I followed after her a few seconds later. Just as I stepped inside, I felt a cold breeze slowly brush against my face. I tried looking for her, but it was too dark for me to see anything. So, I just stood there, hoping she would come for me. I am not sure what happened after that, but the next thing I remember was that I found myself standing on the hospital's roof. The floor was damp and there was overgrowth of moss everywhere. I saw her standing by the railing, she was turned away from me. I walked to her and put my hand on her shoulder. She turned to me and smiled.

"How do you feel?" she asked me.

"Good." I answered.

"Watch the sunset with me." she said.

I walked closer to the railing and stood next to her. The view from the top looked mesmerizing; I could see the sun slowly sinking below all the buildings, darkening the orange sky with its retreat. My eyes remained fixed on the sun until it disappeared below the horizon.

I turned to her and asked, "What now?"

"I love you." she said.

I felt her put her hand behind my back, and before I could say anything, she pushed me. I am not sure what happened, but I remember falling. I think I was going to resist, but before I could do that, I looked into her eyes. In that moment, I knew nothing else mattered, and everything was worth it. I didn't resist; I gave in. I don't remember when it happened, but with a loud thud, I felt all of the bones in my body crumble into pieces, and everything turned black. I think I passed out again.

When I woke up, my ears were ringing. I opened my eyes to the blurry image of the blue clouds overhead. It took me a few seconds to recover from the agonizing dizziness I felt. The ringing slowly faded away. That is when I heard her voice. She seemed distressed.

Author's Note

I would love to hear your thoughts and some constructive criticism on the story. Anything that I can improve upon.