I got up from the couch and thanked my mom for the blanket. Just when I was going to go back up to my room, the doorbell rang. My mom got the door and I stayed on the stairs to hear who it was. I almost smacked my forehead when Gira’s voice floated up to my hearing range. Great, now I need to explain all of the crazy stuff that just happened to my overly dramatic friend. I hope she doesn’t blow this out of proportion.

I came back down the stairs while Gira was telling my mom that I had wanted her to come over. My mom was telling her I was sick, when I came up to her and said, “That’s why I wanted her to come over in the first place. I probably missed some homework or something.”

She nodded in agreement and said, “Actually, you’re looking a little better anyway.”

Gira followed me up to my room. “Sorry I came late. I was stuck with my younger siblings and walking my dog.”
“Nah, that’s okay. I just really need to talk to you.”

We got to my room and I shut the door. I waited a minute before explaining so I could get my thoughts together. “Gira, I think I know who that voice belonged to.”

She blinked. “Wait, what do you mean ‘belonged’, as in past tense?” With a short gasp, she added, “You don’t think–”
“That’s exactly what I think. I don’t know how I figured it out, but the voice belonged to the boy.”

We were both silent for a while, thinking to ourselves.
Gira’s concerned expression lingered over her face for a while, searching mine for more clues as to what was happening here. Finally, she couldn’t take it anymore and started bouncing around like a hyper puppy. “So, is there anything else? C’mon, we have to figure this out!”
“I know that!” I said, exasperated. I flopped down onto my bed. Gira stopped having a spaz attack and sat down to my right.

Gira patted my back. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to rush things. I just really wanna figure this out.”
“So do I. Probably even more than you do since this mess is happening to me.”
“Okay, well, how about you just sum up what happened from the time you talked to me before school to before I came to your house.”
“Yeah, okay, but let me just get my thoughts together.” Again.

I thought to myself, thinking of a way to explain today’s prior events without totally scaring Gira with my morbid story.
“Don’t freak out of anything, but I think I was close to dying earlier.”

Gira was silent for what seemed like eternity while I was busy mentally smacking my forehead. With an electric jolt, I noticed she was close to tears. My brain scrambled around to think of something for my mouth to say.
“Hey, I’m still here, right? We just need to solve this problem and everything will be back to–”

I leaned over and fell to the floor.

I started mumbling under my breath, having absolutely no control over what I was saying. Gira yelped in shock, stumbling onto the ground next to me on all fours. I couldn’t understand what she was saying, but I knew she was really upset. In an instant, her mouth stopped churning out words and it was eerily silent, except for me. I wondered why she’d stopped but understood when I started listening to myself. Well, I wasn’t listening to myself, per say. The boy was talking through me.

“Please listen to me, both of you. I don’t have much time left and I need to explain. I’m so sorry for causing you pain, Suino. I wish I could’ve prevented all of this, but my efforts were worthless.” I heard the boy sigh as he continued, “I was born with a soul that didn’t agree with my physical self. Hence the so-called ‘seizures’ you saw me having. After I died, my damaged soul left my body and clung to another body that seemed to agree with it, which was yours. You see, your soul is damaged too. You’ve experienced the pain just as I have. Which means, since your soul doesn’t agree with your physical self but mine seems to, that our souls should’ve been switched.”

I finally gained control of myself long enough to ask, “So, you’re saying, my soul should belong to you, and your soul should belong to me?”

I could feel the boy’s influence over my body wash over me as he replied, through me, “That’s exactly what I’m saying. But if we did switch souls, your soul wouldn’t have anywhere to go since my body is dead. That’s why I’m trying to fix your soul so that two souls can be in one body. So far, it’s working, but in order for it to fully work... uh, I’d have to put you in a coma for a bit...”

I was completely shocked. How could this have happened? What had happened to me that had made my soul this way? How long would I have to be in this coma?

“Please trust me on this one. I’m only trying to help you.”

I’d already made up my mind before the boy had finished his sentence. There were only two choices. One was to keep my consciousness only to die of the pain my soul was causing, and two was to go into this coma and wake up with, hopefully, a stable soul. I had chosen the latter.

I regained my ability to speak for myself again and uttered solemnly, “Alright, put me into a coma. Just please fix what’s wrong.” I could feel him smiling sadly as I turned to Gira. “Sorry, Gira, but I need this to be fixed or I might actually die this time.”

She smiled as forlornly as I felt and said, “Yeah, I understand. Just get better, okay?”
“I will.”

This time, the boy spoke in my mind. “Try to relax, okay? And don’t be afraid, I’m not going to go anywhere, so you can always talk to me.” He paused for a moment. “Y’know what? I never told you my name. It’s Nolan.”

Nolan, huh? I thought back. That’s a nice name...
I softly slipped out of consciousness and into a numb world that would be my haven until years from now, when I could finally see the world with my own eyes again.

Author's Note: I'm planning on making a sequel to this in Gira's point of view that's set a couple years after this, so look forward to it!