(Viewpoint: Chetan)
I can't hear anything.
Not a breath. Not a step. Not even the sound of a drop of water.
The silence is so profound that it ends up having a weight.
I slowly open my eyes.
A white light immediately burns my retinas.
I close them reflexively.
When I reopen them, she's still there.
The ceiling.
Smooth.
Immaculate.
No cracks. No dust. No mold.
I remain motionless for a while to collect my thoughts.
My eyes slowly follow the perfectly straight lines that cross the ceiling.
I understand.
Another dream.
The pit has never known white.
Even the few remaining concrete walls had ended up being eaten away by rust, fungi or soot.
I breathe slowly.
The air has no smell.
No humidity.
No mold.
Neither.
My chest rises easily but I feel like I've lost control of my body.
No pain, just this feeling of heaviness.
I slowly lower my eyes.
A light-colored blanket covers my body up to my waist.
I stare at her for several seconds.
A real bed.
Did they take me out of the cell?
The mattress sinks slightly under my back, a softness I am rediscovering.
I turn my head slowly.
The wall.
Blanc.
On the left.
Again.
Then another one.
And yet another one.
No broken corners.
No apparent conduct.
No door visible from where I am.
Just a completely empty room.
My gaze drifted back down… to my arm.
Something is attached to it.
A needle.
A thin, transparent tube leads up to a pocket suspended near the bed.
A translucent liquid slowly flows down my veins.
I watch it sink.
Drop by drop.
Regular.
Patient.
My fingers are moving slowly.
At least they're responding.
I open them.
Then close them.
Why take such good care of a prisoner when he intended to abandon me on this beach?
My throat is dry.
I have difficulty swallowing.
Then I instinctively put a hand against my stomach.
Nothing more.
Hunger...
She's no longer here.
I remain perplexed.
Since when?
I slowly close my eyes.
I'm trying to recapture that familiar pain.
This emptiness that burned inside.
The one who accompanied me every morning.
Every night to remind myself where I came from.
How long have I been unconscious?
I feel like my cheeks are hollow, I know it.
My hair falls in front of my eyes.
My lips are dry.
I don't remember clearly anymore.
A strange sensation rises in my chest.
I want that thing sliding on the sand.
The silence of this room reminds me above all of her absence.
Bip !
I immediately raise my head.
A black window slowly lights up.
Lines appear.
Then a white silhouette appears behind the glass.
I remain motionless.
Eyes fixed.
My fingers are searching for something.
A weapon.
Anything.
They find only the fabric of the sheet.
The figure stops on the other side of the glass.
She's watching me too.
Without moving.
What is this thing…