I wake up and see a vaguely familiar ceiling above me, I lift my left arm, which hurts a lot, and see a human arm with an IV in it. Was it really all just a dream brought on by the drugs? I look around, I am in my hospital room, and clutched in my right arm is my trusty tablet. I am alone, my friends must be off resting or at work, they will be by later I am sure.

I look around, I see all the same medical equipment hooked up to monitor me and keep me alive a few minutes longer, it sounds and smells just as I remember. So I guess it was all a dream, there were some bad parts but I feel disappointed, I would rather it had been real. I lay back in the bed and pick up my tablet, may as well check for new episodes since I have nothing else to do.

I hear the door open and I see a flash of red out of the corner of my eye. I immediately think of Ruby, but then I remember her hair was blue at the end of the dream. I look over anyway but it is just a red haired nurse coming to check my vitals on the equipment, she doesn't even say anything, just writes something on my chart and leaves.

I find myself feeling more alone now than I did in the dream, there I had Ruby with me, here it is just me. Yeah, my friends will visit and will be here when I die, or at least they were in the dream when I died. But it is not the same feeling, even though it was a dream Ruby felt like more than a friend.

'I already miss her.'

I read a few episodes of manga to distract myself, then I doze for a while. I wake up when my doctor enters the room and stands by the bed.

Doctor says "Still with us I see."

"Yeah, for a few more minutes at least."

Doctor says "Well, the fact that you have made it this long means there might be hope. I contacted a college of mine who went into research, specifically organ research. You might be able to go through an experimental procedure that could keep you alive."

"What kind of experimental procedure?"

Doctor says "Well, it involves using animal organs to replace human ones. Now I know how that sounds, but let's be realistic, you have too many organs damaged, you will never make it on the organ transplant list. You only have a few more days at most."

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"If I do this experimental procedure and it kills me will my friends get a payout?"

Doctor says "Yes, I believe there is a policy for something like that. Would you like me to get him to come talk to you?"

"Yes, if there is a payout upon my death I will do the procedure."

Doctor says "Okay, time is limited, I will go call him right now."

"Thanks, doc."

The doctor turns and leaves the room, it's not like I really have any hope of being saved. But if my death can improve the lives of my friends then I will do it. After all, I should have died already, every doctor I've seen has agreed on that, so at least this way my death can have a bit more meaning than my life did.

I already had a lawyer come in and set up a will so everything goes to my friends, including any lawsuit against the guy who basically killed me. Who knows maybe my dream is a prediction, maybe when I die I will be reborn in another world. At least that is what I am praying for now that I know death is close.

Girl's voice: "This is a dream! If you don't wake up you will die!"

'Wait! That voice? I know that voice!'

It's the voice from my dream, the one that warned me about the dire wolf! I quickly look around trying to spot the source of the voice.

"Hello? Is someone there?"

I look around wildly but the room is empty. Am I hearing things? Is it the drugs? Why is it the voice from my dream?

She said this was a dream, I'm so confused! I stop and calm myself to think it through, if I get a choice I would choose for this to be the dream.

If this is the dream, how do I prove it? Obviously pain won't work, I'm in tons of pain already. I need to find something to prove this is a dream, I really want to go back to the other world!

Girl's voice: "You must hurry and wake up if you want to live!"

I jump when I hear the voice again but this time when I look up I see a ghostly figure in the corner of the room. She looks to be about thirteen, with long hair, and is wearing an old fashioned type dress, but that is all I can really see before she disappears.

She looked kind of familiar but I can't figure out how or where I've seen her before. Okay, if she is right and this is the dream I need to prove it to myself.

They say you can read things in dreams but only if you have read it before. I grab my tablet and look for a manga I never read, when I find one I open it and find it blank!

This is a dream! Now how do I wake up? I guess I'll try pain, so I grab the IV and rip it out of my arm.

"Ahhh!!"

That hurt a lot, but I'm still here, I need to try something else. Maybe if I get them to drug me unconscious then I will wake up back in the other world. I quickly rip off all the monitor leads from my body. When the machine flat lines it only takes about thirty seconds for the first nurse to arrive, I start thrashing around in bed and fighting when she tries to hold me down.

I feel bad for causing them so much trouble but I keep telling myself that this is just a dream. As I was hoping, soon I hear someone order for me to be sedated. When I feel the needle go in my arm I go still and focus all my willpower into waking up. I am hoping and trying with all my might as the darkness claims me, I have only one thought, and that is to see Ruby again.