Beep. Beep. Beep.

On a bed in the corner of a small hospital room, a man lay with his eyes closed, seemingly wisped away by a pleasant dream. The room was silent, only being briefly interrupted by the sounds of the heart monitor.

The room was similar to all of the other ones in the building, but also uniquely different. Its walls and ceiling were painted a comforting white color, and the floor consisted of beige and red tiles layered in a checkerboard pattern. 

Next to the bed was a small nightstand, with a glass of water, a fresh plant, and other random items. Above it, there was a painting depicting a man playing an acoustic guitar in the middle of a forest.

Across the room was the door to the hallway, with an armchair resting a few meters away from it in the corner. Instead of holding a human, the same instrument from the picture was lying on its brown cushion.

A meter or so away from the end of the bed was a wide window, showing a clear view of the brightly lit city below. Hundreds of cars were weaving between even more buildings, showing a clear contrast to the quiet and serene atmosphere in the hospital.

"Haaa...I know you're there, just come in already." Sighing, the man on the bed opened his eyes and slowly rose, pushing himself up with his arms.

A moment later, the door to the room opened and a woman walked in.

"Hey, Adam. I didn't know if you were awake or not, so I was a bit hesitant to enter."

Walking in, the girl went toward his bed before stopping in front of the nightstand. She had long silky black hair cascading down her back, stopping just before the waist. The lady donned a plain white shirt that contrasted well with her hair and dark grey sweatpants, as well as had a pair of gold-rimmed prescription glasses.

"Anyway, how are you doing? Did your sister come and see you yet?"

Adam, his hollow eyes following the voice of his cousin, replied in an exhausted tone, "If I'm being honest, I feel like I was thrown into a blender, torn to shreds, and stitched back together. And to your second question, no, Lily hasn't visited me yet..."

Turning toward the window overlooking the city, Adam's cousin sighed heavily, "Of course she hasn't. She's still probably trying to find out what the hell you have. Adam, we've talked to countless doctors and other medical fields, but none of them know anything about a condition matching your symptoms."

Around a month prior, Adam Forgon, a previously healthy and athletic individual, suddenly became very sick.

It came out of nowhere like a fierce storm trying to overtake a tranquil land.

The first sign was constant drowsiness. Even after sleeping for over half a day, Adam would still feel dead tired, as if he had just gotten done running a marathon. More than once had he slept for a day straight, and despite that, he had large, dark bags under his eyes all of the time.

His physical appearance also took a hit. He became much skinner due to lack of movement, and his flesh was paler than before by a large margin. Adam's medium-length brown hair started falling out in cloves.

The second sign was his senses. First, it was his eyes. Before the unknown disease had affected him, he had fairly good vision; a test a year prior showed he had 20/15 eyesight, which is above average. When it first hit, his vision was only slightly impeded. Over the course of the next week, it got progressively worse.

By day three Adam needed glasses, and by day five, he had nearly lost all sight. On the seventh day, marking exactly one week since the symptoms appeared, he became completely blind.

The next sense he lost was his smell. It happened in the same way as his eyes; the sense first dimmed, before disappearing entirely after a week on the dot.

Adam's sense of touch had also faded away into nothingness by now, leaving him with only taste and hearing.

Unfortunately, it seems the next target of his unknown illness was his ability to hear. It was currently the third day of the week-long cycle, and his ears were beginning to fail him.

"Come on Izzy, we both know that there is no cure to whatever this is. Tell her to stop already, please." Looking toward where he had last heard her voice, Adam smiled softly, "Could you...tell the doctor to come in? I wish to speak with him."

Glancing away from the city, his cousin looked at his decrepit form and sighed, "I'll try my best to convince her to stop. I know she cares about you, but if she doesn't, Lily will end up in here with you." Turning toward the door, she grabbed the glass cup on the nightstand and began walking away. "I'll go refill your water and get the doctor, see you in a few."

A few seconds later, Adam heard the sound of the door clicking shut.

After Izzy left, he began to think about his sister. By the time she found out about his illness, Adam had already nearly lost his sight. Lily had been out on vacation with her boyfriend when he started developing symptoms, and although she took the quickest flight, it still took her almost five days to get back home.

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When she first heard the news, she had been devastated. Her only sibling was diagnosed with an unidentified disease with no known cure. Not knowing how many senses he would lose besides his sight, Lily started researching it on her own.

She majored in science and got a minor medical degree in college, so she thought she was somewhat capable.

She took multiple tests, whether blood, cell, or fluid, and none helped in any way. When observing Adam's blood under a microscope, she found no abnormalities whatsoever. The same results occurred for every other test she ran.

After those initial failures, Lily did not give up; instead, she tried even harder.

She looked through countless books on diseases, watched medical documentation, and contacted the best and most knowledgeable doctors, as well as pathologists that she could find.

When Adam was halfway into the process of losing his sense of touch, she finally discovered something.

After talking with a doctor she knew from the Middle East, she was able to find out there were three similar cases that happened a year and a half before Adam got sick.

The organization the doctor was a part of was founded to study the virus and fight against it. They hadn't released their findings, nor the existence of the sickness itself, to the public. The only reason Lily was able to gain access to the information was both because her brother was infected and she was somebody that could help them.

The other infected suffered from the same symptoms that he did, as well as more. First, it was the constant tiredness, followed by the slow loss of senses. This was the stage Adam was currently at.

The next step was the person losing their ability to move their limbs. For all cases recorded, it started from their toes, went up the legs and torso, and then stopped at the neck before going down to the arms and hands.

For some reason, the illness was unable to cease the bodily functions of the head.

After that, the patients' skin started to flake off and peel, almost akin to a snake. The thing is though, humans aren't like snakes; they don't have a second layer of flesh.

Once the infector's body started ridding itself of its flesh, it began bleeding like crazy.

All three victims passed away on this final, gruesome step.

And this fate was only a week away from happening to Adam himself.

After her friend's research facility gave her this information, Lily wanted–needed– to work even harder, with them this time, to develop a cure. If she didn't manage to create one, Adam would die.

Following receiving the details of the sickness, and gaining approval from her friend, she sent it to her brother. Well, to Izzy, but she would read it to him.

Once he got the news, Adam remained...strangely calm, at least from his cousin's point of view. In reality, he knew he would die from the disease from the very beginning. 

He didn't know how, but he felt within his very soul that there was no cure for it.

Instead of drowning himself in his sorrows from his inevitable fate, Adam accepted it. He had lived a rather accomplished life, with very few regrets.

Before he was diagnosed, he had been a famous musician. He was well known for his ability to play almost any string instrument, be it guitar, violin, or even harp. His voice wasn't the best, but it was still able to soothe people's hearts.

He was an individual artist, meaning he had no band–it was just him and his instrument.

Adam was quite rich, so he didn't need to worry about his family's financial status while he was gone. This fact gave him comfort, along with knowing that during his life, he had countless friends and a loving family.

All in all, he was pleased with the life he lived.

Sure, he may have been young–almost 26–but the time he had spent was fulfilling for him, so he was fine with it.

************

He heard it before he saw it. Opening the door to a particular patient's room, head doctor Michael Rayseem looked toward the resident's bed. Sitting there with his legs crossed, Adam was strumming away on his guitar, hitting each chord and note perfectly despite his lack of sight.

"Hey, Adam. How's your hearing today?" Sitting on the chair once housing Adam's instrument, Michael looked at his clipboard. "How much worse is it than yesterday?"

Stopping his strumming, he put down his guitar before leaning back against the wall.

"Hey, doc. It's gotten pretty bad, I can barely even hear your voice right now. Would you mind either coming closer or speaking loudly?" Replying with a clear voice, Adam frowned a little.

Getting up, the old doctor walked over to the bed and sat on the edge of it. "Is this better?"

Smiling a little, he said, "Yes, thank you."

Smiling as well, Michael started to speak before he was interrupted by a couple of knocks on the already-open door to Adam's hospital room.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

"Yo cuz, I brought the water I promised."

Walking in, Izzy greeted the doctor and stood by the nightstand.

"Thanks, Izzy, I appreciate it." Grabbing the water, he took a couple of sips and set it down.

Smirking at him, his cousin said in a teasing tone, "Oh, that's it? Just a simple 'thank you'? How ungrateful, I thought your parents taught you better than this, twerp."

Mirroring her expression, Adam retorted very dramatically, "My apologies, Madam. This lowly peasant pleads and begs for your forgiveness."

The two of them laughed for a moment before quieting down.

"So, should I stay or is this conversation private?" Looking at the doctor, Izzy shifted the conversation to a more serious note.

Signing heavily, Adam replied in a heavy tone, "No, you need to be a part of this, it's...important. For all of us."

Widening their eyes, the remaining two people in the room looked at each other before thinking simultaneously, 'What the hell is so bad to warrant such a look from him of all people?'

Besides his music career, Adam was known, at least within his social circle, to always be a playful and happy person, seldom serious and somber. It came as a surprise to his cousin and doctor to see him behaving so strangely.

"All right, but what is this about, Adam?" Looking back at him warily, she hesitated.

"It's regarding me and my future."

Michael waited a second before saying in his own serious voice, "What do you mean by that exactly?"

Even though he couldn't see, Adam looked toward where the window would be located with a heavy heart, knowing this would be a long and dreadful conversation.

"I...Michael, Izzy, I want you to kill me before this disease does."

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And that's a wrap for the first chapter of many!

I'd like to thank everyone who decided to pick up this book sincerely, so thank you all.

As I mentioned in the auxiliary chapter, I am new to writing and very inexperienced, so it would help if you would leave comments every now and then telling me mistakes and what I'm doing poorly.

I'd like to make this novel the best it can be, and to make that dream become a reality, I'll need everybody's support on this long journey ahead of us.

Once again, thank you all.

VoidedDefiance signing off.