Prologue-2

For as long as he could remember, Alex had been different from other kids. 

He was a lot smarter and quieter compared to others his age. 

And according to what some of his classmates said, he was also weirder. 

But despite this, his parents never treated him differently and loved him with all their hearts. 

Throughout his school life, Alex was unable to make any friends due to being different from others, which really worried his parents, but they figured that as he grew older, his personality would fix itself and allow him to adjust to society like everyone else. 

Sadly, their wishes never came true, as back when Alex was just 12 years old, a house fire claimed the lives of both his parents as well as destroyed his legs, permanently crippling him in the process. 

Thankfully, on the day of the house fire, Rose was at a friend's house and was thus safe. 

But perhaps she was the one who suffered the most out of everyone, as just at the tender age of 15, she had lost both her parents and was forced to take care of her crippled brother, who was the only family she had left. 

However, despite all of this, she never blamed anyone and instead always maintained a cheerful personality and a smile on her face. 

Even after Alex went into depression due to the incident, she was his light and the only source of joy in his dark and miserable life. 

His reason for continuing to live and someone to whom he would forever be grateful. 

Sadly, fate had a twisted sense of humour, and four years after the accident, just when the two of them had gotten used to their lives, and barely managed to move on. 

A tumour was discovered inside Alex's brain, and to make matters worse, it was already pretty serious when it got discovered, making the chances of him surviving miniscule. 

Alex had already given up on his life, but Rose didn't lose hope and took multiple loans and spared no expense just to afford the best kind of treatment possible. 

Despite what the statistics suggested, she had no doubt that her brother would survive. 

He had to survive; after all, he was her only family; without him, she'd be left all alone in this cruel world. 

Alex had tried to persuade her to stop multiple times, already understanding the implications of the loans they were taking. 

Even if he managed to survive,they would have to live most if not all of their life's in loans and trying to pay it off,his sister would need to overwork herself even more than she already was. 

But regardless of what he said, Rose had already made up her mind and was stubborn about getting the best treatment possible. In the end, Alex could do nothing but let her do whatever she wanted. 

And surprisingly, it went well. According to what the doctors said, in the next surgery, they should be able to suppress the cancer and allow him to live a normal life. 

But just to stay safe, they were keeping him in the hospital to monitor his condition, and today he was supposed to go through a thorough checkup. 

As long as nothing went wrong in just a week, Alex would be cured and could go back to his own house with his sister. 

**

"Wait, sis, we need to talk," Alex said in a hurry for a reason even he didn't understand. 

He wasn't sure what it was, but something told him that if he didn't tell his sister everything he wanted to say, he would regret it his whole life. 

"What's wrong?" Rose exclaimed, a bit taken aback by Alex's weird expression and behaviour. 

"Take a seat," Alex suggested. 

Hearing this, Rose's confusion only grew, but she still decided to follow his suggestion and sat on a chair near Alex's bed. 

"So I'm not sure how to say this, but recently I've been having this weird dream every time I sleep."

"I can't remember the details, but every night I keep having the same dream, and it feels too realistic, almost like it isn't even a dream."

"Every time I wake up after having this dream, I feel foreign emotions like guilt, rage, regret, despair, shame, and many more that I should have no way of experiencing."

"Even today, I had the same dream. I previously didn't want to burden you like this, but the more I dream about it, the more real it feels."

"Due to this, I'm having trouble distinguishing between what is real and what is not"

"I'm not sure why I'm even telling you all this, but still, thanks for listening. I feel a lot lighter after talking to you like this." Alex sighed in relief, glad to have been able to finally talk about what had been bugging him for multiple days now. 

Hearing this, Rose was a bit stunned about what to say, but she didn't let it show on her face. 

After all, she was always supposed to be cheerful and maintain a smile for her younger brother. 

She knew Alex better than anyone, and if she allowed her concern or worry to show on her face, it would make him regret ever opening up to her.

Alex was the sweetest and kindest person she knew, and she didn't want him to hesitate to talk about his trauma and struggles with someone he trusted. 

She had done a lot of research about the mental condition of teenage boys when Alex first went into depression, and she knew how boys had a habit of bottling up their emotions and thoughts instead of just talking about them, which led them to release their pent-up stress and anger in other ways. 

And she would never forgive herself if Alex became someone like that due to her negligence. 

After all, she had promised her parents to do everything in her power to give Alex the best kind of life possible. 

So with her signature bright smile, which could melt even the coldest hearts, she asked. 

"What kind of dreams have you been having exactly, and do you mind telling me about them?"