Fantasia

IL

"He... what?", Eddy whispered almost inaudibly into the cold men's room. His whole surrounding blurred, much like shortly before he'd wake up from his dream.
"They were playing Mahler six. During the third movement, Brett fell from the concertmaster's chair and fainted. It was quite a big deal in the classical music world in Australia back then."
"Why...", was all Eddy managed. His brain was frozen, mushed up, freaked out by words like "fainted", "collapsed", "fell".
Brett, the strong Brett from his teenage years, the one who always knew an answer to difficult questions, who pushed himself and everyone around him to be the best versions of themselves without losing humor and lightness which brought so much colour in those lives entangled with Brett's. He broke down just like that?
"They don't really know why, but Brett was extremely hard working. Like... insanely. That's why he made concertmaster at such an young age. However, very little was disclosed to the public concerning the reason for what happened at the concert, so I reckon no one outside his family really knows what's going on. They wanted privacy, so no articles were published about what happened, no follow-ups on Brett's condition. Nothing. Apparently, they even asked the orchestra to take down all the info they had about Brett."
That explained why Eddy hadn't been able to find any information about him. He guessed his family had also deactivated all of Brett's socials, if he had any profiles to begin with.
"And now?" Eddy nearly didn't dare to ask.
Hyung sighed deeply. "This is confidential, Eddy. But since you're his old pal and in Singapore, I guess I'm just gonna tell you. When I heard what happened, I actually went to Sydney to see him."
See him. That meant, Brett was alive! That's all that counted, right?
Another deep sigh. "Brett's in a coma. Has been since he collapsed."

A coma. Brett. In. A. Coma.

"How did you... how do you know?"
"Went to the SSO's office. I got some connections there and they told me in which hospital Brett was since they knew I know him. I went there, met his parents. They even let me see him briefly when I explained who I am."

Brett. In a coma.
"What are the prognosis?", Eddy croaked half on autopilot.
"I don't really know. I asked them to contact me if something changes, but it has been several months now and I've heard nothing. I mean, maybe Brett recovered and they forgot to tell me or something. I'm not a relative, so it's not like any news would get to me automatically."
"And how long ago did you say it happened?"
"Around half a year ago? I'm not so sure anymore. Quite some time, that's for sure."
And even though Eddy hadn't attended med school in the end, he knew that the longer someone stayed in such a condition, the less likely it was for them to wake up.
"Half a year", Eddy stuttered.
"Yeah."
Six months. That's how long Eddy had been wandering around on that grassy hill with the mirror on top.
Could it really be...?

"My mum went to Brett's parents' place to see if she'd meet them there. She couldn't find anyone though."
"Figures. I think they temporarily moved to Sydney to be close to Brett. Maybe they're even staying at his place. Or his brother's. He's a dentist in Sydney, so..."
Bit by bit, the puzzle pieces were coming together to form a grotesque, new reality. One which Eddy didn't know if he could face.

But in the end, he simply had to. There was just no way he was going to turn his back on Brett again.

"Eddy? You still there?"
Eddy shook his head fiercly. "Yeah, yeah. Sorry. Just... oh my God."
"Yeah. Sorry for telling you these bad news."
"No, no! Hyung! Are you kidding? You helped me tons! You have no idea how deperate I was trying to find him. If anything, I have to thank you for telling me all this."
"Please keep it to yourself. Brett's parents would probably kill me if anything leaks out."
"'Course! Goes without saying!"
"And now? What are you gonna do?"
Yeah. What was Eddy going to do? Never in his life had he felt so helpless like right in this moment. He was so, so far away and hadn't even stayed in touch with Brett. Even if he decided to go back to Australia, he was certain Brett's parents were already doing anything they could to help him. For all he knew, they'd probably kick him out the hospital as soon as he'd show his face after what he'd done.
"I don't know", Eddy stated honestly, "stop looking for him, I guess."
Hyung sighed again. "Look. I have no idea where this gut feeling is coming from, but I feel like this is very important to you. If you want, I can make time to fly to Sydney and visit Brett again. Maybe I can tell you more about his condition."
Eddy shook his head again. "Nah, man! You've done enough. This was originally about me donating for your spot, not you helping me out."
Well, if Eddy was being super honest, it actually had been about getting in touch with Hyung so he could ask him about Brett, but there was a limit to how much he wanted to exploit that.
"I mean, I'm wondering myself how he's doing. I will contact you again if I really make it to Sydney."
"Thanks, Hyung."
"Thank you for providing funding so I can go on trips", Hyung remarked with a much lighter tone.
"No worries. I'm happy to help out." And Eddy meant it. If there was any place where money could be used, it was in the classical music world with all the patrons nearing their nineties or hundreds even.
"And for what it's worth, I do believe Brett will wake up", Hyung meant softly, "Maybe he's just resting. And maybe he needs that. But also, maybe I sound like an idiot right now, so I should probably hang up."
The corners of Eddy's mouth really managed to lift themselves a bit. Unbelievable. Was Hyung right? He had to be, right?
"Not at all! I appreciate your trust in me, Hyung. Thanks for everything!"
"You're welcome. Thank YOU again for your generosity. And whenever you're back in Brissy, let's hang out. Make sure to come to one of our concerts."
"I will! Hear you soon?"
Hyung's warm smile was practically audible, when he answered, "You bet! You have my number now, so you can contact me any time. Bye, Eddy."
"Bye."

Eddy's almost smile vanished as soon as the line went dead and he staggered towards the cold tiled wall of the toilet.
"Brett...", he whispered, as if he could bring him back from the unconscious state he was in by getting his lips to desperately form his name.

Six months. Eddy's dreams must have been connected with Brett's coma. It couldn't be a coincidence that they'd started around the time when Brett had fainted. And there was also no way that the Brett in Eddy's dream wasn't part of the real Brett, maybe even his soul or conscious or spirit or whatever, which was trapped in there. Eddy would bet his violin that Brett was still in that coma.

No wonder Brett never woke up.
No wonder he found no way out until now.

Eddy ran his cold, sweaty hand through his hair while he blankly stared to the floor. If Brett's spirit really was caught inside that world, why did Eddy end up there too? Why those dreams in the first place?

And how the hell was he supposed to help Brett to get out of there?