Good morning, Kip! How are you this morning?

Chloe came into the ward of the hospital in a cheerful mood, walked up to the window with springy steps, humming in a light tone, and drew the curtain. Outside the window, some birds perching on a twig were chirping to proclaim the dawn. In spite of the snow still brooding over the mountain, trees beginning to put forth new leaves were redolent of the advent of spring that would wake up all nature. The sky was still tinged with dark blue, but the rising sun seemed to begin to cast the dawn of hope into the ward, and her eyes were lit up with the sunshine as if she were leading a sunny life.

It's a very fine day today, but I am sorry you need to stay in the bed on such a beautiful day. I wish I could take you outside.... She turned her face to Kip who strangely kept his eyes open as he lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling as if there were no soul in him, just like a doll. She gazed at him for a while as though trying not to miss any subtle movement of his facial muscle he might show. But as usual, she found no signs of improvement in him.

Well, don't be disappointed, Kip, even though you can't go outside... because I have something surprising for you today.

Humming some old song, she trotted back and opened the door. She brought in something big, she was holding with difficulty, and she put it on the dresser. Also on the dresser were some beautiful flowers in a vase, which she brought for Kip once a week.

I am sorry for coming in so early this morning, but I know you've already awakened, as usual. Do you know why I came so early today? I couldn't wait any longer to show you this wonderful thing. I teased my dad into buying this. What do you think this would be? Well, take a guess, said Chloe with an air of importance. Ta-daa.

She opened the box and lifted something out. It was a television.

You liked to watch PBS and Discovery channels, didn't you? I asked my dad to allow me to let you watch TV. Of course, he was not pleased, but I wheedled him into letting me set it up, including cable channels. Everything is to be set up by tomorrow, so be patient. You can watch anything you like then.

Because the TV was sitting beside the flowers in the vase, she moved the flowers and put them beside the window where they could enjoy the brisk sunshine.

Suddenly Chloe heard the sound of someone opening the door. She promptly turned around in surprise. It was a nurse, who was also surprised at her presence since nobody except Kip was supposed to be there.

Flora! Chloe shrugged her shoulders.

Chloe? How did you get in? Flora asked.

I am sorry...I sneaked in. Chloe looked down. I used my dad's spare key to get in the hospital. But please don't tell him, because I borrowed it secretly.

Chloe was well known to everybody working there since she was the daughter of Dr. Rorschach, who was head of the hospital. She appeared to feel contrite, but she soon looked at Flora with imploring eyes and asked her favor as if she were talking to her friend.

In fact, Flora N. Gale was Chloe's best friend, whom she thought of as an elder sister she could consult about any personal affairs. In addition, Flora was a very beautiful and attractive lady, yet her beauty was not feminine attraction for men. It was, rather, personal magnetism that attracted all people by her heart like a beautiful flower, fascinating everyone and giving them peace of mind. Chloe also had such a trait, so many patients thought they were sisters, and some of them who were deeply depressed often asked Flora to convince her sister to work as a nurse with her. Flora had often suggested to Dr. Rorschach that Chloe should study psychiatry. She had even made many other proposals to him for improvements in the hospital. One of them was to change the color of the nurses' uniforms from the traditional white to a faintly bluish-white color because blue was considered as the color psychologically associated with security and peace. He soon approved it. This surprised many other nurses because he was thought to be a straitlaced doctor. But Flora knew he always thought of his patients first before everything else and was actually warm at heart. He was a respectable doctor to her.

However he had one fault: He was an indulgent father to Chloe. He granted whatever she desired and had never reproved her. If there was something he could never allow her to do, he always asked Flora to admonish Chloe not to do it.

Well, you've done the same before...I told you that you shouldn't do it, even if your father is the head of this hospital, said Flora firmly, but not angrily.

I know. But please excuse me again. Today is special! I couldn't wait to show this TV to him, said Chloe, showing it to Flora.

Wow, you brought it? Did Dr. Rorschach say okay to set it up here?

Yeah. You know, he cannot refuse to grant my wish since he is indulgent to me. He reluctantly said okay, although he seemed to want to say this was a senseless idea.

Of course, it is ridiculous. Kip cannot see anything, much less think at all because he's been in a persistent vegetative state. You know that, don't you? So, I don't understand why you brought it here. What do you want to do with it?

I know everybody thinks he is vegetable...I know a vegetable doesn't have normal mind like we do..., said Chloe.

There was a moment of heavy silence between her and Flora.

But he is different..., she continued. He must be able to think. Inside his mind, he must be reacting to our conversation. He merely cannot express his thoughts or emotions.

Silly idea, Chloe. How do you know he can think?

I just know somehow...I am sure he can think. I don't know how I can explain about it, but please believe me!

Well, is that why you've brought the TV here to let him watch?

Yeah, Chloe simply said and looked at his eyes that looked like cold glass beads. They were still gazing at the ceiling. His eyes may not be focusing on anything, but I think he can at least hear. I think he can enjoy listening to TV programs such as PBS or Discovery Channel that he used to love before.

Flora was dumbfounded at Chloe's remark, but she tried to understand Chloe who dedicated herself to take care of him every day. She finally said, Well, I hope so....

I hope so, too, said Chloe, and then her countenance fell. Do you know what I am thinking now, Flora?

Flora didn't utter anything and just shook her head.

You may think I am strange to say such a thing, but I'm seriously saying I think his soul is not damaged at all. It has been kept intact even though he was physically injured in the terrible accident. You've heard about near-death experience, haven't you? People who have had such an experience often insist that their spiritual bodies or astral bodies came out of their physical ones when dying, and they floated around. Some of them even say they tried to let doctors know they were not dead yet and where they actually were, but nobody could listen to them. In the same way, Kip may be disembodied from his physical body and wandering around in the air. He may be hearing us from somewhere while suffering from no means to communicate, Chloe anxiously but fervently said.

Flora noticed Chloe's eyes were suffused with tears, so she tried to appease her.

Then Kip suddenly coughed twice.

Kip! Chloe was instantly back at his bedside, looking at his eyes in surprise and with hope of his recovery. But they still looked like cold glass beads. Kip! Kip! You came around, didn't you? Kip! Can you hear me? She shook his shoulders, but he didn't respond at all.

Stop it, Chloe. Flora tenderly said and prevented Chloe from shaking him. It is a sporadic reflex.

No! It isn't just a reflex! He must be coming back into his physical body! Chloe lost her presence of mind and cried out in contrast with the serene air of spring.

Flora didn't respond to her immediately and kept silence while thinking about what she should say.

Well, she again opened her mouth after Chloe sank wearily into a chair with sorrow. Have you read the Bible before, Chloe? If I remember right, I think there is a line in Psalms saying 'Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death.' In another words, if you could give light to his eyes, he would wake from the sleep of death. Though it is a metaphor, I guess that's how you are trying to make him come around, isn't it? I hope that will work. But I'm not in a position to tell you anything definite about philosophical or religious matters. As you know, I am a nurse. So, I hope you would not take it amiss because I'm going to tell you as a matter of duty...well, I am sorry to say that he is in a persistent vegetative state. As you may know, his brain is almost dead. But his brain stem is still alive so that he shows a number of basic functions such as digestion, assimilation, respiration, and circulation of the blood. He even shows cycles of sleep and wakefulness with his eyes open and pupillary responses to light. The coughs he had were one of the basic functions, too. But these functions just keep him alive. He has lost all abilities to lead a normal life. He even cannot move nor talk, much less think at all. Unfortunately, there is no way to cure him in the current medicine so far. The only thing we can do is to keep him alive like this.

Do you mean you are going to let him remain in an unconscious state until he dies? What would you think if nobody woke you up from sleep until you died? He is merely in the same state as he sleeps. It is just an extreme case. So, we need to wake him up from the comatose condition! Chloe was on the verge of tears, when somebody's hand was put tenderly on her shoulder as if trying to appease her sorrow. When she turned her face, Kip's parents were standing behind her. She jumped up from the chair, leaned against Kip's father, and drooped her head dejectedly against his chest.

His wife, Christina Ziyang, was standing behind him with her handkerchief against her eyes. She said, her lips trembling with woe, Chloe, we appreciate all you so kindly did for Kip, but you don't have any obligation to do that. As Flora said, there is nothing we can do for him. We can never see his affectionate smile again. He has already begun to follow the path to his last home. And I believe, in the fullness of time, he will go to heaven.

In terms of Buddhism, said Kip's father, Wang Ziyang, who was from China, it is called Nirvana. He will enter Nirvana after several repetitions of birth by Karma. Although he is now straying off from the circles of transmigration, I believe that he will find his own right way after the lapse of time. Unlike Christina he seemed to keep his presence of mind.

No! That's not correct! Chloe cried out, perturbed by their words. What do you think Christ would do if he saw Kip? What do you think Buddha would do if he were here? They would know it was not time for him to pass away! They would say he has just been groping for his way in the dark to come back into his physical body. He needs somebody's hand leading him to the right way.

Although she had been coming to the hospital every day to determine how she could make Kip come around, nobody really understood what she was doing. In fact, when she asked her father to commit Kip to the hospital, everybody was opposed to her idea. Because Dr. Rorschach was professional in not only psychiatry but also psychosomatic medicine and psychosurgery, she thought he could cure Kip who had still been unconscious after he was operated on at another hospital where he had first been taken. However, Dr. Rorschach had no idea why Kip had not regained consciousness. Everybody had already given up and lost hope in spite of Chloe's eager efforts to help him recover.

She was suddenly seized with worry about whether she was really doing the right thing. As she noticed tears trickling down her cheek, she fled the room and ran out of the ward in the fullness of her grief.

I feel pity for her, said Christina. She must be laying the blame on herself. That's why she comes here every day to take care of him out of the sense of sin.

Well, I don't want to let her grieve any more. I will ask Dr. Rorschach not to let her come and see Kip hereafter, said Wang with a sigh of grief.

When Chloe rushed out of the ward, she couldn't see her way through her tear-filled eyes. But she just ran, drooping her head so that nobody in the hospital could see her tear-stained face.

When she got out of the hospital, she bumped her head against somebody.

I am sorry. She knew it was impolite, but she tried to run keeping her head down with just those words. However, the person opened his arm and barred her way. She raised her head in surprise and found a man wrapped up in a black cloak and hat. His clothes were all black and suggestive of something sinister.

Don't try to look into his profound mind, said the man plainly in a low voice. Otherwise you will expose yourself to danger.

Who are you? What are you talking about? Chloe demanded with a frown.

The man didn't answer but simply said, His mind is now in the profound darkness that is very difficult and dangerous to look into. Strangely he didn't change an expression on his face at all, fixing his unblinking eyes through his sunglasses on her. To her he looked as if he had no emotion.

Who is he? Whose mind are you talking about?

A friend from your childhood.

A friend from my childhood...? Kip? Are you talking about Kip?

The man continued, saying flatly, It may be easy to read another's mind by looking at his or her eyes, attitude, facial expression, or tone of voice. But appearances are often deceptive. It is just like looking at only the surface of the sea to know what is going on in the profound. If you want to know, you must try to look into it. But you will be involved with some risk. The deeper you go the greater the risk you will have...such as greater water pressure. The abyss is not a place for you to go. It will exclude anything from the external world. Likewise, the abyss of the mind is dangerous to sound out, because it is the very exclusive realm of mind and is not a place you can enter.

Then, somebody opened and closed the door of the main entrance of the hospital with a slam. Chloe turned her face in surprise and looked back. It was Flora, who ran up to Chloe with worry.

There you are. I was looking for you. Are you all right? Don't be disappointed at what they said. They are merely upset now since they were told there was no way to cure their son by current methods of medicine. But you believe in your father, don't you? He is the best doctor I've ever met; he will definitely make Kip come around. So, you don't have any obligation to take care of him. That's actually my job. Don't take it away from me, said Flora in a soft voice with a tender smile.

But..., said Chloe, choking with tears. If I hadn't forced him to go to the forest...if I had listened to him seriously...nothing would have happened to him, and we could study at the university together.

She was trying to suppress her grief, but her eyes already overflowed with tears. Flora let her cry with no more words.

There was leaden silence between them for a while, but Chloe again started to talk with difficulty. You know, he was interested in the relationship between human history and nature. He used to watch TV programs about it since he was young. And I don't know exactly when, but he came to wonder how mythology developed interacting with sublime nature in human history. He said he would study history, ecology, and mythology at university. He was so much looking forward to studying there.... She dropped her head down on Flora's shoulder and sobbed. But I didn't think such a terrible accident would happen to him.

Flora tenderly patted Chloe on the back and said, That is not your fault. That just happened. Since nobody can predict the future, nobody could prevent it from happening. She pulled a handkerchief out of her pocket and wiped Chloe's tears with it. Stop crying now. If you think Kip's soul is seeing us from somewhere, he is laughing at you. She smiled in order to soften the edge of Chloe's grief.

Chloe tried to smile back, but she could not suppress her tears.

Let's go back to the ward to get your backpack. It is time to go to school, isn't it? said Flora and took Chloe back in the hospital.

On the way back to the ward, Chloe looked back over her shoulder, but the man with the black cloak was not there any more.