Jade may be quiet but he’s explored a ton of things. Well, academically-speaking. He reads a lot and watches a lot of varied materials. He’s a self-learner. School doesn’t do much for him.

He returned to the hospital and was stunned to see Naya, the pretty girl from last night, sitting on his bed. But where is his body? Isn’t his body supposed to be lying there?

Naya couldn’t roll her eyes at his expression. She managed to look nonchalant as she carries a telepathic conversation with him. His mom is still in the room, working remotely while looking after him. Her left hand is holding a tablet. His mom gave it to him to avoid boredom. You aren’t confused yet? Good.

“Where…?” Jade started to ask.

“I’m occupying your body.”

He cut her off after that, “What? Why?” He sounded very incredulous.

“Your heart stopped beating last night. You weren’t around so I could only do the one thing available to me to prevent you from dying. Or would you rather I let you die?” She couldn’t help being sarcastic. She’s still mad at him for being gone.

“But why am I seeing you?” Jade followed her explanation well. He can understand her frustration.

“Would you rather see yourself? Talk to yourself?” Her reply is explanation enough. Though he’s seeing “her” through his eyes, other humans are seeing “him”.

“That is weird.” He noted.

“Of course.” She replied, exposing a tired expression.

“Are you feeling alright, dear?” They both froze as his mom asked, watching Jade. Or Jade’s body, currently occupied by her, Naya, the guardian.

Jade didn’t even know why he froze as well. His mom can’t see him.

“I’m fine, mom. Just worried about school.” Naya watched him since he was a baby. She knew his habits, his tone, his train of thoughts….

“Don’t worry about it. Your father already informed the school. It will take a couple of weeks before you can go back. For now, rest. You need it. Do you want something?” His mom walked over to check on him.

“Can I have a burger?” Naya asked brightly. Jade frowned at her. He had this odd feeling that he’s watching himself, though he’s clearly seeing a girl seated on the bed.

“That’s not healthy, but I’ll ask dad to get one on his way. Alright?” She patted her son’s cheek. Lovingly.

“Thanks, mom.”

Mrs. Ontera brushed his hair again with her hand before returning to her seat where she’s working on a report.

Jade has a lot of questions to ask her, but she told him she’s tired. When she closed her eyes as she lay on the bed, she conversed with him. Before he can ask anything, she told him what she’s feeling and how she’s not in the mood to entertain him.

“Guardians don’t feel, but as I occupied your body, I’ve felt a lot of things you humans do. It’s overwhelming to me. It’s tiring. I’m exhausted. I’ll answer your questions later when I’m feeling better. For now, don’t go anywhere. We don’t know if your body will suddenly reject me. You need to be close when that happens.”

“Alright.” He can only reply that way.

When it’s clear his body isn’t rejecting her, a few days have already passed. When it’s time for him to be discharged from the hospital, Jade momentarily panicked.

“What do we do?”

Naya internally sighed, “I’ve watched you growing up. I know everything about you. You don’t need to worry about how I will act.”

Jade was relieved, “Alright.” But he still gets this funny feeling, seeing a girl acting exactly like him. She did so well, too.

Naya knew how much he’s itching to ask her questions, but he held himself back. It was admirable. He’s got his curiosity under control.

Jade normally keeps his room unlocked, but the current situation calls for a change. Naya locked the door before facing him, “Alright. Throw your questions at me.”

Jade took a deep breath, trying to organize his thoughts. He squinted at her.

“You mean to tell me that guardian angels exist? What do you guys do?”

Naya rolled her eyes at him. Unoriginal. But how does she answer? “I don’t know about angels, but we’ve absorbed the concept of guardians that keep people safe, or at least alive, unless it’s time to go. We don’t do much, unless there’s another force bent on killing a human off before their designated day and time. That’s what we guard against.”

Not what he’s expecting but he thought it makes sense, in a way. He wouldn’t have been able to accept something so convoluted. Her answer eliminated a lot of his follow-up questions, though.

“Can’t I see others like you?”

“No. Technically, you’re a human spirit, not a guardian.” She kept it simple. There’s no need to tell him the internal system they follow.

“You guys can fly? And can all of you have telepathic conversations?”

Naya kept squinting at him. Internally, she sighed. “Yes, it’s more convenient to move. As for telepathy, no. We talk to each other the same way humans do. As for you and me, we have a certain connection that allows us to do it. Can you imagine how we’ll have to hide every single time we need to talk to each other?”

If she’s honest, she only discovered it when she yelled his name that time at the hospital. She was so frustrated she did it unknowingly.

Jade nodded at her explanation. She’s nice to talk to.

He showed a hesitant expression, one that made Naya raise an eyebrow. Noticing it, Jade couldn’t help imagining what he looks like with such.

“What you said about feelings… you don’t have feelings as a guardian?”

Naya audibly sighed when this was raised, “Yes. Having all these emotions because you are meant to feel them, it rattles me. I don’t know what to make of them.”

These last few days, she was mostly tough-looking, but today… she looks helpless. Something stirred inside Jade, a desire to protect.

“I noticed something, too.”

“What?” Naya thought he’s about to say something helpful, who knew he’d only embarrass her?

“I’m not vain, so why do you always look in a mirror or anything that reflects an image?” He had his arms crossed in his chest. This behavior of hers would make others suspicious. Thankfully, no one else noticed yet.