Rooftop Finches

She opened the door that led to the rooftop, no longer surprised by his appearance. He was admitted about 10 days ago. For some odd reason, it was like the more they bumped into each other, the more she wanted to see him. They had gotten closer over the past few days, mainly because he put in so much effort to make it to the rooftop of the hospital. He looked so peaceful sitting there on his own.

This had been the fourth time she got admitted within the past eight months. Kinda hard to stay positive after that, especially when you're only 15. He was completely different. For someone with Friedreich's Ataxia, he was seriously optimistic about life.

"Hey Archie," she smiled softly as she sat beside him. He looked up from the nature book that was resting on his lap.

"Oh, hey Evie.." He quickly tried to mask up his sadness, but she caught on.

"What's wrong? You sound worried. He looked down at the book again and spoke up quietly.

"Do you know how long finches live...?"
"What? Um, no..? How long?"
"Not long enough. They're the birds with the shortest lifespan out of all the others.."

"Where are you going with this...?" But she knew, they both did.

"We're finches, Evie. I don't have much longer, and are you even on the list?" His voice deadpanned, and any sign of fear had dissipated. It was her turn to lower her head, knowing there wasn't hope for her either. She had osteoporosis and end-stage pulmonary disease, which took her off the list to get news lungs.

"No.."

"Do you know how much longer you have?"

"I haven't asked. You?"

"My symptoms have only been getting worse since I came. My legs almost died on my way up here." If only Evie knew how terrified he really was.

"I DON'T WANNA DIE! I CAN'T! I STILL WANT TO LIVE! GOD WHY!?" He was panicking. He was a finch. He wanted to be something different so badly, but there was nothing either of them could do.

"Hey.." Evie softly spoke, trying to find the right words to say as she teared up. "We're both finches. I'll stick with you till the very end, ok? So please keep pushing.."

"FOR WHAT REASON?! WE'RE BOTH GONNA DIE!"

"YOU THINK I DON'T THINK ABOUT THAT? WELL I DO!" She lowered her head and thought back to her family, hoping they'd be ok once she left.

"But finches are finches. We can't be anything else, so lets at least stick together, alright..? I don't wanna be lonely again.." After a moment of silence, she spoke up once more.

"I'll stick with you until the end, promise. We may be finches, but we'll be finches together." She hugged him, sniffling. It was his turn to smile, even if only a little. He hugged back, stroking her hair as their atmosphere turned calm once more.

"We'll be finches. Together."