Steel My Soul ✓

30 | Harper

(new character - this precious boy will also be mentioned in a stand alone I'll be releasing in April <3)

(warning: mentions of self-harm.)

H A R P E R

The girl's name was Indigo. Her boyfriend called her Violet, though, and I thought it was pretty cheesy. She was a couple of years older than me. Whatever she was diagnosed with was similar to my condition, and it was a bummer because she had such a pretty personality, and the world lacked those. 

"How old did you say you were?" She asked to distract herself from the nurse probing her like a guinea pig. 

"Fifteen, turning sixteen next month," I told her, willing to help her forget the pain of the needles. 

"And how long have you been here?" Indigo winced and shot the nurse a glare when he unintentionally hurt her. 

I wanted to ask the nurse if he actually had a degree in nursing, seeing as it was the fifth time Indigo had winced. He looked young, a little shabby. I felt bad for the things he had to see, but he had to have a strong stomach for the job. The nurse had to have a tough guard up to deal with what he saw here. 

I'd built one up since I was diagnosed, and look how I turned out. Almost dead and thriving. Love to see that, huh?

"It'll be two years on my birthday."

That got her. Indigo snapped her head to look at me, and I grinned. I was used to that reaction. It was quite sad, actually. My older cousin, Cade, always slapped my arm when I did that; grin when people pitied me. I missed him. He was one of the only people that made an effort to see me every single day. 

"I'm sorry."

My grin faded. "You know, I don't like when people say that."

Indigo furrowed her eyebrows.

"It's not something we can control. It's not anyone's fault. It just happens," I shrugged. 

I sounded mature. That was the last thing I was, but life didn't exactly give me a childhood, so I learned to grow faster than the average kid. Cade said I was blessed to have a mind as powerful as mine was, but I thought he only said that to make me feel better.

"When are going it get rid of it all?" I pointed to her head full of hair. 

Chemo tended to shed hair, beginning in small patches around the head. I shaved my head during my second month here when the spots made me look like a broken Dalmatian dog. I've learned to embrace my head, spotless or not. 

Indigo opened her mouth to reply, but I guessed she'd never really thought of it because she didn't say anything for a while. The nurse in front of her was looking at me in disbelief at my bold question.

"I only have a few months left, sir," I dead-panned. "If I have a question, I'm going to ask it."

"No, of course," He sputtered, turning back to Indigo. 

I hummed in contentment at the same time as a man entered the room. Chancey. He'd been here in the morning, left and got back just in the nick of time with a beanie covering his fresh buzzcut. He'd been wearing it since this morning, and with Indigo undergoing tests and treatments, she hadn't noticed yet. I didn't think he wanted her to yet. 

"Chance," Her tired voice greeted him, and even with exhaustion on her face, she smiled. 

"Violet," He sighed, sounding relieved to see her in one piece.