Heart Sick

Chapter 1

The familiar smell of the hospital greeted me as I walked through the automatic doors. I said hello to the nurse at the front counter, Liza, and went straight to the elevators. The door opened right away and smiled. My father always said it was good luck when an elevator opens right away. I nodded hello to the old man who was standing inside.

"Good morning sir." I smiled at him and stood to his left. He didn't so much reply, but grunt.

When we reached the fourth floor he got off without a word. I had only one more floor until I reached the pediatrics ward so I got out the book I brought, Oliver Twist. When the doors opened again I got out and made a right, picking up the pace when room 582 came into view. Tommy had put up a new painting since I was last here and I took a moment to admire it. It was a lot of bright colors all over the page with no particular shape. I smiled and knocked.

"Enter if you dare!" Came the shout from the other side.

Turning the knob harder than necessary so he could hear me, I ran into the room. "Alas! I dare! Are you ready for another adventure young Tommy?"

The young boy in the bed cheered and scooted over to make room for me. He was a scrawny boy of eight with sandy colored hair and freckles on his nose. If you simply glanced at him you wouldn't notice anything wrong with the spirited boy. However, if you stopped to talk to him, you would notice his milky blue eyes never looked directly at you. Little Tommy was blind. Since is parents didn't want to stay with him at the hospital, Tommy was usually alone in his room. As if being blind wasn't enough, he had a number of other problems. he major one was Leukemia. Tommy was diagnosed just two days ago and they were going to start his treatment soon.

"I'm glad you came today Ms. Ella." Tommy told me.

"I come every Wednesday Tommy," I replied with a smile. "How are you feeling?"

"Okay today. The doctors said I was going to be starting a new medicine tomorrow." He said it like it was going to be a grand adventure.

My heart broke a little as he smiled in my direction. "Going to beat another bad guy?" He nodded.

"Yup! Will you read to me now Ms. Ella?"

"Of course buddy." I opened the book in my hand to where we left off last week and began reading.

-------------------

An hour and a half later I was in a nearby park trying to find a spot to eat the lunch I brought. Cherry Park was named after all the cherry blossom trees there. Apparently, some Japanese immigrants brought some over as a gift to the Mayor. The park was located across from the hospital and was a great place to relax. The river that ran through it was usually populated with geese, turtles, ducks, and fish. Finding an empty bench right underneath a cherry blossom tree, I sat down and got out my sandwich from the paper bag in my purse.

I usually liked to come here to get my mind off tings but I couldn't help feeling sad about Tommy. The poor kid was only eight years old and was already facing death. It wasn't fair. He deserves a full long life with parent who love him. Everybody does. I hated how much pain and suffering there was in the world. It gave me anxiety to just think about. My dad said I was born to change the world with my compassion. He's the one who planted the idea of joining the Peace Corps in my mind. Ever since he told me about it when I was nine, I've been absolutely obsessed with it. I couldn't wit to graduate and go to Kenya to help over there.

I suddenly realized that when I was lost in thought I had been staring at someone. He was a guy around my age with very pale skin and brown hair that was mostly covered by a gray beanie. Even sitting you could tell he was very tall and thin. He was completely engrossed in the book he was reading and his fingers tapped in time to the music coming from his headphones.

Without warning, he looked up and met my gaze straight on. He narrowed his eyes at me as if challenging me. Heat rushed o m face and I dropped my gaze. I felt like an idiot staring at my half eaten sandwich but was too caught off guard to look back up. I hope he wasn't offended by my staring. It's not like I meant to be a creep.

I nearly jumped out of my skin when I heard the sound of a throat being cleared right in front of me. I looked up and the guy was standing there with his arms crossed and his starling light eyes still narrowed at me. Oh crap.

"Do you have a problem?" His deep voice was sharp and angry. What was his problem?

"Um. No. Sorry," I mumbled, looking at his shoes. I started to gather my things to leave but stopped. Was I really going to let him talk to me like that? I stood up so fast he had to take a step back to avoid being pressed against me. "I don't know what your problem is but you can't just speak to me like that. I've done nothing wrong."

He blinked once in surprise at my outburst. The way he looked at me made me want to avert my eyes but I stood my ground, lifting my chin slightly and standing tall. Finally, he gave me a small smirk and turned on his heel. He walked swiftly away from me without looking back.

I stood there for a while, staring after him. That was so strange. Shaking my head, I grabbed my things and made my way to my car, which was parked across the street in the hospital parking lot. I was still thinking about what happened with that rude guy when I reached my yellow bug. I loved my car so much. I had bought it myself with the money I saved working at the local library. It took me a while to save enough but when I finally did, I felt such pride in knowing the little car was all mine. Throwing it in reverse, I rolled out of the parking lot and drove home.
-----------------------------------------
A/N: Okay I hope you like it so far! I have a lot of the story already written but I probably won't post more unless I see people are reading it. So show it to your friends and feel free to comment. Criticism is welcome but not insults.