The Red Eye [Open Novella Contest 2023]

Chapter 8

It was awkward. Obviously. Because of course it was. The good news— or bad news— was that not even a full minute after Donna had poured the tea, the boy's phone rang. He frowned at it before he slid to answer and muttered a quick greeting into it.

"Shit," he said when he hung up the phone.

"Fuck, are you dying?" Donna asked. Honestly, it wouldn't surprise her if he was. He, for some ungodly reason, had decided to start drinking the tea right after it was poured. What kind of psycho does that?

The boy had the guts to laugh. "No, not dying. Although I might be soon. The head nurse of the ward found out I left and she is pissed."

"So you need to go back?" Donna asked.

He nodded. "They're already coming to pick me up."

"They're coming here?"

"Yeah. They got my location from my phone."

"They can do that?"

"Well, technically, my parents are the ones tracking my phone."

Donna nodded thoughtfully and looked down at her cup. The steam coming from the tea was warm and comforting. "They're worried about you."
The boy sighed. "Yeah."

"Should they be?"

The boy took another sip of his too-hot tea and shrugged. "Being worried won't fix anything."

Donna nodded. "It never does, and yet we still do it."

There was a long pause.

"Are you going to get in trouble for coming here?" Donna asked.

The boy grinned. "Nah. They'll be pissed. But they always get over it."

"What, do you guys pull this kind of shenanigannery often?"

"That is not a real word."

Donna grinned and pushed away from the table with her hands. "So he doesn't deny it!"

"Okay, seriously. You make a bunch of kids the same age hang around the same hospital floor every single day every time they get sick or need a tune-up, they're going to start to hang out together."

"But apart?"

"Six feet at all times. How do you know about that?"

"I saw you guys at the hospital. You were all sitting apart from each other."

"Did it look weird?"

"A little bit."

He smiled at her, the shadows in the room making his grin look sad.

"Do you all know each other, then?"

"I'm the newest one there, but yeah. They're all pretty welcoming to new people. We have a great time avoiding giving each other our deadly bacteria."

"That's good." Donna sighed. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"What were you thinking about when you walked over to me before?"

"When?"

"At the hospital, in the waiting area."

The boy shrugged. "I thought you looked lonely and scared. Which is never a good thing in a hospital."

"Did you feel bad for me?"

"I always feel bad for people in hospitals."

"That must be tough if you live in one."

He nodded. "Are you okay, though? Like, you're not terminal, right?"

"No," she said. "Are you?"

He tapped the side of the teacup. "The average life expectancy of a CF'er is 46 now."

"Why do I get the feeling you're not average?"

The boy grinned tiredly. "Not at the moment, no. Can you see the road from your balcony?"

She nodded. "Cheapest apartment here, worst view."

"That's convenient. Mind if I look out the window?"

"Yeah, have at it."

The boy went to the window and looked out it. "Wow, they're here already."

"They are overprotective."

"A little bit."

"Do you have to go?"

He turned back to her. "Yeah, they're already gonna be pissed at me."

"Well, I'm not going to delay you any more than I already have." Donna cleared her throat. "Should I walk you back downstairs?"

"No. but thanks." He nodded at the cup. "And thanks for the tea."

"Thanks for coming with me."

"Hey, if they ask, can I tell them I was hanging out with a pretty girl?" The boy was grinning now.

"No."

He shifted his bag and the two of them slowly made their way to the door.

"You're sure you don't want me coming with you?" Donna asked.

"I guess I'd appreciate it if you'd keep an eye out to make sure I actually get down there, but no, I don't want you to come with me."

"Okay." Donna opened the door for him and squinted at the bright light from the hallway. He adjusted his bag and walked out, a little slower than before.

"Oh holy shit," Donna muttered to herself. "There's an elevator!" she shouted, a little louder than she had intended. Her face was burning.

Much to her surprise, the boy laughed loudly. "Thank God." His smile faded a little. "It was nice to meet you."

"I hope I see you again," Donna murmured.

She waited until the elevator doors shut behind the boy, then shut and locked her door. It suddenly felt colder and darker than it had in there just a few minutes before. There was a strangeness in letting someone into your home. When someone lives in a place, they become like the light fixtures or the furniture: they belong there. But when someone strange enters, it's like someone placed a car or an ancient statue in their living room.

This boy felt a little more like fine art than a car.

The air was cold by the window. Donna felt a strange urge to press her forehead to the glass, to feel the iciness of it. She waited there, looking at the car out the window, for a few minutes, until she saw the boy leave the building. He said something to someone in the car, then turned back to the balcony and waved. Donna smiled tiredly and waved back. The boy got in the car, and it drove off into the night.

"'I hope I see you again?'" Donna whispered-yelled at herself. "Idiot!"

She closed the blinds over the balcony and went to go take a shower.