Love at First Write

Chapter 12: Deciding What's Right

I was lying in my uncomfortable hospital bed when I got out my homework.

At least I can start it early.

I looked at the clock across the room. It said 12:37. My lunch period had just started!

Lucky for me, each teacher had already given us the homework for the week and I'd already done more than half.

I worked for only about ten minutes when the nurse and my mother came in with my lunch. "Knock! Knock!" The nurse sang.

I almost gagged at the sight of the soggy grilled cheese and burnt cookies.
She put the tray on the counter and exited.

My mom stayed and sat down with a magazine and I went back to working.

"Honey, eat your food! She was kind and brought it to you." She said.
I cringed because the thought of it made me sick.

I took a bite of the cheese and dropped the sandwich dramatically to show it was terrible.

"Oh come on! It can't be that bad." Mom stated hopefully.

I spit the sandwich back on the plate and kind of glared at her. "Well okay! I'll go get you chips from the vending machine down in the lobby....oh and I don't need an attitude." She said walking out the door.

"Thanks! You're the best!" I yelled sweetly.

My smile quickly faded when I saw the note again. I noticed the handwriting was different from the first note.

Aspen, get a hold of yourself. What's the most important thing in your life right now? Right. School! Get to work. You don't have time for guys. Hmph.
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"You know mom, chips are great with ju- oh whatever can I just puh-lease get up and walk around? I'm finished with my home work and I'm a quarter into my story!"

Yes, you read that right. I was ACTUALLY working on my story for school.

"Fine," she replied. "At 3:30 you may." I looked up at the clock. It read 2:57. I sighed and kept writing.

When she finally let me go, I was stumbling down the hall with my crutches.
I didn't know where I was going, but I wasn't going to spend my second hospital trip cooped up in my room again...let's not talk about the first.

I was fascinated by the magnetic cherries on the fridge, alright?

Anyway, walking down the hall and heard someone crying.
I noticed it coming from the room right next to me and being my nosy self I took a peek in. A skinny girl faced the wall laying on her side sobbing.

I needed to do something.
I knocked on her door and she stopped crying and pretended to snore. I walked in and she wiped her eyes.

"What's wrong?" I asked her.

She sat up in her bed. "Who are you?" She almost screamed. I saw the bones in her arms and her spine through the back of her hospital gown.

"I'm Aspen and I heard crying so I came in to help...I'm sorry. I really don't know why I did that. You need your privacy." I said and turned to leave.

"Wait. Thank you. I do need help. But you should probably go rest your leg." She said and started sobbing again.

I turned and walked to her bed as quickly as I could and dropped my crutches.
"Hey, I'm here. What's your name?" I asked.

She took a minute to calm down. "Madi. I'm 13 and I have just been diagnosed with Anorexia Nervosa."

That's when I saw the feeding tube hooked up to her. I felt sad for her but smiled at her. "Well Madi, you look like a great person and you'll get through this. I know you will." I said cheerfully.

She smiled back- or tried to, but she still had tears in her eyes.

"I'm leaving tomorrow morning, but I'll give you my number so you can call me anytime you need to. What middle school do you go to?" I asked.

"That sounds great! I go to Robert Jr. Middle." She answered.

"Wow! I go to RJH! My house is right across from RJM!" I said excited.

Her eyes widened immediately. "That is so cool!" She squealed.

There was an awkward silence but I finally broke it.
"Alright well I have homework to do but I'll come by later! See ya around!" We both waved to each other and I was out the door.

I walked back to my room and my mom was still sitting on her chair. "So what'd you do?" She asked.

"Oh you know, just spread cheer to strangers who live down our street." I said and propped my leg up back in my bed.

There were no more questions asked.

I threw away my paper because that night I was going to write about someone who inspired other people. The main character's name was going to be Madi.
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Sorry that was late guys!!!!! Hope you enjoyed.