Perception / Perfection

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Later in the afternoon, after everyone had been fed lunch, the younger kids were having naps or quietly reading. In fact almost all the kids were, besides Emily. I didn't catch her age of course but she looked to be around the same age as me, fourteen.

Emily of course was on her phone, doing whatever she had a habit of doing. I still caught the occasional peeks throughout the day, despite the fact most of them ended in me clearing my throat and her ducking her head down. She was still noticeably ashamed of whatever happened that got her hospitalised.

Still hiding something from me, from the world.

It wasn't until 5pm that she spoke for the first time in hours. "I'm sorry," said a fragile voice. "For what?" I asked. "There's no need to be sorry for not opening up to a stranger, after all that's all I am to you."

"No, I'm sorry for lying. It's a defence mechanism, I just have an issue with trusting people. I've been hurt to many times and it's broke me. I'm sorry." I didn't really have a clue of what to do with the new spark of trust that I just received but I had to do something with it to show her that she wasn't misplacing it.

"It's okay, I was out of my line," I didn't particularly believe I was but if it made her feel better I didn't care. I shifted my legs to the side of the bed and sat with my legs swinging. "If anything, I only wanted to know more about you. I just couldn't understand why such a pretty and strong girl like you was in a hospital as miserable as this. Almost like they're trying to make us self-pity ourselves, right?" I ended it with the most charming laugh I could force out, gazing at her. Even while blushing, her eyes still looked unbelievably sad. A lost soul that somehow found it's way into a body.

"Haha," her laugh was open and loud, confident. Emily looked at me and beamed a genuine, beautiful, smile, "thank you Adam. Thank you for everything."

/

Just before dinner time came was visiting hours. I checked my phone for the first time I a day and realised that I had a text, my parents were both working late and they couldn't see me until after hours. Surprisingly, I didn't miss them as much as I thought. After all the times spent in hospital without any visitors I became fond of the peacefulness, as lonely as it may be. Towards the last ten minutes, a woman walked into the ward wearing a blue dress and glasses, not a nurse. She scanned the room and then popped open a smile, delightedly striding across to Emily's bed. "Good evening sweetheart,"'she spoke.

Emily looked up, "Oh, Mum," she looked at me with a 'help what do I do' look. I shrugged and slouched down into the flimsy white sheets. "I know that you're surprised to see me and all, Paul was supposed to pick you up this morning but he ended up bailing and arranging for you to stay at my house for a few days. Business is business I suppose, but now you get to have fun with me for the weekend!" I could pick up that she didn't have much connection with her Mum but I didn't see why, after all she seemed lovely. Goofy and patronising, but nice. Like a soccer Mom. Actually, that could be why she didn't have much connection with her. Divorced parents usually mean step family, and in this case, step siblings.

"Yes," Emily replied with a fake expression, "fun for the whole family." She picked up her bag and phone and leapt off the bed, pulling her sleeves down further. I wasn't expecting a goodbye, but just as her right foot was one step away from the exit she spun around, "I hope I see you again, Adam Wyatt D'Angelo."

"And you too, Emily Dawn Webster."