Show Me the Stars

Lupus

Lupus : The Wolf

* * *

It took a long time for it to register that she was gone. I guess it was because I was not prepared to believe that such a woman could ever die. My mind must have seen her as some kind of goddess or angel that was exempt from death. If only that had been the truth.

I was alone once again.

I stayed in my room and watches the days go by. At one point, they told me that if I wanted to go out to the beach, I could. But only if I was accompanied by at least two nurses. I politely declined and told them I was satisfied with the views from my window. The nurses had tried to talk to me and get me to engage in a conversation. The issue was that I had nothing more to say. My words had been reserved for Conrad and Linda.

A few months had passed, and the sun gave way to snow. The nurses had been handing out hot cocoa to all of the patients as a way of celebrating the first snow. When a woman offered me a cup, I glared at her and asked what there was to celebrate.

"The first snow, of course," she said in a mousy voice.

"Have you never seen snow before?" I sassed. "They are frozen groups of water molecules descending from the sky. That's it. There is nothing significant about them that merits the distribution of hot chocolate."

She ran out of there as fast as she could without burning herself with the coffee.

"That wasn't too nice."

"I don't care," I grumbled as I stared out the window.

"You should care." The voice was distinctly male. "She was just trying to be nice."

"Maybe she should try less."

"Or perhaps you should try more."

I turned around and prepared to give the know-it-all a piece of my mind. "Listen buddy," I started. "Why don't you show yourself out?" He walked over towards me, and that was when I got a good look at him. He was young, perhaps my age or a little bit older. His hair was curly and dark, and he wore a white t-shirt and black jeans. I had seen this boy before, or at least I thought I had.

"I think I'll stay," he said as he put his feet onto the sill. "Oh I almost forgot," he said as he held out his hand. "Peter Cassidy." I kept my hands in my lap and blinked. Perhaps I was seeing things. There was no rational explanation that explained why he was there, but when I opened my eyes his hand was still awaiting mine. I shook it and introduced myself.

"Edith Hope. What are you doing here, and how did you get in?"

"I got in through the door," he said as he pointed behind me. "You see that open one over there?"

"Yes, I know there is a door there, but that does not explain why you are here. Are you a nurse?" 

"Let's go with that," he said as he turned his head towards the window. "I come in and help patients every once in awhile. I help them get back onto their feet mentally, although I like to think of myself as a wolf."

"Why?"

"Because like a wolf in sheep's clothing, I can take on a persona that is not quite my own."

"Are you some kind of an actor?" I asked.

He turned back to me and smiled. "Let's go with my identity being a nurse." 

"Well," I said as I took the blanket strewn across my lap and wrapped it around my shoulders. "There is no need for you here."

"Are you sure?" he challenged.