cake oneshots || book two

Goodnight, Sweet Dreams (Or The Hole In The Wall And Bracelets)

Credit: friendshiplonely

Not edited

++++++

Ashton was really bored. It wasn't fun being stuck inside a hospital. It wasn't fun to be a cancer patient. And most of all, it wasn't fun to get your leg amputated, but shit happens right? At least that's the justification in Ashton's mind. The young boy's eyes wondered to the outside world. Today was a cloudy day and there was some mild rain falling down. Not too bad right? At least it wasn't a storm. That would mean trouble according to every literature author in the world. It's not that Ashton particularly liked reading, it was just that most days he'd find nothing to do, and playing on his roommate's gaming console got boring real quick.

"Ashton! Ashton!" Oh speaking of his roommate, that was him shouting down the hall from their room.
"I'm coming Mikey! I'm coming!" Ashton sighed and rolled his eyes. What did Michael want this time? To play a game with him? Fine he'll do it, but only because there's nothing else better to do.

"THIS!" shouted Michael really loudly. Ashton jolted from his zombie like state and stared at Michael blankly. Michael was crossing his arms and waiting patiently for a response.
"Wha-?
"THIS!" Michael flung up a piece of paper. It was small and very, very old. It had faint pencil marks on it, but why was it so important? Ashton couldn't believe he came all the way to their room just to see a piece of paper.
"What about it?"
"Remember the weird ass hole in our wall?"
"Yeah?"
"Well I was digging around it with a spoon-"
"You did what?!"
"Listen!" Michael said impatiently shaking his head in annoyance. "That's not even the point! The point is that I found this note here! It's hella old and it says, 'Good Night. Sweet Dreams!'"
"Wait gimme that!" Ashton grabbed it out of Michael's hand and read it for himself. It did say that. Ashton thought for a few heartbeats.
"I wonder who put this there? Or who is it for? Or what's even the whole story behind this shit?" Ashton was now wondering so many questions. This paper was so... precious? It was a little moment of time captured in a single piece of paper. It was simple, but it contained powerful words.
"I have an idea!" Michael said suddenly. "We should ask Nurse Miranda!" Ashton nodded instantly and as soon as he gave the gesture, Michael took Ashton's wheelchair by the hands and bolted all the way down the hall.
"Is something wrong boys?" asked Nurse Miranda in mild concern as she eyed the two boys out of breath.
"No! But look what we found! A note! In the hole in our wall!" The nurse looked at the piece of paper carefully and then snatched it from Michael's hands. She examined it carefully.
"The hole in Room A205?"
"Exactly!" The two boys said at the same time. The nurse lightly chuckled and got up from her seat. She motioned her assistant to run the desk while she helped these two boys.
"Do you know anything about it?" Ashton asked once they were all seated in the lounge.
"In fact I do." The nurse replied. "Room A205 is a special room you know? This used to be a mental hospital before it was one for cancer. It only switched a couple years ago, and I've been working here forever. Maybe 5 years back, there were two patients who had a very special bond together... Luke and Calum. You'd never see them apart until bedtime, but even then they would communicate through that hole in the wall your talking about. It's quite an interesting story. You two boys want to hear?" The two boys nodded their heads vigorously and the nurse chuckled. After smiling at the two boys, she began the story.

--------

Calum woke up to the sun. It was bright and early. He was in a rare mood of happiness. It's not something you get when you have psychotic depression, OCD, and borderline personality. Getting happiness was just as rare as diamonds under these circumstances. He was brought to the hospital last weekend, and ever since then things were going too well, but at least he had Luke.
Luke was the blonde boy with blue eyes who had bipolar disorder and was in the room next to him. He was Calum's best friend and everybody knew it too. Even the staff would expect Luke and Calum to be together at all times. They were just amazingly well together and their health was progressing slowly, so nobody complained.
Calum checked the hole in his wall. It was tiny, but it had just enough room for both of the boys to slip notes to each other when it was either bedtime or room time. It was a great way of communicating, really. Calum stretched his arms and got out of his hospital gown. He opted for some pajamas and some soft boots his parents had dropped off for him. It was a little piece of home. After he brushed his teeth and washed up, he checked the hole for any notes. And as expected, there was a tiny piece of paper sitting there. Calum picked it up and it said 'Good Morning.' He smiled to himself and put the note on his desk. Today was going to be a great day!
"Hey there, Calum boy." Luke said with a fake flirt in his voice. Calum rolled his eyes and smiled lightly.
"Hey Lukey. What are we up to today?"
"You know the usual! Breakfast, taking meds, therapy, taking meds again."
"Sounds horrifyingly exciting doesn't it?" The two boys giggled a little and then went to line up for breakfast. The two chattered with each other and some other patients while they were patiently waiting to go downstairs, and let's face it. Nobody wanted to stay upstairs. Finally, after a few moments, the line slowly started to move towards the elevator. The patients crowded in and uncomfortably started to laugh as they made jokes.
"You know, Luke." Calum said with a sly smile. "You've been staring a lot haven't you?" Luke raised his eyebrow and smirked a little.
"Oh really? And who do you think I'm staring at, Cal?"
"Definitely Sarah." Luke laughed and shook his head.
"You'd be surprised by my preferences Calum." This time it was Calum's turn to raise an eyebrow.
"Huh, so even with this famous friendship of ours, I still don't know many things about you."
"Guess you'll just have to find out soon." The two boys laughed again. Calum looked at Luke's smile. It was bright, just like today. It just really lit up the whole room. If Calum was supposed to be the moon (according to the patients) then Luke has to be the sun.
"GUYS!" Ellie said suddenly interrupting Luke and Calum. "THEY HAVE A SWIMMING POOL?" Ellie had just come in the night before. Poor new kid.
"Yeah, they do," replied Calum. "But they won't let us use it. Cause you know..."
"There afraid were gonna drown ourselves." Luke looked over to Elli and saw her eyes flicker down in disappointment. Nobody ever prepares you for how boring it is in a mental institution. Lukcily, you get used to it after a couple of days or so, but you'll never not be reminded that you're being treated like prisoners. Hell, they won't even let you go outside without a huge fence stuck in between you and freedom. Calum had decided that he really didn't like anything about the hospital, maybe expect for the recreation center. At least they had cards against humanity there, and you wouldn't believe how many times Luke, Calum, and the other patients started to laugh so loudly that even staff though they were gonna go crazy. As Calum was thinking, he suddenly stopped for a heartbeat. There was somebody following him. He looked behind himself, but nobody was there. It's just a delusion, it's just a delusion. Calum tried to convince himself of it, but he didn't believe himself. He suddenly looked down at the food and shuddered. He walked straight up to the garbage can and when nobody was looking he threw his food away.
"Calum not again!" Luke exclaimed frustrated. "I promise there was nobody behind you! I checked!"
"You don't understand, Lucas." Luke sighed and nodded.
"You're right, I don't and I'm sorry. I'm just worried about you. You need to eat or we'll never get out."
"We?" asked Calum curiously.
"Well, I'm not leaving without you." Calum gazed into Luke's eyes. It was an ocean.
"Maybe we could go to the beach one day, after we get out." Calum said softly still looking into Luke's eyes.
"No way!" Luke giggled. "I was thinking more like Starbucks." Calum was confused, but that confusion ended in a split second when Calum realized his eyes were coffee brown.