Neverland

Candy Kid and Candy Kisses

"Foster!"

"Lily!" 

The tiny ginger grinned at me with a wide toothy smile as I walked into the hospital room behind Alex. She sat up and crawled forward to the edge of the bed, pulling the tall contraption that fed medicine into her veins. It was amazing how a short period of time could change the cancerous little girl from her spunky self. 

"Wow, Lil. You're more interested in seeing her than your own brother?!" Alex exclaimed. 

With a smile, I watched as Alex rushed forward and scooped Lily into his arms with a fit of giggles. Lily's eyes seemed to crinkle as her brother spun her with sparkling eyes, making me realize how similar they truly were even if they looked completely different from each other. After a few long seconds, Alex finally set the bubbly little ginger back down on the bed and walked towards me.

"I'm going to go get some stuff from the Vending Machine," He whispered in my ear. "Take care of her."

I nodded as he subtly squeezed my side, walking out the door with a hint of a smirk. A smile settled on my face as I walked over to the hospital and sat Indian style in front of Lily. From this distance, I could spot every hidden freckle on her chubby little cheeks that surrounded her sparkling eyes as the watched me with curiosity.

"Hey, Little Lady," I whispered.

"Hey, Bigger Lady," Lily said, trying to imitate a low voice. However, she dissolved into a fit of giggles at her failed attempt and practically fell into my lap. I grinned as she wrapped her arms around me, making sure that the IV didn't tangle in her hair.

"That was good!" I exclaimed with enthusiasm. Lily pulled back from me and snorted at my compliment. 

My eyes scanned the room curiously as Lily fumbled to untangle her crimson curls. A loan coloring book sat open on the windowsill with a rainbow of crayons scattered across the scribbled pages. A familiar tiny Christmas tree sat on the coffee table with tiny presents and white Christmas lights wrapped around the middle. A pang hit the side of my heart at the thought of it possibly being her last Christmas.

"Foster?"

I shook out of my daze and forced a smile towards Lily who watched me with wide eyes. "Yes?"

"Am I going to die?"

My eyes widened in surprise, shocked at the bluntness of the question. A couple days ago, the doctor had given us more information on how treatment would go along with her chances of surviving. She was already on strong antibiotics, but still had to go through with chemotherapy which scared my mom. 

However, she had one of the worse cases of Leukemia which when I researched it, showed that if not treated immediately, the patient could die. Lily's risk made us all apprehensive as we awaited further notice, but her survival rate is currently 50%. I really didn't want to tell her and make her worry, but her sad eyes made me force a smile.

"Honestly, I don't know Sweetheart."

Lily let out a disheartened sigh before leaning back into her pile of pillows. "I kinda figured that you know? Alex and Momma wouldn't tell me what was going on or the fact that I had cancer, but oh well. The Doctor said I could have a wish, you know?"

I had completely forgotten that cancer patients could have a wish of whatever they wanted. I asked, "What wish?"

Lily then showed me a toothy grin and leaned closer to me with sparkling eyes. "Well, I wouldn't mind if Tyra Banks showed up in here. But what I really want is for you and Alex to be together because I love both of you and you love each other, right?"

I couldn't help but smile at her cuteness. I had known that the spunky little Ginger loved America's Next Top Model, but her second wish made my heart warm up. It was a wish I could definitively grant her even if it was later today. I nodded and kissed her forehead softly as she continued grinning at me with strawberry cheeks.

A door opening interrupted our moment as we turned to see who ad stopped our conversation. Alex stood with a flustered facial expression as he struggled to hold a heaping pile of candy in his arms. His green eyes scanned the room and met mine with happiness in them before walking forward and dumping the candy on the bed.

"I spent thirty dollars on all of this so I hope you two beautiful ladies like it!" He exclaimed as he grinned at me. Lily's and my eyes met and we dissolved into a pile of giggles while Alex watched us with a confused look. "What?"

"My wish is coming true!"

----------------------------

Alex and I had spent about four hours fooling around in the hospital room with Lily until we were finally kicked out by a very strict nurse. The same nurse who had yelled at us also banned the vending machine from Alex because Lily ended up on a sugar high. We did this just about every time we visited her so it was a shame that Alex finally got caught.

Now Alex and I walked home from the school which is where Alex had insisted on leaving his car so it would force us to go to school together. His idea had a fatal flaw which happened to be us freezing ours butts off from the January air. With red cheeks, we walked in sync through our neighborhood to get to his house which is where I would be staying the night.

"I think you might have given me like twenty cavities,"I pointed out as I unwrapped a Reese's.

Alex snorted and stuffed his hands in his pocket and pulled out several empty candy wrappers. "I think I've had enough Skittles to give me rainbow crap later."

"That's disgusting."

"Says the one who skipped showers last week."

The scowl had set upon my face even before he had finished his sentence. It was all the truth I didn't want to hear because it would inevitably lead to the jokes about how lazy I am or how terrible I looked ninety percent of the time. Instead of retaliating, I watched the second flurry of snow lightly fall down onto the ground.

A hint of a smile settled on Alex's face from the corner of my eye as he watched me study the snowfall. It was a strange feeling to be able to feel someone else's emotions without directly looking at them. Our connection had grown stronger ever since that dreadful day at the Winter Formal with the stolen glances and the growing temptation to steal a kiss on the lips. 

"You really are beautiful, you know that?"

I blinked for a second before looking up towards Alex. My boyfriend watched me with curious eyes, waiting for my response to his random outburst. Rather than speaking, I simply shrugged and broke our short eye contact as heat began to surface on my pale cheeks. Even after conquering most of my school life, compliments always affected me in a way that I couldn't describe.

"Seriously, Foster."

I heard shuffling beside me as Alex walked closer to me, causing my feet to stop in place. Out of habit, I attempted to bury myself completely within my coat so I wouldn't have to face Alex. However, Alex softly smiled and pulled my hair out of my coat before cradling my face within his hands. The only sound on the side of our street was a single car passing by and the heavy breathing towards each other as Alex slowly leaned in.

"You're really becoming too much for me," He whispered, pressing his lips against mine.