He couldn't count the months that has passed of going in and out of the hospital, being admitted and being discharged as the doctors kept a close eyes on him with tests and their results. Was it 4? Or maybe it was 5, he wasn't sure but the summer heat made him aware that it's been too long and he grew to despise it; the well-known smell of hospitals, the white-painted walls, and the dreadful silence.
His fists balled up inside his pocket, shaking because of too much force. He didn't want to be here with his parents, Luke didn't want to hear what the doctor has to say.
"Since he can't go through therapy or operation because of his hemophilia, there's nothing more we could do but to try and prolong his good health with medication." The doctor shook his head, "also, I'm sorry but I believe—"
Luke stormed out of the room even before the doctor could finish what he was going to say. Who would want anyone to hear that they're going to die? They wanted to prolong his good health, or his agony? He scoffed at Aliyah's words from before, "life has its way of throwing a huge brick at me." Life definitely has its way of putting you down.
"Luke!" A familiar voice called out.
He turned around, a smile creeping up his lips, "Aliyah."
It has been months since he met her, months since he made her promise and months since he grew fond of her. He didn't know why whenever Aliyah tells him stories, it felt like she didn't have too many friends to rely on when it was easy warming up to her— both of them grew warm towards each other easily. Maybe because it was the fact that Aliyah told Luke that he was her first friend, but it wasn't hard to befriend her in the first place. Well, at least to him it wasn't; it was too easy that he's gone afraid people can effortlessly hurt her. Because truth be told, he wanted nothing more than to protect her, to be there for her. He wanted to be the one to save her.
Luke found her more than attractive; she was beautiful, and it was still an understatement because the word reflected her inside and out. How she worries about the people around her, how she appreciates the little things and how she wanted people happy even though she doesn't know how to get rid of her own depressing thoughts.
She smiled, an act that made Luke's heart flutter a bit. "You told me last week that you had a schedule today but you weren't in the garden, so I came to find you."
"I'm sorry," he shyly smiled, his voice hoarse evident after a cough. It was a weekend, and they would always meet somewhere in this damned place. May it be plain coincidence or planned, still, both of them loved seeing the other. He coughed, "the doctor just called us in for the results," he added.
"Everything okay?"
"Yeah," he assured her, "everything's okay." He didn't want to lie, but it came out more naturally than it should. But he didn't want her to worry. She didn't need to know, right? He convinced himself that she need not to have her think of him when she was already suffering. Because even though Luke wanted to look after her, he knows well enough that he could also hurt her. "The doctor called you in early too, didn't he?" he smiled, trying to divert her attention from asking anymore questions. "How was it?"
"It was okay." She smiled, "same as usual, to check if my heart would stop beating any second now," she shrugged. Aliyah was used to telling that joke to the people around her, getting gentle smiles with eyes that showed nothing but pity. And she hated it; she hated that fact that people pitied her because she was dying. She hated how people do nothing but to keep a close eye on her, like waiting for the day she would die. But the reaction she gets from Luke always beg to differ.
"I don't like that," he creased his brows. "You know I don't like that."
She sighed heavily, "I'm sorry," she smiled. "It's just a joke I've gone used to telling."
