Collide

CHAPTER TWELVE - THE BEGINNING

The room was silent, as Charlie and I were waiting for Carl to come get him to take him to the OR. As I predicted, his leg was fractured and displaced just under the knee, which meant he needed surgery to fix the bone.

In the meantime, I stayed with the little boy to answer whatever question he had, and try to reassure him while his mother was away dealing with panicked family members and insurance agents to explain the situation Charlie was in. I could see something was upsetting the little boy, though, because his eyes were twinkling with tears at some point.

"Hey, everything's going to be just fine," I reassured once again, as I sat on the edge of his hospital bed. "Dr. Meyers is the best surgeon of the state."

"It's not that," he shook his head, as he played with his fingers. "My birthday is in two days, and even though mommy hasn't enough money to organize a birthday party for me, I didn't want to spend this day at the hospital."

"The most important thing is to be surrounded by the people you love on this special day," I sweetly told him with a smile, while, deep inside, my heart was breaking. I put a reassuring hand over his little on, and rubbed it gently for comfort.

"Daddy won't be here," he, yet again, sadly said, and my heart kept on breaking at his words.

"Where is he?" I wondered.

"I don't know. He left us a couple of years ago," he shrugged, as he played with the knuckles on my hand.

Silence was filling the room, until an idea came to my mind, "Maybe you could have your birthday party here?"

"It won't be the same," he sniffled, as tears were now running down his cheeks. "I'm so stupid, I shouldn't have climbed this ladder!" he cried harder, and it broke my heart to see the little one like this.

"Shhh, relax," I soothed, as I took him in my arms. I rubbed his short, frizzy hair back as he cried on my smock. "You know, I can organize great birthday parties."

"H—How can you organize a birthday party in a hospital?"

"I could make sure there's plenty of games to play," I told him, as his wet, chocolate eyes met mine. "What do you like?"

"I like cow-boys, fishing, and I love Michael Jackson," he softly told me, as the tears stopped falling from his eyes.

I smiled at his words, and pinched the tip of his nose, "I'm going to organize the best birthday party this hospital has ever known."

He faintly smiled, even though I could still see the sadness in his eyes, "Can I trust you?"

"You can trust me," I smiled in return, as he nodded his head slowly.

As on cue, Carl came in the room with two nurses by his side, like he was James Bond. This always cracked me up to see him walk into a room this way, but I only laughed internally, not to look heartless to the patients.

"Ready?" Carl asked Charlie, as he looked down at the little guy. "I hope Dr. Thames kept you good company," he smiled in my direction before focusing on the little boy again.

"Yes," he shyly nodded. "She told me I could have my birthday party here, at the hospital."

"Oh, really?" he asked, and looked at me again with a smirk. "I think it's a great idea. But now, I have to fix your leg, okay?"

Charlie nodded his head slightly, and the two nurses took his bed out of the room. On the way out, the little boy gave a kiss to his scared mother, and finally the nurses directed him to the OR who was at the top floor.