Given Life

Chapter Three

I left with the man. As we walked through the hospital, the man would stop for brief moments to greet and talk with some people. I always walked a few steps behind him. Before, it was hard to observe him up close. Now, I saw that he was quite tall, and his hair had a few streaks of gray besides the black. He looked to be in his early forties. Hm...what else...he said he had his own child, but he has no ring. A single father whom ran a hospital.

"Hm? What is it?" he noticed me staring intently at him as we made our way to the parking lot.

"I was making observations." It was a skill we were taught. "...Why did you go into that hospital room?"

Now we were in his car. It was a silver Nissan, and the interior was nice, but not flashy. He was humble with his money. He responded to me as he started the car.

"Some of the nurses told me about a child whom had been loyally sitting with one of the patients. Then I heard that that same child was alone in the room, not leaving even after the whole event. So I went to take a look."

"You didn't have to, though. Everyone else didn't bother with me. You didn't have to either." I said.

"Well..." he drove out of the parking lot, "Honestly, I wasn't going to do anything. But when I saw you, I thought that you reminded me of my kid."

"Hmph." I turned my head towards the window, "What could I possibly have in common with a kid who's the heir to someone like you?" A rich kid...probably living a happy normal life with friends, not knowing that it could all end quickly.

"Actually, I've been worried." the man said, "They've been having some problems, and I haven't had the time to help resolve them. Still, as a parent I'm worried. So when I saw you all alone in that room, I thought 'Ah, could I resolve all the problems of the two by bringing them together?'."

He pulled in the driveway of a house. It seems the conversation was ending here, as he never continued in explaining to me about his child. We stepped out of the car, and I followed him into the house. It was kept fairly neat for a single father.

"Oh yeah, this is probably long overdue, but what's your name?" he looked back at me.

"...Tell me your name first."

"Heh." he started up a staircase. I followed him. "My name in Derrick Adams. I own Princtine Hospital. Well, I actually inherited it. And you?"

"I'm...I'm Carly." after I responded,he didn't say anything for a few seconds and then looked at me.

"Last name?"

"I don't have one."

"Age?"

"As of the first of January, I am fourteen."

"Fourteen? One year younger...it should be fine." he muttered to himself and then continued talking to me, "You know your birthday, but not your last name?" I nodded silently. Actually, Taylor, Daniel, and I assigned ourselves a birthday. The other people didn't seem to mind, since we had it on the same day and it didn't interfere with anything.

We came to the second floor of the house. It was a long hallway with several rooms. The man - maybe I should call him Mr. Adams - looked into one of the rooms. He muttered something to himself and went to another room. This house had looked pretty average earlier, but now I realize how grand it really is. Not only are there more rooms than necessary, the architecture and design of the structure have a quality that only those who are wealthy could have. 

He motioned for me to come into the room he was at. It was a plain, white room. There were no curtains, nor were thee any bed sheets. There was a closet and a single room. This would be my room, he told me, and then quickly excused himself. He was looking for someone; probably his child.