Hope

Chapter 2 - The Visiting President

A week had passed since Lucian and his parents got caught into the car crash accident. It was a normal day at Lucian's high school, until the news about the car crash shook the people in his class, especially the current president of the photography club. Although Lucian wasn't a member of the club, the club president knew him well since they were both new in high school as freshmen.

A girl with long brownish hair which had shoulder length strands on her left and right sides, thin black-framed glasses, and a white and silver-colored watch went out of her class in hurry, but went slowly and carefully as she passed the stairs leading up to her clubroom. She was carrying her silver and gray backpack along with her black camera bag. She looked around to make sure none of her juniors were watching her before she went down the stairs, but unfortunately she bumped into someone she didn't expect as she turned to head for the stairs.

"Celia! Are you going somewhere?" It was a girl about her age, only shorter and she wore glasses with thick black frames instead, "You do know we have our regular meeting at the clubroom today, don't you?"

"Hilary, I need you to take over for me and take care of the juniors today," The taller girl, Celia, let out a sigh, "I have... something important to do! I'll see you on Monday!"

Celia quickly ran down the stairs before her friend, Hilary, could give her a response. After a quick pause, Hilary let out a grin, "As her friend, I'm not surprised about the fact that she's in love with Lucian. After all, she was very grateful that he had helped her two years ago..."

Celia ran out of school and headed for a bus stop to get to the hospital. After a few minutes of waiting, the bus came and went towards the hospital Lucian was staying. Along the way, Celia sat in the bus with the mixed feelings of anxious, worry, and happy to see him. She was anxious as she hadn't got the chance to talk to him after she became the photography club's president. She was worried after she had heard about how both of his parents had died within a single day. She was also happy to see him after she had heard that he was okay and was currently recovering.

The bus arrived at the bus stop in front of the hospital and Celia got off. She went into the local hospital's gigantic building and asked the nurse where his room was. She was getting impatient as she waited for the nurse to search for Lucian's room in the hospital's database.

"Lucian is in Room 107 on this floor. Visiting hours will be over in half an hour, so I suggest you don't spend too much time. He still needs some rest," The nurse behind the counter told Celia, her eyes still fixed on the monitor.

"Thank you, Miss!" Celia thanked the nurse quickly before dashing towards the corridor behind the counter, passing through many doctors and nurses along the way. Once she reached Lucian's room, Celia opened the door immediately before even knocking the door first, "Lucian!"

There were only two people in the room, and both of them were startled when Celia suddenly burst into the room. The blue-haired teenage boy, Lucian, was lying on the hospital bed with bandages around his forehead and some around his arms. A man with short black hair and a white coat was by his bed, holding a record board in his hand. They both turned to the coming visitor, who got embarrassed due to her bursting into the room suddenly.

"S-Sorry... Maybe... I should leave now..." Celia stepped backwards, but the man stopped her.

"No, no, it's okay. I've just finished examining him, so you can stay without being bothered by me working. My name is Doctor Li, and I've just moved to this hospital from Guangzhou, China," The man, Doctor Li, introduced himself before he walked past Celia and stopped behind her, "Keep him company. He needs attention from the people he knows well to help him recover from the shock."

Celia silently nodded before Doctor Li left them alone in the room. Celia walked towards a chair next to Lucian's hospital bed and sat down. She put her backpack and camera under the chair before letting out a long sigh. Lucian looked at her emotionlessly, but not hoping for any kind of conversation.

"Uh... hi?" Celia nervously asked, but he stared at her in return which made her more nervous, "It's nice to see you doing fine now..."

Lucian looked away stayed quiet for a few seconds before he decided to speak up, "Yeah... But why are you here?"

"Isn't it obvious? I'm visiting to check if you're okay! Plus I need someone to talk to right now..." Celia smiled, but soon her smile turned into a frown as she sighed, "You have no idea how busy I am now. Being a club president isn't really my thing, so I don't know why my juniors chose me as the president. I don't even feel like coming to the clubroom for meetings anymore..."

Celia looked at Lucian, who still had his head turned away from her. She could feel her heart fell as she expected him to listen to her talking on and on like he used to, but he didn't seem to listen to her at all. Unlike how he usually acted at school, he was being ignorant as if she was never there and he didn't even seem interested in her story at all.

Celia looked at her backpack and camera under the chair, 'I want to stay with him a little longer... But he doesn't seem like himself today... I wonder if I should leave now...'

"Celia..." Lucian spoke up, his eyes fixed on the ceiling, "Why are you wasting your time here? And why are you taking away my resting time now? Just leave already, will you?"

"Alright... I'll... go home..." Celia felt crushed even more and took her backpack and camera to prepare to go home until she heard someone knocking on the door, "Yes?"

"Excuse me," Doctor Li came in, "I forgot to give a letter to Lucian. It's from his father."

"Oh, I see..." Celia couldn't think of anything else to say and moved a little so the doctor could pass.

"Here, I suggest you read it. Your father somehow knew this was going to happen and let you decide what to do with your family's wealth," Doctor Li handed Lucian a white envelope with some blood marks on it.

"I'll read it later. Isn't now the time I have my medicine?" Lucian took the letter and asked, getting a nod from the doctor. Lucian turned to Celia, who was standing by the door, "Can you leave now? I need to take my medicine now and I need to rest too."

"Okay..." Celia opened the door slowly before looking back at him, "I'll see you soon..."

Doctor Li watched as Celia left the room before turning his attention to his patient on the bed, 'He has a weak heart but he managed to survive even a car crash and he's got such a nice friend to visit him here... He sure is lucky to have survived...'