Heartbroken

Chapter 8: Milo

"Can we go on a walk?" Allegra asked after we finished our cake.

"Around the hospital?"

"Yeah, I just need to get out for a bit."

Allegra pushed herself up and swung her legs over the side of the hospital bed. She wobbled as she stood, slightly rubbing the back of her head, pulling away when she felt the stitches in her skull.

I tried not to hover near her as she made her way out the door, but it was like watching a baby horse learn how to walk. Allegra stumbled to the side, and I caught her shoulder before she ran into the wall. She glanced up at me, smiling before finding her balance.

"Thanks," she said. I shoved my hands in my pockets, and soon we were walking side by side.

I would like to say that it was relaxing, but a hospital – a place full of sick and dying people – was not a place to feel peaceful. Allegra seemed to enjoy it, though, her face shining with such hope and purity that it almost looked fake. She stuck out from the whitewashed walls and the paintings scattered against only a few select hallways. The air was too clean, stinking of laytex and cleaning agents. But it seemed that wherever Allegra walked, she spread her goodness into every aspect of being.

The lights brightened, the air changed, the white merged into a beautiful cream color that complimented everyone and everything. Everyone we walked past felt of that happiness from the smiles that she gave, and Allegra received many more. I marveled at how bright and social she was.

As I stared at her, I realized that I wasn't needing to focus on the marble in my pocket to keep my thoughts at bay. They ran in and out of my mind, keeping to themselves just enough so that I wasn't distracted. Is this what it's like to be normal?

I took my eyes off of Allegra, and just like that, the temporary dam broke, filling my mind with words and images that overloaded my normal capacity. My feet stumbled and my legs felt weak as my head pounded bloody murder. I fell toward the wall, but before I could get my arm to steady me, I felt two hands grasp my forearm. I steadied my rapid breathing, my thoughts subsiding into a deeper part of my brain. The pain slowly slid into its back corner.

The warmth of Allegra's hands on my arm allowed me to focus, and though my legs still shook, I was steadier than before.

"Are you okay?" Allegra asked, her arms still on my arm. I rubbed my freehand into my eyes, nodding. "You'd think that you were the one who had a concussion," Allegra joked, but her eyes showed a deeper concern. I stood straight, and we both seemed to realize how close our hands were. My heart skipped a beat, the tingling in my stomach taking my full attention. Our fingers brushed briefly as she removed her hands, awkwardly clasping them in front of her. She lowered her eyes.

"Excuse me," a nurse in purple scrubs and purple hair walked toward us, a patient with a walkekr and breathing tube making his way down the hall. "Sorry to bother you, but could you lead this young man to his room? I just got an urgent call."

"Of course!" Allegra smiled.

"Thank you so much," the nurse looked relieved. "his room number is 211, and if you need anything, there are plenty of personnel around. Thanks again!" the nurse ran down the hall. Allegra met the boy before he had to walk too far. I followed and came up by her side, examining the boy, though he must have been older than us. His dark hair was thin against his small head, probably the byproduct of chemotherapy. His limbs were frail and small, his legs shaking with the effort of holding his body up. He held onto his walker with his life, and perhaps that was a reasonable action. The bags under his eyes put mine to shame, though his eyes shone with an energy similar to Allegra's. I didn't listen to what Allegra asked him, but I saw that he only gestured with his hands, his mouth unmoving.