His Paper Heart ✓

•34|His Paper Heart

I stared at the boy in front of me, he was not older than ten years old. He had big brown eyes that changed color depending on how the sun was reflecting light in his eyes. He looked back at me, his thin lips stretched in a smile, clutching a teddy bear in his hands. The hospital bed we were sitting on wasn't comfortable but it would have to do. I wasn't allowed to leave the hospital yet. I'd had my very first attack and it was the scariest thing any six year old could go through, and for a moment, I wondered if the boy was sick too, if he was stuck in the hospital, then he and I could be friends.

"Do you ever wonder what your hair would taste like?" the boy asked me. I let out a laugh as his smile grew wider. He was young but he sure said sillier things than Asher. "Like cotton candy or a pretty sunset."

"How would you know what a sunset tastes like?" I asked.

"I'm Peter Pan. Sh!" he pressed his little index finger on his lips as I erupted with another laugh.

"You're silly for an eight year old," I said.

"I'm nine. Three years older than you."

It took me a while to calculate in my head, then I said, "I'm not seven. . ."

It was his turn to laugh. "Nine minus three is six."

"I know." I stuck out my tongue. "How did you know I'm six?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "I know things."

"What's your name?" I asked him. He had probably wandered away from wherever he came from and found my room. He exhaled loudly, holding on tightly to his teddy bear's ears.

"Gray," he said. "Gray Easton."

"Like the color?"

"Uh huh." he nodded. "What's yours?"

"Genevieve Kaelin."

"Why are you in the hospital?" he enquired.

"The doctors say there's something wrong with my heart but my mom says I'm going to be fine. No big deal." I shrugged. "What about you? What are you doing here?"

"I'm here with someone."

"Who?" I asked.

"My mom," he answered softly. "I've to go. She'll be looking for me."

"You can come by tonight. Then you'll meet my twin sister. Her name is Diana. I have two older brothers, Heath and Asher. They'll like you. Asher knows things too."

"Like what?" Gray asked.

"Long division. He teaches me my homework because my dad is very bad at math," I explained.

He was silent for a while, fidgeting with his teddy bear. When he bobbed his head, his brown curls fell in his eyes and he exhaled as he brushed his fingers on his forehead to take the hair out of his eyes. "My mom is getting discharged today," he stated.

"Discharged?" I enquired, confused.

"We're leaving the hospital very soon," he explained.

"You won't come back?" I whispered.

"Do you want me to?" he questioned and I nodded frantically as he giggled. "Here." he handed me his bear. I stroked the stuffed animal's small ears and looked back at the boy in front of me. "That's my friend. His name is Cuddles, he needs one bath every month and three kisses every night and if you love him well enough, he'll come to life and be your best friend."