Sweet Charlotte

「 ten: silent reflections 」

Charlotte never came back after that.

Willow still let the dead rose sit in the water pitcher.

She couldn't bring herself to throw it away.

Neither could any of the nurses.

―― ❀ ――

Willow had fallen asleep about half an hour later.

The nurse had swung through while she was in the middle of showing Seth how to properly graph an equation in their given question and handed her a small cup of pills. Excusing herself from their work, as if it was natural, Willow took each pill one at a time, forced down with some water. Delaney, Seth assumed out of the goodness of her heart, pulled a blueberry muffin out from behind her back. Willow gasped in delight, her eyes lighting up like stars, as she graciously accepted it.

She had offered the bottom half to Seth, which he'd accepted. "The top is my favorite," she said. "And I can't eat a whole muffin after my pills. It makes me feel too full."

Seth didn't question it and ate contently watching her. Then, within the hour, Willow had fallen asleep with her head propped against her pillow, and her pencil still in hand.

Seth chalked it up to her medication, and decided against waking her.

He continued to work on the questions she'd given him before she dozed off. Now, scribbling the answers onto his sheet with what felt like relative ease, he wanted to work slower; he wanted her to get more rest. Lord knows she deserved it.

Slowly, he jotted down answers as he arrived at them, taking his time to double and triple check his work before moving on. He was in no rush to get the questions done, and it was causing him to be more aware of his work. By the time Willow came to a few minutes later as he was nearing the last question, he felt confident the work was some of his best, and he hoped she thought the same.

"Sorry," she whispered, her voice thick with sleep.

Seth smiled before averting his stare to his paper. "Don't worry about it, you've had an exhausting day."

"That's for sure," she grumbled with a laugh. It was soft and gentle, one foggy with dreams still on her tongue. "How's the work coming?"

"Slowly," he said, shrugging, mesmerized by how quickly she threw herself back into the normal world. "I've been checking over my work carefully."

She smirked, as if proud. "Impressive. You're learning."

He scoffed and continued, feeling her cheeky smirk burn into the top of his head. "I'm just trying to pass."

"And you will as long as I have a say in it."

Seth slipped his workbook into Willow's hands. Graciously accepting it and propping it on her lap, she skimmed through the first few questions with a smirk. "You're getting better, Seth."

The statement made him smile, even caused him to sit up straighter. He felt confident hearing his tutor say that about his work; he felt like he was headed in the right direction. Leaning in, Willow showed him a single correction, but seeing as that was the only mistake on his entire assignment, Seth marked it as a win for him.

Seth 1, math 67.

After his assignment was finished, Seth began packing his things despite not wanting to leave. A part of it was because of his newfound respect for Willow as a person — as someone with struggles and goals and pain like him. Another part was because he knew her parents weren't going to come by and visit her, and he felt a strange obligation to keep her company.