Jeck

Chapter 7

I nodded and we ate the rest of the meal silently before walking over to the nurse with a clipboard that marked down how much we had eaten.

I spent the rest of the evening sitting on my wide window sill and staring out the window. I imagined what Jeck might be doing, I pictured him at home celebrating with his family that he didn't have cancer anymore. I pictured his wide smile and kind eyes. I looked down at the ring that sat on my ring finger, as I ran my thumb over the ridges I wondered if I would ever hear from him; if he would use the number I written on that scrap of paper.

My thoughts were interrupted when Anna came bursting into the room with tears streaming down her face, "Anna, what happened?" I rose from my spot on the window sill to approach her.

"My mother." She sat down on my bed and sobbed into my shoulder she lifted her face and looked at me, "I'm sorry, I know we aren't supposed to touch."

I shook my head and wrapped an arm around her, "Don't worry about it." She buried her face in my shoulder again right as Jill opened the door. I thought for a moment that she was going to yell at us but she just smiled and closed the door behind her as she came to sit on Anna's other side.

Jill rubbed Anna's back as she sobbed, "Can I give you a piece of advice sweetie?" Anna nodded and lifted her eyes from my now damp shoulder, "Only open your heart to those who deserve it," She paused to smile at me, "To those that haven't earned it, keep it closed." She smiled at us one more time before she stood up to go.

"Thank you." Anna smiled at Jill as she left, "You're going to be an amazing mother." Jill beamed at her with tears misting her eyes as she shut the door, "I'm sorry I cried all over your shirt."

I laughed, "No problem, I've got more." She chuckled and moved to her side of the room.

I watched as she pulled out a sketchbook and pencil ad sat down on her bed, "You draw?" She looked up a me and smiled shyly.

"A little." I watched as her pencil flew across the page, as she shaded and erased. Soon, she was walking toward me with her sketchbook in her hand. When she laid it on my lap I smiled at the small sketch that took up the middle of the page.

The was a small heart drawn right in the middle with a small piece missing from one side.

"This is beautiful." I really did love the little heart, the simplicity made it even more beautiful.

"Have you ever thought about getting tattoos?" When I nodded she smiled and continued, "I'm going to get this," She indicated the page, "Do you want to get a matching one?"

When I nodded again she beamed and sat down on the edge of my bed so we could talk more about what color we would want and where we would put it. We eventually decided that we would our hearts the color of each others birthstones; mine would be blue and hers would be red. I thought I'd want to get mine on my wrist but she just laughed and tried to talk me into putting it on my hip.

Talking with Anna made me feel for the first time like I had someone that really understood me, someone that didn't care about my past but was happy to hear about it. We had been talking for almost an hour when Jill came back in, "Mia," I turned to look at her when she said my name, "You're being discharged tomorrow." I smiled at the news but some part of me also felt sad, I would miss Anna and I hated to leave her here alone.

The next day in the middle of group Tina, the group leader that day, announced that I was leaving. There were some smiles and mumbles of congratulations but it was Anna that smiled at me the brightest. When Tina sent me to my room to pack I heard Anna ask if she could use the bathroom.

I was throwing things into my bag when Anna walked in and grabbed me in a hug, "I'm going to miss you."

"I'll miss you too." I hugged her back quickly. When she pulled away, she ran to her bed and tore the page with the heart out of her sketchbook and wrote something on it.

When she handed it back she hugged me one more time, "I don't have a phone number but get ahold of me on this okay?"

I nodded and watched sadly as she walked out of the room.

I hope you all enjoy this chapter, let me know what you think!

-Kelsee<3