Red Bands

Chapter 4 - Jordi

Once we leave the elevator, I stand up from the wheelchair.

"Hey, Lilly," I say.

Lilly stops walking and looks at me. "Yeah?"

I gesture at the wheelchair. "Want a ride?"

She laughs, shaking her head. "Okay, sure."

I help her settle into the chair and begin pushing her until we reach the room Leo and I share. Leo discards the wheelchair and switches to his crutches. Lilly gets out of the wheelchair and we leave it beside my bed. Once Leo is settled with his crutches, we follow after him as he leaves the room again, Lilly and I side by side.

'Should I grab her hand? Could I? Of course, I could, but would be the right moment?' I ask myself. 'Fuck it. I'm getting my leg taken off tomorrow.' I reach for Lilly's hand and intertwine our fingers. Her skin is cold, but begins to warm up in my touch.

Lilly looks down at our hands and then up at me, a blush evident on her face. She relaxes into it, though, and leans into me.

Leo leads us along a corridor, but I'm not sure where we're going or what we're doing.

"Leo, what are we doing?" I question.

"Going to see somebody else," he responds simply.

We finally arrive at a door that has a sign outside indicating that this is some sort of study room for the students. A girl sits at one of the tables and closes her book when she hears us enter the room.

"Hey," Leo says.

"Hey," the girl replies, looking over at us.

"Hi, Emma," Lilly greets, waving with her free hand.

"Hi," Emma responds, standing up and putting her books in her hands.

"There's a party tonight on the roof," Leo states.

Emma turns towards us and takes a few steps toward Leo. "And this concerns me why?"

"You can't study all the time, Emma," he says as she walks past. "This is Jordi, my new roommate."

Emma stops in the doorway and turns. "Roommate? Let me get this straight. They gave you a roommate?"

"I must be dying, right?" Leo replies.

Emma looks towards me. "Looks like you're gonna have a single soon." With that, she turns and walks away.

We follow after her and she hears us because she asks me a question.

"What are you in for?" Emma asks.

"I have a problem with my leg," I answer. "It's got to go. Tomorrow."

Lilly squeezes my hand. "Thankfully, Doctor McAndrew is taking care of him."

"The best in the world," I say, smiling down at her.

"Well, do you get to keep it?" Emma asks.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm planning to freeze it," I say.

"Like wedding cake," she answers.

"Right, I'll take it out for a walk every year."

"Get it a tattoo, go shoe-shopping," Lilly says.

"That is sick, even for me," Leo cuts in. He crutches away.

"You're seriously twisted," I say.

"Not everybody appreciates it," Emma says.

"You should come tonight."

"Yeah, totally," Lilly adds.

Emma sends her a smile and nods a little bit.

Leo turns back around and comes past us again. "Let's go."

When I don't move from my spot at staring at Emma, Leo calls out, "Jordi!" Lilly tugs on my hand.

"Come on, Jordi," she whispers.

We turn around and begin to walk away. Leo is leading us towards another room.

"What could we possibly be doing now?" I question Leo.

"Getting stuff for your party."