Our Rooftop

i. a heart's desire

i. a heart's desire

It's almost 10 degrees outside, and she is wearing short sleeves.
She believes her impetuous decision making is one of the many symptoms of Myocarditis, even if it's not scientifically proven.
She swings her legs over the roof of the First National Hospitaltoday, like numerous days before. She has always preferred to detach herself from the frenetic rush of the hospital by relishing in the assuaging presence of nature. The moon, suspended like a porcelain doll upon the azure firmament, adds to the tranquility provided by the cobalt sea. The incessant chatter of the city helps drown the intolerable sounds of the hospital out, so she basks in it. She's never felt so serene.
Looking down and seeing all the scantily-clad teenagers, with smiles frolicking upon their faces, makes her envious. She wishes to join in the activities they participate in, but she knows aspirations of doing such will forever be nothing more than ill-fated dreams, for she suffers from a vile heart disease.
So, she presumes she'll sit on this roof until she is no longer able to provide oxygen to her sullied lungs. If her death is inevitable, why not die inspecting the life that could have been for her? For when she does so, it makes her feel more alive than she will ever feel. It makes her feel part of today's corrupted society. And really, that's all she wants. That's the one wish she aspires to come true before she dissolves into thin air-just to be ordinary.
The stinging touch of one's calloused hand is felt against her body, and it staggers her for a moment. "Eve, you're going to freeze to death," a hushed voice mutters behind her.
She detects the soft tone as Lucas, the boy with Leukemia. She looks at him, signaling she recognized his company, and turned back to gaze at the stars, the sight of him lingering in her brain, and their tactile encounter igniting a raucous fire in her heart.
"Did you tell the nurses I was up here?" she queries, a surge of anger unearthing itself from inside of her.
"I didn't divulge your beloved secret to the nurses," he interposes, "but, it's likely you're going to die from hypothermia at these frigid temperatures. So, does an actual heating system sound that grisly?"
"I'd choose hypothermia over going inside of that harrowinghospital."
He sighs, realizing getting her off of this roof was going to be more complex than he bargained for. He decides to join Eve on the roof, and she swears the Earth trembled at his decision.
Never, ever, should an optimistic and pessimistic person collide-especially, while on a roof. You see, the separation of the two types of people keeps the world balanced. But, today, right here, it happened. The one who thought life had just begun for him, and the one who knew life was over for her had seemingly found each other in this large world, and the Earth decided to put them both on a narrow roof together and see utter pandemonium unravel first-hand.
****
"We should really go," Lucas pleads, minutes later. "We, out of all people, should try to avoid any sort of precarious position at all costs. I mean, we're already in the hospital. Can we please use the perceptive minds we were blessed with and leave?"
"I have the right to believe the party I am having up here is far too boisterous for you to handle," she sarcastically challenges.
"This is no party, Eve. This is absurdity at its finest, and quite the stagnant get-together if even considered a party."
"How dare you call my bash stagnant? Where have your manners gone?" She emits a dry cackle under her breath, "you have full permission to leave, Lucas."
He sighs, "Every single fiber of my being is telling me to leave, but for some reason my feet won't stop with the motion they have created. I am completely aware of the unwavering factors, particularly on this exceptionally windy day, but my feet won't stop." He gesticulates at the feeble twigs that were his feet, and a panicked expression crosses his face.
"It's obvious that you remain up here because you think it's very chivalrous of you to do so. But, I don't need someone accompanying me at all times. Leave me to live the diminutive amount of life I have by myself. Please," she entreats.
"I'm not doing this because I feel empathy towards you, Eve," he shoots, the harsh air evoking a slight wheeze out of him. He pulls off his polyester jacket and ensconces it over her body, "it's foolish to be out here with short sleeves."
"Well, now you're exposed," she mumbles.
"I have thick skin," he adds, a grin tugging at his lips. "I'll be okay."
She nods and envelops herself in his jacket, tingling with his warmth, trusting his word that he'd be fine.
"This is quite the striking creation," he sighs, after a couple moments of skimming the city. "I can remember how the bus stop always reeked of diesel fuel and cooked antifreeze. I recall always grabbing a bagel from the local coffee shop, and never thinking twice how valuable such a moment was."
He leans back, scans the sea, and every single piece of matter that makes up the streets of this tiny town, and then penetrates his burnt umber brown eyes into my skin. "The weather is just going to get lower," he informs, using all the strength his besmirched lungs had to inhale the brisk 11 o'clock air.
"The moon means so much to me, Lucas," she murmurs. "Someone out there is looking at the same object in the sky as I am, and I don't know why Lucas, but there is something extremely mollifying about that. Something inside of me can't leave it."
"There's a way to look at your moon's magnificence, without tainting its vivacity, that is not as perilous as dangling our feet over the edge of a roof."
"You promise?"
"Hey, I have cancer. What else is there to live for?"
A smile plays at the corners of my lips, and the optimistic boy does the impossible-he gets the immovable pessimist to go back inside, into the place she anticipated with an unconscionable amount of horror. That's when she decided something about this world had definitely been disturbed-she just wasn't totally convinced going back was what she wanted.
***