- Chapter One -
Meeting Yi Xing

Julia’s Point of View:

When our family SUV pulled up outside of Havensworth Memorial Hospital, I gaped at its superfluous splendor.  Compared to my other hospital, this place was the crème de la crème.  From the outside, it was impossible to determine just how many levels this place had.  Not to mention it looked out of place in such a quiet neighborhood.  If one were to drive by without seeing the sign, you’d think it was an elaborate college campus.  My dad smiled encouragingly as he opened the car door for me and I stepped out, inhaling the sweet spring air.

“Well… what do you think?” asked my mother hopefully.

“So far so good,” I replied cheerily.

My response only served to elevate my mother’s positive mood even more.  Good.  It was nice to see her with a smile on her face instead of a worried scowl.

“You guys go ahead and take a tour of the place.  I’ll make sure everything gets situated in her room,” instructed my father.

Thankfully, today I was feeling especially energetic.  Perhaps it was the fresh air or maybe my heart was beating a bit more regularly than normal.  Whatever the reason, I was glad I had enough energy to explore the hospital grounds.

“Are you feeling up to it today?” my mother asked cautiously.

“I’m fine.  I promise if I get too tired I’ll let you know.”

 It turns out Havensworth really did have it all.  From a romantic courtyard littered with colorful flowers, to the small trail that went through part of the forest, to the bustling game room, and even a legitimate theater complete with leather recliners.  I had to admit that I was definitely impressed.  If it weren’t for the people walking around in hospital attire, you wouldn’t even think this place was a hospital.

“Do you like it?”

“I love it!  This place is great!”

My mom laughed at my enthusiasm.

“I’m glad.  Let’s get you to your room.  I think you’re going to like it.  It’s actually quite cozy.”

Once I checked in, we caught the next elevator and my mom pressed the button for the tenth floor.  I never did like elevators.  I hated that sinking feeling they gave you on the way up.  After a loud ding the doors slid open and a prettily carved sign read Cardiac Unit in elegant letters.  We trudged down a long hallway, past the nurse’s station, and rounded a corner.  My room was at the end of the next hallway on the right.  Number 426.  I noticed another name written on the plate outside of the door.  Yi Xing.  Apparently I’d be sharing a room with someone.

When we entered my new home, I smiled from ear to ear.  Even though the walls were still a pristine white color and the floors slick and shiny, the furnishings made up for it.  I was also surprised to find that the two hospital beds faced each other instead of being side-by-side.  A long curtain hung at the corner of my room next to a large oak dresser.  If I needed privacy all I needed to do was pull it across my side of the room.  I walked over to the window and peered out.  Awesome!  I had a perfect view of the courtyard below!

“Pretty sweet, right?” joked my dad as he entered, pulling my suitcase with him.

“Thanks Dad.”

“You’re welcome, sweetie.  Do you need help unpacking anything?”

“No thanks.  I can do it myself.”

“Alright then.  I guess you’re all set!  We already talked to your new doctor.  He’s a really nice man.  Your father and I are going to head home.  We’ve still got a lot of unpacking to do,” explained my mother.

“I’ll see you guys later.  Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine.  Just focus on getting everything situated at home, okay?”

“Alright, sweetheart.  If you need anything… anything at all… let us know.”

“I will mom.”

“I know it’s your first day here, but try not to get overly excited.  You know how much stress it can put on your heart.”

“I won’t dad.”

As soon as my parents were gone, I started unpacking.  I didn’t bring all that much with me.  Just some clothes, books, puzzles, my laptop, sketching supplies, and a couple of pictures.  When you’re ordered to be on bed rest most of the time, you find creative ways of entertaining yourself.  Thirty minutes later, I was satisfied with how everything looked.  My clothes were put away in the dresser, my favorite books were stacked on top, and I sat our two family photos on the night stand next to my bed.  Already it was starting to look more homely.  Just then I heard someone enter the room and turned to face a very serious-looking doctor.

“You must be Julia,” he said while extending his hand.

“H-Hi,” I replied while shaking his hand.

“All my patients call me Dr. Kris.”

“Doctor… Kris?”

A tiny smile tugged at the corner of his lips.

“I don’t like to go by my real name.  It sounds too stiff.  I like Dr. Kris better,” he finished with a curt nod.

I smiled brightly at him.  My new doctor had a harsh gaze but despite that seemed pleasant.

“Now that introductions are done, let’s do a quick check up shall we?”

It was standard protocol.  I was very patient while he did his work up and scribbled down some notes on his clip board.

“Well… taking your condition into consideration, you seem to be doing quite well today.  I’ve already spoken to your previous doctor and he briefed me on your medical history.  This week I’m going to monitor you each day and run some standardized tests.  I’ll combine all of this new information and create an updated assessment of your condition.  After that I’ll discuss further treatment options with your parents and we’ll go from there.”

“Sounds good to me,” I replied simply.

This time he flashed a genuine smile.

“I think we’ll get along just fine Julia.”

After my doctor left, I decided to take it easy for the rest of the afternoon.  Walking around the hospital had made me much more tired than I realized.  I picked up one of my favorite books and stretched out on my bed.  It wasn’t long before the words on the pages began to blur and I slipped off into a peaceful slumber.

Yi Xing’s Point of View:

I padded down the hall in my hospital garments.  All morning I had been in for testing and was excited to get back to my room.  This morning my brother Kris had informed me that I would be getting a new roommate.  Before entering, I paused to read the new name plate just below mine.  Julia.  It was a pretty name.   When I stepped into the room, I received quite a shock.

Her name wasn’t the only thing that was pretty.  This girl was beautiful.  She was curled up on her bed fast asleep, an open book lying next to her.  It wasn’t long before I found myself sitting next to her bed, watching her sleep.  Her skin was fair and accompanied by dark brown hair that fell over her shoulders in flowing waves.  Her cheeks were tinted pink, almost has if she were blushing. Then my eyes trailed down a petite nose and soon discovered a set of pouty lips.  My hands started to feel a bit clammy and I gulped a lump down my throat.  I concluded that this morning’s round of tests must have messed with my head.  Why else would I be acting like a complete weirdo?  When I finally came to my senses, a pair of big brown eyes were staring back at me.

“W-Who are you?”

Her voice was smooth and gentle.

“My name is Yi Xing.  I’m your roommate.  It’s nice to meet you.”

Thank god I was actually able to respond without fumbling over my words like a complete idiot.  She didn’t say anything back to me, but only smiled.  Her eyes seemed to sparkle when she did this.  Without realizing it, I was smiling too, unintentionally flashing my childish dimples.  Suddenly she sat up and closed her book, sitting it on the night stand next to her.  She struck me as the quiet, shy type.  It was probably why she hadn’t introduced herself to me.  I’d just have to pick up the slack.

“You’re Julia, right?”

“Yeah.  How did you know?”

“Your name’s on the plaque outside,” I replied with an amused smirk.

“Oh.  Right,” she said sheepishly.

“Soooo… I can show you around and introduce you to some people if you’d like.”

“I don’t want to be a bother.”

“It’s no bother.”

“O-Okay.”

I grabbed her hand and led her out of the room in a hurry.

Julia’s Point of View:

I blushed when Yi Xing grabbed my hand and drug me out into the hallway.  I wasn’t used to being around someone so open and friendly.  I was a little nervous but really wanted to make friends while I was here, so I tagged along without complaining, even though he was going a bit too fast.

“So what’s your story?” he asked while looking over his shoulder.

“My story?”

“Yeah you know… why are you here?”

“I um… have a degenerative heart condition.  They say I won’t live past the age of twenty five.  That’s pretty much it.”

I threw it all out there just to get it out of the way.  It wasn’t something I liked to dwell on when meeting new people.  I couldn’t stand it when someone felt sorry for me.

“Me too.  Well… almost.  I have a heart defect.  It’s not something that’s easily operable.  They told me I wouldn’t live to be twenty years old.  So it looks like we’re pretty much on the same boat.”

“How old are you now?”

“Twenty two.”

“Really?!”

“Just because they give you a time frame doesn’t mean you won’t surpass it.  It’s all about will power and I’ve got a crap load of it.  So if you ever need some, I’ll be more than happy to share.”

Yi Xing smiled brightly, showing his cute dimples.  His smile was infectious to say the least.  We came to a stop at the elevators and he pushed the button for the next one.  While waiting, a nurse got his attention.

“Yi Xing!  How are you today?!” she exclaimed while peering over her desk.

“I’m doing fine Mae.  Just showing the new girl around campus.”

“Make sure you stay out of trouble.  I’m not hiding you from your brother again.”

“I’m on my best behavior today.”

He gave her a cheesy grin before dragging me into the elevator and pushing the button for the eighth floor.

“Where are we going?” I asked curiously.

“To the cancer wing.  I wanna introduce you to someone special.”

A couple of minutes later, we stepped off of the elevator and down several hallways before we reached what looked like the children’s wing.  Even though I knew every child in this area was severely ill, the place was buzzing with positive energy.  In one room some kids were sitting in their wheelchairs playing video games together.  The next room we passed had two girls playing with extravagantly dressed Barbie dolls.  The last room we reached had a huge painting of a butterfly outside the door.  Yi Xing smiled before turning the knob and popping in excitedly.

“YI XING!!!” yelled a little girl.

She was wearing pink pajamas and a fuzzy white hat.  She tossed her art supplies off to the side before leaping from the bed and into his arms.

“Sam… I… can’t… breathe,” he cringed at her bear-like grip.

“Who’s the pretty lady?” she asked innocently.

“This is my new friend Julia.  Julia… this is my number one girl, Samantha.”

Samantha wiggled her way out of Yi Xing’s arms and latched herself onto my waist.  She looked up, studying me for a moment before nodding her head approvingly.

“I like her,” she stated matter-of-factly.

I couldn’t help but smile at how bubbly she was.

“Now that I have your approval your majesty… I think it’s time we have that drawing contest you challenged me to,” said Yi Xing.

“Can I draw too?” I asked hopefully.

“Sure!  We can all share.  Right?” said Samantha.

Yi Xing nodded and we all took a seat on her bed.  While she was dividing up the crayons between us evenly, I noticed the pictures covering the walls.  Almost every one of them was a picture of a butterfly.

“You like butterflies?” I asked.

“Yes.  I think butterflies are pretty… just like Miss Julia.”

This girl is too cute!  No wonder Yi Xing says she’s his number one girl.

“I now declare this competition OPEN!”

Sam started drawing furiously like her life depended on it.  Who knew a child could take things so seriously.  Yi Xing and I looked at each other and had to stifle our laughter.  I picked up a purple crayon and started coloring a pair of purple butterfly wings.  For the next several hours we played with her until the nurses shooed us out and down the hallway.  Apparently, bedtime was quite early in the children’s wing.  Halfway back to our room, we had to take a short break and sat in a couple of chairs next to some vending machines.  Both of our bodies were worn out after playing with Sam for most of the day.

“I swear that girl is going to be the death of me,” joked Yi Xing.

Any healthy person would go into shock over his statement and send for a doctor immediately.  On the other hand, I just found it funny and started laughing.

“She’s so cute!  It’s impossible to say no to her!”

“I know!  That’s what I try to tell the nurses but they don’t listen to me.  Somehow they’ve developed an immunity to that child.  I’ve tried asking them what their secret is but they won’t tell me.”

“How dare those old bitties.”

“That’s what I said.”

“Really… how’d they take it?”

“They kicked us out remember?”

“Oh.  Yeah.”

I was surprised at how comfortable I felt around him.  Usually it took me a really long time to get used to people, but with Yi Xing it just came naturally.  The moment we made it back to our room we flopped down onto our beds in exhaustion.  I stared out the window and watched the stars twinkling in the sky.  Today had been absolutely perfect.

“Hey Yi Xing?”

I blushed when I looked towards his bed and caught him staring at me.

“Hmm?”

“Thanks for today.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Can we do something fun tomorrow?”

“Sure.  Whatever you want,” he replied as he turned over onto his side, never tearing his gaze from mine.

We snuggled down into our blankets.  For some reason, his presence calmed me and before I knew it, I was falling asleep.  That night I dreamt of being in a field full of butterflies.

A/N:  I hope you all liked the first chapter.  Gradually with each chapter, Julia and Yi Xing will get to know more about each other.  LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU GUYS THINK!!!  :)