I’ve lost track of how long it has been since I started watching over you. You don’t even know that I’ve been taking care of you this long. We’ve never met but I know all your secrets. Sometimes I think about leaving, but I can’t. I love you too much to leave you alone.

The first time I saw you we were both at the hospital. I was receiving treatment for my illness as usual. You were visiting your grandmother. I heard your parents talking about it. You wore a pink dress and a bow in your long, dark hair. I remember thinking that you were the most beautiful person I had ever seen. You seemed to shine brighter than the sun.

You continued to come to the hospital for the next several weeks. After figuring out the usual time you came, I tried to be out in the hallway when you would be going by. Every time you visited you were more beautiful than the last. But you suddenly stopped coming. I didn’t know if the person you were seeing had recovered or if she had passed on. I just knew you were gone.

When fall came, the doctors said I was well enough to attend school. I couldn’t believe my luck when you were in my class, let alone at my school. I don’t remember much from those few months, only that I got to know more about you. You only spoke a few words to me. Like most of the other students, you kept your distance from me. I was the sick boy that no one wanted to be friends with, but more than once you would smile at me when I was sad. Your smile is what kept me strong for so long.

As they say, all good things must come to an end. Even with borrowing strength from you, I couldn’t fight the disease away forever. It finally overcame me. I died without you ever knowing how much I love you. You would never know how much you had touched me, how much strength your smile gave me. I remember my last wish before dying was that I would be able to see you again, to be able to protect you the way you had protected me.