You hated hospitals!

And now you had to go back there again. Appa wasn’t feeling well… umma and your younger siblings had left the hospital to go home and freshen up, and now you had to go there all by yourself.

“Appa?”

“~~~~~-ah,” your appa said in a weak voice. “Come here.” You sat down on his bed. He asked you how you were doing. Great, you said. You couldn’t tell him that you were sleeping through all of your classes because of your late hours at the restaurant. The two of you talked for a bit but you could see that he was getting tired.

“Get some sleep. I’ll be right outside if you need me.” You kissed his forehead and quietly left the room.

You sat down on an uncomfortable sofa in the corridor outside and started to cry. You couldn’t take it. You felt so miserable and so tired. Still, you couldn’t tell anyone, let anyone worry.

“Yah,” a voice said kindly. “You okay?” You could feel someone sitting down beside you on the sofa.

“I-I’m fine.” You tried to wipe your tears away but the just kept streaming down your cheeks.

“Yah! Look at me.” You did as the voice ordered you to do and you found yourself looking into a pair of dark, warm eyes.

“Better,” he smiled. “How do you feel?” You looked at the guy who sat next to you. He seemed to be your age. Cute. He looked nice…

“I feel like ,” you answered honestly.

“Well, I can see that.” Then why did he ask? “Wanna talk about it?”

“Not really.” You looked down at your hands resting in your lap and suddenly everything came out. The money problem, appa, work. Everything just burst through the walls you had had fought so hard to build up and was bared to this stranger. Not until you were finished you realized what you had done., and you felt so incredibly stupid and ashamed. You put one hand over your mouth.

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to bother you with my problems, I’m sure you have enough of your own,” you mumbled.

“No problem. I asked, right? And what makes you think I have problems?” He looked at you with a curious smile.

“Well… we are at a hospital. Either you’re sick yourself or you’re here visiting someone who’s sick. Unless you work here…” That wasn’t very sensitive, you knew that, but you had had a bad day. You weren’t thinking, just talking. He didn’t seem to be offended though, he just smiled at you.

“I guess you’re right,” he said. “My best friend is here.” He said it like it was nothing. You felt your eyes flood with tears again.

“I’m so sorry,” you said. He looked at your teary face.

“Yah.” He cupped your chin and wiped away one of your tears with his thumb. Your heart almost stopped. What was he doing?

“It’s okay. My friend has been in and out of hospital for years.” He let go of your chin and let his hand fall into his lap. “I’m kind of used to it. If you ever can get used to it…”