**FOR SOME REASON WHEN I ORIGINALLY POSTED THIS CHAPTER... IT GOT DELETED.  SO HERE IT IS!**

- Chapter Two -
The Daisy

Julia’s Point of View:

The next morning I woke up to find Yi Xing sitting at the foot of my bed with a gigantic grin plastered across his face. I rubbed the sleepiness out of my eyes and sat up in bed.

“Your hair looks stupendous this morning,” he quirked.

“It’s not like you’re any better.”

It was true. His hair was sticking out in all directions and it didn’t look like he had even attempted to tame it yet.

“You’re just jealous that you don’t have locks of pure iness like I do,” he retorted playfully.

He ruffled his hair, making it even messier on purpose. I tried stifling my laughter but it didn’t work.

“Well one of my missions for the day is already complete,” stated Yi Xing.

“Missions?”

“Yep. The first one was to make you laugh this morning. The second was to bribe the cafeteria lady into making us blue berry pancakes.”

If I wasn’t awake I sure was now! My mouth watered as Yi Xing pulled a cart next to the bed, revealing a heaping pile of deliciousness.

“Wow! How did you manage this?”

“I have my ways.”

Frankly, it didn’t matter. The only thing on my mind was those warm pancakes. Yi Xing piled four onto a plate for me and smothered them in steaming maple syrup. Before he had time to blink, I was already shoving a huge bite into my mouth. My cheeks puffed out as I spoke.

“Mmff… I think I luff yoo right now,” I mumbled.

He didn’t say anything, but stuffed his face as well, flashing his dimples as he chewed. I quickly concluded that those dimples were the evilest thing on the face of the planet. I bet he used them to stun the cafeteria lady into submission. Poor thing. She probably hadn’t seen it coming.

“What are you thinking about?” he asked curiously.

Crap. I must have been staring.

“Uh… nothing.”

“That doesn’t sound like nothing,” he teased.

I shrugged my shoulders, refusing to let him get the best of me. He gave me an overly-suspicious gaze as he stuffed more pancakes into his mouth. Just then, Dr. Kris waltzed into our room. He took one look at what we were eating and shook his head.

“Yi Xing. I thought I talked to you about eating healthier,” he fussed.

Yi Xing pointed his fork at his food like he was pointing out the obvious.

“I’ll have you know that there are wholesome grains in these pancakes… and there are vitamins in the blue berries… and the sugar loaded, I mean uh, tasty syrup has like… antioxidants in it or something.”

It was the worst argument in the history of mankind, but he was so serious about it that I started choking on my pancakes. He reached over and patted my back. Dr. Kris smirked at my reaction before crossing his arms.

“When you two love birds are done with your healthy breakfast, I need to borrow Julia for a while for some tests,” Dr. Kris said his peace before exiting promptly.

“Yeah. Yeah,” Yi Xing waved his hand dismissively while taking another bite.

The interaction between the two of them was interesting.

“You two seem really comfortable with each other.”

“That’s because Kris is my older brother.”

“Really? I never would have guessed.”

“I get that a lot.”

“You’re like… total opposites.”

Yi Xing snorted.

“Tell me about it. I’m awesome and he’s lame.”

I found myself laughing for the third time that morning. Who would have thought that waking up in a hospital could be so… normal?

Perhaps it had been random, or maybe he knew what was coming, but I was glad Yi Xing had brightened my mood that morning. Several hours later I was starting to feel grumpy. I had been prodded, poked with needles, and endured several hours of not-so-pleasant testing. At around three in the afternoon, Yi Xing’s brother thanked me for my patience and assured me that he’d get back to me as soon as the results came in.

Thank god. I could really use some fresh air. I didn’t even bother changing out of my hospital garments as I made my way towards the courtyard. It was another beautiful spring day. I wasn’t about to let the rest of it go to waste.

The air outside washed over my body, carrying a wave of new found energy with it. I walked down the stony pathway, taking in the splendor of the flowers. At the end, there was a large water fountain. In it I could see dozens of coins settled at the bottom. Too bad I didn’t have one to throw in so I could make a wish. Just then my eyes fell on a single white daisy sitting on the edge and next to it was a shiny coin. It was as if it had been placed there especially for me. I looked around, wondering if the person who had left it might still be here, but nobody seemed to stand out.

Yi Xing’s Point of View:

I was in our room staring out the window, spying on Julia in the courtyard below. My timing couldn’t have been any more perfect. She had found my little gift. I smiled as I saw her pick up the coin, hold it in her hands as if she were making a prayer, and toss it into the fountain triumphantly. Julia picked up the daisy before turning to leave. Yet another mission accomplished. I couldn’t believe I was admitting it to myself, but she was starting to grow on me. First Samantha and now Julia. Man… did I have my work cut out for me!

Sometime later Julia entered the room looking tired, but at least her spirits seemed pretty high thanks to le moi. I tried my best to act nonchalant as she grabbed a small cup, filled it with water, and gingerly placed the daisy inside. She sat the flower on the window sill where it could get plenty of sunshine. The sun’s rays shone through the window, enhancing her delicate facial features. I swallowed nervously when I felt my heart do an oddly weak flutter inside of my chest. It startled me because it wasn’t something I had ever felt before. At that precise moment, Julia turned and I ducked into the book I was pretending to read.

“Did you… have a good day?” she asked shyly.

It was an improvement from before. At least this time she was the one initiating conversation first.

“It was pretty good. I visited Sam since she had just started a new round of chemo. She told me to tell you hello and that your butterfly picture was really pretty.”

Julia smiled and I took that as a sign to continue.

“Then I walked through the hallways and gathered lots of juicy gossip on the other patients… you know… just in case I need to bribe or blackmail somebody later.”

She was snickering now.

“My most fantastic accomplishment was when I took a trip to the cafeteria with my brother and ate a nasty salad just so he’d get off my back for eating those damn pancakes this morning.”

Now she was laughing.

“I could seriously use a burger after that,” I smirked.

“Wow. You really are hopeless, aren’t you?” she asked humorously.

“You have no idea.”

A/N:  Another short update.  :)  Two updates in one day.  I think I'm doing pretty good so far.  To give you guys a hint... the next chapter is titled, "Sneaking Out".