I stood by her bed, laughing in embarrassment. I put my head in my hands for a few seconds, thinking about what I wanted to say next, then pulled away quickly.

"So, hello! I'm Lee Jaehwan!" I said as cheerfully as I could. But the girl just smiled at me, with a 'You're kidding me' look on her face.

"I brought you a present! I don't know what kind of things you like, but I just got something random..." I trailed off, taking the box and putting beside her head. "Should I unwrap it for you?"

She stared at me for a few seconds before slowly nodding. All the time I wondered how bad her condition was. The nurses I saw told me things, but I still didn't know to what extent was she affected. Her reactions were slow and she hadn't spoken a word yet.

I carefully unwrapped the paper and brought out a small wooden box that I had bought from a craft shop. I held it in front of her eyes.

"Do you like it?" I asked her, waiting for a small response. She nodded again; this time her eyes sparkled. I continued to open the box, revealing a plain covered notepad and some kind of sparkly pen I bought from the same store. Then I opened to the first page, showing her my little message and drawing I did for her. I brought to notepad up to my face and read out my message in a strange voice, hoping she would laugh.

"'Happy Birthday Maya! I hope that me visiting you has made your day slightly happier. Have a great day as you turn 17! From Ken.'" She was now showing teeth when she smiled.

"So, this is your's, now," I said as I neatly put everything onto the bedside table again. I grabbed a chair from behind me and sat on it, resting my face on the side of the bed. She her side, her face centermetres away from my nose.

She tried to mouth something. I saw he lips open and close, but no words came out. Then she coughed, swallowed and started again.

In the softest, most sweetest voice I had ever heard, she said two words; "Thank you."

And that was all that I needed to make myself feel happy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Since being at the hospital, I hardly ever talked. My voice box weakened as the days went by, but when I heard my own voice that confidently and that solid, I was so surprised. The words 'Thank you' flowed out of my mouth. I never expected that I would have been able to say those words ever again. But I said them.