12-7-13
Hello, everyone! So, I decided to take part in mrslukecastellan's ten one-shot contest. I'm supposed to write ten one-shots about Luke and his little sister Natalia.
I hope you enjoy!
Luke sat in the waiting room of the hospital, swinging his short legs over the edge of his chair as he idly stared up at the TV in the corner, not really paying attention. His thoughts wandered to that cold white hospital room, where his mom was giving birth to his new baby sister.
He scowled at the thought. He didn't want a sister. She'd probably want him to play with her all the time, with Barbie dolls and lipstick. But he also wanted to spare her the horror of living with his mother. He shuddered involuntarily. He could practically feel her thin fingers gripping like vises on his arms, her eyes glowing bright green…
Nope, he mentally chided. Happy thoughts. Peanut butter sandwiches. Kool-Aid.
He was only three, but he had been forced to grow up fast because of his mother's lacking abilities to take care of a child. Even at such a young age, he could make himself a sandwich without getting peanut butter on the counter, and was almost big enough to lift a cookie tray out of the oven all by himself.
Feeling restless, he hopped out of his chair, toddling over to the toy bin to see if there was anything of interest in there. He opened the plastic lid and it fell of its hinges and onto the floor with a thud.
The nurse glanced up idly from her magazine. "Play nice, now," she said, sounding bored.
Luke waited until her face was once more hidden by the magazine before sticking his tongue out at her. Satisfied, he turned to shuffle through the toy bin. He pulled out a couple of action figures—Roman soldiers in full battle armor—and smashed them together, pretending they were having an epic one-on-one battle to decided the fate of a war. The plastic swords and shields made small click sounds every time they met, and Luke pressed them harder. "ROAR!" he shouted, pulling a stuffed lion out of the toy box and throwing it at the soldiers, knocking them both down. "Die, filthy Romans!"
"Sssssshhh!" the nurse hissed.
Luke sat back on his heels, narrowing his eyes at the magazine covering the nurse's face. His eyes wandered down, and he saw something sticking out of the pocket of her nurse's uniform. He cocked his head, trying to get a better look: it looked like a folded sheet of paper, with what might've been a little heart in the corner. A slow smile spread across his small face.
Careful not to make any noise, he snatched up the stuffed lion and crept toward the woman, keeping close to the ground so she couldn't see him. He stopped a foot away from the pointed toes of her shoes, clutching the lion in front of him. In one fluid movement, he grabbed the magazine and ripped it away, chucking the lion into the surprised nurse's face.
"ROAR!" he screamed in delight.
"Why you wicked child!" the woman cried. "Don't you dare scare me like that again!"
Luke gave her an innocent look, widening his blue eyes. "I didn't scare you. Mr. Lion did." He reached up and plucked the lion off her chest, holding it out in front of him and wagging his little finger at it. "Bad, Mr. Lion. You can't go scaring nurses like that. It not resectable." He was proud to having learned such a long word, but when he looked up at the nurse, she looked horrified.
"Respectable," she corrected. "It is definitely not resectable."
Luke stuck his tongue out, dropping the lion in favor of putting his thumbs in his ears and waggling his fingers at her.
Her face hardened. "Why you—"
Luke threw the lion at her a second time, snatching up the magazine and running across the room. He leapt onto a chair, shaking the magazine at her and jumping up and down. "Resectable!" he yelled. "Resectable, resectable, resectable!"
The nurse stood up, the lion falling to the ground as she stomped her foot, pointing her finger at him. "Give that back, right now."
"No!" Luke giggled.
The woman glared at him. "I mean it, young man. I'm going to count to three. Then you will give that magazine back, or I'll tell your mother just how naughty you were. One…two…"
Luke lowered his head, clambering off the chair and plodding over to the woman. He held out the magazine and she snatched it out of his hand, promptly turning on her heel and storming over to her chair. She sat down, flipped to her page, and once again began to read.
Luke waited till she was fully engrossed, then returned to the toy box. He leaned over it, pretending to look inside as he pulled a folded piece of paper out of his back pocket. He unfolded it and studied the characters on it.
He wasn't very good at reading—he didn't even know his alphabet very well. The letters always seemed to float off the page, spinning around his head and making him dizzy. What had the doctor said he had? Dis-lexi-uh?
But he did recognize a couple of words, and what he saw written in sloppy print brought the mischievous smile back on his face. He quickly smothered it, and stood up from his crouched position.
He clutched the paper in his hands, then walked right up to the nurse, stopping three feet away to stay out of range. He reached over and tapped her on the knee before springing back to his previous position. "Excuse me," he said.
She glanced over the top of the magazine, looking annoyed. "What?"
He kept his expression innocent and curious. "Who's Brad?" He held up the slip of paper.
Her face paled. "How did you get that?" she demanded, attempting to snatch it from his grasp.
Luke jumped out of the way, holding the paper away from her as he allowed his smile to return. "Ooh, is he your boyfriend?"
The nurse blushed a deep red. "No," she stammered. "We're just friends."
"Sure." Luke made a big show of studying the paper. "And it's just a coincidence that it's signed 'love, Brad'."
"That," she snapped, "is my own private business. You give that paper hear this second, mister."
Luke raised both eyebrows. "No," he said simply. Then he turned and dashed for the door at the other end of the room. He yanked on the handle and swung it open, barreling out into the hallway.
"Hey, get back here!" the nurse screamed.
Luke giggled, running as fast as his little legs would carry him. He ducked around two doctors in white coats, barely dodging around a push cart directly behind them. He screeched to a halt at a four way crossroads. He scratched his head, trying to remember which way was the exit.
The sound of clicking heels behind him sent him streaking off to the right.
"Stop right there!" the nurse screamed.
Luke didn't. In fact, he sped up as a mental map of the hospital sprang into his head: left, right, straight, left, left, right. The elevator doors loomed in front of him, and he slowed, willing the doors to open. As if in answer to his unspoken plea, the elevator next to him dinged, the doors slowly opening to reveal an empty elevator. He ducked between the doors, and reached out to push the button that would take him to the ground floor when a hand grabbed his arm and yanked him out.
Luke panicked, turning and twisting to get out of the woman's grasp. "No, no!" he screamed. "Let me go!"
The woman grabbed his other arm, forcing him to face her.
Luke tensed, staring in terror at her face. He waited for her eyes to glow green and for her to speak in that horrible voice.
"What were you thinking?" the nurse hissed.
Luke almost sobbed with relief, despite the situation: it was the nurse's normal voice. "I—I don't know," he whispered.
The woman let go of one of his arms, holding out her open palm. "Paper."
Luke placed the folded piece of paper into her hand.
She slipped it into her pocket, then stood, his arm lifting up as her hand kept a tight hold of his wrist. "Let's go see your mother," the nurse said tiredly.
Luke's heart filled with dread as the woman marched him down the halls. He didn't notice all the people staring at him; all he could think of was that he had to go back to his mother; to a living nightmare.
He was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he continued on after the nurse had stopped, walking straight into a wooden door.
"Careful," the nurse snapped.
Luke rubbed his forehead ruefully as the nurse knocked, then opened the door. It took a little for Luke's eyes to adjust in the dim light.
The nurse dragged him inside, closing the door behind them before leading him to the hospital bed sticking into the center of the room.
Hesitantly, Luke peered over the edge: his mother lay under a white sheet, her face drawn and exhausted as she held a little blanket-wrapped bundle in her arms. All Luke could see was a tiny pink beanie cap over the white blanket.
His mother looked up, her shattered blue eyes looking down at Luke.
He involuntarily flinched.
She smiled, though her expression seemed faraway. "Hello, Luke," she said. "Meet your new sister." She lifted the bundle and Luke saw a tiny, wrinkled, sleeping face peeking out from the blankets. "Would you like to hold her?"
Luke nodded numbly, though he wasn't sure why.
The nurse put a hand on his back and steered him to a plush armchair on the other side of the room. "You sit here and I'll bring her to you," she said, sounding much kinder now that his mother was in the room.
Luke hopped up onto the fat cushion, pushing his bottom all the way to the back of the chair. He frowned when his feet barely stuck out over the edge. He hated being short.
He realized that the nurse now stood before him again, the baby in her arms.
"Hold your arms out," the nurse directed.
Luke did.
The nurse gently placed the little baby into Luke's arms, then showed him how to support her head.
Luke stared down into the little pink face. "She's even smaller than I am," he said in awe.
The nurse smiled, the first genuine smile Luke had ever seen on her face. "Oh, she'll get bigger. Though I doubt she'll ever be as big as you."
Luke's chest swelled up in pride. He looked down at his new little sister, a feeling of awe overcoming him. "What's her name?"
"We thought we'd call her Natalia," his mother said from the bed.
Luke frowned slightly. We? He looked up, and for the briefest second, he thought he saw a man with salt-and-pepper hair and mischievous smile standing by the bed. But as soon as he blinked, the man was gone.
Before he could think about it more, the baby in his arms squirmed, and her eyes opened.
Luke found himself staring down into a pair of sparkling blue eyes, identical to his and his mother's. He and the baby stared at each other, and Luke wasn't quite sure what to do.
"Natalia, huh?" he said. "Well, I'm Luke. I'm your big brother."
Big brother.
Those words did have a nice ring to them.
As he stared down at the baby Natalia in his arms, he resolved to be the best big brother he could be. After all, Natalia would be the closest family he'd ever have since his dad was gone and his mom…
An intense feeling of determination filled him. He was going to protect his little sister, no matter what. He was going to be the best big brother ever.
So what did you think? Was Luke a little too smart for his age? Was he OOC? Was it too fast? Let me know in a review! Constructive criticism is accepted and appreciated.
Be sure to check out my other stories! It means a lot to me :)
I'll try to get the next chapter up as soon as I can, but no guarentees. I'm juggling about four in progress stories right now (I can't keep full attention on a multi-chap for long. Sue me) but I'll try my best.
Hope to see you all soon!