A/N: I've had this waiting in my documents for AGES and only just got around to posting it. These kids are like, my favorite friendship ever~ I'm not sure if I should call this a gameverse!AU or an animeverse!AU... so it's both! Forgive the title, I suck at those XD
May sighed. She'd been forced to sit in the hallway for over an hour now, waiting for her mom to give birth to her baby brother. Her dad told her to sit outside the room, and she was so bored.
She kicked her legs up, pretending that she was on a swing. Her dad had taught her a while ago how to make herself go higher at the swings in Oldale Park. Kick your legs out as far as you can while you're going forward, and bring them back when you're going backwards. Back and forth, until you could touch the sky. She was proud that although she still needed a push to get her started, she could swing high all by herself.
But the hospital hallway was definitely NOT Oldale Park. She got bored of pretending very quickly. She jumped off the uncomfortable seat and walked over to the door. It was open so that her dad could still see her while he was in the room. He was pacing nervously across the room, while a bunch of doctors were crowded around her mom. She walked over to her dad and tugged on his sleeve to get his attention. "Daddy I'm—"
"May, you can't be in here." He said, grabbing her hand and leading her back out the door. His eyes kept darting between her and his wife.
"But daddy, I'm bored." She said, adding a whine to the last word. She knew that she shouldn't have been so demanding of him, seeing that she was going to be a big sister soon, but she couldn't help herself.
Norman sighed. "Why don't you ask one of the nurses to play with you, okay? I need to be with your mother."
"Okay…" May said, letting herself be pushed out the door.
"That's a good girl." Norman said, patting her head before going back inside.
May looked in both directions. On the left side, there were a lot more rooms like the one her mom was in, and on the right side there was a place where all the nurses were. She knew that her dad wanted her to go right, but she was curious about what kind of people were behind those doors.
She glanced back to make sure her dad wasn't paying attention (he wasn't, of course) and went left. She was always adventurous.
Most of the doors were closed, but they all had a window through which someone could see inside. She was just tall enough to see into them, if she stood on her tip toes. The first room looked like the one that her mom was in, though it was empty. The second room had a crying couple in it, and there was a sheet over the person in the bed . May passed that room quickly.
This next room was different, she could tell that immediately. The door was wide open, and instead of being empty or having a bunch of adults inside, there was only one person in there. A boy with light green hair. He looked around her age, maybe a bit younger, and was lying on the bed. From the door, he seemed to be asleep. His eyes were closed and his chest was rising and falling in a steady rhythm at least.
His skin was very pale, like he hadn't been out in the sun in a while. May herself had a light tan from being outside almost every day. She crept in the room quietly, so she wouldn't wake him up. Unfortunately for May, she was so busy trying to stay quiet that she didn't notice the bag next to the chair that was right in front of her. She tripped over it and fell hard, startling the boy awake.
"Who's there?" He asked, leaning forward a little to see. He rubbed his eyes, and blinked down at her in confusion. He took in her position on the floor and his expression changed from sleepy to worried. "Are you okay?"
"I'm okay. I've had a lot worse." May sat up and grinned sheepishly. Her elbow hurt a little, but it wasn't anything she couldn't handle.
"That's good." The boy smiled. "My name's Wally."
"Hi, I'm May!" She said, standing up and thrusting her hand forward. Wally took her hand and winced when she shook them. May let go immediately after she saw his slightly pained expression. "Sorry, I guess I don't know my own strength…"
"No, it's okay. It didn't hurt a bit." Wally said, but he rubbed his hand like it had.
May put her hands behind her back and clasped them together. "So, um…Why are you here today, Wally?" She was never nervous about asking strangers things. It was how you made new friends, after all.
"I'm here every day." He answered easily. May's eyes widened, but he didn't seem at all troubled by his statement.
"Every day? Why do you have to be here so often?" She asked, her mind already starting to come up with potential reasons.
"My mom says I'm sick. The doctors say that I have chro… chronic… chronic something, and that I need oxygen treatments every day." Wally said, as easily as May would talk about her day. "I don't really feel sick though. Except for when I run around."
"Oh…" May brushed her hair back, feeling bad. If he was really as sick as he said he was, she should have just left him alone. "I-I'm sorry for waking you up. If you want me to leave, I can just—"
"No, please don't go!" Wally cried, grabbing her arm instinctively. He blushed at his sudden impulsiveness and let her go immediately. "I'm sorry, it's just that… I don't get a lot of visitors."
"You don't?" She asked, feeling an ache in her chest at the thought.
"Just my parents and the doctors." Wally tried to smile, but it didn't look particularly happy. "I get really lonely sometimes and—"
May didn't let him finish. She wrapped her arms around him and squeezed, reminding herself to be gentle.
"I'll stay here with you." She said, no trace of doubt in her voice. "'Cause I decided you're my new best friend!"
"Best friend?" Wally repeated those words as if he'd never heard them before. Maybe he hadn't. "You want to be my best friend?"
"Of course!" May said, pulling away from him and grinned at him. "I'll make sure you aren't lonely ever again, okay?"
"O-Okay!" Wally said, his smile wide and not at all sad anymore.
Half an hour later, a woman entered the room. She noticed May right away, sitting on the bed and playing with the flowers that had been in the vase by the bed. Wally was laughing so hard he had to hold his sides.
"Wally, what's going on here?" She asked, coming over to the two of them. May dropped the flowers at the sound of her voice, and looked sheepishly up at her from beneath her bangs.
"Hi mom!" Wally said, wiping a tear from his eye. "Meet my new best friend!"
"Hello ma'am, I'm May." She said, smiling shyly at her.
"Hello there…" She said, looking back and forth between the kids. "Wally dear, when did you meet this girl?"
"Today." He said, grinning. She'd never seen him smile so wide, or so enthusiastically. "Right May?"
"Yes." May said. She picked up the flowers again and held them out to Wally's mother. "I'm sorry if I caused any trouble, ma'am."
"You didn't cause any trouble." Wally reassured her, looking at his mother hopefully. "Right mom?"
"I… I guess not." She took the flowers from the girl and put them back in the vase. Wally looked fine, better than he usually did, actually. And that smile on his face. It was nice to see him looking genuinely happy. "I'm glad you made a friend today, Wally."
"Me too!" He smiled at May and she grinned back, making him laugh again.
A nurse appeared at the doorway, looking distracted. "Sorry to bother you, but is May Maple in here?" She asked.
"That's me." May said, her eyes widening.
"We've been looking everywhere for you." The nurse held her hand out. "Come with me. Your mother's had her baby."
"Oh really?" May looked at Wally and hugged him quickly before scrambling off the bed. "I'll see you later, okay?"
"Sure thing! See you later, May!" Wally said, waving goodbye. May waved back and then took the nurse's hand.
The nurse brought her to the room her mother was in and patted her hair absently before she left. "Congratulations, big sister." Were her parting words.
Big sister…? May turned the words over in her head. She liked the sound of that.
Inside, her mother beckoned her forward, and May hurried over. In her hands was a tiny bundle of swaddled blankets, but May couldn't see her brother from where she was standing. Her father was quick to help her get on the bed for a better view.
"This is Max." Her mother said, leaning a little so that May could get a good look at him. "Say hello to your baby brother, May."
He was so tiny. That was the first thing she noticed. He had little curls of dark hair on his head, and his blue eyes were wide open. They were the same color as hers. His tiny hands curled into fists, as if trying to sense the air around him. May smiled at him and thought that this day couldn't get any better.
"Hi." She said, putting her finger in his hand. He gripped it tight, like he'd never let go, and she felt her heart speed up with joy. "Hi there, Max."