The first time, all you receive is a small little chocolate- dark, slightly bitter.
And you're not entirely sure who left it there.
But you do have your suspicions.
It's certainly not the nurses who left it there.
You do only willingly talk to one other person in this place, after all.
"Did you leave this?" Yao asks, holding out the crumpled golden wrapper for Arthur to see. Arthur gives Yao a look and raises an eyebrow- though Yao is not so sure if he actually does, he can't actually tell all that well with Arthur's eyebrows.
"Why would I leave y-you chocolate?" Arthur shrugs and looks away. Yao purses his lips, resisting the urge to shake his head. He pretends not to notice Arthur's stutter and the way his face is slowly turning red.
"The doctors say I really shouldn't eat chocolates and candies," Yao continues., "or anything of that sort- Arthur! Are you listening to me?"
"Sorry, got distracted," Arthur apologizes half-heartedly, dragging his eyes from the window and giving Yao a lopsided grin.
"By what?" Yao only grits his teeth together and stares pointedly away from the window and at Arthur.
Arthur shrugs. "The fairies and such." Arthur doesn't meet Yao's eyes, casting his gaze downwards. There's a splotch on his pants and he rubs at it absently. Yao stares at the splotch too, unsure of what to say.
He knows Arthur doesn't like to talk about this. He determinedly stays away from discussing it anytime Yao mentions it. And Yao can't help but hate him for refusing to face reality.
"I was out in the gardens earlier," Arthur says a little hesitantly. "It's really quite pretty- you should come see it. In the future, maybe we can visit-"
When the pillow makes contact with Arthur's face, it effectively stops him from talking, just as Yao intended.
"I hate you," Yao tells him. He doesn't mean it and he is sure Arthur knows it, but he still refuses to look at Arthur's face, not wanting to see the hurt that would clearly be there.
"Well, do you think I enjoy spending time with you either?" Arthur retorts.
Yao hears him leave, hears the rustle of Arthur's blue pajamas (as Arthur tends to refer to them), hears the sound of the door opening and closing.
You see strands of cutout stars hung around the bed- wishful, pitiful, irregular.
You see them when you return to your room the next day and you are startled.
You sigh at them, but you do feel just a bit better- not that you'll ever tell him.
There were tests today and Yao hates them, hates the doctors and how detached everything feels and is. (Sometimes it seems as if he's already dead, sometimes this all just feels like a dream). They tell him nothing new, only confirming what he already suspects. It doesn't sadden him- not too much- and he stares at the blindingly white floor as the doctors talk.
He hates this color- white. It makes him think of death, and death likes to sit comfortably and heavy on his shoulder (he'd shrug it off if he could, and, oh, he has tried).
His room is white, like everywhere he goes in the hospital.
But not today it seems.
He blinks, disbelieving and then groaning as he realizes what Arthur's done. It's probably meant as an apology for yesterday- though, Yao wonders, why Arthur can't just simply apologize like a normal person and be done with it. It's a lot of effort, Yao realizes as he unclips one of the stars (they hang, clipped by clothespins, from strings). All the stars have been dyed and stained turquoise with splotches of indigo. Yao smiles as he clips the star back up and notices how none of the stars have been cut perfectly. Every one of them has an imperfection of some sort. If Arthur were here, he would tease him.
But he's not, so Yao lies down and smiles up at the vivid little stars.
(And he doesn't see the smallest star with a little red heart drawn clumsily on one of the tips.)
The third is a paper crane folded to perfection and not willingly given.
You look at it with distaste.
And yet you demand it.
It's perfect, too perfect and he is sure that Arthur had help. He is correct as Arthur confesses to getting help from a Japanese patient several rooms down from Yao. Yao has to stifle the part of him that is annoyed and jealous that Arthur is spending time with someone else. It's really none of his business and he shouldn't care.
"I can't imagine someone who would actually and willingly put up with you," Yao says. "Especially when you're so terrible at making things.' He gestures towards the stars that are still hanging above his bed.
"If you're going to be like this, then I'm not going to come back here," Arthur warns, scowling. In a much quieter voice, he adds, "I thought you'd like the crane."
Yao says nothing because he really doesn't actually want Arthur to leave, and he says nothing about the crane that is still in his suitcase. He doesn't tell Arthur that the crane makes him think of his brother, Kiku, and, in extension, the rest of his family. He doesn't want to remember the perfect little crane that Kiku had made and how he promised to make so many more.
So Yao turns away from Arthur, playing with the crane's wings. He pretends he doesn't feel alone when Arthur closes the door to his room.
There is no present the day after.
You had been looking forward to one.
But there is nothing.
So you sigh and sigh, and sigh some more.
Arthur comes when he remembers and when he does he saunters into Yao's room as though Yao should be grateful for his presence. But he doesn't come today.
Today it's raining and Yao suspects that Arthur's outside. Arthur likes to be outside and he probably likes it more when it's raining, strange person as he is. Yao can picture it- Arthur with a dark blue umbrella, casually strolling along. Yao likes the idea of this- Arthur with a dark blue umbrella. But the rain depresses him, the sky is dark and he is lonely and misses Arthur.
Arthur has probably forgotten all about him.
It takes Yao a second to realize that the rustling of bed sheets mean that he's getting out of bed and he lets himself stumble to the window. He rests most of his weight on the window ledge and wipes a small spot on the window clear so he can peer outside.
And there- Arthur is looking up at him from under a dark green umbrella. A nurse trails behind with a white umbrella. When Arthur sees Yao, he raises a hand, but he doesn't wave.
When Arthur walks away and his back is to Yao, Yao holds up his hand too.
You receive more chocolate- the dark, bitter ones.
They seem even bitterer now.
And they stay unopened, discarded on the bedside table.
Yao shifts uncomfortably beneath the white sheets. The doctors and nurses are no longer in his room, instead Arthur is beside him. Yao opens his mouth, but that's all he can manage to do and the words- how did you get in here? You're not supposed to be in here, only the doctors and nurses- don't come out.
Arthur covers Yao's mouth with one hand and smoothes away the hairs sticking to Yao's forehead with the other.
"You're warm," Arthur murmurs. Yao hums in agreement, too weakened to tell Arthur off for stating the obvious. Arthur's hands are cold, soothing. Yao cracks open one eye, feeling old beyond his age, old and tired and worn. He stares at Arthur's eyes- a beautiful green, Yao thinks through the haze occupying his mind. He finds the worry and concern swimming amidst those green eyes.
And for a second Yao feels triumphant. Because Arthur is finally staring at reality and not hiding away in that imaginary little world of his filled with mythical beings and magic.
Yao's face gets hotter when Arthur leans down and lightly brushes his lips to Yao's forehead. He shuts his eyes and turns away, biting his lips.
You're not sure if these are presents, the things inside the bottles.
They're pretty, but useless.
And you can't help that prickle of longing.
Arthur's obviously still trying to get him to come outside, though Arthur pretends that's not his intention- no, not at all.
"Really?" Yao asks, raising an eyebrow and peering at the green-eyed bother through the small bottles. "It's not going to work."
"That is where out opinions differ," Arthur says, reclining on the bed beside Yao. "And I really, really have no idea what you are talking about."
Yao rolls his eyes. He turns the bottles round in his hands, admiring the delicate seeds of dandelions, a perfectly preserved daisy, and the broken shells of a blue egg. He stops when he sees the white feather, but it's pretty too, he concedes.
"How did you get them in here? And so perfectly too."
Arthur turns to face him, a grin spreading across his face.
"Magic," he pronounces, pressing a kiss to the corner of Yao's mouth.
And Yao's heart sinks when he hears what Arthur said.
Today it's a surprise that awaits you.
Not the sort of surprise that you wanted.
Actually, it's very unwanted.
But you have no choice but to go along with it anyways.
Arthur shows up in his room, a glint in his eyes and a wheelchair in hands. He sets down the novel Yao had been reading, ignoring Yao's indignant cries, and easily lifts Yao into his arms. Yao protests weakly, more curious as to what Arthur was doing. He is set down gently and then Arthur is pushing him out of his room.
"Where are we going?" Yao asks with varying degrees of alarm and interest.
"Where do you think? You're not stupid enough to not figure it out, are you?"
Yao grips the arms and glares up at Arthur. "Why aren't any of the nurses stopping you? Stop this right now!"
Arthur only smiles down, as if placating a whining brat.
"Why are none of the nurses noticing that you're abducting me right in front of them?" Yao tries again, both amazed and annoyed by the incompetence of the nurses.
"Don't be so dramatic," Arthur scolds. "I'm not abducting you." He leans down and whispers into Yao's ear, "I'm magical, remember? We're invisible to everyone else."
Yao shivers. "And you expect me to believe that?"
"Are you suggesting that I'm not?"
"Oh no, no, not at all. I'd never suggest something like that."
Arthur scowls.
The nurses pass by, but they do not stop them, do not look at Yao and Arthur.
"Stupid, incompetent…" Yao grumbles, sinking down in the chair.
They make it out of the hospital with no one seeming to notice them. And Yao wonders why his family bothered paying for a private hospital when everyone is so useless here.
Arthur takes him to a spot enclosed by trees and bushes and when the wheelchair has difficulty moving in the grass, Arthur shifts Yao on to his back and carries him the rest of the way.
"Being outside is good for you," Arthur says. "It's much better than being locked up in there." Yao chooses silence and rests his head on Arthur's shoulder. It's funny, but he had never thought of Arthur's shoulders as particularly strong before.
He keeps his eyes closed until Arthur stops and Yao finds that they are in a small clearing, the trees surrounding them almost completely obscuring the hospital. Around the clearing are the remains of a beautiful and manicured garden, it has grown slightly wild now, but it's beautiful nonetheless. The flowers are in full bloom and Yao would say that the place is almost magical if he didn't have such an aversion to the word. There is a small table in the middle of the clearing complete with two chairs and cups and a teapot are set out. Arthur seats Yao at the table while Yao trails his fingers along bunches of flowers haphazardly gathered and tied together.
Yao's not sure whether to laugh or pity Arthur. "Did you set all these out?"
"I had help. The fairies always know where the best flowers are," Arthur answers, holding up a pale pink rose to Yao's face. Brushing the flower aside, Yao's mouth forms a thin line.
"Arthur…" he begins, but it turns into a sigh. Sometimes he forgets what Arthur's like; sometimes he can almost believe that Arthur is normal.
"Cup of tea?"
"Please." He'll let it go for now, indulge in this moment for a bit. He gives Arthur a small smile, blushes when Arthur notices.
The next few days, Arthur doesn't come to visit and despite himself, Yao grows worried. The nurses have no answer for him when Yao asks.
("Don't worry, dearie. I'm sure he'll come round soon enough," is the most he gets.)
So Yao sleeps, reads, sighs. He gets the solitude and peace that he always complains for when Arthur's around. He refuses to spend time with anyone else and the nurses sigh at his difficulty.
He's so bored, so sick of the same routine that when he suffers another attack, he's almost glad for the change.
It takes a few days to recover and he's weaker than before, but Arthur comes to visit. The British boy sits at the end of the bed, facing away from Yao.
"Why haven't you come to see me?" Yao spits out, harsh and demanding. Arthur just shifts uncomfortably. "Well?"
"My parents came to visit me." The words are hard and forced.
"So? That's nice. What's wrong with you? I'd be happy if my family came to visit me." Yao's forgotten, quite conveniently too, that he's the one who requested that his family don't come visit him, not after he's been hospitalized. They've already said their goodbyes and Yao didn't want his family to have to see him. But he's lonely and it's easier to forget and feel sorry for himself.
Arthur's hand squishes Yao's face. "Be quiet." The searching look that Arthur gives Yao makes him feel uncomfortable and whatever Arthur's looking for he doesn't seem to find.
"I…" Arthur starts, but trails off, not knowing how to express himself. "Yao, I have to tell-"
And the chance to continue is lost.
Arthur had never witnessed one of Yao's attacks before. The nurses quickly come and he is pushed from the room. A nurse steers him back to his ward, mindful of how Arthur doesn't seem to be aware of his surroundings.
He's been sheltered, he realizes, very sheltered. Well. That's something for him to think about.
Yao pouts because he's not allowed out of bed and it's boring and he's annoyed with the nurses fussing over him. He refuses to admit that he doesn't actually have the strength to get out of bed.
"He's just upset because Arthur isn't around him right now," one nurse explains to a newer nurse. Yao hates it when they talk as if he isn't around when they're standing right next to his bed. There's nothing wrong with his hearing.
"Arthur… Kirkland right? So he's the son of the owner's? Is that why he's always allowed to do whatever he wants?" The nurse clucks her tongue in annoyance. "He's always causing so much trouble, wandering around. I didn't realize who he is, though."
For once Yao is glad that he's apparently invisible to the nurses.
"He seems normal enough," the new nurse continues, ventures to say this.
"Normal?" the other wrinkles her nose. "He's not exactly a boy anymore and he completely believes in magic, thinks he's magic, claiming that fairies and brownies are communicating with him. He hears voices. That's normal?"
"Well…"
"It's a good thing for the Kirklands that they own and run a hospital, isn't it? They can lock away their crazy son in here, away from the public and prying eyes. Have you seen the way Mr. Kirkland looks at his son, though?" the nurse says in hushed tones.
"I haven't, how?"
"It's like that boy's a complete embarrassment to him. I hear he's extremely harsh to him and he hardly ever comes to see him."
"It's a pity."
"Well, at least the boy gets free run of the place. Does whatever he wants and gets away with it. Absolute gentleman towards the nurses most of the time. Odd one, isn't he?"
"Mmm."
Yao didn't get to hear any more of their conversation as they had left the room, but he had heard enough to get him thinking.
When Yao is feeling stronger and Arthur still hasn't shown up, he demands one of the nurses take him outside to see the beautiful garden. Confusion spreads across the middle-aged nurse's face.
"What garden?" she asks.
"The garden," Yao answers impatiently. If he weren't sick and frustrated he would show all the respect in the world to the nurses and doctors and other patients. "It's in a small clearing with lots of trees and bushes around the edge. There's a table there."
"I am not sure what you're talking about- I've never heard nor seen a garden. Regardless, you can't go outside right now."
Yao fights the urge to scowl at her. He persists and persists until one of them takes him outside. The nurse wheels him around and around in a small wheelchair over broken concrete and small rocks, making for a very bumpy journey. Yao instructs the nurse on where to go and he complies with a stifled sigh.
The nurse helps Yao search for the spot of the clearing, but they only find fencing on the other side of the trees. Confused, Yao makes the man take him all around the hospital, even though Yao was completely sure that that was where the clearing is.
They never find anything, only fences and the male nurse gently tells Yao that no one has ever heard of there being a garden.
And it's incredibly stupid and unreasonable how much this crushes Yao.
It wouldn't be until several days later when Arthur returned and Yao had recovered much of his strength (though, he hadn't truly been strong in a very long time). Yao watches him with hostility, but Arthur only scowled back at him, used to this sort of treatment and thought it nothing out of the ordinary.
Arthur sits down, perching precariously on the edge of the small chair by Yao's bed and proceeds to tell him about a book that this kind Canadian patient had lent to him. Yao does not listen. Arthur must have realized this because he switches to talking about the garden outside and how beautiful it is now and how they should go see it.
"Don't be an idiot, there is no garden," Yao interjects.
Arthur falters. "Pardon?"
"There isn't a garden," Yao repeats. "I got a nurse to take me to find it, but we didn't and no knows anything about a garden. I must have just dreamed there was a garden. I must be going crazy, too." He glances at Arthur. "Go away."
"Don't be ridiculous." Arthur's moved closer and Yao's uncertain whether he wants to punch Arthur or pull him in for a kiss. "Of course no one else knows where the garden is, it's magic and only I can find it."
"Do you really expect me to believe that?"
"Yes. Now lets go."
Yao stares. The punch definitely seems like the more attractive option now. "You know I'm not supposed to go out."
"Don't worry," Arthur tries to be soothing. "You'll be fine. My magic will protect you. You were fine the time we went there."
"I can't!" Yao grabs Arthur's face, forcing him to look, actually look. "I'm dying. Stop ignoring this! Stop hiding in your imagination and start living in reality! You don't have magic and I'm going to die. Soon. So go away."
"Let go of me, you git." Arthur shoves Yao's hands away. "You're being hysterical. Listen, you're going to live, I know it."
"Oh, is your magic going to save me? Hmm?"
Arthur is silent.
Yao calls for the nurses to take Arthur away.
Yao hates how he desperately wants to believe that Arthur's not crazy, how there might actually be magic. Mostly, he hates how much he wants there to be magic because he doesn't want to die.
Earlier he had been told that he really doesn't have long now- the attacks are stronger and have been happening more frequently.
It's not too long now.
One last gift
It's three days later or something like that when Yao wakes in the middle of the night to see Arthur by his side. He goes to tell Arthur to stop being so creepy and to act like a normal person, but something about the look in Arthur's eyes stops him.
"Lets go," Arthur tells him.
"Go where?" Yao whispers. "I'm not going anywhere. I'm going to die."
"But don't you feel stronger now? Look, you've managed to get out of bed without help."
To Yao's surprise, he has gotten out of bed though he doesn't recall doing so. And he does feel stronger, strangely, perhaps almost as strong as he was before he got sick. At least, he's much stronger than he has been for a very long time.
"How-?"
"Lets go. Unless you'd rather stay here and just die."
It's only a few minutes later that the hospital staff realizes that Yao's gone and that Arthur's disappeared. It's only a few minutes and yet no one claims to have seen them and when they search for them- and how hard can it be to locate two boys, especially when one of them cannot handle being outside- but they never do find them.
Soooo whether you choose to believe that Arthur is actually magic and stuff and Yao doesn't die, or that he's not (and just crazy) and Yao just chose to spend his remaining time with him is up to you :)