Bonjour. I'm finally making the transition from T&L to my new story! I couldn't wait til the last chapter, so I put this up early :D It's gonna be very angsty, my fellow readers! I hope you like the first chapter! (Hehe, you don't get to know who it's about until the next chapter! :P)
Disclaimer: I don't own it... Yet. Muahahaha! No, if I owned it, it would be a drama, not a kid show :D But I don't so, boohoo for me! I'll be in my corner crying.
He has a romantic heart. Or at least, that's what he thinks he has. That's what Mommy tells him whenever they go to see the too-happy doctor at the too-happy hospital. He doesn't like going there. Not one bit.
The walls are an awful yellow color, attempting to bring false cheeriness into a dark and sorrowful place. The nurses always walk by offering fake smiles, as though it's going to make your stay any better. It doesn't. He has been here enough times to realize that no matter how many times they smile, the news never gets better. Once in a while, maybe. But most of the time? No.
He learned the difference between their various smiles. There are two that he knows of. One is given to the patient who has just given birth to the beautiful baby girl, or the patient who was cured and can go home.
He wished he could get that smile. But no. He gets the other one. The one given to the families of deceased patients, the one given to the patients who are told that they are terminally ill. The one given to him.
His Mommy told him earlier this morning that they had to go to the hospital today. "They are going to run a couple more tests." She had told him, grabbing his hand and ushering him out the door. He quickly grabbed his coat and slid his arms through the sleeves, welcoming the warmth. It was a freezing winter this time of year in Minnesota. Anyone not wearing a coat instantly got sick. As soon as he stepped through the doorway, the cold bit him on the nose and nipped at his finger. A wispy cough escaped from between his small lips. His Mommy threw him a worried glance. He brushed it off. He's had the cough since a year ago, and since then, has gotten used to it.
"C'mon hon, hurry and get in the car!" She plastered a hopeful smile on her face and helped him into the van, buckling him into his seat. The whole car ride was rather uneventful. It was actually spent in silence. Both him and his Mommy were too focused on other things to start small talking. No, "how was school?" or, "did you have fun at your friend's house?" Just… quiet.
And that's how he ended up here. Sitting on a table in the small, starchy, and uncomfortable doctor's office. The air smelled too clean. Sort of like soap! He thinks to himself. He swings his small legs back and forth, shivering as a chill travels down his spine. They had been to the doctor yesterday, where all they did was stick a swab to the back of his throat (his Mommy made him apologize after for throwing up on the nurse…) and listen to his heart through a stethia- stethioso- hmm.
"Mommy?" He calls, breaking the deafening silence between them. His Mommy looks up from her twiddling thumbs and makes eye contact with her baby boy.
"Yes, baby?" He smiles. He loves it when his Mommy calls him those funny nicknames.
"Well, I was just wonderin what that funny thingy is that they put over my heart." His huge eyes grew wider as he waited for his Mommy's answer.
"It's a stethoscope, sweetie. They use it to hear your heart go- thump thump!" Mommy walks up to him and kneels down so that she is at eye level with him sitting on the table. She smiles and places her hand over his tiny one, moving it so that it's resting over his heart.
"Can you feel that?"
He giggles and begins to count how many thumps he feels.
"Momma?" He asks in a curious and small voice.
"Yeah?"
"Why are they always checkin my thump thump?" His Mommy looked him in the eyes and sighed. Her gaze drifted and she began to poke at his tiny feet that dangled helplessly off the edge of the table.
"Well honey," She started, looking really strained and sad. He immediately began to panic. He didn't like it when people were sad or cried. If talking about it was gonna make his Mommy sad, that he wanted to stop. Now.
"No, Mommy, it's okay." He urged her to stop, but she just smiled and chuckled.
"It's okay, baby. I'll tell you… when you were only four years old, you came down with an infection called strep throat. Remember when you're throat hurt and you had to take that pink medicine?"
"Yup! It was icky!" He stuck his tongue out and his Mommy smiled.
"Yes, well, we gave you medicine, but it never got rid of the infection. This caused you to get sick, which led to your heart getting damaged." His Mommy gave him a sad smile, tears beginning to well up in the corners of her eyes.
He nodded slowly, remembering when he had to go through all of that. He remembered his first day of preschool, and how he wasn't allowed to run around like crazy like the rest of his three other best friends. It wasn't fair. Nor was it fun.
He was very curious now.
"Isn't that when you told me that I has a romantic heart?"
Mommy laughed once again.
"Not romantic, honey. Rheumatic." But to his childish ears, they sounded the same. He was about to say something to his Mommy when the happy-go-lucky doctor burst through the doors.
"Good evening!" He smiled and stuck his thick, sweaty hand out to shake Mommy's hand and then mine. As soon as the doctor turned to walk back to his chair, he retracted his hand quickly and wiped it against his hospital gown. Yuck! A grimace was on his face, but as soon as he saw his Mommy give him a stern glare, it vanished.
"So, do you have any good news?" Mommy asked, fiddling nervously with the straps of her purse. Her eyes held hope. Determination. Love.
"Actually Miss, I do. Great news, to be exact!" Mommy nodded and stared at the doctor in anticipation.
A few seconds passed.
"It's gone."
A couple more… and… Mommy jumped up in the air and started screaming words of joy. Or at least, that's what he thought they were.
"Are you s-serious?" She stuttered, a huge smile emerging on her lips.
"Completely! But I can't stress enough how important it is that you keep him from getting the infection again."
His Mommy burst into laughter and hugged the doctor. Then him. He looked at his Mommy and giggled, relieved to see her happy again. As long as she's happy, he's happy. His Mommy picked him up from the table, helped him get changed, and then carried him out of the room, stopping to pick up a sticker on the way out.
They spent the rest of the day doing fun things; going to the playground, buying hot chocolate, watching a movie… He's never seen his Mommy so happy before.
But he was glad that he could be the cause of it.
Unfortunately, he never realized that in 10 years he would once again begin to receive those horrid smiles from the nurses, and he would once again cause his family and friend's the same grief that his mother had to go through alone. Maybe even worse.
Well, you know what they say. Whatever happens one, will definitely happen again.
Wowzers. Can anyone guess who it is? Go on, guess! Lol. I bet everyone knows _. You reviewers always do.
It's creepy.
Lol. Hope you enjoyed this chapter :D
Whatever the aliens say,
TealMoose