A/N: Okay, so this is my first real stab at Mahealahey. I'm posting the first three chapter's all at once because they're all up on AO3, but after that, it will be one at a time! Let me know what you guys think!
Disclaimer: Title from the song of the same title by Rob Thomas.
Every Saturday, Isaac volunteers at the children's hospital. He doesn't tell Scott, or Stiles, or Derek, or any of them, because this belongs to him, and him alone, but every Saturday morning between 8 AM and noon, he goes from room to room, drawing pictures, reading stories, and taking away as much of their pain as he can.
It hurts him every time – of course it does, because things like that, taking away the pain of others – well, that pain has to go somewhere, but it's worth it, even if he has to sleep for about 6 hours to feel better after every shift. It's hard, being in there with all of those kids, knowing that some of them won't get healthy, that some of them might never go home, but he has to keep his spirits up, because he knows that what he does makes them feel better. It doesn't heal them, or fix what's wrong with them, but it makes them feel better in the moment, and that's better than nothing.
First, he starts off with Jake, a 9 year old boy who's in on and out for Cystic Fibrosis. Isaac didn't know anything about CF before meeting Jake, but he's done his research, and now he knows how hard it is for this kid, and how hard it is going to be for him for the rest of his life – a life that, while lengthened greatly by medical science in the last few years, will still be shorter than most.
Jake likes Batman comics, so that's what Isaac does. He sits in a chair next to Jake, and reads him comics, slowly, subtly sucking the pain from him with one hand lightly touching the boy's arm as he does so. He knows that putting on that brave face and laughing at the funny moments in the comics can't be easy for the little boy, so Isaac puts on his brave face, too, and tries to be okay with the fact that he knows how much this kid is hurting, even though at 9 years old, he's already learned to hide it from the world.
Next is Maggie. She's 7, and Isaac thinks that that's far too young for anyone to have to be going through what she's going through. She was born with a hole in her heart, and she's on the list for a transplant, and she's pretty high up – her prognosis looks good, great, in fact, but that doesn't keep Isaac from knowing how much she hurts as he slowly seeps her pain away while wearing a princess tiara and having a tea party with her, her dolly, and the teddy bear named Gus that sits with her on her bed.
Some of the kids that are at the hospital are there for really serious things, some not so much – so every week, there are a few kids that have gone home, and a few new ones who will only be there that one week, thank god, before they go home.
Of course, every couple of weeks, there's always a bed that's empty for all of the wrong reasons, and it's those times that Isaac wishes there were some way to help take away the emotional pain of the parents. He saw his parents go through losing his brother, and he was young, but he knows it wasn't easy on them…and he knows what it turned his father into. He just hopes that nothing like that will happen to any of these parents, and he makes himself believe in an afterlife for those kids, because if he didn't, he knows he'd never sleep again.
Isaac makes his way through the day drawing pictures with Sammy, and listening to pop music with Rocky. He makes origami cranes with Selena and her siblings, because they're hoping for a miracle if they reach 1000, and he'll do anything to help them get there…including making as many as he can in his free time, which he can, and does do, on a regular basis. He brings what he made with him in a container every week.
Lastly, every week, there's Maia. Every week, Isaac hopes that when he gets to her hall, she will have gone home, and every week, he finds that he isn't that lucky. Maia is only five years old, she's about the sweetest little girl that Isaac has ever met, and she just happens to be Danny Mahealani's younger sister.
"Hey, Maia." He plasters on a smile as he enters her room, to hide the fact that he's heartbroken that she's still there.
"Isaac!" Her eyes brighten as he enters the room, and he isn't sure why, but she seems to like him best of any of the kids he visits. She says that she always feels better when he's there, and he knows why that is, but he can't tell her. How could he? "Look!" She holds up a coloring book, one with dinosaurs, that Isaac is pretty sure he hasn't seen before.
"That's awesome!" He grins, sitting down in the chair by her hospital bed. "Is that new?" he asks.
"Yup!" She grins, proud amidst the pain that she's in. She was diagnosed with Leukemia about a year ago, and while she's fighting it hard, it's not easy for someone so young. It's easier to keep her in the hospital with the chemo than it is to take her home in between treatment sessions, but he knows her family spends a lot of time there. "Danny gave it to me," she states.
"Oh, cool. Do you want to color something for him?" Isaac asks. He knows all about Danny, both from Maia, and because they go to school together, play lacrosse together, but he's pretty sure that Danny doesn't know that he visits Maia, because he's pretty sure Danny would mention something if he did.
"Yes." She nods. "Stellasaurus," she states, holding up a picture of a very cartoonish stegosaurus.
"Stegosaurus," Isaac corrects, smiling as he roots around the room for her box of crayons. Maia is super into coloring books, and Isaac always, always obliges.
"That's what I said!" Maia insists with a giggle.
"Alright, alright," Isaac concedes; after all, what kind of jackass argues with a sick five year old over the names of dinosaurs? "Do you want me to color with you, or do you want me to do my own?" Some weeks, they color one picture together, some weeks, they do they're own.
"You can help me," she says. "I want it to be special."
"Okay." Isaac waits to be handed a crayon, and he places one hand near her shoulder, just enough to subtly make contact, leeching out pain bit by bit, as they work on the dinosaur.
When they're done, the stegosaurus is bright orange with rainbow plates on its back, and its tail is purple and blue striped. It looks, well, very much like it was drawn by a child with the help of an adult, which it was. Sort of. Isaac technically isn't an adult yet, after all.
"Danny'll love it!" Maia grins up at Isaac. "Can you write 'TO DANNY love MAIA?' on it?" she asks, handing him a red crayon.
"Sure can." He smiles, writing the words in his best handwriting. He's never been much for penmanship, but this seems like a time to be careful. It doesn't have to look good, but it does have to be legible, and based on what Isaac knows about the kind of guy Danny is, this picture will probably end up on his wall, or maybe even in his locker.
Isaac's pretty sure that he's seen colored pages on the inside of Danny's locker before, but he's never had the courage to really look long enough. He doesn't want to get caught staring, and have to explain it.
When they're done, Isaac looks down at his watch. It's a couple minutes after noon, and he's overstayed his shift at the hospital.
"Okay, kid, it's about that time," Isaac says gently, rising to his feet.
"Noooo," Maia looks up at him, pleading with her big, brown eyes, and dimples just like her brothers, for him to stay. "You make me feel better!"
"I know, but I have to go, I'm sorry, Maia, but I'll be back, okay? Next week. I promise. And I'll bring you something special, okay?"
"Okay…" Maia looks disappointed, but there's nothing that Isaac can do. He can't stay here forever, he can't be here all the time, it just wouldn't make sense. Besides, he's exhausted, and in a lot of pain himself. He knows that he has to take care of his own needs, his own body, or he won't be able to keep doing this every week.
He reaches down to gather his bag, but he stops dead in his tracks at a voice behind him.
"So it's you."
Isaac turns around to find himself face to face with Danny.
"You're the boy who makes her feel better."
