Skye frowned, why were the nuns acting so weird today? They were bustling to and from with dishrags and bowls of water. Sister Margaret had told her to stay downstairs when she had asked what was going on. That meant, to an eight year old, that going upstairs was a must. She had been quietly biding her time until she could make a break for it. She was small and wiry enough to sneak around once she was up there, but getting up the stairs was going to be a problem.
Then suddenly, she saw her chance. The last sister had come down, at least by her count. She sprinted up as the sister turned the corner and was met with groans of pain. She bit her lip in worry and wandered down the hall towards it. When she got to the cracked door, with the groans coming from behind it, she peeked in. There, lying on the bed, was a boy maybe three years older than her. He had glasses over his eyes, and was clutching at the sheets in pain.
Daisy frowned and pushed the door open further. She walked up to the bedside of the boy and stood there for a moment waiting for him to see her. After about a minute, she finally decided to say something.
"Why are you wearing sunglasses inside?" He jumped, had he not noticed her?
"Who-Whose there?" He seemed to relax a little, having someone so close. He was no longer clutching the sheets. She tried to wave a hand in front of his face, but he didn't react. "I'm blind, stop waving your hand in front of me."
She frowned, "How did you know I was doing that if you are blind?"
He flushed and mumbled back, "I can hear the air whooshing."
She paused at that and looked him up and down. "That's kind of cool. Are you sick though? You were acting like you had a bad tummy ache?"
He seemed to relax more, and tried to give a smirk, "The city is too loud outside, I can hear everything and it hurts my head." He frowned in confusion, "But its better now…"
Skye shrugged and leaped up on the edge of his bed, "Probably cause you are focusing on one thing now. I'm Skye, by the way."
He seemed to consider her explanation and shrugged, not having a better one himself. "I'm Matt. I'd say it's nice to see you, but you know…" Skye laughed.
"You're funny! So why are you up here alone?" She then looked down and took his hand that was laid out on the bed. He stiffened at the unexpected touch but didn't pull away. If he was having trouble focusing, Skye figured, that being able to use your other senses would help anchor him. She began playing with his fingers as he spoke about how he came to be in the orphanage and his blindness. "I'm sorry about your Daddy. I've never had one, but he sounded like a good one. And you were like a superhero saving that old man!" Matt smiled at her sadly, a flush coming over his cheeks at her praise.
"Thanks. Yeah, he was. But maybe whoever adopts you will be an awesome cool dad. Maybe like a super spy." Skye snorted at him.
"Those probably aren't even real." Matt just shrugged sheepishly. He looked at her curiously again, his hand still sitting still in her lap, letting her play with it.
"Why are you up here and not playing with the other kids?" She jumped a bit and looked at his dark lenses, holding his motionless eyes behind them, before sighing sadly.
"They don't like me. I don't have any friends. I always get brought back too, and I don't know why." She pouted, she knew she was a big girl now, but she couldn't help it. She wanted just one friend.
"I'll be your friend." He said softly. This caused her to look up at him shocked. He tried to smile. "You are up here taking care of me, and you being here helps me block out everything. Plus, you are the nicest person I've met here." She squeezed his hand in thanks, because she couldn't speak. Her throat was clogged up with emotions that she didn't know how to express. He just smiled at her, cocking his head to the side as if listening to something. "You better get going. The nuns are planning to come back up here. Come back and visit me tomorrow… please?" She nodded, before remembering he couldn't see her and voiced her approval. He finally squeezed her hand back and let go. She stood up and slipped back down the stairs as quickly as she could, narrowly missing the nuns going back up the stairs.
Not only had her curiosity paid off, but it had gotten her, against all odds, her first friend. She grinned giddily and all but skipped back to her room.
