This is for Terri and Charlie, my Riku and Kairi.

The Words That Heal Us

My mental status for today is: pained yet intrigued.

Since my mother, Kelly, seemed to have rented an apartment that was abnormally close to st. Jude's, and since we were a family of low income, we were benefitted by their various insurance plans and assistance. These factors, as well as how it was the closest, led me to get my arm reset and casted at the children's research hospital.
Right now I was laying in my bed, glancing at either the ceiling of the wall at any given time and glancing over the details of the intricate mural that resided there.
The theme for the level of the hospital was boats, as far as the bedrooms were concerned. My little bed was swaddled in a boat framing, making me feel oddly free and unshackled. There was a wooden table with some toys and a computer, and there was even a dresser with unknown contents that fit in with the nautical design.
The mural was gorgeous, depicting rough waters on the ocean with storms, an intense struggle for those on the boat, yet on the other side to my left, the seas were calm and skies sunny, passengers of the boat relaxing and reclining.
I felt something shift next to me, blonde cockatoo hair brushing and tickling me under my chin and a deadweight arm draping over my middle. There was this weird murmur, an odd shift in position, and then Roxas was like a stone once more.
A big, useless stone.
That was crushing my arm.
I used my healthy right arm to push him away, sitting up and escaping the bed before he could capture me again.
I was wearing one of those stupid hospital gowns, and didn't feel like letting other people stare at my boxers, so I robbed Roxas of his faded red shorts and then tucked him in, boat-covered sheets hiding his pink boxer-briefs from sight.
Chuckling to myself, I grabbed the weird pole-stick with the medicine baggie and started wandering. I snuck past my mother and Snow with cat-like grace and stealth, maneuvering myself from the corridor into the central room, which was rumored to be a play area for various other patients of the same general age. So, I wandered.
The central playroom was a giant ship, with board games and stuffed animals and little bean bags and tables in the centre. Around the outside were various slides, catacombs of tube in multitudes. I approached the opening to one of the slides, poking my head in and whispering a greeting, my voice tumbling and falling and echoing between us.
All I got to see before I collapsed was a flash of blue hospital gown and a low toned battle cry.
I gasped, thankfully being able to hold my broken arm away from any sort of impact or collision.
I glanced up, royal blue eyes wide with shock. In my frame of sight was a boy slightly older than me, with tousled brown hair. His bangs were split in the middle, exposing a diagonal scar on his forehead. His eyes were narrowed and a misty gray, with such a light tint of blue that made it look like a stormy sea.
I blinked dumbly, watching his frown turn into an odd little smirk.

"Hey, sorry for bumping into ya. You should be more careful next time, newby," he said snarling, rolling off me and then just sitting there, waiting for something.

I stood, peering down at him and just silently examining him.
He had a bit of muscle mass, yet it seemed to diminish slightly due to being cooped up in a hospital. He wore his gown backwards, as a vest instead of a dress, chest exposed to reveal a long scar from his chest to his navel. He had boxers on, with triforces on them.
Ooh, a Zelda fan... Maybe I could work with that...
I opened my mouth to introduce myself, sound barely tumbling out before the boy yelled something.

"Cloooouuuuuud! Come pick me up, I fell again!"

I heard an exaggerated sigh, and the rolling of wheels down a ramp. A blonde rounded the corner of the ship, a wheelchair in tow. At first I thought he was going to slam into the brunette on the floor, but he halted his movements a mere inch before contact. He circled around the chair, reaching down with his right arm to lift the brunette and plop him in the chair.
Oh wow, my observation skills suck.
The blonde boy turned slightly, the ear lack of a left arm nearly making me flinch. His eyes were a misty blue, unfocused and unseeing, their jelly texture itself being scarred. This 'Cloud' silently felt around the chair, wrapping slender fingers around the handles and then proceeding to push the brunette away. The brunette... Didn't have any legs, just stumps, the actual legs having been cut off just above the knee. I gulped, suddenly feeling very fortunate.
I was met with the sight of a beige sweater and pale legs walking away, the wheelchair making quiet thumping noises as it traversed over the separation in tiles. I followed them, not really knowing what else to do at that moment, since I didn't want to be all alone in the ship over yonder.
I wasn't so stealthy this time, my bare feet making light padding noises on the laminated floors.

"Leon, he's following us. Do you think he's a spy from Halloween Town?" Cloud whispered in a hushed tone, yet I was easily able to decode his words.

I didn't really understand what it meant though.

"No, don't be silly! He's the newby with the smashed arm, remember? Not that girl that's bunking with Jack... What's her name again..? Sammy...? Sallou..? Sally!" Leon said, arms flailing about as he spoke.

I resumed my persistent tailing, nearly stalking the two as they made their way back to their room. When they finally stopped by the door, I took a moment to gander at the logo-esq marking on the pale wood.

"Traverse town, where everyone keeps moving forward"

The door opened, and Leon was wheeled inside, automatically transferred to the bed, where he sat up and smirked at me. Cloud sat beside him, vacantly staring in my direction and pointing to the ground in front of them.
I sat as they had directed me to.
Their ground was a light oak wood, laminated to be nice and smooth. The walls looked like a city, with lights and signs and different stores, hotels, and even a courtyard. Both Cloud and Leon were perched on a bunkbed, the larger of the two facing out, the headboard under the alcove made by the top bunk, which was perpendicular to this one and smaller.

"Well, now that we've let you into our town, you need to state your name and rank, soldier!" Cloud said, a cheesy smile working its way into his pale face.

"Sora Greenfield, newby with broken bones, sir!" I said cheerily, playing along for old times sake.

Cloud laughed. As did Leon.
I found myself chuckling along with them, and soon we began talking, about random nonsensical things, like hometowns and parents and battle scars. Cloud lost his arm and sight in a fire, Leon's legs were lost in a car crash, his heart nearly mangled by debris.

I told them of my skateboarding escapade, and they laughed, telling me to be grateful I hadn't ended up like Axel. I had no idea who this Axel was, yet I was still glad to not be in his situation- whatever it was.
After a while I made my leave, closing the door to traverse town on my way out, and making my way back to my room, which was labeled 'Destiny Islands'.
As I opened the door and peered in to see Roxas fast asleep, I felt a pair of eyes bore into the back of my head. I shuddered, and slunk into the safety of my own room.

Please, reviews and favorites are appreciated if you like the story. I'd love to get feedback from you guys, if you're willing to give.

By darlings~!