Love at Last Sign


Third Sign

The girl was awake again in the following morning. Her complexion was worse than the day before and Natsume guessed that it was got to do with the cancer. She looked very pale and weak but there was one thing that amused him- she was smiling radiantly to the nurses as if she was not suffering from cancer at all. If only he could be that optimistic, he would not be in a bad mood for three days.

She was dying whereas he could continue living. God spared his life but He would be taking hers. She would not be able to experience marriage while he could do so in the future. However, there was one thing in common between them- they would not be able to see the world in the future.

Life was indeed unfair.

"Hey," he called out to that girl after the nurses left.

The girl stared blankly at him for a moment and then she waved to him. She did the same strange hand movements again and waited for his response.

"I don't know what you're trying to hint to me," Natsume muttered and rubbed his forehead. "Can you at least write something on a piece of paper so that I can read what you want to tell me?"

The girl looked around and shrugged. There were no paper and pencil in the ward. Natsume sighed and thought hard. How was he going to understand her? He did not even understand sign languages!

"Forget it. Please try to do something which is understandable to me," he suggested.

The girl rubbed her chin and thought very hard. Suddenly, she flicked her fingers and started doing a few actions. First, she pointed at Natsume. Then, she put her hands together and separated them like a opening a book. She placed her left hand in front of her lips to create a duck-like shaped 'beck' as she opened and closed the gap in between her thumb and her other fingers.

Natsume immediately understood what she meant and asked, "So, do you want me to tell you a story?"

The girl nodded.

"How old are you now? Only little children hear bedtime stories."

Upon hearing that, she pouted.

"Okay, fine. What do you like to hear?"

She pointed at him excitedly.

"Me?"

She nodded again.

"Why do you want to hear about me?" he asked curiously. "I'm just a stranger."

She shook her head with a smile.

"Oh, so you think that I am someone close to you," he teased but in a monotonous voice. "Very interesting."

The girl immediately waved her hands in the air, disagreeing to what he had just said. Her face also turned slightly pinkish and that made Natsume want to tease her further.

"I am Natsume Hyuuga, fourteen years old and currently studying in Alice Academy," he started introducing himself.

He was not afraid to share those information, which he usually kept to himself unless the situation forbade him to do so, with her because there was no way for her to be telling them to anyone. Firstly, she was a mute. Secondly, she was going to die. Thirdly, she still looked like a stupid donkey to him.

"My father had passed away three years ago because of an unforeseen accident and my mother is now a sole breadwinner. I have a little sister whose name is Aoi Hyuuga. She is very annoying, just like every little sister in the world."

The girl frowned at the way he called his sister 'annoying'. That should not be the way. Little sisters are adorable and fun to be with. She shook her head and made a cross sign with her two index fingers. Natsume rolled his eyes and stuck out his tongue at her.

"So, tell me about yourself then. And please use simple sign languages," he said. "By the way, it is not like I want to know anything about you but since I have told you about me, it is your turn to share yours."

The girl beamed and started on her introduction. She used very simple sign languages to communicate with Natsume and very soon, he knew some things about her. For example, he knew that she was the same age as him, loved eating tangerines, liked playing dodgeball and hated Mathematics subject. It was like playing charred with each other; she did the actions while Natsume tried to guess the words or phrases.

Suddenly, the girl raised her hands and waved to him, signaling him to pause the 'game' for a moment. She looked as if she was in pain as her face crumpled and her hands were pressing the two sides of her head. Her hand reached out to the red emergency button next to her and pressed it. She lay back down on her bed and curled herself into a ball.

Natsume stared at her with wide eyes and asked worriedly, "Are you all right? What happened?"

The girl did not respond to him at all. She remained in that position until a few nurses attended to her. One of the nurses took out a syringe and japed her arm. Within a few seconds, the girl calmed down and fell asleep.

When the nurses were about to leave the ward, Natsume called out to one of them and queried, "Will she be all right?"

The nurse nodded and replied, "Yes, she will. We have just injected her with Morphine."

-:-:-:-

"She's asleep again," Koko muttered and was giving that same pitiful look on his face. "Having cancer at such a young age is tough and sad."

"Don't disturb her. She has been injected with Morphine," Natsume said in a low voice.

Kitsuneme gaped at Natsume and exclaimed, "Morphine? Is that some kind of powerful drugs which usually acts as painkillers?"

"Yes," Ruka answered Kitsuneme. "However, this drug will be useless to her body sooner or later. It will be worst if the doctors decide to give her something more powerful than Morphine later."

"Do you mean that the doctors might double the dosage of the Morphine?"

"Maybe so, but her body would be harmed."

"Don't worry," Natsume interjected. "She is going to die soon. The current amount of Morphine she is taking right now should be enough for her to last till her last breath."

His three friends hung their heads low and Natsume began to wonder why they cared so much about her. She was neither related to them in any ways. She was just a stranger whom they met in the same ward as him. He did not know that his friends were so caring for an unknown girl before. He shook his head and exhaled deeply at the thought of them trying to flirt with her before her impending death.

"What a poor thing," Ruka mumbled very softly, making the boys turned and looked at him questionably.

Natsume had heard his comment and said with a small smile, "No, I don't think so. By the way, I think she is the best person I have ever seen in my life."

The boys gasped. It was their first time Natsume complimented someone, especially a girl!

Koko held onto Natsume's arm and asked worriedly, "Na... Natsume? Are you home?"

As he ignored Koko's words, he stole a glance at the sleeping girl and said, "Despite her disease, she is always smiling and tries to brighten everyone's day. Because of her, I feel like I was being too pessimistic for the past few days. Maybe I should be like her. I should spent my time well before I lose my eyesight and cannot see the true beauty of the world. Unlike her, there is still hope for me in the future."

This time, the young boys' eyes began to water after listening to Natsume's short speech. Because of that girl, Natsume had changed. He was no longer unhappy and frustrated. He had finally accepted his sickness and moved on.

While they were staring at that girl, they were wondering what kind of girl she was to have such a huge influence on Natsume within just one day.


Hi guys, thanks for reading up to Chapter 3.

Next, I would like to thank those who had reviewed Chapter 2. Thanks for all those encouragements. Hope to hear more from you again! :D

Here are the reviewers:

- Mystique0831
-
edwardelric108
- heart12
- sakura-san29
- adrienna22
- crimson hazel hearts
- CeciliaWinnifer
- lisaOpine

Lastly, I would also like to thank those who had story alerted and favourited this story. I am so touched! :'D


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