19. Tears
Ann and her husband Al had gone out on a date for their anniversary and left their twelve-year old son in the care of their neighbour, See-U. She was just a kid herself; barely seventeen, but she had always adored their Oliver and the friendly Korean immediately accepted to look after him while they were away.
Oliver…
Ann looked at her son lying in a hospital bed asleep, biting her lip so hard it bled. Al wearily sat down beside her, his face white with shock. It was meant to be a nice quiet night for Oliver. But no one could've predicted what happened next.
When they had gotten the call from a hysterical See-U, they didn't know what to think. Al had hung up after she had told him what had happened and he only had to look at his wife for her to know that something had gone terribly wrong.
See-U was in the waiting room now, shivering. A nurse had put a blanket around her and was trying to calm her down but See-U was too distraught to pay attention. It had been all her fault, she should have been more careful. She had babysit little Oliver before of course and he really enjoyed her company. Everything was going smoothly until she had messed it up.
Brushing some sunny tendrils from her face she tried to make sense of what had happened. Someone was asking her questions but it was like See-U couldn't hear them at all. They wanted to know what had gone on in that house but See-U was just trying to get her head around it herself.
She had been making them dinner and quickly went downstairs to go to the bathroom. She overheard Oliver saying he would take over watching the food while she was gone. See-U couldn't remember if she had answered him or not. Inside the bathroom she was idly fiddling with her uncontrollably curly hair and applied a new coating of lip gloss. She couldn't have left him alone for more than two minutes when she heard a WHOOSH and a scream.
Help had arrived just in time to carry her out and the paramedics told her that she was extremely lucky in the sudden explosion. They had said it was a gas leak and that it could've happened to anyone but See-U hadn't really listened to this as she was looking up at the house, the second floor completely coated with amber and gold flames in horror.
Oliver was carried out, unconscious and as the brave fire-fighter helped ease him down onto a stretcher, See-U heard him mention something about a burn.
"Oliver…" See-U croaked, still dizzy. Even so she stood up and hobbled over to the thin bed that was hurriedly being taken into an ambulance. See-U wasn't able to see Oliver properly. He was alive to her relief, and the mere sight of his chest rising and falling calmed her a little. But what worried her now was the paramedics were spending an awfully long time on the one side of Oliver's face that See-U couldn't see.
See-U snapped out of her worry and called Oliver's parents who said they'd meet her at the hospital. The paramedics let her into the ambulance too so they could check she hadn't inhaled too much smoke. She was allowed to hold Oliver's hand while the ambulance drove away and the nurses didn't mind as they were putting most of their energy into working on Oliver's face. See-U didn't want to see the ugly burn that had been left behind and simply focused on holding his hand tightly…
The doctors told Al and Ann who told See-U that Oliver was stable and was going to be fine but the explosion had scarred the side of his face horribly and his eye could not be saved in the process. Both parents would know that they would grieve over this loss but they were immensely thankful to the paramedics and the brave fire-fighters who had saved their son's life.
When See-U heard this she felt ashamed. She had been given an important job to look after Oliver and she had failed. More so then she could have ever imagined. She should have checked the stove properly before she tried to cook; she knew that Al was constantly saying they needed to replace it. And why had she left Oliver alone to take a hit that should've been for her.
Thanks to her, Oliver would never be the same again.
When she voiced her guilt to them they calmed her down, Ann smoothing her hair out and Al rubbing her back in moral support. They told her it wasn't her fault and See-U couldn't even begin to believe their forgiveness. She had never felt so bad or so scared in her life, See-U started to shake again in the comfort of Ann and Al's arms and then, all three of them began to cry.
In the mix of crying for Oliver and their destroyed house, they shared tears of relief, happiness and hope. All these intangible feelings that had twisted into their hearts that horrific night flowed out of them as salty water on their faces. Al, Ann and Sweet let go of one another, sniffling and instantly feeling refreshed and calm.
"Tears are wondrous things, aren't they?" Ann said, dabbing at her husband's eyes with a hankie, "They heal, you know?"
"Mhmm," See-U mumbled, wiping her eyes with her sleeve.
A week later Oliver was cheerfully sitting up in his hospital bed, waiting for See-U to walk through the door. See-U crept inside, holding a big bag full of goodies, dropping them to hug her friend.
"Did you get me my hat?" Oliver asked excitedly as See-U rustled through the bag.
"Hmm, I'm not sure," See-U said vaguely, "Maybe I forgot it?"
Oliver's jaw dropped, "No way! You promised you'd bring it!"
See-U exposed his sailor's cap from the bag, holding the brim with two fingers.
"Kidding. A promise is a promise, Oliver." She leant forward to pull his cap on, tugging it over his spiky blonde hair. She made care not to mess up his bandages that wound around one side of his head, his hair getting tangled with it. Oliver hated it and kept scratching but it was there to cover the damage to his eye and the space around it. Strangely, he didn't mind too much and Al had even joked that he could become a full-fledged pirate now. Ann wasn't very happy about that. Honestly, See-u thought it was very cute, white bandages appearing underneath his hair. Oliver's favourite hat in the world, his sea captain cap still fit proudly on his head and the bandages actually made the whole appearance look very cool. When See-U handed him a mirror, he was thoroughly pleased.
"Whoa…" he breathed, grinning from ear to ear. When his eyes left the mirror he saw See-U who was hunched down in the visitor's chair looking sad.
"See?" Oliver gently said to her. See-U looked up and Oliver saw the water in her bright blue eyes.
"See?" he said again, easing his way across to put a hand on her back. He was all too aware of how guilty See-U felt about the whole thing. See-U looked at the young, innocent boy.
"It wasn't your fault, you know?"
See-U tried to blink away her tears, "I know. You're really amazing, Oliver."
Oliver grinned at his friend who was now slowly cheering up. The compliment didn't hurt either.
"Mum says tears heal. Do you believe that?"
See-U nodded, "Yes she told me. I think I do believe that."
Oliver thought for a moment, tapping his finger against his lip. Then he had an idea.
"If I can become healed, then I can go home right?"
"Yes?" See-U wasn't sure what the sailor was talking about.
"I'd like that."
"I'd like that too, Oliver. Everyone wants to see you come home."
Oliver face lit up for a brief moment before it fell. "But…I don't feel like crying. I really want to go home but I can't seem to make the tears come."
It was true, the whole week he had been in that hospital ward; Oliver hadn't shed a single tear. See-U was unsure on what to do or how to console him.
Oliver caught her eyes with a steady gaze, "Can you cry for me? So I can heal?"
See-U blinked at his odd question but she smiled at him, pulling her chair closer to his bed. She laid her head down beside his legs, staring at him. His amber eyes were soft and honest and above all hopeful.
See-U didn't have to think about crying because the tears were already running down her cheeks.
"Sure, Oliver."
