Key
By: WhisperedSilvers
James Wellington cursed for the fifth time that morning. Fingers tightly grasping the remote of the hospital monitor, his thumb pressed the button rapidly and furiously. A few seconds passed before a nurse came bustling and breathing sharply.
“Is there something wrong, Mr. Wellington?” Blonde hair pinned into a tight bun pulled the skin of her face, enhancing the shape of her cheekbones.
He scowled, “Yes. When can I leave this hellhole?”
The nurse didn’t faze, “Your doctor left specific instructions for your complete recovery. Your surgery took very much out of you. Despite the wounds being superficial, you still have numerous splotches of third degree burns.”
James began to tune out when the medical terms started to fly out from her haughty mouth. The car accident seemed as fast it was seen but slow as he remembered. The car had hit the side of a pole and because of the push factor it snapped back onto the opposite side, dragging it across the concrete ramp. Fire was the last thing he saw before his vision tunneled into black.
He frowned again; it was just a couple of burns. It wasn’t like he broke his bones! The doctor had given him enough freedom than he thought he was worthy of. He was free to roam the hospital as long as he was back in his room by six. He was allowed to eat whatever he wanted, with the exception of alcohol. Of course. They wouldn’t give alcohol to a minor.
“Will that be all Mr. Wellington?”
He pretended to think, “Yes.”
Sarcasm made his thoughts seem a bite more sane than he would actually admit.
Apparently the small bite of acerbity made the nurse twitch before she plastered a bright smile, leaving the boy in his cubicle.
Two hours later.
Lunch had passed, he swallowed ragged chunks of grilled chicken, barely even tasting the synthetic charcoal marks and gobbled the rice without even pausing to chew. He was getting antsy. The television seemed to be stuck on soap operas, and he honestly didn’t feel like buzzing in the nurse.
James decided to explore the maze a bit, his long legs were covered by soft cotton pants his parents had brought earlier and a blue t-shirt that showed just enough of his shoulders to be not mistaken for a child.
The first floor was the reception area.
Research laboratory.
Surgery ward.
Pathology section.
Offices.
Children facility.
Balcony.
James did not understand why the hospital would have the children’s section and the balcony so close together. It’s like they were asking for a lawsuit.
It was like he was watching a movie.
Children were running, laughing and playing. Like nothing, absolutely nothing was wrong with them. The children facility was sectioned from rooms, to playrooms, to game rooms, and it was much better than his floor by a landslide. James walked oddly, light on his feet, his restlessness decreasing slowly.
A slight movement caught his eye, a pale colored, rubbery ball bounced its way to his feet and a boy close to the age of six can running with impeccable speed. Without thinking James tapped the ball with side of his ankle towards the child and in return said child skidded to a stop.
“Thanks, mister!” He smiled toothily to teenager and James could feel his heart lighten, just a bit. It made the corners of his mouth twitch. Children were much different than adults. They didn’t lie. Honest. Innocent. And much less haughty.
“No problem, kid.”
He made his way through the floor. Pausing every time one of the toddlers started to run, he didn’t want to step on one. When the floor came to a stop, there was a stairway that led to the balcony. Quickly, he looked behind him to see if any children were following him. Seeing that he had no tail, he began his journey up the stairway to heaven.
Apparently, the stairway to heaven was ridiculously long. He was already panting reaching the third floor, and evidently the fourth stairway was his ticket to the top. He opened the door, and he should’ve seemed stunned, but he wasn’t.
The floor was white tiled; no ceiling and high glass fenced the balcony. In the corner of the west was a floor drain, for the rain. There was an overhead trench on the east side of the balcony, a grand piano with small chairs scattered in the corner. A little girl, perhaps the age of five swung her knees on the high chair. Alone.
But it was sunny and the sky was blue and he felt his feet move before he could stop himself.
She had chestnut colored hair, tied into pigtails and she was deciding on which key to press first. Her small ears twitched at the sound of footsteps, hesitantly she turned around and she smiled shyly when James waved.
“Hi.” Her voice was quiet and glimmered with goodness.
“Hello,” James scratched the back of his neck, thinking on how he should approach the young girl. “What’s your name?”
“Anna.” She responded, before adding, “What’s yours?”
“James.” He said, he brushed his golden hair from his eyes, before deliberately glancing around noticeably, “Why are you here alone?”
“Because the piano is out here.” She answered matter-of-factly.
James could have smacked himself, “Yes, I know that.” He sounded exasperated, “But why alone?”
She blinked her emerald colored eyes before turning back to the piano, “None of the other kids know how to play. So I came by myself.”
James stared at her, “Aren’t you lonely?”
Anna smiled, “Sometimes, but I have friend now. So I’m not so lonely anymore.”
“Who? I don’t see anyone else here.”
She looked at him quizzically, “You.” Anna didn’t notice his stupefied expression and continued, “You’re my friend, right James?”
James couldn’t stop the soft smile that spread across his face and again, replied without thinking, “Of course.”
Anna smiled, and smiled brilliantly that he was he sure he stopped breathing for just a second.
“Now, scoot over.”
Anna moved over to the left side of the cushion and James sat on the right. He faced the grand piano with a determined look in his eyes before turning to the young girl, and playfully requested, “Master Anna, will you please teach me your ways?”
Anna was stunned for and for a brief moment her mouth popped open. It took her nearly a minute to snap her mouth shut and grin, “Of course, young James.”
And James couldn’t stop the laughter that escaped him.
The next morning…
James skipped the eggs and went straight for the cereal. Gobbling down the last of fruit loops, the phone rang. His eyes moved to the ringing contraption before swallowing and then answering, “Hello?”
“Sweetheart, how are you feeling?”
Oh. “Hi, mom. I’m fine.”
“I just wanted to know what you would like me to bring, today. Your father may stop by later, you know how he is about hospitals. Him and his silly superstitions—“
James pursed his lips, “You’re coming, today?”
A pause. “Yes.” Another pause. “Why? Is there something wrong?”
“N-No. I mean, don’t you have work?” James replied quickly.
His mom sounded skeptical, “Well, yes. I spoke to my manager and he said I could take a couple hours—“
James spoke without thinking, “It’s okay mom, and I’m fine. You can’t keep taking so many hours off.”
The truth was, if his parents visited he would feel even more depressed. His parents and their freedom—and he was stuck in the hospital. That and his mother would not stop talking. It would cut down the hours he would spend with Anna. Which was probably the only reason he didn’t want his parents coming, he wanted to spend time with her.
“Are you sure, James? I mean—“
“Mom. It’s fine. Besides,” And James once again, did not think before he responded, “I made a new friend and she’s waiting for me.”
A pause and he could feel his heart nearly stop.
A shriek. “A girl! What’s her name, James? What does she look like? Is she your girl—“
“Bye, mom!” James quickly hung up the phone. Slamming the phone down on the receiver he groaned, “I need to think before I speak!”
“You know James, I had a doll named Kelly. I use to sleep with her every night.” Anna confessed opening her note sheets.
“What happened to her?”
Anna grabbed her pen and looked up at the sky. “She was in my bed one day and she disappeared. I couldn’t find her again.”
James patted her head. “When did this happen?”
“Last week. The nurse said the doll left the room.”
“What’d she look like?”
Anna flipped her paper over, “She had red hair and blue eyes. A pink dress and a broken button.”
James thought for a moment and then breathed in the sunshine.
“Kelly was playing with the other children. She didn’t want them to be sad.” He gave her the doll and Anna squeezed the breath out of James.
The next morning he woke up with a smile on his face.
“I don’t like jello.” James said flatly before giving his green blob to Anna.
“Why not?”
“It’s wiggly and bouncy. It’s weird and why are you laughing at me?”
“I got you some pudding, James.”
He blinked.
“I remember how you said you didn’t like Jello. And there was pudding—you like chocolate, right?”
“Yeah.” He said, before poking her nose. “Yeah.”
“Why are you in the hospital, James?”
He showed her the burn marks, some marks red and puffy. Some blackened with shades of brown.
She looked wide eye in awe. James lips quirked up.
“Why are you in the hospital, Anna?”
“Cancer.”
The smile slid right off his face.
“The key of F and the key of G are played differently. Try playing Mary had a little Lamb.”
“Like this?” His fingers tapped onto the keys and she nodded.
“Yeah! It’s kind of like skipping rocks.”
“Skipping rocks?”
“Yeah, your fingers are the rocks and the keys are the puddles. You can bounce your fingers like your skipping rocks.”
He looked at her funnily before nodding, “Let’s skip rocks.”
“Ice cream?”
“Ice cream.”
“It’s raining!”
“I can see that, Anna.”
“Oh! Look a rainbow!”
James looked at the colorful slide before patting Anna on her head.
“Do you think there’s a pot of gold on the other side?”
“I hope so or the leprechauns are playing with us humans.”
“There’s a puppet show in the lobby.”
“I know.”
“You don’t want to watch it?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
Anna looked at James before frowning. “I don’t like Snow White. The evil mom gives her a bad apple and she falls asleep.”
“But the prince wakes her up.”
“Yeah, but if she falls asleep again and doesn’t wake up. Whose gonna save her?”
James blinked for a moment.
“There are no real princes in the world that can wake up sleeping girls.”
“But Snow White isn’t just a sleeping girl. She’s a princess. And princes save princesses.”
Anna looked at him, “So what if I fall asleep? Who’s going to wake me up?”
James smiled, before answering. “I promise to wake you up. Because princesses need princes and because a friend needs a friend.”
“Pinky promise?” She lifted up her finger.
“Pinky promise.”
It took a little less than week before Anna had to go into surgery. The tumor had gotten significantly bigger. Chemotherapy was one of the very few options left. But she was scared. Absolutely terrified. James was scared. His heart hasn’t thumped so hard since the five hundred meter dash in middle school.
“I’m scared.” Anna whimpered. The doctors had her lying flat on the bed, with an IV hooked into her arm. She looked small and frail.
“I know.”
“I don’t want to do this.”
James felt his heart drop to his knees and he grabbed her hand in his. He shushed her, “It’s going to be okay, okay. You’re strong and you’re going to get through this. I’m scared too—they have my best friend hooked up like a robot.”
Anna’s tears stopped falling, “I’m your best friend?”
He didn’t hesitate. “Of course. Who else will teach me how to play the piano? Who else will eat my jello and smuggle me pudding? Who will play with Kelly? Who will watch the rain with me and eat ice cream with me?”
She whispered, “But what if I don’t wake up?”
James felt pieces of his heart crack, before he smiled brokenly. “I’ll be here to wake you up.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
And for that week, for the duration of the surgery, for the duration of the chemotherapy—James did not stop playing the piano.
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