Hospital

It was 3 in the afternoon. The same breeze blew in through the window as any other day. The machines still beeped and buzzed. Roy still didn't know what they were for. He found them useless. He was dying after all.

He hated to be hooked up to these machines. He hated the IV. He hated the room. He hated the nurses for cleaning up his bed, only to have him mess it up again. If there's no chance of living, what's the point of trying? he thought.

She sat to his left, in front of the window, on a chair that had been wheeled in by the nurse. She hardly said anything to him. She just sat there in silence with him. But he knew what she was trying, and that's something that continued to kill him.

"It's useless," he whispered, his back turned to her, "Go home."

She said nothing, but he heard her trying to stifle back tears.

"I," he stuttered, swallowing to clear his voice, "don't love you."

She stomped her foot on the floor as she stood up in a hurry.

"You," she started, "You idiot!"

She ran out of the room, almost knocking down his nurse. The nurse entered the room. He had done this before, but this was the first time he had told her such a lie.

Her nametag read "Mary". She adjusted the machines if they needed adjusting, but mostly she just recorded the data. But she had been watching the two of them for some time now. This was a first.

"Why?" she asked him.

"I don't," he stammered.

The girl had stopped down the hall, he hand on the exit door. She wiped her tears away and began to walk back to his room. She would tell him, and he would have to hear it. she was just outside his door.

"I don't want her to love a dead man, a corpse."

"Too late! You, you idiot!" she screamed into the room. She ran outside this time. The door slammed shut on her way out.

"Who is she?" Mary asked. She knew.

"Her name is Vanessa," Roy answered.

"Oh, a special girl?" Mary asked. She knew this one too.

"No. No. She's," his voice wandered off, thinking, "She's just a friend."

"A special friend?"

"No. Just a childhood friend. Just part of my past. Just a girl. She's," he broke off again, thinking, "Just the past."

"Keep fooling yourself," Mary said as she left the room.

Roy rolled over on his side. He knew the date they had given him.

"So, I'm going to die on my birthday?" he whispered to himself, "On my eighteenth birthday, the day where dreams are realities, where possibilties are new doors to open. The day when I promised her..."

He rolled over to his other side. That's right. He had promised her. His eighteenth birthday. He promised to take her, promised to take her with him.

"Life's a bitch," he mumbled.

The machines ceased beeping and buzzing. The wind died down. There was a siren outside...

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Vanessa had cried herself to sleep last night. She told herself that today would be the day. He had promised her. She had promised herself. That promise meant nothing. It was old. She had something else to tell him. Something she never told him. Something he didn't know. Something important.

Her heart was already skipping beats from thinking about it. She walked down the hallway to his room. There was a frenzy going on, but it was a hospital after all. It was to be expected. His door was closed. That never happened.

She opened the door slowly.

"Roy?" she whispered, "Are you awake?"

Silence.

"Roy?"

She walked in, slowly. There was no breeze. The window was closed. The bed was made. The machines were gone. The room was empty.

"Roy!?"

She searched the room. Outside the window. Under the bed. She had to tell him now, today. Today was the day.

"Roy!"

The nurse entered the room. Her nametag read "Mary". Vanessa stood up, looked her in the eyes.

"Roy?"

"He's," she paused.

She knew that look. The look that says, "I'm about to break." But she couldn't tell her. Not with that look.

"You are not his family. Therefore, I have no obligation to tell you of the patient's current whereabouts."

Vanessa sat on the bed, to Mary's surprise.

"He's dead, isn't he?" she whispered.

"Y-yes," Mary said, "Unfortunately."

"Today was the day," Vanessa whispered, "Today was the day that I would tell him. Today was the day he promised me..."

Vanessa collapsed on the floor. She was motionless. Mary put her fingers against her neck. No pulse.

"Doctor!"

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"Keep fooling yourself," Mary said, about to close the door.

"I don't," he started. Mary waited.

"I don't want her to die," he whispered, "When I die..."