The Boy With The Piano

Chapter 1: The Fateful Meeting

CHAPTER ONE: THE FATEFUL MEETING

THE hospital smelled the same; like medicines and death. I cringed and wondered how the doctors and nurses can get by every day in here where everything was depressing. The walls were painted white and it reminded me more of madhouse. There were chairs outside each room for patients to wait on.

     “Hello Charlie!” A familiar voice greeted me in the hallway. A few heads turned to look at me but after realising it was just plain me, they returned back to what they’re doing – staring at the walls while waiting for their names to be called.

     Helen grinned at me as she made her way towards me. In her arms were a pile of hand towels. I’ve counted at least twenty of them. She placed the towels in my outstretched hands and sighed dramatically. “Thank heavens you’re here, I almost passed out carrying those!” Helen, as always, was being overly dramatic. The hand towels weren’t even heavy. “How’s your mom, Charlie?”

     Helen was my mom’s best friend. Although they were fifteen years apart in age, somehow they became close after attending a church seminar five years ago. While my mom was religious and serious, Helen was the opposite; loud and dramatic. But overall, she’s a good person when she wasn’t bossing me around the hospital. But I supposed that was in her job description.

     “Good. She’s wondering when John will come by to fix the bird house though.”

     “Ah, that husband of mine! Always forgettin’ ta fix that old bird house.”

     “Pretty sure birds don’t visit us.” I muttered which earned me a slap on the back as Helen started laughing and once again attracting the unwanted attention of other patients.

     “Now don’t say that, Charlie Kennedy! ‘Am sure those birds love your piano playing!” She grinned at me. “Anyway, today I want you at the west wing. Help me pass these towels out to the patients in the fifth floor.” She said with purpose. Then she took out a notepad and checked my name off the list, confirming my attendance. “Now I better get back to work.” She announced before leaving me in the hallway.

     I’ve never been to the west wing before. Usually Helen would give me chores at the east wing where the mildly sick patients were. The west wing was where all the cancer patients reside, everyone knew that. This was the first time I’ve been assigned there so I was a bit anxious. I’ve never met a cancer patient before. One time, a classmate of mine named Jema didn’t come to school for a month because her mother had brain cancer. I’ve heard from other classmates that at a certain stage her mom’s hair just completely fell off, leaving her bald. I didn’t know if I was prepared to see patients like that.

     Gathering up courage, I made my way over to the west wing. In the lift, a lady with her son smiled at me as I stood a few feet away. I smiled back at her, shutting my mouth from asking personal questions when I noticed the puffy redness around her eyes. She had been crying and I was sure it wasn’t for any happy reason.

     Once the lift reached the fifth floor, I quickly muttered “Take care” to the lady and watched her smile weakly back as the door closed behind me. The smell of medicines on the fifth floor was more intense and I almost cringed.

     “Charlie?” The girl at the administrating table waved at me. “Are you Charlie Kennedy?”

     I nodded, carrying the towels with me. “That’s me.”

     “Great to have you today, Charlie. Oh good, you have the towels.” The girl said as she noticed the towels in my arms. Her nametag says ABBY although she looked more like a Valerie to me. Her hair was bright pink and she wore purple contact lenses.