Love from the fire

Back

The rest of that hour dragged on like an eternity. It eventually passed though. We were at the harbour that was familiar to me, but not to Miles yet.

It felt great to be back. It was afternoon. The sky was clear and the sun was shining brightly. Something about the breeze that rushed past us as we got off made it all perfect and complete.

"She's at the hospital." I told Miles. "I'll take you there. It'll take us about 10 minutes if we walk."

He nodded as I started walking towards the path that led to the hospital.

I sent my mom a quick message saying : "I'll be there in 10 mins. On the way. Can't wait to see you."

It was then that excitement and anticipation took over me. I began to walk too fast for Miles to keep up with. I also skipped really high as I walked.

"You've got too much energy!" Miles complained. "Lend me some please!"

"Come on, only 5 minutes left." I told him.

We were walking downhill for about a minute. That's when I saw it.

As I looked at it, I realised that I haven't been here since I was a kid. The scenery gave me nostalgia. All the flowers and trees and the concrete too.

"This hospital is quite small, as you can see. If you go to the city, the hospitals are much larger and look more professional than this. However, this is the one that kept me going through my childhood. It's also the same one that's working on my mom right now. " Maybe it was my excitement that made me speak so much and so quickly too.

Miles gazed at with interest. "I'll be honest, I've never even seen a hospital until right now. In my village, there's this guy with long hair who wonders around all day and night. He's a weirdo, and I'm sure you've see him. Yet, he's a good doctor. He's saved my life before. Without him, I would have bleeded to death."

"Yeah, I think I know who you're talking about." I mentioned, as the image of that guy entered my mind. "He seemed a little crazy, but also interesting at the same time."

"Hm, do you know why he keeps his hair long?" He quizzed me.

I shook my head. He answered, "He told me once, but I've forgotten why. Apparently, there are health benefits to having long hair."

My hair is short...

We were now in front of the hospital doors. I opened the door gently, as the ringing of the bells above the door sounded. There was a young man sitting at the reception desk.

"Hey," He said, unprofessionally.

"Hi, we're here to see my mom. She should be in the therapy section." I started.

He stared at me for a minute, before asking, "How old are you?" in a curious voice.

"17." I said, looking away.

"Hmm, your school got burned down two days ago, didn't it?" He questioned, interested.

"Yeah, I heard."

"Do you know anything else?" He asked, possibly suspicious.

I shook my head.

"One of the nearby houses caught fire too. It was night time, so the family were asleep. Quite a few of them are here with serious burns. God, I feel quite bad for them."

"That's horrible." I said, unaware of this fact.

"Yeah, it's probably going to be on the newspaper. I doubt that the police would care."

"Exactly," I stated, understanding what he was talking about.

"I don't know what's going to happen to you kids though. Will you move to the city schools? Or will you be stuck without education?"

I was beginning to grow sick of this conversation. "I don't know. I feel really bad that this has happened. I don't know what we're going to do. Can I go now?"

"Yeah, sure." He replied casually. "I'm James, by the way."