Our Memories

Stealing Stars

Hugo had been assigned to go check on Room 247 once again. This was now an everyday task. Having to visit the patient everyday, Hugo had finally remembered the patient's name was Fenton. Some days, the Greek girl was there with him, other days she wasn't. Each day she was there, she looked paler and thinner. After a few weeks, she had been admitted to the hospital as a patient instead of a visitor. She had been brought in by her parents one day due to her having a severe asthma attack. At home, her older sister searched her room and threw out all the cigarette boxes left behind, just in case she returned home. The doctors wanted her to stay at the hospital a few days, only so they could do tests on her and try to help treat her correctly. After being assigned to check in on her as well, Hugo memorized her name as Delta. The doctors deemed it time for her to be allowed to go home. They made sure to send her off with an inhaler and a prescription for when she needs another. After that, she still visited almost daily, due to her wanting to check on Fenton. A pair of fingers snapped in front of Hugo's face.
"Hello, anybody home?" Fenton asked as Delta continuously snapped her fingers.
"Sorry. What were you saying?" Hugo finally zoned back in.
"I was saying that a new patient woke up a few doors down. He was brought in about four weeks ago, but hasn't left his room since. Tim said we're allowed to go meet him if we want." Fenton grinned, sitting up. He wore a dog tag around his neck, identifying his disease just in case something happened and they couldn't recognize him. He still had to stay in the hospital, but he was no longer hooked up to IVs and monitors. The doctors identified the problem with his liver and gave him medicine to help, but just in case anything went wrong, he had to stay in the hospital, which Fenton had finally come to terms with. A familiar face peeked her head through the door. The three teens turned to face their visitor.
"Victoria, you're right on time." Hugo grinned.
"Why's that?" She asked, curious as to what they were up to.
"We were about to go meet the new patient. He's finally allowed to have visitors." Delta chimed in.
"Really? Is it alright if I come with?"
"Of course! Follow us. Tim said it was Room 418." Fenton pointed out, standing up from his bed. He stretched a bit, then checked the new monitor on his hip.
"I forgot I have to wear this thing. It's so uncomfortable." Fenton groaned.
"Why do you have to wear it?" Delta questioned, studying the small device.
"It tracks my heartbeat and makes sure there's nothing irregular. It also measures my blood oxygen levels to make sure they're at the right number." He explained. Not wanting to ask any further questions, the group walked out into the hallway. Fenton followed them out and led them down the hall.

Once the four of them stood in front of the newly occupied room, Delta knocked on the door. A muffled reply came from inside, allowing them to enter. Turning the handle, Delta pushed the door open gently. Once it was opened, the group looked inside. They were met with a boy their age, sitting on his bed. He pushed back his wavy brown hair out of his face and realized that it wasn't another doctor who entered.
"Who are you guys? You look a little young to be nurses. Plus, I may be paralyzed, but I don't need four people helping me." The teen rolled his chestnut brown eyes.
"So that's your infection. Paralysis, huh?" Fenton noted, stepping inside the room.
"My...what?" He blinked, looking back and forth between each visitor. Delta stepped past Fenton.
"What he means to say, is that some of us are patients here too. I'm Delta, just got released with a treatment for my asthma. The confusing dude covered in scars and wires is Fenton. He's here due to heart disease, born with it. Behind us is Hugo, who has a traumatic brain injury from a car crash. And with him is Victoria. She's just a visitor." Delta introduced them all. The others waved at him.
"Nice to meet you all. Sorry about your guys' predicaments. I'm Jude." Jude greeted them, politely.
"Why were you paralyzed?" Hugo chimed in.
"Sorry if that's uncomfortable or offensive. He's pretty blunt with what he says." Victoria pushed her friend aside, apologizing in his stead. Jude chuckled.
"It's alright, don't worry about it. My cousin is the same way. To answer the question, I got diagnosed with Hemiplegia. Basically the right side of my body is paralyzed from a football injury. I got tackled hard by this guy twice my size at the homecoming game, and when he got off me, I realized I could barely move. They stood me up and I couldn't feel anything on my right side." He explained, the others nodding along.
"Are you able to get out of bed?" Fenton questioned. Jude nodded and pointed at the walker at the end of the bed. The skater walked over and grabbed the walker, pushing it towards the jock. Jude smiled and took it from him.
"Thanks." He stood up, gripping onto the handle with his left hand.
"So you have a cousin?" Victoria asked, peeking her head over Delta's shoulder.
"Yeah, he's supposed to visit in about an hour."
"While you wait, do you want to join us at the cafeteria?" Fenton asked, walking back to the door.
"I have nothing else to do but lay around and read, so yeah. I'll join you guys. I am getting a little hungry too, so that works out well." Jude laughed, following the group out as Delta waited, helping him with the walker so he didn't trip.

A young teen searched the halls, panicked. The nurses tried to help him but he refused to stop and listen. Hearing laughter coming from the cafeteria, he made his way over. As the teen stepped inside, he blew his messy black hair out of his face and looked around the room. Spotting a table filled with five teens, he sighed in relief, walking over. The paralyzed jock looked over at the newcomer.
"Clark! You're back! Come sit down." Jude grinned, patting the empty seat to his left. The new teen, Clark, did as he was told and sat down in the empty chair.
"Why was I not warned that you were here?" The younger teen growled at his cousin.
"It was a spur of the moment thing. Sorry." The jock shrugged.
"You could have texted me a heads up, or even written a note on the door. I was worried something bad happened. Warn a guy next time, you almost gave me a heart attack."
"Sorry, drama king. But hey, look. I made some new friends." Jude motioned toward the rest of the teens sitting at the table.
"Wonderful. I bet that they'll be out of here before you are." Clark crossed his arms. The others knew it was probably true, but nobody wanted to admit it. Hugo glanced up and noticed a nurse walking up behind the group. She cleared her throat and gripped the clipboard in her arms. Jude turned around to face her and realized it was time for him to go to physical therapy.
"Well, I better get going so I can leave this place faster. I'll talk to you guys later. Come on, Clark." He grabbed his walker and pulled himself up with Clark's help. The two followed the nurse as she led them down the hall. Fenton stood up from his chair and checked the device clipped onto the front pocket of his pants.
"I have about a minute left with this, so I have to go to my room so that I can take it off when it's time. Finally, after a full day with it on, I'm allowed to take these itchy wires off and give it back to my doctor." He sighed in relief. Delta hopped up out of her chair.
"I would stay, but I wanted to go check on my sister. We'll see you guys later!" She waved, following Fenton out of the cafeteria. And then there were two. Hugo looked over at Victoria who was lost in thought.
"Are you okay?" He asked. Victoria didn't respond, but before he could ask further, a figure walked up behind her.
"Who are you talking to, Hugo?" The voice spoke up. Hugo looked over to see Andrea watching him, curiously. He opened his mouth, then turned back to Victoria who was already gone. Hugo looked around the room only to see other patients, doctors, and visitors. No Victoria in sight.
"Nobody, I guess." He stated, standing up.
"Okay, well, I got some more tasks I need you to help me with. Here's the list. Think you can handle it?" The older woman asked. He took a look at the list and nodded.
"Yeah, I should be fine." Hugo smiled up at her. Andrea's lip quirked up in a small smile as she ruffled his hair. She patted his shoulder, signaling for him to start the list. Hugo nodded and glanced at the list again before walking off to his first task. Andrea watched as he left, then looked down at where Victoria had been sitting. Meanwhile, Victoria looked back up at the nurse, wondering what was going through her mind. Andrea turned to the doorway and walked down the hall, going back to the front desk.

A door slid open as boots were heard, walking across the wooden patio. The footsteps grew louder as they hopped down the steps, landing in the grass. Hugo turned his head to see who was interrupting his stargazing. Matt flopped down in the grass, laying next to his younger brother.
"What're you looking at?" He spoke quietly. Hugo turned back to face the sky.
"The stars. They're really bright tonight." The younger responded.
"They are. Stars are cool, aren't they?"
"Not really." Hugo huffed. Matt turned his head to look at him.
"Why do you say that?"
"They're just pieces of things that died, right? Why should anyone like them." He stated. Laughter came from beside him, making Hugo jump in surprise.
"No, Hugh. Don't worry, that's not stars. It's not anything, really. Want to hear something cool about stars?" Matt asked. The younger boy nodded. "Stars are made of hydrogen and helium. So basically, they're huge balls of gas. The small stars eventually sputter out and die, but the big stars go out with a bang. That's when a supernova occurs." He explained.
"Woah. So, stars aren't made of dead things?" Matt shook his head. "Huh, well now I know. Would you ever go up to space and steal a star for me? Not a big one, but a tiny one."
"Maybe one day, you know, when we go live on Mars with the rest of Earth's population. But in all seriousness, I would, but stars are lightyears away from us. By the time I get one and come back, you could be gone. But just know, if I had the chance to steal the stars right out of the sky, I would steal as many as I could, just so that I could make you smile." Matt spoke softly, sitting up.
"I'll remember that. It would still be cool, though, to go get a star." Hugo noted, sitting with him.
"It would be. Now let's get you to bed, it's getting late." Matt hopped up, grabbing Hugo's arms and pulling him up. The two walked inside, locking the patio door behind them. Hugo waved goodnight to his brother, then went to his room where Ruby was waiting patiently on his bed. The teen climbed into bed, squirming under his blanket as he curled up against the dog.