Intersecting Lines

Chapter 7

"Why don't you eat breakfast with us? There's more than enough for Sophie and I." Mom replied with a bright smile I wasn't able to give her for the past month. I can see that Alex is a little hesitant—embarrassed, maybe. He bit his lower lip and he looked at me for answers. I smile at him and I give him a little nod.

"Breakfast would be great, Mrs. Park." He slowly said and mom gave him a sandwich. I move to adjust myself so that I'm in a sitting position. And I looked at him slowly munching the tuna sandwich mom gave him. He darts his eyes to me and smile as soon as our eyes meet.

"It's delicious." He began to tell my mom, "just like the bibimbop I ate last night." He then smiled stupidly like he did last night. I smile at the thought of last night too. Mom seems really clueless and I pray she won't know. I may end up at the morgue later if she catches up with Alex's inside joke.

"Oh, so you're also a Korean?" mom asked Alex and he nodded at her.

"My name is Alex Kim. I'm actually half-Korean." He told her as she gave me a piece of sandwich then sat beside me.

"How did you become friends with Sophie? As far as I know, you're the only guy that Sophie introduced to us." Mom said matter-of-factly. Yes, Alex is the only guy that I'm friends with. My manager is a guy but we don't talk at 2 a.m. or grab something to eat at midnight. We're not actually friends. It's more on a business relationship than friendship. So that's that. I saw Alex smile with what mom said at the corner of my eye.

"I became friends with Sophie when I talked to her about the most normal stuff, to be honest." I can hear an inside sarcasm in his voice but mom won't know since she's oblivious about my cowardly suicide attempt with a stranger who ended up being my friend.

"That's good to hear. I thought Sophie won't make any friends in this hospital. Turns out she did make friends." Mom said but I had to correct her.

"Friend," I tell her, "It's singular, mom. He's just one." I looked over to Alex and he smiled at me. It's a breath of fresh air to be making inside jokes with someone. I mean, there's Ginny Stuart, my figure skating best friend. It's like this, Alex has Brad. I have Ginny. And that simply sums it up. But inside jokes with Alex has a different feel. I may not be able to explain it now but somehow, someday I will be able to do so.

Alex and I didn't talk too much after that conversation. We silently and a little awkwardly ate breakfast together with my mom. We would look at each other and smile like fools. I was thinking about the secret 2 a.m. craving last night. I wonder if he was thinking about the same stuff whenever our eyes met. A little while later, a nurse came in and told Alex that his doctor wants to see him. So he politely excused himself giving me one last foolish smile before he went out.

"So, how did you become friends with him?" mom asked me as soon as Alex went out of the ward. I could tell her about how Alex and I really met. But I decided to keep it to myself. It's not because I don't want mom to know about my suicide attempt. Or that I'm friends with a potential psycho. I keep it to myself because the story of how Alex and I met is my secret – our secret. It's for the both of us to keep.

"We met at the 5th floor lounge." I began to construct a different story of how we met, "Remember when I told you I wanted to go to the bathroom on St. Patrick's Day? I didn't go to the bathroom. The 5th floor cafeteria made me feel stuffy so I decided to go outside. I wheeled myself in the lounge and that's where I met Alex." I finish my story. But it doesn't sound complete to me yet. So I tell her one last thing, "He was eating cream cheese filled bagel." And I smile at the thought of bagels and sunrise and Alex.

Mom nodded to herself and remained silent for a moment, "That's actually a good start, Sophie." Mom told me and I smiled at her. My phone rang and I reached for it, I answer the call and placed the phone next to my ear.