Withering rose

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"Good morning everyone." The young nurse said in a soft tone, opening the curtains in the teenagers ward. Her brown hair was neatly tied up and she went around to each of the four teenagers and checked their health.

First she went to the quiet Canadian who had been emitted several days ago when he broke his leg in three different places, he didn't talk much and preferred to watch the television with his stuffed bear than engaged in conversations with the other three; well two in this case.

Then came the most sweetest little girl you could ever meet, Lili had recently undergone surgery on her throat now unfortunately she was left mute. She cheerfully greeted the nurse through basic sign language and laughed silently as the nurse joked around as she checked her temperature.

After Lili, the noisy Alfred came next, he had been born with a faulty kidney and was due a transplant in two days time. The American teen would talk for hours on end, even if he never got a reply from the others. The nurse came around and check his monitors, making sure he was hydrated and feeling no sort of pain.

Finally there was Arthur, the poor British boy had spent several month in Rosemary hospital due to the recently discovered heart cancer. The doctors told him he had 7 months left, maybe less, maybe more, and had been given the opportunity to go home and spend his remaining life there yet he refused.

Arthur didn't want to be surrounded by family in his home, he wanted to be in the hospital so his family wouldn't walk in on him, notice his still body and panic. That scared him. Here if anything happened his family would be told in a gentle fashion.

The Hungarian nurse, Elizabeta, came over to check his heart monitor and IV drip. "Hello Arthur, lovely morning isn't it?"

"There is nothing lovely about mornings, ma'am." He grumbled, rubbing his eyes and wrinkling his nose up.

"Don't be so down, it's going to be alright hun. Now, could you just take this pain killer before your heart starts hurting." She passed him two small, oval pills and a plastic cup of water from a nearby dispenser.

He grudgingly took the cup and plopped the ivory pills into his mouth before swallowing them with a mouth full of water. "Thanks."

Elizabeta smiled and nodded before turning to the others. "Breakfast will be soon, I'll give you all time to wake up. Oh. Matthew, Dr Edelstein will be around in an hour to check your leg." She told him before leaving the ward, smiling happily.

Arthur, on the other hand, just stared at the window, his eyes getting used to the light.

"Right...! Now! I prepose we actually do something fun today! All in favour say 'I'!" Alfred grinned and clapped his hands, glancing at the others.

What do you have in mind? Lili said, well that's what Arthur thought, he hadn't gotten used to the sign language and found if difficult to understand each hand motion. So he presumed that's what she meant.

"Glad you asked dudette! I was thinking of setting up a games console thingy and playing horror games with each other, cool or what?" He waved his hands around, exaggerating his point.

"Alfred, that wouldn't work... They wouldn't allow it and I wouldn't be able to play anyway." Arthur said quietly trailing off, glanced off at the side.

Horror games wouldn't help him at all, jump scares would damage his heart even more, Arthur reached out for the plastic cup and took a sip.

Lili shook her head, blonde hair swaying slightly. Maybe not, sorry Alfred. She signed slowly, making sure he got the message.

Through out the whole thing Matthew lay in his hospital bed, nodding back of to sleep as he clutched his polar bear, one he had had since he was a child.

Arthur sighed, it was the same thing each day. He had a pile of books by his bed and he picked the one he was currently reading off the top, once he found his page the sound of a small trolley rolled into the ward.

"Right...! Breakfast is here...!" Elizabeta gave the four plates out, each containing the same thing; toast, a small tub of jam and butter. Matthew and Lili were given orange juice, Alfred had water and Arthur had a delightful cup of tea.

The Hungarian medical profession notice that the British teen was, well, grumpier than usual.

"Arthur, hun, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, everything's fine." He grumbled as he sipped his tea, wanting to savour the flavour from the brown coloured liquid.

"I can tell something's wrong..." She stood by his bead and glanced at the monitors, seeing them at a regular and steady pace.

"I'm fine, bloody hell, I'm perfectly fine...!" He raised his voice slightly, coughing as he swallowed too much tea. "G-Goddammit..!"

"Listen, I know this is hard so I have a little idea. I know someone and maybe you two could write letters to each other, keep your mind of the stress and everything." She brushed his hair away from his eyes like his mother would do, but visiting hours were in 6 hours time.

"What? Writing letters? Are you kidding me? What am I? 11?"

"Arthur, it may help, give it a shot at least. For me? For your family?" Her green eyes pleaded for him to do so and after a while, he reluctantly nodded.

"Oh thank you !" She would of hugged him but the IV drip prevented her from doing so, he looked away and at the empty bed beside him.

"I'll go grab a pen and note pad for you." And like that she had hurried off to find it. Arthur picked up a slice of toast, buttered it and took a bite. It was bland and slightly over cooked for his liking but it kept him full and satisfied.

Elizabeta returned and put them down beside his tray just as Arthur was wiping his mouth with a napkin.

"Now, write down some stuff, and ill be back later, I need to go and help in the elderly ward until 8.30pm. Take care."

"Alright... Twat..." He muttered the last bit under his breath, hoping she hadn't heard him. She paid not more attention to him as she left so either she didn't hear or she didn't care.

The Brit picked up the pen and stared at the pinned paper before taking a deep breath. "Right...."

'Dear who-ever-the-hell-you-are,

My name is Arthur, I have been told you are friends with Elizabeta, no? I am writing because I have nothin better to do in my life and because if I didn't write to you Elizabeta would make my little life a living hell. Stranger, I would love it if you were to contact me, I am currently bedridden so a letter will do just fine. Please state who you are and about youself.

Sincerity,

Arthur K.'