Uki walks through the hospital halls briskly while checking the numbers of the passing rooms. Hospitals have always been where happiness and sadness coexist. As an angel, Uki’s job was to lift off as much sadness as he could. He chose to work as a hospital volunteer, finding people to bestow blessings upon. Time and time again, he’s performed countless of what humans call ‘miracles’ on multiple patients.
He follows the floor guide to the hospice wing, then stops in front of one of the rooms. Uki checks the room number and patient name again written on the note: No. 505, Fulgur Ovid. Then, he lightly knocks.
“Come in.” A voice spoke within the room.
As Uki pushes the door open, he sees a man sitting straight on the hospital bed. His long, silver hair tied into a ponytail, draping down his gown. A sight almost ethereal in this pure white room. A silhouette more scholarly than sickly, is facing towards the window. What is he looking at?
“Hello, Mr. Ovid. My name is Uki, and I’m here to keep you company.”
The man turns to face him, a face with stubble and skin slightly pale. Behind the black frames were a pair of silver eyes, the same silver as his hair.
“Disregard the heavy formalities, just call me Fulgur.” The man smiles lightly in elegance. Fulgur waves his hand, beckoning Uki to come forward. As he walks closer, could he see a scar on his left eye, resembling an ECG pattern.
“Okay, Fulgur. What are you looking at?”
“There’s a couple of kids playing outside. Care to join me?” Fulgur pats the chair next to his hospital bed as a sign of invitation.
Uki sits on the chair in response, wondering if he should start a conversation. As he glances at Fulgur, he seems to be mesmerized by the playing children. Uki flicked the thought away and continued watching out the window. People here wanted company, and whether it be in silence or chatter, he was here to deliver. The two of them stared out the window until the children have returned home, until the day has ended, not a word shared. A light of hues of red and orange shine in, coloring the room in a different color.
“Sorry ‘bout that, staring into the horizons isn’t the most exciting thing, huh?”
“No, it’s peaceful. You seem lost in thought, does the sight remind you of something?”
“It’s getting pretty late, how about we save that question for tomorrow?” Fulgur asks as he glanced at the clock.
“I’ll see you tomorrow then?”
“See you tomorrow, Uki.”
-
“Morning, Fulgur. How do you feel today?”51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCDlx4SbTWj
“Pretty good. What was your question again?”
“Does the sight of children playing remind you of something?”
“Oh, right. I was wondering if the kids smiled as brightly when they read my work.”
“Your work?”
“I’m a writer of children’s books. Well, ‘was’ may be the proper tense.”
“It’s because of…” Uki catches himself mid-sentence the moment he realized what was coming out of his mouth.
“My condition? I know that it’s a bit touchy for some, but you don’t need to tiptoe around it with me. It’s just a factual description.” As if Fulgur read his mind, he proceeds to talk about the exactly what he’s worried about.
“Can I ask what it is?”
“We don’t know. We only know that it’s corroding me bit by bit and there’s no cure. The best they could do is to soothe the pain.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You don’t have to be, Uki. It’s not your fault I’m here.”
Before Uki could say anything further, Fulgur yawned.
“Excuse me, it’s been a while since someone had a conversation with me. It’s my mistake for not realizing how energy-consuming chatting is.” Fulgur hurriedly explains, trying to resolve the possible misunderstanding.
“You can sleep for a bit.”
“But—“
“It’s fine. Sleep, I’ll be here.”
“You don’t have to, you can go back home.”
“But I want to.”
“Thank you, then.” Fulgur smiled apologetically before closing his eyes.
Fulgur’s brow furrows in his sleep, which Uki casts a soothing spell through song in response. Even if it was temporary, he wants to lighten the pain this man is going through. The knot of Fulgur’s brow slowly smoothed out with song, in which Uki lets out a light sigh of relief. While Fulgur was asleep, Uki took the time to wander around the hospital. He hasn’t forgotten his mission, but he didn’t have much luck. As he returned to room 505, Fulgur was just waking up. Uki glances at the clock, it has only been a bit over an hour.
“Was I out for long?”
“An hour.” Uki answers truthfully.
“I’m sorry for the two boring visits.”
“No worries. Say, is it okay if I brought you something? Little things like flowers and trinkets.” It was a conclusion he reached while wandering around. Other rooms had various gifts and bouquets, while Fulgur’s was completely empty. He wondered if the man would like some too?
“Only if you want to.”
The two talked some more, about Fulgur’s past experiences as a writer, about his works. Red colors the room once more, marking the day’s end.
“See you tomorrow, our angel.”
The special and unfamiliar name made Uki freeze in place, does he know?
“What… did you call me?”
“‘Our angel’, a nickname. It’s okay if you don’t like it, tell me and I’ll stop.”
“No, it’s not that. I’m just a bit surprised. But why ‘our’?”
“You tend to more than one patient, and to us, you are no different from an angel.”
“I see. See you tomorrow?”
“See you tomorrow.”
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and then Add to home screen.