𝐔𝐍𝐅𝐈𝐋𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐃

90 | addict

Nox

Present

My heart races as I walk through the hospital doors with my purse clutched in hand. I walk past the reception once I give them my name and the name of the patient then enter the elevator with one of the nurses.

I press the button for the fifth floor and a bunch of people come right after me and I'm forced to press my back on the squeaky-clean mirror. As we go higher, more people are filtering in and out until I finally reach my destination.

I bite on my nails nervously as I walk in the corridor that leads to her room as I shift uncomfortably at the sight of the extremely bright space. It's already dark outside and yet it's so unnaturally bright in here. One of the door' rooms is open and I see a young girl about fifteen years old. Dark hair, creamy skin, bright colored eyes, sitting all alone on a wheelchair reading a book.

In that moment she reminded me of all the things that haunt me. All those tragedies washed through me so quickly like a wave, only they disappeared just as quickly when a woman who looked like the older version of her shuts the door.

"You're an unfamiliar face," The nurse says to me. "Are you a friend of hers?"

"I guess you can say that," I mutter.

"I'm happy she's getting to see another friendly face other than her mom and her brother, or that other guy friend of hers."

She suddenly stops in front of one of the doors near the end of the hallway when she knocks on the door.

"She might be taking a nap." She informs me as she holds the door open for me. "Hayden, you've got a visitor! Isn't it lovely?" The nurse proceeds saying enthusiastically. I slowly pace inside and there she is. Her back is facing us right now and I can make out her pixie cut; she used to have long hair back in the day. The tattoos on her back are on full display and she looks bigger than the scrawny kid she once was.

"Really? It's not even Thursday." Hayden says, her voice groggy. "What did you do this time Yoongi?"

She rotates her wheelchair to face us, her powder blue eyes widening in shock as soon as she sees me. The nurse leaves us be and shuts the door behind her on her way out.

"Nox?" She gasps. "It's been a long time."

"Hi, Hayden," I say in a ghost of a breath. "How have you been?"

"I'm good, just chilling." She replies, patting the arms of her wheelchair with a crooked grin. "What brings you by?"

"I-I don't know. I'm sorry I didn't visit you in so long."

My voice is as shaky as my trembling hands, and I can feel the first tears to well in my eyes. I don't know why I'm so overwhelmed just by seeing her as I can't tell if it's the guilt of not visiting her after the accident that is overbearing or the fact that I'm the very reason she's in here in the first place. I look at her closely, how her short brown hair frames her delicate face. I think this is the first time I see her without her dark eyeshadow and signature eyeliner, and she looks good. Healthy. There used to be a fierceness that took the form of a raging storm behind her ocean eyes, yet somehow after all these years all there's left is the aftermath of a tornado.

She offers me a small smile and gestures at the bed. "Why don't you make yourself comfortable eh? We've got a lot of catching up to do."

"Yeah, sure." I mumble then plop down on the mattress.

I'm taken aback by the way she's speaking to me. I'm not sure how I expected her to react to seeing me but being friendly towards me certainly didn't come close. She crosses her arms and takes a deep breath. Perhaps, I'm misinterpreting her resentment for the false kindness she shows me.