Your Voice(please, I want to hear it again.) || TOMMYINNIT

20:

Tommy had headed to the hospital for what seemed like the tenth time that week. He held his hand in his pocket, shielding it from the cold, while the other unzipped his jacket as he entered that grey hospital.

He greeted the woman at the front desk, though she only sparred Tommy a glance & a quiet "Good afternoon", seemingly busy with something on the computer.

Tommy walked towards the stairwell, quickly finding himself walking the familiar, old stairs once again, wondering which day would be the last he'd see of them. He headed down that same old & dimly lit hallway before turning towards the left. He hesitated to walk.

Near Nana's room, on the newly renovated bench, which had cushions now — sat a girl who stared at the floor with a blank look on her face.

Tommy continued walking, yet slower than before, as his eyes darted to the floor & the girl every other second. He wondered if his sudden stop had been noticed.

Nana had mentioned being friends with a woman who had long brown hair. However, there were many women with that hairstyle. Perhaps she was visiting someone else.

Tommy sat down on the bench near the one the girl sat on. The two of them had been separated by the door in between them.

In the chance that he got to see what the woman looked like — Tommy could tell that she undoubtedly matched every word of Nana's description that he could remember.

She was tan yet seemed to be a little lighter due to the cold season. She was well dressed, wearing a light brown coat with a black bag that had embroidery sewn in it. It seemed to be done by hand, but not by a professional. And her long hair... Her hair had been the most distinct feature Tommy could remember.

It was let down her back. Only a handful of her hair had been tied by a light purple-coloured bow attached to the hair tie. Her hair seemed like it was well taken care of.

- ...Are you here to see her too?

Although the door to Nana's room was closed, Tommy could still hear two other voices coming from it. Two other unfamiliar voices.

- I was going to, but it seems I was late for the party. No one told me Nana would be having a meet n' greet. - Tommy replied quietly, still trying to listen in on what the people behind the door were conversing about.

- If you want to join in on the conversation, you can, but it'd be best not to. Our friends there, they aren't very talkative. So, let them speak with Nana before we barge in. Plus, it's just rude to join in a conversation completely uninvited. - the girl paused, trying to recollect her thoughts, she wasn't expecting a response. - You know, Tommy-dear-Innit, Nana has talked a lot about you.

Tommy's head perked up from the floor, turning towards the girl once he heard his name be mentioned.

Donna, her name was, right?

- It's a little surprising she'd let someone this loud into her life like you, considering Nana doesn't like that many loud noises.

- Oh, come on. Aren't you a loud one too, Donna?

- That's exactly how she would've responded.

- Who?

- No one. - Donna darted her eyes to the white floor for a second, quickly returning her gaze to the wall in front of her. - So, tell me, how many times have you visited Nana? We'll probably be stuck here, waiting for quite a while since you know how some of those introverts are. Once they get going, they don't stop.

- I try to visit her every day if I can, and... Well, I feel bad if I can't come when something else comes up.

A nurse passed by them, going into one room from another.

Hearing the worker's footsteps had made the already eerie hospital silence finally sink into Tommy. Him & Donna merely talking was probably the loudest thing the hospital had heard this entire day.

It was rather quiet today. Perhaps even silence was not enough to describe what Tommy heard.

- ...Man, I wish I could do that too.

- You busy lot'?

- Yeah, I'm attending uni right now, plus I study medicine, so I've kind of fucked myself over. Oh well, the money I'll be making in ten years should be worth it thou—

The door to Nana's room had creaked open, revealing a man & woman stepping outside from the room, one of which Tommy felt like he recognised.

The girl with pink hair... the dye had faded away. The hope she had seemed like it was drained right from her skin & hair. There were only pale colours left.

- Oh, would you look at that? You two done early, aye? - Donna stood up, grabbing her bag off the bench. - Well, it was a pleasure meeting you, Tom Simons. I hope we can talk another time and finish our conversation. Toodles!

- Tommy?

The door had closed before Tommy could take a good look at Nana. Though, a simple glance was enough for him to tell she was not doing any better. Well, she was doing just as expected.

...

Donna had spent her time quickly with Nana. It had seemed like she left faster than she came in. However, Tommy was now used to being fooled by the illusion of time. If anything, he assumed the girl had used her full thirty minutes before leaving the room tear-eyed.

- I forgot about them.

Tommy had quietly walked into the room, gently closing the door behind him. He didn't feel like he needed to say anything to announce his presence to Nana, as he'd already done that a good 30 minutes ago.

Tommy sat down on the same dark brown chair near Nana's hospital bed. He could hear those same quiet weeps of defeat.

- How could I forget?

- What did you forget? - Tommy asked, finding that his old words of comfort were beginning to become meaningless.

- Their names, Tommy, I forgot their names. - she sobbed. - What type of friend am I?