White Walls

Chapter 14

The white walls again.

She hated them, with the kind of hatred that would cause anything to spontaneously combust.

She'd faced white walls everywhere.

It was either the white walls in the hospital, or the white walls at home.

Wall paintings didn't help, the walls still looked dull and white and plain depressing.

Sometimes, she just wished for somebody, anybody to just accompany her. To help her through the loneliness, soothe her to sleep at night when she had nightmares, help her with her nebuliser treatments.

She had some newspapers delivered on Tuesday, and Elvis Presley played through the house as she flipped page after page, occasionally doodling on the pages.

After her Skype call with Yuzuru, he had replied to some messages, but not for the past day. Which was weird, seeing as how he had been unusually fast in replying for the past week.

Her eyes wandered to the sports section, where they talked about the usual -- ice hockey, football, rugby, figure skating--

A picture showed the back of an Asian in black, and he looked familiar but Em couldn't put a finger on it.

Have I seen him before?

The ring of the doorbell startled her from her thoughts, and she chucked the papers in the bin, running to get the door.

"Yo Tamz, what's up?"

"Naw, nothing much. I was bored. Do you want to chill at the darts cafe down the corner?"

"Give me a moment, I'll change my clothes. Come on in, I baked some cookies, I might have cookie dough left," Em left the door open as she rushed to the kitchen.

Em's phone on the counter ringed; probably messages again.

Three unread messages

Mum: Emerson, I'll be home by tomorrow. How are you my dear? Have you eaten? Are you back in school? Remember to do your homework, do your nebuliser treatments...

Em rolled her eye at the use of her full name.

Ugh.

Her mum was concerned, but sometimes, too much. Nevertheless, Em typed a short reply telling her mum that yes, she was still alive and kicking.

Yuzu: I'm so sorry for not replying yesterday! Some stuff cropped up. Anyway, how are you?

Em smiled. He didn't ignore her after all.

Em: I'm great, but I'm going back to school tomorrow. How are you? :-)

She frowned and deleted the smiley face. It looked... weird.

Nurse Jenn: Hey dear, you dropped your necklace under your bed, do you want to pick it up today?

Emerson Cole is typing...

Em: sure! I'll drop by later, will you be around the paediatric ward?

It took half an hour for Nurse Jenn to reply, as Em played around her phone.

She'd recently downloaded some new apps, and they were rather cool.

Snapchat, for example.

Oh, and Wattpad.

The notification popped up again.

Nurse Jenn: I'll be in the surgery ward if you could find me, it's a busy day today.