Paper Hearts

d e l a r o s a

julian de la rosa
❝ the boy who lived ❞

ramona kavinsky loved julian—he was the little brother she never had. he was someone she could take care of, someone she could protect. jules was ten when they met. ramona had been volunteering at the hospital for a little over six months when he was hospitalized.

her mother had first introduced her to the program in which the hospital was searching for several volunteers to help at the canteen, or be assigned to a patient for them to accompany, or just fill out simple paperworks. she said it'll be something to put down in ramona's cv.

it took some convincing on her mother's part, since ramona never really liked hospitals. they reminded her of childhood fevers, times when she was sick and she couldn't do anything about it except to stay put, sleep, rest, not knowing when or if she'll get any better.

the first time she saw him, a boy with large glasses that sat askew on the bridge of his nose and made his face look smaller than it already was, she was taken aback by how frail he was—how tiny he seemed to be on that hospital bed. his light hair made him seem even more pale, and ramona had wondered if there was any trace of life in him, she hadn't discovered how much happiness the boy could hold in his heart and how easily he could plant happiness in others.

she had struggled to say anything due to lack of knowledge of his name, so it went a little something like this;

"hi, uh, blondie,"

"it's platinum, actually."

okay so, ramona had to admit, calling a little kid blondie was—stupid. but his response made her choke out a laugh, though it wasn't exactly a happy one. the moment he replied, she knew that she was going to like him very very much.

jules was mature for his age, but thankfully, he still enjoyed the children's books ramona brought with her. he had asked her if she had the collection of harry potter books. when she said she did and asked him if he had read them, he replied with a simple nope, but i watched the movies and a cheeky smirk.

ramona was slightly offended.