Thirty minutes later, Princeton arrived at the hospital with a dozen red roses. He signed in at the front desk, then sat down in the waiting room until he was able to go in the back. When Ms. Marilyn finally stepped from behind the door, Princeton smiled, finally relieved that he was able to talk to Isabella again.
"Hey, Jacob!" Ms. Marilyn said.
"Come on back here. Isabella has been waiting for you all day."
Without hesitation, Princeton stood out of the cheer and held the roses behind his back. Once they made their way to her room door and opened it, she was resting on her bed. Her head was tilted to the side, and she had another stuffed moose in her right arm. Princeton held his hand to his mouth as he observed how cute she'd looked.
"She's so precious.. isn't she?" Ms. Marilyn said in awe.
"She's beyond precious. This little girl is so beautiful." Princeton added.
They gazed at her for a couple of more seconds before Ms. Marilyn broke the silence by clapping her hands together. "Well, I'm going to do my daily checkup routine with the others. She's already had her dose of medicine today, so if she acts a little drowsy when she wakes up, don't be concerned." she smiled.
"Alright, that's fine. And thanks for telling me. I usually don't deal with little children, so good looking out." Princeton giggled.
"So this is a good start! Especially since she's a cancer patient, you'll know how to deal better with your child when they're sick!"
"I guess so, Ms. Marilyn." he said, nervous.
"Can I- can I ask you a quick question?"
"Sure, sweety. What is it?"
Princeton sat in the chair behind him, laying the roses on his lap. Ms. Marilyn gasped then cuffed her mouth with both of her hands. "Those are so beautiful! She's going to love them!" she squealed.
"Thank you, and I hope so! But, is it strange that I feel a certain.. attraction to Isabella?"
"It depends on what you mean by 'attraction', Jacob. If it's a sexual attraction, then-"
"No! Not that!" he exclaimed. "I mean, as if she was a family member. Like, I'm starting to care for this little girl so much, and I've only known her for a couple of weeks."
"So, you mean that you love her? Is that what you're trying to say?" she asked as she sat down in the seat beside him, not breaking eye contact.
"I'm not sure if I love her, but I know that I wouldn't want anything bad happening to her. And it's strange because out of all of the patients here, I care for her the most. And they ALL have cancer!"
"Mmm, I see." she nodded.
"I remember she told me that she was going to give you a present a few weeks ago. Did she ever give it to you?"
"Oh! The teddy bear! That's what I brought back to give to her. See, Zonnique knew her longer than me, and I felt horrible for breaking that bond they already creat-"
"You're giving it back to her?" Ms. Marilyn interrupted.
"Y-yes?"
"Jacob, you should really keep that. I see where you'd feel bad because she gave the other girl nothing, but that present was meant for you. Maybe it wasn't her time to get anything."
Princeton looked in her eyes for a couple of seconds then bowed his head to the floor. "I just feel bad for taking Zonnique's place..."
As soon as he said that, Isabella started to move in her bed. They both glanced over at her. When she opened her eyes, they widened even more when she saw that Princeton was in the room.
