Devereaux

Chapter One

Chapter One

Hospitals.

I never used to be particularly taken by their presence but now that I had come to visit one every single day for five and a half weeks in a row, I could only fantasise about the days when I was indifferent to their existence.

The smell alone was enough to drive me insane. I understood that hospitals had to remain clean in order to function but was it absolutely necessary for their cleanliness to be advertised so blandly.

Bleach was practically coating my nostrils by now so no matter where I went, I couldn’t forget.

The alluring scent of death, I call it; a sentence meant completely in an ironic and sarcastic manner. I could smell the life being sucked out of other human beings and I could sense their weakness.

Hospitals.

Even this morning – even when it was Christmas day and everyone bore a smile – I knew that somewhere in this building, at least one or two people had lost their struggle with life.

In my hands, I held a small box that was wrapped in festive papers that I brought as a Christmas gift.

Phoenix was assigned to a private room on the fourth floor.

A few nurses smiled and waved. I smiled back because most of the nurses and I had come to know one another quite well.

One of them stopped me and stared at me warmly. “You’re not with your mother today?” she asked kindly.

I could see the door to Phoenix’s room by now and was slightly annoyed that she had stopped me just so that we could have a conversation when I was so close to his room; so close to him. Nevertheless, I pried my eyes from the two guards on duty and smiled at the nurse. She was one of the older women that had been working at this hospital since the day it was rebuilt after burning down almost forty years ago.

“She has to stay home and cook Christmas dinner,” I responded. The answer was strong enough to satisfy the nurse but also vague enough that I wasn’t giving away too much of my personal life. “I have to go...” I pointed at Phoenix’s room and she nodded quickly. A girlish giggle escaped her lips as she winked at me and shuffled off.

Everyone here knew about he and I. It wasn’t a secret, after all.

I stretched my shoulders – readying myself – and approached his door. The guards were stationed on either side of the doorway and shuffled aside when I neared them. They nodded their heads and allowed me to push the door open and close it behind me. Phoenix bore a scowl as I ambled into the room.

I pulled a chair from the corner of the room – where it always seemed to return every time I came back – and placed it beside his bed. “How are you feeling?” I asked with a grin.

He growled and looked away from me. “I want to die,” he stated resentfully. “Tell them to pull the plug.”

I shook my head and chuckled softly. “You’re not on life support any more so I can’t exactly pull the plug on you,” I informed with a grin that only irritated him more when he turned to face me.

The back of his right wrist was attached to a drip but I wasn’t experienced when it came to medicine so I couldn’t be too sure what was being inserted into his body. I had a feeling it was some kind of pain medication. “They’re going to give me sleeping pills in a few minutes so if you want to go, you can,” he muttered with a wave of his hand. It sounded a lot like I didn’t have a choice in the matter but I shook my head obstinately and listened – unaffected – to his growl in response.