Swing of Fate

Friendship

Ryota woke up in a good mood.

He held his bass and played it for a while, still thinking of the good day he had yesterday.

"I'll definitely go back to the park today. I want to see her." Ryota talking to himself, grinning widely.

After lunch, he went over to the park and found the swing was empty.

"Oh, maybe it's not time for her to be here yet."

He sat on the swing. Waiting patiently, even rehearsing on what he would say to her.

"Hi, how are you today?"

"Where you from, are you from a province?"

"Have you seen the new reality show in TV, it was funny! I was laughing really hard while watching."

"What music do you listen to?"

After a few minutes, he noticed a little girl looking at him like he was crazy. He smiled.

The little girl smiled back and approached him.

"Oniichan, are you waiting for the not-talking-oneechan?"

Ryota smiled, thinking to himself
"Am I that obvious?"

He looked back at the little girl who was patiently waiting for his response.

"How did you know, little girl?" He asked.

"Because you're sitting beside her favorite swing." The girl responded.

"I see." Ryota, realizing how obvious he was, suppressed a chuckle.

"Oniichan, I don't think she will be coming today." The girl said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Why?" Ryota wasn't able to hide his surprise.

"The nurse told us. She said oneechan will not be joining us today because she has a fever." The little girl answered.

Ryota was disappointed. "I won't see her today" he thought sadly.

He was about to leave when the girl shouted at his back,

"You could visit her to the hospital, if you really want to see her. Oneechan doesn't have visitors ever since."

Ryota looked back, surprised and laughing to himself. He waved to little girl while shouting "Thank you!"

The little girl waved back while releasing a deep breath.

Ryota was hitting his head while he was walking to the hospital.

"Why didn't I think of visiting her in the hospital? If the little girl didn't suggest it, I would have gone home." He muttered to himself.

"That's my bad habit, I easily get disheartened and give up, just like now and my playing. I have to change that." He said to himself with determination.

He passed by a flower shop in front of the hospital.

"I'll get her some flowers." He decided, smiling.

He bought some blue carnations.

"These flowers should suit her perfectly," Ryota said excitedly.

Ryota was finally in front of the hospital. As he approached the information desk, he realized that he doesn't know her name. How would he look for her? Lost on what he would do, he looked around.

The nurse, who usually assisted the girl, recognized Ryota. She approached him and smile.

"Hi, are you here to visit Ayaka?" She asked looking at the flowers.

Ryota, recognizing the nurse, quietly nodded as he was preoccupied with the thought, "I finally know her name. Ayaka, such a pretty name." He smiled quietly.

The nurse smiled back and said, "I'll bring you to her room."

"Ahmm, why does Ayaka not speak nor react?" Ryota asked shyly while they are walking towards the elevator.

The nurse took a deep breath and started to explain.

"We don't believe Ayaka was born mute. She has been here for 3 months now since the accident."

Ryota quietly listened as he followed the nurse to the elevator. The nurse pressed number 8.

Inside the elevator, the nurse continued,

"Ayaka's family was on a trip from Kanazawa to Tokyo. On the way, they met a tragic accident. A truck with a drunk driver hit their car head-on, instantly killing her parents. She survived but she was on a bad state. She was in the ICU for a whole month. When she woke up, she wasn't speaking but she was crying. The doctor told her what happened, she cried the whole day. Then the next day, she stopped speaking totally, stopped responding to people and her expression went blank. But aside from those, she is easy to take care of. By the way, how did you know that she can't come to the park today?"

“A little girl, who I think is also a patient here, told me in the park." Ryota answered hesitantly.

"She has a fever because she was having nightmares last night. It was really nice of you to visit her. She never had visitors, we have been trying to get hold of any other family members but we haven't got in touch with anyone yet. She is in room 802." The nurse explained.

Ryota could only smile quietly after hearing Ayaka’s story. The nurse left him in front of Ayaka's room.

"I'm now standing in front of her room." Ryota said nervously.

He slowly opened the door, He saw Ayaka sitting on her bed, looking by the window.

He gathered all the strength he had left and greeted her enthusiastically.

"Hi Ayaka! I didn't see you at the park so I decided to visit you."

"The nurse told me your name, I hope that's fine."

"They said you have a fever, are you okay now? I hope your okay now." while putting the carnations in the empty vase on the side table.

Ayaka did not even flinch a bit and stayed looking at the window but Ryota continued talking while sitting on the chair beside her bed.

"What music do you listen to?"

"I actually play in a band, I'm a bassist and we play emo rock. I hope you could listen to it or even come to our lives."

"I don't know if I'm good enough as a bassist but you know I have decided I'll do my best."

"I'll work hard to improve and be one of the best bassist around."

"That's a promise. I hope you do your best too and get well. I'll invite you to one of our concerts in our upcoming tour for free when you're all better." Ryota talked excitedly.

He checked the time, visiting hours is almost over. He stood up.

"I'll be going now. I'll be visiting you tomorrow if you don't mind."

"Hope you feel a bit better today, Ayaka."

Ryota left.

Without his knowledge, Ayaka's gaze followed him as he closed the door. Then her gaze was locked at the blue carnations on her side table.

When Ryota was outside her room, he looked at the name on the door.

Room 802 Ayaka Kashiwagi.

"I want to see her smile. I want to make her smile again." He muttered and left the hospital.