Symphonies of You

0304.

POCO ALLEGRETTO.

Monday, 7 November 2016

Hospitals didn't smell good, Jackie had decided. A weird mixture of medicines, very overwhelming perfume from wife of the man next door over, cheap microwaveable foods, and chemicals. She didn't know a lot about this type of stuff, and she had visited a hospital once or twice before today, but she hated the way hospitals smelled. Sure, she was grateful for the people working there and helping her brother, but she would always hate being here. Being in a hospital meant something was wrong; it meant Edward was suffering. And the smell all hospitals seemed to have, was something she hated. She could not smell it without worrying even more about her little brother.

"Can you stop that?" Edward asked, grimacing at Jackie who was staring at something off in the distance.

"What?"

"Looking like you're about to have a mental breakdown."

"Well, that's exactly what I'm about to do so-" Jackie shrugged her shoulders, glancing away from whatever she had been eyeing and at her little brother instead. "I'm not going to have a mental breakdown."

"Good," Edward said. "I cannot be asked to be a shoulder to cry on."

Jackie shook her head, letting out a single chuckle. "Let me have a mental breakdown if I need to, you twat."

Edward smiled, looking at the parking lot around them. Jackie was sitting on a bench while he was in his wheelchair, a blanket draped around his slim figure and a chest that was working hard at absorbing all the fresh air they could muster. Well... fresh air would be a stretch. They were in a parking lot in the biggest city down south, after all. They watched cars come and go, commenting on the different people in them and why they were here. So far, an awful lot were visiting a relative on their death bed. Jackie held the bag of Jelly Babies out for Edward, watching as he took his favourites; the purple ones.

"I'm never visiting a place this depressing when I get out of here." Edward mumbled while chewing on his Jelly Babies.

"What, a parking lot?" Jackie furrowed her brows at him.

"No, a bloody hospital." Edward sighed heavily, watching a car drive passed them. "Everyone visiting a hospital are sad, aren't they? Have you seen any of these people smile when they stepped out of their car?"

Jackie glanced around the parking lot, trying to find someone walking around. "Not everything about a hospital is sad, Eddie." Even though she didn't believe that statement herself, she knew she had to be the bigger person and cheer her brother up.

"I'm about to laugh at you, Goose."

She smiled. "Well, people give birth at hospitals – well, most of the time at least, some do it at home-"

"-I've always wondered about that. Do you get drugs when you're home? Won't it hurt more if you don't have the drugs?" Edward threw another Jelly Baby in his mouth, shaking his head. "Mental."

"Babies happen in hospitals, people get good news there as well," Jackie turned to glance at him. "Like if they're free of cancer and things like that. Nurses and doctors are always nice, and they help you get better."

Ed nodded, chin falling to rest at his chest as he glanced into his lap, clearly defeated. "Guess it's just hard to see the positives when all I can focus on is how little I wanna be here, and how much I want to go home."

"I know," Jackie rested a hand on his shoulder, patting him. "I know, Maverick."

He puckered his lips, something Jackie knew he always did when he tried to row himself back to the present and out of his head.

"But it's looking better, though," she beamed. "That's what the doctors said yesterday morning, didn't they?"

Edward nodded, the pout disappearing as he was suddenly reminded of something good. Because that had been very good news. The doctors said that it was looking better, that Eddie could leave the hospital soon and go home for good. It was all so incredibly good news that none of the Picot family members had known what to do with themselves once they had been told. George had cried the rest of the day, Alison hadn't been able to stop smiling, and Jackie stayed right by Eddie's side the entire time. They watched Top Gun and ate mangos the rest of that night, though they weren't concentrating on the film as they were too busy chatting excitedly together. Jackie would soon know Edward was home and safe until next autumn when he would head to uni, since he wasn't able to do so this year.

"Can't wait to go home so I can draw again." Edward said, sighing heavily. "It's so boring just staying in bed watching shows on Netflix."

"Careful." Jackie warned, pointing at him and raising her eyebrows. "Sounds like a brill night in, if you ask me."

Edward huffed. "You're such an introvert. How are we related? I want to be out and about, getting to know people."

"I'm the introvert?" Jackie shook her head in disbelief. "You sit in your room all day drawing!"

"Don't get technical."

Jackie laughed. "Fine, I won't be mean."

"Cheers. Much appreciated."

She looked at her brother, watching him watch nothing in particular. "How are you feeling? Do you feel it getting better?"

He shrugged his shoulders, not really knowing how to construct an answer she would be wholly satisfied with. "Think it's gone by so slowly that I don't really feel any different. I'm better than I was in April, at least."

"You don't feel any different?"

"Will you listen to what I have to say?" Edward groaned. "I'm better, but it's gone by so slowly that I don't properly feel anything, if it makes sense?"