Young Writers Society

There was always this one patient I remembered at the hospital. The girl who never smiled, Ms. Fujioko, of course I probably wouldn’t smile if my family never came to visit me either. She had a terminal illness, she was going to die, and at such a young age too, she had only just begun her life. She soon went from a happy girl to one who would never even speak. She wouldn’t even look at the nurses when they tried to help her, so eventually everyone just gave up. Being the newbie in the terminal wing they decided to stick me to her, and so I went about the same routine every day. I’d come in and check her I.V. and monitors, “Good morning Ms. Fujioko!” I’d say, and she’d great me with the same silence every time, “Beautiful weather we’re having aren’t we?” or “Man I wish the sun would come out today.” Sometimes I’d even stay and talk to her about work. “Ms. Fujioko, you’ll never believe it, the craziest thing happened today!” and then I’d proceed to tell her some story she probably couldn’t care less about, but I always felt the need to talk to her, to show her a kind smile, even in her darkest days. But she’d always keep her back to me… no matter what I did; one day I swear I even heard her crying into her pillow. That was the first time I ever frowned around her. That night I ended up crying myself to sleep; that poor girl was dying and here I was pretending everything was all sunshine and flowers. She probably hated it; I should apologize to her, I’d thought. So the next day I brought her a white rabbit doll and placed it on her night table, “I apologize for the inconvenience I’ve caused you Ms. Fujioko.” I tried on a small smile, but it just didn’t quite feel right. As I left that day, I could have sworn I heard her shift positions, perhaps to turn away from the rabbit? Later that day on my way out I passed by her room, cradled gently against her chest was the white rabbit, and for once I was able to see her face. She was pretty, like an angel against the orange rays of the setting sun. I left with a smile on my face that day. After that Ms. Fujioko watched me when I came to check on her she no longer kept her back to me when I worked, she would even wiggle the rabbit in response to my stories.

One day, in the quietest of voices she corrected me, “Just Shiru...” She whispered her voice a tad hoarse from disuse.

“Shiru, what a lovely name!” I grinned from ear to ear, this quite girl who never smiled, who never even looked at anyone, was finally opening up. Slowly Shiru started talking back. Just noises of acknowledgement at first, then actual responses, and before I knew it she was telling me her own stories! Shiru was even starting to move around instead of just laying still, she sit up and crawl to the end of her bed to greet me whenever I came in.

“Goodmorning Curtis!” She’d call wiggling her rabbit at me, “Apple and I were waiting for you!” that day was the first time I’d seen her smile, it was like someone had just turned on a bright light, even the other nurses noticed. They no longer ignored her; I wasn’t they only one visiting her anymore, though I was still the only one she’d craw to the end of the bed for. Shiru began to get restless though, she was always trying to walk around the bed.

“You’re starting to get pretty good at that huh?” I smiled plopping down a fresh pair of sheets on the chair. “You can even walk without holding onto the rail!” Being able to get out of bed on her own made changing the sheets a much quicker and easier task so we had started to do it more often.

“Hey Curtis… am I still allowed to have goals?” she questioned suddenly. I stopped fussing with the sheets to look her in the eyes, but she was facing the ground, a frown where her usually radiant smile was.

“Of course you are Shiru! Why wouldn’t you be allowed to?” I frowned, wondering what had brought on such a question.

However she just turned back at me, a bright smile once again replacing the sullen frown. “Then my goal is to be able to walk that hallway!” she laughed throwing her arms in the air. “You’ll help me wont you? I want you to be the one who helps me complete my goal.” The smile on her face was one I’m sure hadn’t been seen in a while. It was full of life, and her golden eyes full of determination, it was a smile I couldn’t say no to, nor did I want to.

“You bet kiddo!” I smiled, ruffling her hair ever so gently. From that day on Shiru and I practiced her walking every day, never truly knowing what she was walking to. Then, one day, she decided it was time, today was the day she would complete her goal. So I walked her to one end of the short hall way and waited at the opposite end, the other nurses all watching to see her big moment. She had one golden rule though, no matter what, no one was allowed to move from their spot or help her in anyway; she would complete her goal all on her own. Little by little she slowly made her way towards me, one step than two. We could all feel our hearts racing, tears of joy coming to our eyes. The girl who never smiled wore the brightest smile of all today.

“Today is a good day…” she started slowly nearing the middle of her goal. “I’m grateful you could help me fulfill my last wish.” Those words seemed to ring through the crowded hallway like the reapers bell. Suddenly we all understood what Shiru was walking towards and suddenly I no longer wanted her to reach her goal, none of us did. “I’m glad I was able to meet you before the end, you were a great person, even if you were a little annoying at times.” She smiled

“Shiru!” I felt my voice crack as tears of sorrow stung my eyes and threatened to spill over. “Shiru, stop walking!” I took a step towards her, wanting to stop her.

“Don’t move!” The sudden cry of her voice made me stop, “You’re my goal Curtis… You promised! You can’t break a promise!” She continued walking her steps wobbly. We all respected her wish, no matter how much we didn’t want to, none of use took a single step… just as she made us promise. “I’m glad you’re who you are, you made the last leg of the race fun. It stopped raining and was sunny!” She smiled now nearly a few feet away. “Promise you’ll take care of Apple okay? He’s not a normal bunny, he doesn’t like carrots so be sure you don’t feed him any. He likes lots of apples!” I could feel my throat tighten up, like I couldn’t breathe, my chest felt heavy and my head felt dizzy. “Just a few more steps, can I take a nap after this Curtis?” My words failed me, even nodding my head was hard to manage, by now the other nurses were sobbing, and some couldn’t even bear to watch. “Just-one-more-step.” She collapsed into my arms, her cherry red hair covering her face. By now her skin was warm and her breathing was very heavy, “Finished…” she huffed

“Shiru…” Her name was all I could manage as I held her tightly, my body shaking as my legs refused to hold me.

“It’s okay Curtis, I crossed the finish line, I was able to have a goal, and it all thanks to you, she smiled her eyes closing for the last time. Slowly her breathing became shallower the rest of the world seemed to drift away, and her last words were all I could hear as a river of tears finally broke through, “Thank you.” And just like that the girl who never smiled, passed with a beautiful smile on her face. We held a service for her a few days later, only the staff came though. After that life slowly moved on, another patient took Shiru’s room and soon the staff returned to normal. I couldn’t take the pain of walking by her room everyday and quit soon after. Apple was constantly with me, always in my back pack, everywhere I went, even though I mostly only went to bars now.Spent my days getting drunk, hoping one day, I’d finally get to see her again, the girl who had the brightest smile.