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“Mom and Dad always tell me to compliment someone when you speak to them.”
“Good people.”
“What do you want to talk about, Doctor August?”
“Tell me how you really feel,” I say cheerfully. I’m trying to keep this light.
“I feel like a superhero this morning, doctor.”
I smile.
“Me too, Ethan. I’m in a good mood today as well. Seems like a good day for us boys. I’m feeling energized because I went to a basketball game the other night, and it was so much fun.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
Ethan stares down at his hospital bedsheets sadly.
“I wish I could go to a basketball game,” he whispers. “It’s hard when I’m stuck in this bed. I can’t do a lot of things.”
“I think you will,” I reply, nodding at him. “One day.”
“My friends are always doing fun things, and I can’t join them.”
“I know,” I reply softly. “That must be hard.”
“Did you take anyone with you to the basketball game?” Ethan asks.
“My brother actually invited me,” I reply. “He’s a funny guy. I think you and him would get along.”
“No girlfriend?” he asks.
I frown jokingly at the boy.
“No, I did not bring agirlto the basketball game, Ethan.”
“Do you have a girlfriend, doctor?” my patient asks.
I let out a laugh and shake my head.
“That is private business,” I reply. “And something that a boy shouldnotbe asking his wise old doctor.”
Ethan gives me a cheeky grin.
“So youdohave a girlfriend and you just don’t want me to know?”
“Oh, Ethan. You’re really pushy today,” I remark. “But, if you want to know, there once was a girl...”
Ethan smirks.
“I thought so,” he says triumphantly.
I growl mockingly.
“You thought so?”
The boy laughs mischievously. It’s good to see him like this - to see his normality return through all the drugs and the machines and the soulless hospital rooms.
