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"Ashley, I don't think your parents will like me telling you about this."
Her green eyes dimmed, "Please, Sedona," she begged, "My mom kisses my dad and I think it's gross. But you, you would know how it feels to kiss a boy. I'm sure a lot of boys think you're so pretty."
"Thank you, I guess," I grinned at her and raised my right pinkie, "Pinkie swear, this is just between you and me."
She held up her pinkie with the hand that was attached to 3 I.V. bags, connected to a pole, on the left side of her bed.
"So, how did it feel? Was it icky?” she asked again, now with a light giggle, "Wasthe boy cute?"
This girl had suffered most of her childhood. She has spent majority of her life within the confines of the hospital; yet, she still managed to dream. The more I talked with her, the more I admired her courage. She viewed life as extremely full. No half glasses. Just full. If I could give her a little something to continue to dream about, then I would have given her a sliceof happiness.
I sat on the chair closest to her right side. She leaned forward. The monitor beeped when she moved and after a few seconds, quieted down.
"This boy was extremely handsome. His eyes were a unique blend of blue and green and he had the most beautiful smile."
Her eyes sparkled against the light, her mouth openedinto a smile.
"When he kissed me, it didn't feel yucky or disgusting. It was...absolutely breathtaking," I said softly. I suddenly realized that all the kisses I've had with my ex-boyfriend, Brennan, were nothing but fragmented memories. Yet, this one kiss from Zander, was the kiss that I still felt in my spine, in my whole body, and it was his kiss I remembered best.
"Wow," she took a deep breath, "I wish I'd find a boy like that too."
I ruffled her naturally light blonde curls that I had just fixed a few minutes ago, "Ashley, all the boys will be lucky to even hold your hand.You are a beautiful girl."
She looked up at me again, her mouth was slightly pursed, “I only want one boy. A boy who can kiss me like that, I'll neverlet him go."
Here was a girl, who had suffered through so much. Here she was, sharing with me what she dreamed about. Here she was, telling me that if a boy could kiss me like that...I should have never let him go.
*****
After clinicals, I was surfing the web for some research articles, when Nalee knocked on my door.
Her eyes were puffy. Again. Of course, that only meant one thing, or better yet, one person – Jerome.
“Hey, you busy?” she asked.
“Not really,” I shook my head, “What’s going on?”
“Oh, I was just wondering if you could go to the pharmacy with me,” she sniffed, “I don’t think I can drive.”
She must really not be feeling well. She hardly took any meds for anything.
“No problem,” I said.
I took my car keys and we headed to the nearest K-Greens, which was a pharmacy/grocery store/supermarket.
She talked about Jerome’s philandering ways on the drive to K-greens. She had just found out that he slept with an intern. He was such a total loser! Nalee swore this would be the last time Jerome did this to her. I wished I could believe her. She has said the same thing multiple times; yet, every, single time Jerome groveled for forgiveness, she took him back.
“Nalee, you deserve someone way better than him.” This was not getting through her head. She had massive blinders on when it came to this guy.
“I know. I just can’t help it,” she sniffed again, “When he’s good to me, it’s great between us. I can’t let go of all the happy times. He always comes back to me, you know.”
I nodded. There was no reasoning with her. She was my friend. I hated seeing her like this. But she had to be the one to decide when it was over between them. She has been Jerome’s crutch for too long. One day, I hoped that she would wake up and see that her life was so much better without him. For now, as a friend, I listened. She needed me. I was here for her.
We got out of my car and walked into the store. She went to the pharmacy area. I skipped to the greeting card aisle. I loved reading greeting cards. Oh, and Tanya and Kieran’s birthdays were coming up. Great excuse to buy more cards.
I was busy scanning the cards when I heard a woman’s voice on the other side of the aisle.
“What do you think of this? Do you think she’ll like it?” The woman garnered no response from whomever she was speaking to.
