Birds of a Feather Flock Together

[Leiana LaCroix]

If you've got troubles, I've got em too.
There isn't anything I wouldn't do for you.

Medical was quiet. It was an uncomfortable, even awkward silence with patients imagining the worst for themselves while nurses and doctors went about their business. Leiana had been one of those tucked neatly into bed. She was staring at the ceiling while waiting for the nurse to return. She was terribly afraid.

An accident had left her with burns along her small body but it had also done something much worse. She was staring at the ceiling, that much was true. And while she knew what it looked like, what colour it was and what patterns could be found, she couldn’t see it.

At least, not very well.

The vision of her left eye was gone, and now there was only an inky blackness in its place. And with her right eye she saw with a horrible blur. Everything blended together into one giant blob but the doctor had assured her that would improve with time. The child had not believed him. She was only just over five-years-old, and battered, and bruised, and burnt, and she envisioned the worst for herself.

Leiana was certain she would die, just as the other little girl had. Her mother, whom had left the child in the capable hands of the medical staff, was not there to sooth Leiana’s fears. Instead she was left alone. So she continued to stare at the ceiling, trying hard not to cry while small fingers twiddled restlessly.

TAGGED: Tara C. Donovan

I hope you like the opening. : D

template by Margie @ Adoxography v2

[Tara C. Donovan]

Medical... There she was again... It was almost like a second home for Tara. She was used to the silence of this place and if this atmosphere could be kind of stressful or disturbing for some people, Tara had grown more and more at ease with it. At seven years old, she had been there so often that most of the nurses and doctors knew her and some of them had somehow replace the friends she would probably never have.

This time, Tara was in medical for some food poisoning. It wasn't the first time she was there for that reason so she knew the procedure, they wanted to keep her under observation for a day, maybe two. Then her mother would be able to bring her back home and to poison her again or to find some other way to make her sick or anything like that.But for the moment her mother wasn't there so Tara was free.

The nurse who had to check on her several times in the day had just left and she wouldn't be back for at least an hour. So as she didn't want to stay alone and as she felt good, Tara decided to go see if she found someone to talk to and spend some time with around.

Hanging around, she saw a girl who seemed to be around her age lying in a bed, no one by her side. Tara was so glad to find someone around her age, maybe they could be friends, so she approached of the girl. As she was coming closer, Tara understood how bad the girl seemed to be. She had no idea of what happened to the girl but it must have been terrible.

Once near the girl, not having any ideas of what she should say, Tara looked at her for a minute and noticing the tears beginning to form in her eyes, she simply took her hand and asked "Do you feel bad? Do you want me to call a nurse or a doctor?".

Leiana LaCroix

[Leiana LaCroix]

If you've got troubles, I've got em too.
There isn't anything I wouldn't do for you.

The sudden appearance of a small hand clasping her own startled the young child so that she jumped. Leiana shifted to see whom it was that had spoken but she saw only a black blob. The voice, however, gave her reason to pause and not retreat. It was a small voice, young and soft, even soothing.

She had not recognized it as one of the staff, and the words spoken gave her reason to believe it had belonged to one of the other patients. Leiana sniffled and rubbed the tears from her eyes. “No, I’m fine. Thank you.”

What a devil’s lie she told.

The fear was suffocating, choking her from the inside out until it was all she knew. Leiana was trying to remain strong for her mother’s sake as well as he own, but it was hard when the future and her vision were not so clear. But restless fingers had ceased their fidgeting now that there were held firmly in the strangers grasp.

Leiana made no attempt to remove her hand, and continued to gaze toward her new companion. “How come you’re in here? Are you visiting someone?”

TAGGED: Tara C. Donovan

template by Margie @ Adoxography v2

[Tara C. Donovan]

Seeing the girl jumping as she clasped her hand, Tara understood she scared the girl who hadn't seen her coming. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." she apologized. Then, she saw the girl turning to look at her and Tara could feel her hesitation.

Tara could feel that there really was something wrong with the girl, not only because she was lying in a medical bed, but also in the way she was acting. "I'm sorry but it's hard to believe someone who says she is fine while she is crying in an hospital... Want to talk about it?"

Tara wouldn't force the girl to talk to her, she was just proposing her help to the young girl. After all, she was a total stranger to this girl so she didn't really expect her to open up to her even if she had noticed that the girl seemed to have relaxed a little since she was there.

As the young girl asked her how she got there, Tara answered "My name is Tara, I'm a patient here too... I kind of almost live here... I mean, it feels like I spent at least half of my life around here...".

Leiana LaCroix

[Leiana LaCroix]

If you've got troubles, I've got em too.
There isn't anything I wouldn't do for you.

“It’s okay,” she said softly. “Everything has been freighting me lately, not just you.” That too would settle down with time, or so the doctors claimed also. Leiana frowned slightly as the words that had been spoken by the other young girl but she did not hold onto them too tightly.

It was particularly difficult to believe someone claiming to be fine when they were behaving in a manner similar to how Leiana was acting. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.” Even knowing that Tara was right, it was still difficult to admit.

Leiana forced a smile while gazing at the girl whom had introduced herself as Tara. She listened in silence as the explained why she was in Medical. It sounded like a sad story to live in Medical, but it also felt like that was not the entire story. Leiana would not force the matter, however. She knew what it was like to not want to talk about something.

She shifted to sit up and offered a seat to Tara, although her fingers remained intertwined with hers. Leiana enjoyed the feel of her fingers wrapped around Tara’s, it was something real, a rock in the middle of the storm. “I am Leiana. I’ve only been here a few weeks now but the doctor said I’ll have to keep coming back for at least a few more months.”

TAGGED: Tara C. Donovan

template by Margie @ Adoxography v2

[Tara C. Donovan]

"Well... If it can reassure you, I swear I'm not a threat." Tara told the girl smiling. She was just trying to clear the air as she had noticed how traumatized the girl seemed to be. Somebody had to help her to relax a little and to try to think about something else.

Tara totally understood that it was hard to act normally after some traumatizing events but it was human to want to do so. And if some people needed to talk about what happened to feel a bit better, some others didn't want to speak and prefered trying to act like everything was okay. Tara couldn't blame these people because she would probably do that too if something happened to her so it was understandable.

Actually, speaking about talking to someone else about events or problems, Tara was hiding a big part of her story by just telling the girl that she was in medical most of the time. But she had her reasons why she couldn't be fully honest about that. First, she couldn't explain to anyone what her mother was doing to her or she would be floated and Tara would never see her again. And secondly, the seven-years-old girl didn't want to make the girl sadder than she already was by telling her her story.

As the girl offered her a seat, Tara hesitated a little, it wasn't very usual for her to have a discussion and to spend time with someone around her age so it felt a bit weird. But she finally decided to sit next to her letting her fingers into the girl's hand as it seemed to help her and it didn't bother Tara. All the contrary, it was good to hold someone's hand. As Leiana said she would have to come back, Tara answered "Then I guess we will see each other again quite often. That's a good thing!" It was, even if she would have prefered to see Leiana again in a place other than medical.

Leiana LaCroix

[Leiana LaCroix]

If you've got troubles, I've got em too.
There isn't anything I wouldn't do for you.

There interactions were at first a little awkward, at least Leiana had thought that way. It felt as though neither of them were willing to explain the whole truth about the reasons for them being in Medical, but there was no denying that having the company was nice. Especially someone her own age for a change.

The adults were nice, and they did their best to talk with the kids, but it was obvious that they didn’t all know how to handle small children or their fears. A small, almost bitter smile, crested the young girl’s lips as Tara mentioned they would see each other often. It was a good thing, that was very true, but it was also a bad thing.

Leiana didn’t want to have to come back to Medical. She wanted to go back to how things had been before the accident, when she could run and play, laugh and not worry about the future. She wanted those things for Tara too, even though they had just met and didn’t really know each other. It wasn’t right for kids to have to spend all their time being poked and prodded by doctors.

“It’ll be nice to have someone to talk to next time I have to come back.” She finally replied after a long pause. She was staring down to where they hands were still linked and gentle gave Tara’s fingers a squeeze. “Maybe next time we’ll be put closer together.” Leiana hoped that this day was not a chance encounter, and that for that she and Tara became genuine friends.

TAGGED: Tara C. Donovan

template by Margie @ Adoxography v2

[Tara C. Donovan]

It felt weird talking to the girl, Tara was so not used to meet people around her age and to talk to them. She was alone since her birth as her mother didn't want her to spend time with other children. And at that moment, after all the time she waited hoping that one day she would be able to make a friend, she didn't really know what to say to the girl. And not being able to tell Leiana more about why she was there didn't help Tara at all.

However, it was great to have some company for once. Adults company was good but they didn't really understand kids, so they weren't the best to make their fears go away, to give them some hope. that was why Tara enjoyed Leiana's company, because they could understand each other. As she saw the girl smiling at the idea of them seeing each other again, Tara smiled in return but her smile quickly went away as she added "I wish it could be in better conditions, somewhere else than here... but unfortunately, it won't happen... it can't..."

As most of people, Tara didn't like to go to medical but at least it would make her stays more enjoyable than they had been until now to have the girl, not to stay alone. Speaking of being alone, Tara wondered why Leiana was on her own when she got there. She couldn't understand why somebody would leave a young girl alone after an event where she had been hurt like that. For her, after something like that, nobody deserved to be alone, they needed someone they know they could talk to.

"Yeah, I think both of us could really use that." Tara answered smiling at the girl. As she felt the squeeze on her fingers, Tara looked down to their hands and then looked up at Leiana again as the girl spoke. "I hope so. It would be great." Tara really liked this idea but she wasn't sure her mother would let that happen that easily. Not wanting to think about her mother, Tara proposed "So... What do you think about learning a bit more about each other? We can take turns and ask each other a question one after the other.".

Leiana LaCroix

[Leiana LaCroix]

If you've got troubles, I've got em too.
There isn't anything I wouldn't do for you.

There was a frown playing at the edges of her mouth when Tara explained they couldn’t meet under better circumstances. Her words were confusing at first...and then worrying, causing a pang of unease. The young girl thought about asking for more information, for clarification to calm her thoughts, but the way Tara had spoken made her feel that it wasn’t an tale either wanted to relive.

She could tell that there was something wrong with Tara, even with her damaged eyesight. She could feel the worry rolling of her in near tangible waves. Was there a hint of fear as well? Leiana wondered what it was that had Tara so...on edge. It had to have been something really serious.

So Leiana let it go. At least for the time being. There was a possibility that after they had come to known each other more that such an explanation would be offered. But in the meantime she didn’t push Tara and instead forced a smile back to her lips. “Okay. I’ll start,” she decided and then pondered a question.

“What’s your favourite colour? Mine is blue. Or and purple. And red!” It was a simply question, a small start as to not make either of them uncomfortable again. Leiana did not want to frightened away the only person in medical that seemed to be her age.

TAGGED: Tara C. Donovan

template by Margie @ Adoxography v2

[Tara C. Donovan]

Tara realized that her words were confusing and worrying as soon as she saw Leiana's face after she said them. But Tara didn't want the girl to worry about her so she added "I mean it can't happen for the moment... But hopefully some day...". Tara forced a smile to seem more convinced by her last words hoping it will be enough to dispel the unease that had settled.

However, Tara was quite sure she wasn't as persuasive as she would have wanted be. But she decided not to let it show too much because she didn't want to talk about her mother. She was already destroying a big part of her life so Tara won't let her destroy moments like this one too.

"My favourite colour..." Tara repeated thinking about her answer "I think we are lucky to live in a world made of an infinite amount of colours... Imagine how sad the world would be if it was all black and white... So I guess my answer is that I don't have a favourite colour, I like them all!" Tara explained with a smile satisfied of her answer.

Now it was Tara's turn to ask Leiana a question "Okay, my turn! So... How old are you exactly? I'm seven and I can see you are around my age, maybe a little younger?" Tara decided to keep it simple, she wanted to know the basic information about the girl before beginning to ask her about her problems and what brought her there.

Leiana LaCroix