The white hospital room was cold and still besides the occasionally beeping monitor next to him. The pale youth under the thin hospital bed sheets looked incredibly small in the empty room. The light coming from the window was already waning, signaling the day's close end. Most patients in the hospice ward were visited by friends and family as they tearfully said their last goodbyes. Their rooms had flowers and gifts and loving relatives to miss them. Not this room. The lights had been turned down to the youth's request, and the only source of light was a little lamp on a table a length's distance from the bed. The youth was snuggled up as best as he could whilst holding the only gift he'd gotten his entire stay here, maybe even his entire life: a cheesy fantasy romance novel given to him by his primary nurse.
***
A few weeks earlier-
"Yunho, you're a good kid, you know? I don't understand how a family could...well no point talking about it now," the nurse said while cleaning up the room. She visited about every day to check the youth's vitals and keep him comfortable.
Yunho understood what she wanted to say though he wished she'd stop calling him a kid. It's what he could tell all the nurses were thinking when they passed his room. *How could a family abandon a sick kid like that?* Yunho had always been sickly, but when he reached high school age, it had gotten even worse. He had to live in the hospital,and all signs were pointing to an inevitable young death. The youth was moved to hospice to have his last days be comfortable, but his family had never come even once. This didn't surprise the youth. Yunho and his family were never close. His frail constitution was both a mental and financial burden on them. They cared far more about his siblings that didn't get the same tendency of sickness. If it wasn't for the sake of not losing face, his parents may have given Yohan up when he was little.
The youth didn't reply to the nurse's comment. He knew she meant well and was genuinely upset. The nurse had his primary caretaker for a few years now, and she seemed to take her job very seriously. She always made effort to talk to him and entertain him somehow. Her name was Jangmi, Rose, but Yunho preferred just calling her 'Nurse'. The nurse continued straightening out the room meticulously. She always remembered how he liked it. Lights turned low with the table lamp on. She, then, turned on the TV and sat down to chat, taking out a book to read. Yunho never understood why she'd always put on the TV when she never watched it. Maybe she thought he'd like it, but Yohan really never cared for TV though it did make for good background noise.
"I heard it's going to rain tomorrow. We've never had such a rainy winter! It's like the sky hates joy," the woman joked. She was holding one of those romance novels it seemed that she was obsessed with reading lately. Yunho hadn't seen this particular one before though. Maybe she had just got it.
"Are those books any good?" Yunho asked abruptly. He asked from both curiosity and boredom. The most enrichment he got in the hospital was occasionally getting to paint, but he wasn't any good at painting, so it just caused him more stress than entertainment. The nurse looked surprised at this question before breaking out into a laugh. She didn't expect the boy to ask a question. Most boys his age, 19, would rather invoke Hell's wrath than express any type of interest in a 'girly' romance novel. The nurse eventually caught her breath and smiled.
"Do you want read one? This one's pretty good," The nurse answers, extending her hand with the book.
The youth was flushed red with embarrassment from the nurse's fit of laughter. Yunho shook his head, wishing he could take his initial question and swallow the words back.
"No, no! It's fine if you do. I didn't laugh in mean-spiritedness...I was just *surprised.* Here, take it. I think a dose of escapism would do you some good anyway," the nurse continued to gesture the book towards the youth, seemingly not taking no for an answer.
Yunho hesitantly grabbed the novel. The cover was smooth and white with blue and gold accents. The title was in pink: "The Mistreated High Priestess Is Now a Princess."
The youth's eyebrows furrowed. What type of garbage...
The nurse laughed at his expression and patted his hand. She looked at the time.
"Oops, I've accidentally overstayed. I got to get to my next patient now!" The nurse said with a gasp.
She got up to leave and turned the TV off on her way out. But she unexpectedly stopped at the door, her hand on the handle. She looked back with a small smile.
"Hey, Yohan? I just wanted to say, always have hope...there'll always be someone in the world you can count on," the nurse said, pausing, "you're a good kid." She then left, shutting the door and leaving the youth alone in the hospital room.
***
He had read the book in its entirety about 4 times since then. It wasn't anything groundbreaking, but it was something to pass the time when the nurse wasn't there.
It was a cliche story. The main character, Irene, was mistreated by her family while her younger brother was doted upon. She eventually awakens a special holy power which catches the prince's attention because marrying a priestess could cement his position as heir to the throne. The crown prince proposes to her because of this, and since Irene just wants to escape her family's grasp, she says yes. They get married. La di da, angst, war, romance...they finally fall in love for real and her family suffer horrible fates for their treatment of her: execution for the parents and banishment for her younger brother.
He had been confused the first time he read the book on why the brother's punishment was so harsh when he never asked to be favored, but then again, it was a typical revenge romance story.
Yohan ran his hand over the cover of the novel again. His fingers ran over the title and the spine. The gentle taps of rain can be heard hitting the window, but that wasn't loud enough to cover the sound of the patient in the neighbouring room laughing with their visitors. It sounded so joyful and pure like all family should be.
Yohan sighed and flipped through the novel's pages, skimming through the familiar pages. For some reason, he was taken over by emotion. Maybe it was the cooling weather, or loneliness, or hearing the patient in the next room. But he suddenly felt like crying. He had spent all his life unloved and now doomed to die young. It wasn't fair...it wasn't fair at all. It seemed happy endings only existed between two covers. Tears slid down the youth's cheeks as he sunk more into his bed, holding the novel close to his chest. Yohan cried with ferocity despite strain being horrible for his health especially in the current chilly weather. His breath slowed as he lost the energy to stay awake until it was just a shallow wisp. Then nothing. The room returned to stillness.
Beeeep....
***
End of Chapter 1