A Day of Volunteering

[posey]

Running it was the one sporty activity that Posey didn't mind, and she did it well. Not well enough to join any sort of team- or maybe that was simply due to her lazy streak. Classes were the same way, she was actually quite intelligent. They had her take all the AP courses in middle school, and had even wanted to skip her a grade- but she declined. Once you started doing anything with effort, they wanted that from you all the time and more. The young girl simply didn't have the time, she had enough on her plate. Even if the mere onlooker couldn't see any of that, and no one ever bothered to ask.

Turning around now, she runs back towards the dormitory. Straight through the entrance and up the stairs until she reaches the door that protects her and Ella's world from the rest of it. Taking the key from her wrist, she unlocks and opens the door jogging inside. There was no sign of her roomie, but that was okay, they would have plenty of time to catch up later. With a quick shower, and a change of clothes- Posey is back out in the hall locking the door behind her. It was a short walk from campus to the bust stop, and then another short ride to drop her off near the hospital.

Going inside she signs in, and goes back to the locker room area. Opening her locker she tosses her coat inside, and gets out her apron. It was white with lots of ruffles and she had decorated the neckline of it with many color animal pins. Tying her hair back into a ponytail with a rainbow colored ribbon she deems herself ready, and heads out to "work". Of course it was all volunteer, but Posey loved bringing a bit of brightness and warmth to the people cooped up in the hospital- it was something she had started doing after her parents died.

Grabbing her cart she starts off down in the gift shop, picking up things that people had ordered to be delivered to certain patients. Once she has everything, she stars off again. Stopping by each room to deliver their surprise and spend a few moments chatting and laughing with them. Until she comes to the last room on the first floor. That was the room of " The Sleeping Prince ". Nobody knew who he was, or where he came from. The police had found him laying in the park with severe head injuries. That was over a month ago, and he still hadn't woken up.

Slipping into the room she takes a single yellow rose from the cart and places it in a vase near his bed. She bought one everyday, thinking he would like to see something other than just cold machines whenever he decided to wake up. Sitting on the bed next to him, she fixes his pillows, and takes a few moments to brush his hair. Once all that's done, she grabs the book from her pocket and flips to the place where she left off yesterday. It was " The Hobbit " which might have been a silly choice, but she had only brought fairytales and fantasy novels thinking of the kids. After finishing the next chapter she puts the book away and sighs.

" And thus concludes another day. I haven't got too much to tell you today. I met a new friend her name is Ella. A bit obsessed with Disney but sweet. And my cousin should be arriving this week, so that's sure to make things interesting... Well... I had better get going, lots more to do before the day is over... I hope you wake up soon, after all this time, I'm kind of curious to see what color eyes you have. I bet they're gentle... I'll see you tomorrow, sleep sweetly. "

Pushing up from the bed, she grabs her cart and heads off to start the next floor. Slipping into the elevator she finds herself sharing it with one of the nurses, Rosa.

" So how's your boyfriend? "

One may find it hard to imagine Posey getting any brighter than she already was- but Rosa's question quickly turned Posey's cheeks the same hue of pink as her hair.

" He's not my boyfriend! And he seems to be the same. "

" Sure he's not. "

With a lurch the elevator stops, letting Rosa off on her floor. Leaving Posey alone to bury her face against her cart and groan softly.

" He's not... even if he was awake he wouldn't be. No... once he wakes up, my job will be done, and I'll never see him again... "

[aggie]

Henny Kendal never stopped moving. It was the most obvious thing about the boy – he was always humming with energy, bounding from place to place as he chased down all his hobbies and commitments. Add in the fact that he was always working studiously on his class work, as well as running after some aquaintance or another he was taking care of, the boy was basically a blur flying across campus. He hardly slept, hardly had any personal time, but he was always smiling: the boy always felt he was only earning his keep if he was busy. In fact, Henny was always so cheery and energetic that no-one ever expected him to be so much less healthy than he seemed. Sick people were sad, and apathetic, and slothish – that was the expectations. That had never been Henny. Because Henny, you see, had never been a healthy kid. So, he learnt early on not to let his body rule him. He ran, he played, he focused on will power alone – and he'd started to believe he'd won the battle. Not the case. This year, all the stress he put his body through had come back to bite him, and his health had been deteriorating fast. Henny did his best not to let it bother him: but he couldn't help but be worried that soon he wouldn't be able to keep up appearances, let alone all of his hobbies.

And so, by the demands of his much loved parents, Henny had been booked into the hospital for tests, in the hope that a quick and easy solution could be found for his recent downhill spiral. The boy really didn't look like he belonged, with his beaming smile and springy step as he chatted away avidly to nurses, doctors and patients alike – but there could be no denying the tired dark circles under his eyes, or the way he occaisional pauses to master a wave of nausea or light-headedness. But he was fine: he had a lot to be thankful for, and thankful he was. Very few things could penetrate Henry Kendal's wall of aggressive optimism.

Done for the day, Henry wished the nurses a fond farewell, and made his merry way to the elevator to head back home. The very last thing he expected to see was a very familiar little head buried in a nurse's cart. Never-the-less, he greeted his little pixie of a friend with his usual catty grin. “Hallo, Po! Are you alright, sweetie? The top of your head looks a little down...” Always time to be concerned, with Henry Kendal.

Sorry it doesn't quite match up to your word count... You write long and lovely posts!!! <3 Hope this works, I did my best to find a way for someone to reply xxxx

[posey]

They were thoughts that she couldn't quite get a hold of, at least not there. The nurses were always teasing her, she knew that they didn't mean any harm by it. And she was fully aware that the entire situation was just silly. What girl in their right mind, starts to develop feelings for a boy in a coma? There was no proof that he would ever wake up, she'd heard the doctors talking and most of them had given up hope. Posey just couldn't do that though. There were a lot of bad things, dark things, in the world. They were starting to over whelm most of man kind. People walked around with frowns, or sneers. Life was hard, even at her young age she knew that. She had lost both of her parents, she had lost her dream... But there was always another one, that was the great things about dreams. So maybe she was naive, always looking at the silver lining. She wanted the world to be happy, but she could only reach so many at one time. The theory was, that happiness could be contagious and if you made enough people happy, they would go out and continue the chain with other people. It was a lot harder to spread light and cheer than it was sorrow and chaos though.

So yes, she fully planned on seeing her Sleeping Prince open his eyes one day. Even if that meant that she would lose him, he would go back out into the world with the people who loved him. But there would be someone else to fill that bad, and she'd have plenty of work to keep her hands full and her mind occupied. She was too young for love anyways, wasn't she? And yet- she couldn't deny that there were these feelings, like little butterflies every time she got near his door. Whenever she knew that she was going to visit him, spend time with him. Normally she just shrugged it off to wishful hoping. Hoping that, that day would be the day that he woke up and joined the land of the living again. That had to be all there was too it, it was simply impossible for someone to fall in love with a sleeping boy- end of story.

A familiar voice caught her ear, causing her brightly colored head to bob up rather quickly. She hadn't expected to run into anyone from school there. None of them knew about her little out of school activities- save for Ella and Puck of course. Everyone else was meant to view her merely as that rebellious little punk who ran about campus, causing all sorts of trouble and problems. Looking from Henny, back down towards the car in front of her- she shifts about uneasily for a moment. Her mind was running about a mile a minute, trying to think of an excuse, a reason for being there... the way she was. After a few seconds though, she just shrugs it off and grins up towards her older friend. She seriously doubted that her 'double life' would be any surprise to Henny. They'd spent time together, he'd seen sides of her that most of the other students didn't have privy to.

" Hiya, Dollface. I'm fine, was just thinking about one of the patients down below. What're you doing here? "

Tilting her head to the side, she stares at him curiously. In the bright lights of the elevator she could see things. Pieces of the picture that she never quite noticed on campus. She firmly believed that hospital lights were ment to do that though, just another way to put people under the microscope. Even the visitors and people just passing about in the hallways, it was hard to hide things under those bright lights. He looked tired, she could see the dark circles beneath his eyes. His eyes themselves still held that friendly glow, but they even seemed a bit duller than normal. There was a slight pang in her lower belly, one of those nervous pangs. She couldn't help it, she'd just gotten like that since the death of her parents, whenever someone she cared about was hurt or ill. She found herself hoping that if he was sick, maybe he'd just gotten bit by that nasty bug going about.

[aggie]

Henny would be lying if he said that he wasn't surprised to see Posey volunteering at the hospital. It was not, honestly, that he considered it out of character – simply the fact that the younger girl had never mentioned it, or hinted at it, and Henny had never considered it as an option before. A lot of people only saw Posey the trouble-maker and fire-starter of a little first year. Henny was lucky enough to know that she was sweet, and caring, and adorably crazy. But then again, Mr Kendal saw the very best in absolutely everyone, and Posey was no exception. But by the look on the girl's face, by seeing her here, Henny had crossed some kind of line – and he supposed he understood. Henry had never been one to worry about reputation or image, but if Posey really was trying to come off as a hard cookie, this was definitely not in character. Still, if she didn't want people to know, Henny could be trusted to keep a secret.

When her face finally broke into a smile, Henny's eyes sparkled a little brighter. It was always nice to be trusted by a friend. He nodded gently as she mentioned a patient she was thinking about. Posey was a caring girl, of course she got attached to some of the patients here. And Henny wouldn't be Henny if he didn't offer to help out in any way possible. “I'm sorry,” he hummed gently, reaching forward to lightly ruffle her hair, “You know, if you want to get it off your chest, you can always talk to me about them? Our little secret.” And a kindly smile, and a little wink.

Her question to him, however, caught the junior a little off guard – despite it being the obvious question she should ask him. His morals (strong, as ever) told him to tell Posey the truth, and trust her with as much of his life as she trusted him with hers. She deserved to be told the truth, even if it was the unpleasant truth that he felt rather as if he was falling apart at the seams, and no one seemed to know why. But after scrutinizing her for a second, Henny decided against it. There was worry in her face which he hated: the older boy despised the idea of being a source of concern to a friend. Besides, Posey had enough to worry about without Henny's problems. And so, he smiled a bright smile, and waved her question away. “I have a friend who works in radiology – I just dropped in for a chat and a game of chess over his lunch break”.