Chapter 1
CHAPTER ONE
THE FIRST BREATH
I was ten years old when I met Noah Carter.
At the time, I didn't know that one conversation could change the rest of my life.
I only knew that I was bored.
Hospitals were boring.
They smelled like medicine, the chairs were uncomfortable, and adults always spoke in quiet voices as if children couldn't hear them.
I sat in the waiting room, hugging my little stuffed rabbit while my mother spoke with a nurse.
That's when I noticed him.
A boy sitting alone in the corner.
He was drawing in a notebook.
I watched him for a few seconds.
His drawing was terrible.
So naturally, I walked over.
“You're a terrible artist.”
He looked up at me.
His eyebrows came together.
“I'm not.”
I pointed at the drawing.
“That house looks like it's falling over.”
“It's supposed to look like that.”
“Why?”
“Because it's old.”
I laughed.
“That makes it worse.”
He closed the notebook.
“Then go away.”
I sat beside him.
“No.”
He stared at me.
“Why?”
“Because you're interesting.”
“I haven't even said anything.”
“Exactly.”
He laughed.
That was the first time I heard Noah laugh.
And somehow, I wanted to hear it again.
“What’s your name?” I asked.
“Noah.”
“I'm Zara.”
“I know.”
I frowned.
“How?”
He pointed toward my mother.
“She called you.”
“Oh.”
We both laughed.
I looked at his notebook.
“What were you drawing?”
“A place.”
“What place?”
He opened it again.
“A place where nobody gets sick.”
I looked at the drawing.
There was a small house, a huge field and a bright blue sky.
“No hospitals?”
“No hospitals.”
“No medicine?”
“No medicine.”
I smiled.
“Does that place exist?”
He shook his head.
“Not yet.”
“Then why draw it?”
He shrugged.
“Maybe one day it will.”
I picked up his pencil.
“It needs flowers.”
“Flowers?”
“Every beautiful place needs flowers.”
He looked at me for a moment.
Then he drew three tiny flowers beside the house.
I smiled.
“Better.”
Neither of us knew it then, but those three little flowers would become one of my favorite memories.
---
I saw Noah again the next day.
And the day after that.
Soon, I started looking forward to hospital visits.
Not because I liked hospitals.
Because Noah was there.
We talked about everything.
School.
Cartoons.
The places we wanted to visit.
He wanted to become an architect.
I wanted to travel the world.
We promised we'd visit Paris together someday.
We promised we'd see the ocean.
And, most importantly, we promised we'd always be friends.
Years passed.
Our friendship grew with us.
But eventually, something changed.
Our conversations became longer.
Our goodbyes became harder.
And somewhere between childhood and adolescence, I realized Noah wasn't just my best friend anymore.
He was the person I loved.
I didn't know what love was supposed to feel like.
But I knew what it felt like when Noah smiled at me.
I knew how much I missed him when he wasn't around.
And I knew that every message from him could make my entire day better.
Then, when I was thirteen, my parents sat me down.
My mother was crying.
My father looked unusually serious.
“Zara,” my mother said softly, “there's something we've never told you.”
I looked between them.
“What?”
My father took my hand.
“You have cystic fibrosis.”
I didn't understand.
“What is that?”
“A serious illness.”
I thought about Noah.
“Does Noah have it too?”
My father nodded.
“Yes.”
My mother squeezed my hand.
“That's why you must be careful around him.”
“Why?”
My father looked at me.
“Because two people with cystic fibrosis shouldn't be too close to each other.”
I stared at him.
“How close?”
“Five feet.”
Five feet.
That's all it took.
Five feet to turn my best friend into someone I was suddenly afraid to touch.
That night, I stared at my phone for almost an hour.
Noah had messaged me.
“You disappeared today. Everything okay?”
I wanted to tell him everything.
Instead, I typed the words that would change our lives.
“We need to stay away from each other.”
His reply came almost immediately.
“Why?”
I stared at the screen.
Then I typed:
“Because we're sick.”
And that was the night I learned that sometimes, the people who claim they're protecting you can be the ones who build the walls around your heart.
