1
Hospital Rooftops
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Astria Sirius Brone did not believe in love - and how could she? Her entire life had been one misfortune after the other. Her parents abandoned her when she was six. She had been in and out of abusive homes in the foster system until she was ten, finally opting to run away and live on her own. At the ripe age of eleven she had fallen into the pit of depression, finally resorting to self-harming behaviors when she was twelve. The now sixteen-year-old girl had tried killing herself at least sixteen times, all attempts being foiled by some passing stranger with a large heart. Astria didn’t hate these strangers - rather, she admired their spirit of kindness and compassion in this cruel world. She would, however, appreciate it if they could direct their kindness elsewhere, as she would very much like to not be alive anymore.
Astria contemplated all of this as she lay in her hospital bed, staring at the white ceiling as the heart-monitor beeped in the corner. How she longed to fall back into those few moments of bliss when she could feel her life force bleeding out of her - that moment of blackness that consumed her whole. She lifted her hand meekly to observe the bandages wrapped tightly around her self-inflicted injuries, half wondering what the hospital staff would do if she just ripped them off. Just as she was about to execute her experiment, the thin white sheet separating her from the patient next to her was brushed aside, revealing a girl around her age. She had bright blue eyes that reminded Astria of the ocean, honey colored hair that rested in neat twin braids. She had a brilliant smile that nearly blinded Astria as she lay on her back, the expression on her face mimicking that of a deer in the headlights.
“Oh! Douth hath awoken!” Astria stared at the newcomer with a look of pure confusion, which made the honey colored hair girl laugh brightly. “I’m just kidding! You’re finally awake! How are you feeling?”
Astria just stared at the beautiful girl, so full of life and energy. It didn’t make sense to her, people in hospitals are not meant to smile like angels, they’re supposed to be broken.
Like me, Astria thought bitterly, keeping her face neutral.
“My name is Elinor Smith, your roommate, pleasure to meet you!” The girl gave a small bow, before standing up straight with a goofy grin.
“I - I’m Astria Sirius Brone -” She didn’t know what had compelled her to answer, something about this girl’s vivacious personality just drew Astria deep into her. It was not something the dejected teen was used to.
“Pleasure to meet you Tria! Can I call you that? I’m going to call you that.”
Astria just meekly nodded, far too shell shocked to be able to respond. Elinor was unaffected, and continued conversing; she took a seat on the stool besides the bed as Astria sat up. She listened to Elinor talk, getting sucked into every word the girl was speaking. Everything about her was entrancing, and Astria let herself forget about everything else as she got lost in the words Elinor spoke.
