Asher

  My eyes fluttered open. The sky was light blue, a tinge of orange in it. Sunrise, I realised it was. I quickly sat up and scrambled to my feet, looking around to see to make sure I was safe. And to see if Lily was there. I shouldn’t have expected her to be. And she wasn’t. I felt defeated.

  I walked back through the forest. I decided I would just go back the next day. I don’t know why I felt a bit sad. I just thought up reasons and excuses on why she couldn’t come, to make myself feel better. It did. She probably had a very good reason for not coming. I hoped she was ok.

  Lily

  I tapped my foot on the floorboards, making a small clicking sound. My dad was lying on a bed with a thin mattress, his eyes closed, and his chest moving up and down slowly as he breathed. He was fine. Fine for that moment, the doctor said. They had taken some blood to test for any diseases. He most likely had one, the doctor said. They gave him medicine to get the flem out his throat that caused him to choke and cough that night I found him on the floor in our house.

  He woke up a couple hours ter. I had sat in the uncomfortable doctor's chair for hours. I talked to him for a while. He didn’t ever respond but he would look at me out of the corner of his eye, like he was telling me he was listening. He would sometimes open his mouth, but only a small sound would come out, like a small wheeze and he’d shut it again, giving up. He would do this over and over again every time I finished what I was talking about.

  At one point, a word came out his mouth, and slowly, he could form sentences again. It made me feel relieved. It made me feel hope for his recovery.

  I was talking to him about something random when he interrupted me.

  “You shouldn’t be here sweetheart, worrying about an old hag-,” he stopped to take a couple breaths, “like me.”

  I smiled, as a way to tell him that he was being ridiculous, and shook my head.

  “You always do that. Tell me to stop worrying about you. And stop calling yourself an old hag. You’re not.”

  He gave me a look that said ‘are you serious?’

  “Look at my hair. It’s grey and I’m already balding,”’he chuckled slightly, but stopped when he coughed.

  My smile softened and I stood up, going towards him and rubbing my hand on his shoulder comfortingly.

  “I’ll go now if that’s what you want dad. But I’ll be back tomorrow.”

  He opened his mouth but I cut him off as I walked towards the door.

  “And you better take your medicine!”

  I quickly walked out before he could say anything more to convince me to spend less time at the ‘worrying about him’.