I Fell in Love with Hope - Lancali

week later, he messages Neo every single day and visits us every
afternoon. He doesn’t swim anymore, he says, so he has no
responsibilities anyway.
A month passes of this routine, but one day, we don’t hear from C
anymore.
Sony and I worry. We ask Neo if he’s messaged him. Neo shakes his
head, his thumb dragging over the edge of his phone.
Two days pass. Neo doesn’t get out of bed, a familiar
disappointment settling in his gut. Sony and I stay with him to
alleviate it. It isn’t till the sun is about to set on the third night that we
hear a voice hopping down the hall, fading in like music.
“Neo! Neo! Neo!” C comes running, almost falling over when he
opens the door. The shape of him behind the blinds clears. He
enters breathless, some sort of school assignment in his hands. He’s
wearing a hospital gown, and what made him trip wasn’t the door but
an IV strapped to a pole and connected to his arm under a thin piece
of tape.
Neo looks him up and down with horror in his eyes.
C’s fingers shake and with every breath he takes, he winces.
“Neo, look,” he says, no preface, limping over to his bedside and
sitting down next to him. “Look, I got an A.” C shows Neo the paper,
pointing at the red letter near the top. There’s a giddy smile on his
lips. It can’t keep its form, twitching like his muscles.
“What happened?” Neo breathes, touching C’s face with the most
delicate reach. He moves aside the gown’s collar, tracing scars atop
his veins.
“Nothing, I’m fine.” C takes Neo’s hand. He kisses his fingertips.
“Look,” he says. “Read my paper. I wrote it all by myself.”