I Fell in Love with Hope - Lancali

The service stairwell is one of the only ways you can get in and out
without too much traffic. The only thing we lack is an ID card to
access it. Eric always has a spare in his pocket. I may be a poor liar,
a poor criminal all in all, but even when my arm is being tended to
from a step ladder injury, my sleight of hand has never failed me.
I hold the card tight in my palm, flipping it around. The plastic clinks
against the metal, another metronome, another countdown. We hold
our breaths.
Then– Ding.
Neo practically hurls his phone upward, almost dropping it over the
edge of the railing.
Coast is clear losers! :D
C and Neo shriek, stumbling. Hikari follows as they start running
down the stairs.
A rush of air floods the stale, clean stairwell with a taste of the city.
Immediately, light bows over the sidewalk. Cars and pedestrians fly
by in a rush, startling compared to the medical staff and carts
passing tame hall lanes.
There are no walls, no locked doors, just the sky and the great
expanse of roads that lead anywhere but dead ends.
Sony speeds from the street corner where she waved goodbye to
Eric’s bus.
Her backpack bounces with her, smile catching on her breathing
tubes. My gut twists in a bittersweet tangle. She struggles to take
those final steps, but at the same time, she’s never looked happier.
“Today’s here!” Sony yells, jumping into us full force. She hugs and
kisses us manically without a care for anyone else. “It’s today! Let’s
go!”