I Fell in Love with Hope - Lancali

Eventually, he settles on the bed, the way you do on a bed that isn’t
yours yet. His legs hang off the edge, shoes weighing down his
ankles like cinder blocks welded to sticks.
“I don’t need to change schools,” he says, looking out the window
with a reclusive attitude.
“You should try to make some friends, Neo.”
Neo’s mother fumbles with the cross around her neck. She stands as
far into the corner as she can. Her stress runs rampant, a kind of
untouchable worry for her child that makes her grow distant.
“C’mon, son.” His father is a taller man, big-armed, big-voiced, the
opposite of Neo. He looks like he calls coffee joe and complains
about the government.
“Just because you have to stay here for a while doesn’t mean you
can’t meet some new people. Once you’re back in school, you’ll
have a fresh perspective.
Get your head out of those books, yeah?”
“This is a hospital, dad,” Neo says. “The only people I’ll meet won’t
be here long.”
I don’t hear any more than that.
My post is at the nurse’s station today, which happens to be right
across his room. Since he’s new, the blinds aren’t closed, and the
door is propped open.
My curiosity gets the better of me when it’s given such a chance.
Eric notices.
“Have you met him?” he asks, going over charts, checking boxes,
doing whatever it is Eric does. I shake my head no. “Why don’t you