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I''ll Take You To The Garden

Leigh sat back against her pillows and watched the doctor go about his job.

“Don’t worry,” he said, good naturedly to the ten-year-old girl. “You‘ll be all right.” He winked at her and she smiled.

“You don’t have to bluff, doctor,” she said, still smiling. “I know I’m sick.”

The doctor seemed defeated. “All right, smarty pants,” he said. “You win.” He admired Leigh’s spark and life she had in her. Not many children were like her, unfortunately.

“Can I go and see that new boy that just came in?” she asked, her eyes wide and pleading. “Is he really sick? Does he have cancer just like me?”

“He has a brain tumour,” the doctor said. “We’re trying to save him.”

“Just like me! Well, can I see him? Please Doc?”

“All right. But-”

The little girl pouted at the mention of the exceptional word. “But what?”

“But don’t get into any trouble.”

“Fine!” she said and in a moment, she was out of sight, running down the corridor.

Leigh peered at the new boy from behind the door. He was staring out the window at nothing in particular, leaning on a fluffy pillow. “Hi,” she said brightly and gave him the brightest smile she could form. He turned to look at her. “I’m Leigh.”

“Hi,” he said, surprised that a stranger had greeted him.

“So…” she said, walking up to him. “What’s your name?”

“Jesse,” he mumbled.

“Have you had surgery?” she asked.

“No. I don’t want one.”

“But you’re going to have one,” she said, smiling mischievously. “I did but I still don’t get to go home. I bet after yours, you’ll be good as new.”

He snorted, disbelievingly.

“Well, I’ll be back tomorrow,” she said and turned on her heel to leave.

Leigh went back to her ward and sighed as she looked around the empty room. Her parents had told her that she would be better in a private room but personally, she preferred to share the room with someone else - anyone else. Her parents came as often as possible but she missed her friends who were most probably busy having fun in school while she was stuck here in the ward. But she tried to look on the bright side. At least there was no homework, she told herself. And the nurses were really nice.

She pulled up her sleeves and started to brush her teeth. Looking in the mirror, she saw that she was bleeding from her nose again.

Again.

She pulled a few tissue papers and wiped her tiny nose, wrinkling it when she felt tickled. Then she turned on the tap and washed her face. There, she was sparkly clean again. No trace of blood whatsoever.

The next morning, she went to see that new boy Jesse. He seemed to always be staring out the window at nothing in particular.

“Hi,” she greeted him.

“Oh, it’s you again,” he said, mildly pleased that she had come. “It’s a sunny day, isn’t it?”

“Yeah,” Leigh said and went up to his bedside. “Do you want to go out to the garden? I go to the garden everyday. There‘re really nice old people there that gives us candy if we talk to them.”

He shook his head gently. “I’m not allowed to,” he said.

She crossed her arms and appeared to be deep in thought. “Then I’ll stay here with you then,” she said firmly. “I’ll just have to tell Doc where I’ll be in case they can’t find me.” she said and walked out.

Leigh walked along the corridors until she finally found ‘Doc’ near the counter. She told him where she’ll be in case she was “needed urgently” and found her way back to Jesse’s ward.

“So how come you don’t get to go home after you’ve had your surgery?” Jesse asked, when she reappeared.

“When is your surgery?” Leigh asked, deliberately changing the subject.

“Friday night. I don‘t want to go for surgery. It gives me the creeps. My dad and mom’s going to be there too.”

“I’ll make you a bargain,” she said, grinning.

“What is it?”

“If you try your absolute hardest to get well, I’ll come and see you everyday and I’ll take you to the garden.”

Jesse pretended to be in deep consideration and finally agreed. “Deal,” Jesse said and beamed.

“I’ll be there on Friday night,” Leigh said.

“It’s in the middle of the night,” he said. “You’re supposed to be in your ward sleeping.”

“I have my ways,” she said and gave him a look that prevented any argument.

On Friday night exactly, Jesse was wheeled out of his ward and was on the was to the operating room when he saw Leigh hiding behind a wall.

“Hey,” she said, her voice barely audible. “Good luck!” she whispered, waving and then disappeared. Jesse grinned all the way to the operating room.

Leigh returned to her own ward and wriggled under the blanket. A throbbing pain formed in her head and she squeezed her eyes to reduce the pain. Come on, Leigh, she told herself. You can get through this! Finally, sleep came over her despite the pain and she slept through the night with a small crease on her forehead.

The next day, she went to see Jesse. He had awaken already and she teased him endlessly about him looking as though he was wearing a turban because of the bandage around his head. They played tic-tac-toe all afternoon and charades afterwards usually with Leigh doing the acting and Jesse doing the guessing. The garden would have to wait as Jesse couldn’t get out of bed yet.

When Leigh returned to her ward later that day, Doc was waiting for her.

“Where have you been?” he demanded.

“Visiting.”

“Come here young lady and get on the bed.”

She did as she was told, pouting all the way. Just as sudden as that, her small body started shaking violently and she hit the bed, her body wrecked with spasms.

Then darkness…

When Leigh opened her eyes, she saw that Doc was standing at the foot of the bed. He was murmuring something to a nurse and she left the room.

“How are you feeling?” he asked her.

“Tired,” she said, honestly realizing that there was tubes stuck to in her nose.

“Get some rest then. You won’t be leaving the bed anytime soon.”

“What?!” she exclaimed, aghast. “No!”

Doc shot her a glare.

“All right, all right,” she sulked. “What about the tubes?”

“The tubes stay.”

“Okay, okay… You can’t blame a girl for trying,” she said, rolling her eyes.

Doc chuckled at the little girl’s bravery. Most children her age would be crying for their mothers right this moment if it were them. But not Leigh. He felt a rare feeling of pride coarse through his body. “I’ll check in on you later,” he said and left the room.

By the next week, she had the strangest feeling come over her. Her body was unusually weak and even her voice came across as barely a whisper. She hated it and felt like crying. She hadn’t felt like crying for a very long time and starting would be a bad idea.

When Jesse came to see her in a wheelchair pushed by a very sweet looking nurse, she was overjoyed. She had been so lonely in the entire week.

“Jesse!” she said, weakly but happily.

The nurse left him there.

“You look very sick, Leigh,” he said, worry etched on his tiny face. “How are we going to go to the garden?”

“Don’t worry,” she said. “It’s just my body that’s sick. When they find me a new body, we’ll go to the garden.”

“They better find that body fast.”

Leigh bit back a bubble of laughter as she watched the boy believe her. Girls really were smarter than boys, she thought.

He stayed for a while until her parents arrived. Then he went back to his ward.

Leigh was a brilliant girl. Brave as she was, she definitely wasn’t stupid. And she knew that she was going to die that night. She never shed a tear as she lay on the bed in the face of death waiting patiently as peace finally came over her.

Jesse knew something was wrong the next day. And when the nurse shook her head sadly at his request to see Leigh, he knew exactly what was wrong. He knew she had lied. People didn’t just get new bodies. He stared out of the window until something caught his eye.

A butterfly.

She was there to take him to the garden.

“…and I’ll take you to the garden.”