Isn't It Love?

"Lily~ you cutting your hair to bald again."

The voice of the girl from the bed next to hers woke Lily who was lying down. Looking to the left, Lily smiled weakly. It seemed the treatment and therapy sessions from a few days ago still lingered, making her feel limp like a jelly.

"Hehe... but I’m still cute, right?" Lily responded to the girl, her voice soft, before she tried to get up and sit on her bed. "What are you eating?"

The white-haired girl, with skin so white even her eyebrows were white, was snacking on something, like almonds or whatever. The girl got up from her bed, grabbed her IV pole, and walked over to Lily.

"You want some? I got it from Nurse Vera because I didn’t cry during three injections." She took a chair, sat down, opened the snack wrapper, then brought the snack close to Lily’s lips. "Here, try it, don’t worry it’s just nuts, you’re not allergic to nuts, right? Come on, say aaa~"

"Aaaa~." Lily opened her mouth, the finger of the girl feeding her barely touching her lips. "Thank you, Iris."

"Hehehe~ no problem, we’ve been hospital roommates for how many years? 4 years?"

"Hmm, yeah, four years already."

Lily took Iris’s hand to look at the injection marks on her arm near the vein. Three little dots, clearly visible on skin as soft as silk and as white as snow.

"You know Lily, Nurse Vera said I’ll be healthy again soon."

"Soon, huh..." Lily chuckled and gently patted Iris’s cheek before pinching her squishy cheek.

"NMMAA~ Iris, don’t pinch my cheek, I don’t want my cheeks become like mochi."

"So how long is soon?"

"Two years! The doctor said I’ll be healthy again in two years, and you know what? They say is okay for me to go home next week."

Two years. Lily thought about two years and the only person who often visited her besides Aunt Lea would be leaving. Two years left, that’s a still pretty long time.

"Iris... hawwo~"

Iris snapped out of her thoughts, smiled again, and continued her pinching on Iris.

"Two more years then~ congrats on getting out from this boring place, I’ll probably be here even longer."

"Hmm... don’t worry, two years is still a long time, but for me, two years goes by fast~"

Iris let go of Lily’s hand from her cheek. Those pale-colored eyes shone brighter than the white in this room.

"You know... never mind what I said earlier, I’ll stay here until you leave, I want to keep being friends with a rich person haha~"

"Ugh, yeah-yeah, I don’t mind you being a leech that sucking on me."

Lily and Iris laughed pretty loudly, until a nurse came in and reminded them to keep it down, but of course they kept joking around.

Lily always remembered that moment, six years together and she ended up leaving. Iris died. Lily accepted it because she knows everything alive will die, but the way she died was what made her sad.

Iris died one day before she told Lily she was going to leave this place. Her parents had been allowed to pick her up for a long time. But Iris said she wanted to stay here with Lily.

Terminal Lucidity, Lily only understood what that meant after she herself got out of this place. She only then realized what Nurse Vera said about Iris being allowed to leave. Iris knew it, and she hid it.

When she said she could go home with her family, Iris chose to stay in this room and keep her company. Lily remembers several times Iris was visited by her mother and father. She eavesdropped about how several times Iris was persuaded to go home, but she always refused.

That’s what sometimes made Lily a little annoyed with Iris. She was lucky enough to be able to go home, yet that albino girl chose to stay here with her.

Did Iris pity her, or did Iris choose to spend her time with her? Out of all of it, in the end, Iris stayed with Lily.

Iris truly lived up to her name. She really was a perennial flower, eternal, she would keep living and growing back. And so did Lily, she accepted the "root" from Iris that was planted in the left side of her chest as a final farewell before spring.

Lily truly was a lucky person.

Yes, you right Iris... I am a lucky person. You live inside this body too. Even though this body is always eaten away by so many parasites and I have to drink a lot of pesticide so this "stem" can keep standing, I am truly grateful for the "root" you gave me.

Lily opened her eyes. The rainy atmosphere was so refreshing. Her eyes, covered by glasses with dummy lenses, looked to the side, where a boy was staring at her with his head resting on his palm.

Smiling, she reached for the hand that was holding up his head. She placed that hand on the left side of her chest. Her heart beat fast as she looked at this guy’s slightly confused face.

"Hmm..."

Lily moved her face closer until their lips were just inches away from touching. Their gazes locked, they could both feel each other’s breath.

⌈You know Lily, I’m curious what it feels like to fall in love.⌋

Love, what is love. Lily never understood it when Iris often told her romance stories and when they watched cheesy movies together. She was too small and young back then. Even now she has a fiancé.

I don’t feel anything with Arthur. Not even with Kai right now.

This heart beating fast could be explained, maybe the heart is just pumping more blood to make it beat faster than usual.

Why was she drawn to Kai.

Maybe because this boy is like Iris, and it seems like the "Iris" beating in her chest also feels happy when she’s near him.

⌈Anybody would be lucky to have you.⌋

That’s what Kai said. Lucky. Lily is a lucky girl. She’s lucky to be a little healthy, to be able to walk, and to have the "root" from her best friend that keeps her breathing to this day.

"I love you. Want going out and be lucky man for having me."

The sound of falling rain seemed to silence the area around them. There was no distance between them. Locked gazes. Hope? No, maybe Lily wanted to find justification for why she’s always called "lucky."

Who is she, after she becomes someone else’s?

Lily wants to know, is she drowning in sentimentality? Is she wishing for those days to come back? One thing for sure is—

Tell me, what’s left for me to do...