Chapter 5

Three months have passed since I visited the girl. I still visited Nee-san every month. But I always went home without opening the door to room 203. The feeling was always strange. I felt like I was hiding from her. No, it’s more like I’m restraining myself from opening the door. I wanted to see her and find out how she was doing. Today was no different.

Leaving Nee-san’s room, I looked at the door again. Opening that door now would mean putting all my past resistance to waste. I’m just a stranger who intruded in her life. And she doesn’t even seem happy about it. Actually, I might have been annoying her back then without knowing it. I took a deep breath and turned away from the door… only to find her in front of me.

Like before, her face was expressionless. She wasn’t even looking at my face. It was like she was just waiting for me to move out of her way, as if I was just an object that was just passing by. I would have just moved aside and let her walk by, if I didn’t see it. In the middle of her chest, with her arms wrapped around it, was the book I gave her before - Le Petit Prince.

“Hi!” I heard myself call. “Did you finish the book?”

She still didn’t look at my face. Instead, she stormed to her room. I immediately moved away, so I won’t hit her. She opened the door and immediately closed it, after entering the room.

I stared at the door, dumbfounded by what just happened. Was she angry? Although she was never friendly in the first place, there were clearly some negative feelings behind her actions. It wasn’t just a neutral reaction anymore.

“Long time no see!” I heard someone call. It was the nurse I met before. The one assigned to the small girl.

I turned to her and gave a small wave.

“I saw what happened. Is there something wrong?” she asked.
“No, it’s nothing. I think she’s just not feeling well.” I answered. “Or maybe she just wanted to finish her book.”
“Again?” the nurse laughed. “I’ve read her that book around a dozen times already.”
“Eh?”
“Hm? Wait… Were you the one who gave her that book?” she asked.
I nodded in reply. “I thought maybe she was bored, being stuck in that room with nothing to do. So I got her something to pass the time with.”
“You should have given her some comics or something. She can’t use that book, after all.”
“She can’t?”
“Of course not,” she answered, looking at me questionably. “She can’t read. Didn’t you know?”

I shook my head, forgetting to hide the fact that she’s actually a stranger to me. I recalled the time I gave her the book. I remembered her reading the book, flipping the pages when done with each one. I remembered reading it with her. I had no idea she could only look at the book. Did she pretend to read it, in order not to hurt my feelings, or was she just admiring the book’s contents and pictures?

“Well, anyway… How about taking my place in reading the book for a change?” she asked, with a wink.

I accepted her offer and entered the girl’s room. I didn’t hesitate anymore. Perhaps it was to answer the questions in my mind. She was sitting on her bed, her pillow propped up behind her. When I stepped in, the girl turned to me, as if to ask me something. But after seeing me, she looked back at the book, on top of her blanket-covered lap.

“I’m sorry I didn’t visit the last two months,” I whispered, after taking a seat beside her bed.

She didn’t answer, but just continued staring at the book’s cover. The index finger of her right hand traced the title of the book.

“Do you want me to read it for you?” I offered. Without waiting for an answer, I reached for the book.

She was a little surprised when I took the book. Her expression seemed like a child’s, whose toy has just been snatched away by her father. But even that expression didn’t last long. Instead, I heard some words that I didn’t expect to hear from her today.

“Ari…gatou.”

I read her the first chapter.