Chapter 2
His eyes lighting up, Shaffer straightened his back and fished his hand into his pocket.
He pulled out a phone, and to Wood's dread, he asked for his phone number.
What was he to do?
What was he to say?
Wood literally found nothing special about Shaffer.
Why had the sickly one taken a sudden liking to him?
He wanted nothing more than to push him away, throw away the forms, and never set foot into that hospital again, but for some strange and
irritating
reason, Wood found it difficult to deny Shaffer.
He was trying to, he truly was, but he just couldn't.
"I...
Don't...
Usually text," Wood murmured.
He looked down at Shaffer's phone.
He couldn't look at his face.
"I'm often busy.
Keeping in contact with me wouldn't be a good idea."
He watched Shaffer's fingers curl around the phone, and his hand slowly backed away.
"But–" Wood shocked himself with that one word.
He could still see Shaffer's hand, and it had frozen in place.
"I guess I could find some time to talk every so often." He looked up, and his gaze found Shaffer's.
Those yellow eyes were gleaming.
He entered his number swiftly, and then handed the phone to Shaffer, the name section empty.
"Thank you." His voice was full of excitement as he proceeded to enter the name for his new contact.
Wood watched closely as Shaffer mouthed and typed the name,
"C-o-l-d g-u-y." Shaffer was close to saving the contact before Wood spoke up.
"You don't have to put that." He sighed.
"It's...
Wood."
* * *
The sky burned a strong, orange glow as the sun set in the distance.
Wood sat in bed, laptop in his lap, as his fingers scrolled and typed frantically.
FFI.
The page loaded.
Wood went straight into the reading.
(FFI) is a very rare autosomal dominant inherited prion disease of the brain...
Wood's eyes scanned the screen.
FFI has no known cure and involves progressively worsening insomnia, which leads to hallucinations, delirium, and confusional states like that of dementia...
Thin lips pressed into an even thinner line.
His fingers remained stiff for quite some time as his eyes read the introductory paragraph over and over again.
"There is no known cure, huh...?" Wood continued to read on.
"All the people who've contracted this disease eventually die within a year or less..." This part was read aloud.
He rubbed his face quietly.
"Of course they do." Wood leaned his head on his hand, chin resting in his palm.
"I wonder if Shaffer knows about all of this." He must have looked it up at some point, right?
It was the only normal thing to do, considering how he was the one who was suffering from said disease.
"Insomnia." He thought back to the bags around Shaffer's eyes.
'All I can say is that sleeping doesn't come as easily as it used to.'
Wood exhaled quickly through his nose, making a sound that was almost like a laugh.
He read up on the symptoms and blinked gently, a hand over his lips.
After several minutes, Wood closed his laptop and lay back on his bed.
He stared at the ceiling.
"Some friend I've made."
There wasn't much else to say.
* * *
New Text Message!
From:
Shaffer (Sent July 29th at 11:56 PM)
[Hey!
I hope this isn't a bad time!]
Wood lifted his head from his pillow and reached a hand out to grab his phone.
The bright light caused him to squint as he read the message.
Quietly, he contemplated on whether he wanted to respond or not.
He blinked weakly and slid his fingers down the sides of his phone, a sign of weariness that he could not disobey.
Wood watched as the screen went to black, and it was then that he placed the phone back on his nightstand, choosing to ignore the message.
He couldn't sleep for about an hour after the text, but ultimately slipped off to sleep.
Wood never received another message in the remaining hour that he was awake.
* * *
During the next day, Wood decided to stay home.
He sat in his room for the majority of the day, and had spent at least six hours awake until he'd picked his phone up in his hands again.
He looked at the message Shaffer had sent him the night before.
His thumb aimlessly hovered over the keyboard, thinking of what to type.
From:
Wood (Sent at 4:43pm)
[Hello.]
Shaffer:
[Hey hey heyyyyy!]
[I must have texted you while you were asleep!]
Wood was dumbfounded.
He'd never received a faster response in his life.
Wood:
[Yeah, that must've been the case.]
[You say "Hey" a lot, Shaffer.]
Shaffer:
[I know!
It's kind of my thing!]
Wood could feel Shaffer's enthusiasm through his text messages.
He spoke to Wood as if he hadn't had a friend to text in years.
Shaffer:
[How are you today?]
Wood:
[I'm well, thank you...
Just catching up on some volleyball things...]
Shaffer:
[VOLLEYBALL?
!
You like volleyball too?
!
WE HAVE TO PLAY TOGETHER.]
Wincing a bit, Wood squinted at his phone screen.
Such an energetic texter, Shaffer was.
He was kind of difficult to keep up with, and Wood felt like this would be a long term sort of thing.
Wood:
[Uh, sure.
I mean, will they let you out of the hospital?]
Shaffer:
[I guess.
I can still walk around and get to where I have to go!
Pretty much the only thing wrong with me is that I can't sleep!]
Wood scowled.
He could feel the ignorance emanating off of Shaffer's text messages.
Did he really think he was admitted to a hospital
just
because he was having trouble sleeping?
He knew full well the name of the disease he had.
So then why was he so cheerful about his entire situation?
Why did he lack the understanding of just how serious his condition was?
Unless...
Shaffer was purposely playing the fool.
He must have been.
Right?
Wood's grip tightened around his phone.
He had to be.
Wood:
[Then I guess I'll see you at the hospital around a week or two from now.
I know a gymnasium we can go to...]
Shaffer:
[A WEEK OR TWO?
!]
Wood:
[Is that too long a wait?
I can probably reschedule...]
Shaffer:
[Nah, it's alright!
I guess I can wait that long.
I've got time.]
I've got time.
The words echoed in Wood's head, as if they'd been spoken aloud.
He stared down at the screen, his brow furrowing slightly.
Did Shaffer know about the lifespan of victims with his condition?
Was he just playing the fool after all?
Just what kind of guy was he?
Indifference morphed into curiosity, and said curiosity was what drew Wood closer to his new friend.
Wood:
[Great.
I'll see you then.]
* * *
"Wood!"
Another two weeks had passed since Wood had seen Shaffer, but this time, he waited outside of the hospital, several meters away from the entrance.
Wood had looked up from his phone and stuffed it into his jacket pocket as the energetic hospital patient made his way across the lot.
In no time, Shaffer was standing in front of Wood, eager in every way to make it to the gymnasium.
"I haven't set foot outside in
weeks
." He looked around.
The day was strangely chilly, with an occasional breeze now and then, causing the browning leaves to rustle in the trees above.
Those yellow eyes examined everything, adamant with taking all of it in.
Shaffer tucked his hands into the pockets of his hood, his shoulders hunching.
A puff of smoke came from him as he exhaled.
He was paler than before, and the bags under his eyes were darker.
Shaffer looked exhausted beyond belief, yet there he stood, excited to make his way to the gymnasium.
Wood hadn't even mustered his first word before Shaffer snapped his head to the side to give him his undivided attention.
"The gymnasium's about ten minutes that way." Wood pointed down the road.
"Then let's go!" Shaffer power walked ahead, obligating Wood to catch up to him with a quickened pace, whether he wanted to or not.
* * *
The sounds of their sneakers squeaking against the gym floor was so memory inducing, it caused Wood to take a moment and reminisce on the old days, as if doing so would take him back in time to when he'd play volleyball every single day after school.
After a while, he opened his eyes and sighed, then moved across the court to the net.
He'd brought along a volleyball of his own, just in case they weren't provided with any.
"What used to be your position back when you would play?" Shaffer asked aloud, finally pulling his hands from his hood pockets.
His head was cocked back as he surveyed the gym.
Wood bounced the ball off the floor twice.
"Setter.
You?"
Shaffer grinned.
"I was the team captain,
and
the ace." He gave a mock swing of his arm, as if spiking.
"Do you think you can toss to me?"
"Of course."