Windowless Love

Cameron wore his sneakers tatty and old, with faded jeans and Drew's t-shirt that he had stolen long before he had come to this place. The t-shirt was black with a bright blue set of headphones. The colour of the t-shirt contrasted devastatingly with the warm neutral colours the hospital was decorated in, or the harsh white of the visitor rooms. They said that the white helped calm the patients who were lucky enough to get visitors, but in reality it made conversation dry and boring, the white sucking all life out of the inhabitants.

Drew wore t-shirts which represented who he was and what he loved, band memorabilia; clothing brands; comics and movies that he adored before he had been shuffled off to this place. He tried to tell the others about what each shirt meant, but none of them knew what he was talking about and they didn’t care to find out.

Cameron listened though, sometimes making suggestions and recommendations of his own. Drew was outspoken and loud, a severe lack of human contact in his early childhood left him loud and craving attention. He was in here simply because he couldn’t cope with the outside world, it was too stark and harsh for him.

Cameron was different though, Cameron had grown up in that world. The world had made him quiet and nervous, jumping when Drew shouted and argued with the doctors and nurses. But for all Cameron hated the outside world, he craved a window.

A simple wish, one that could only be fulfilled for a couple of hours a day when they were in the games room. He spent the whole time staring out the window while Drew told him about the next adventure he had read about on that web comic.

Drew was determined to find a way for Cameron to have his window, even if it meant using his computer privileges and stealing the doctor’s wallet. Drew knew what to do with the card thing, he’d watched others download porn enough to work it out. He waited for three weeks, but eventually the vital part to his plan arrived.

The man in the lorry dropped off the window one morning and left with Drew’s scrawled signature on his clipboard. Drew grabbed hold of the box and began to drag it through the lounge area, hoping Cameron was at the window looking out.

“Drew? Drew, what have you got there?” The kindly middle aged nurse asked him, but he stubbornly held onto the window as she tried to prise it out of his grasp.

“It’s for Cameron. He likes windows, so I got him one.” Drew bit his lip, “Well, I used Doctor Martin’s money maker card.”

The nurse smiled broadly, turning to face the doctor who stood in front of a large group of residents. Cameron, Drew noted, was standing right behind the doctor. “I believe you should deal with this doctor,” she said, and left to usher everyone to the games room. Everyone, except Cameron.

Cameron stood there with a mouth which made a perfect “O” shape, his big blue eyes staring right at Drew as they watered gently. Frowning, Drew tried to explain his plan, so Cameron would be pleased and so the doctor wouldn’t shake his head and make his moustache fall off because he was looking pretty mad.

Cameron grabbed his hand quietly and lead him through to their room, sitting down on his bed beside him. Resting his head on Drew’s shoulder, he whispered his thanks. They sat in silence for a hours, hands clasping a pillow between them absent-mindedly.

Voices from outside their room could be heard, the nurse and the doctor were arguing loudly. “He’s trying to court him, Doctor! He’s bringing him presents and giving him his pudding. That’s Drew-speak for love.” The voices faded away down the hall, leaving Drew staring wide eyed at the door.

Cameron sat up, and silently pressed his puckered lips to Drew’s in a loud smacking peck. “I love you too,” he whispered happily.