THE SHATTERED WISH
a few days later
Fay hated her birthday. To her, it wasn't a celebration of life; it was an annual reminder of the day her heart had started a slow, agonizing countdown of waiting. For ten years, this date had been a quiet, private funeral for the girl she used to be the one who wasn't cold, the one who didn't live behind a wall of white coats and medical charts.
She had specifically chosen the old library wing because it was the one place in Sterling Hospital where the air felt as heavy and forgotten as she did. She sat at a dusty mahogany table, the glow of a single desk lamp casting long, jagged shadows against the bookshelves.
She reached for a dry, plastic-wrapped sandwich, her eyes stinging. "Happy Birthday, Fay," she whispered to the silence.
The heavy double doors creaked. Fay stiffened, her hand reaching for her pager. "Nina, I told you I…."
"Nina isn't here."
Kei stepped into the light. She was dressed beautifully, a stark contrast to the dim, dusty room. In her hands, she held a small, elegant cake a dark chocolate gateau with a single, bright flame dancing on a gold candle.
"What are you doing here?" Fay stood up so abruptly her chair scraped harshly against the floor. "This is a restricted wing. How did you get in?"
"I have a very helpful friend," Kei said, her voice soft and melodic. She walked closer, the candlelight flickering in her dark eyes. "I couldn't let you spend today alone, Fay. I remember how much you used to love chocolate. Make a wish."
Fay looked at the cake, but she didn't see the dessert. She saw the ghost of every birthday she had spent staring at her phone, hoping for a message that never came. She saw the ten years of cold nights, the years of building her career just to fill the emptiness Kei had left behind.
And then, she remembered the way Nina had been giggling at her phone all week. The way Kei had been "befriending" everyone in Fay's life, effortlessly sliding back into a world that Fay had struggled to survive in.
Jealousy and pain flared in Fay's chest like an infection.
"A wish?" Fay's voice was low and trembling. "You want me to make a wish?"
"Fay..." Kei's smile faltered, sensing the shift in the air.
"I spent ten years wishing, Kei!" Fay shouted, her voice echoing off the high ceilings. "I wished for an explanation! I wished for a goodbye! I wished to stop feeling like I was dying every time I saw a black-haired girl in a crowd!"
Fay stepped forward, her eyes bright with tears of pure rage. "You think you can just buy Nina's help with gifts? You think you can walk in here with a cake and a smile and erase a decade of suffering? You're not a guest here, Kei. You're a parasite."
"I was trying to make it better…."
"You're making it worse!" Fay reached out and, with a violent sweep of her arm, knocked the cake out of Kei's hands.
The plate shattered against the floor. The cake the one Kei had spent hours finding slumped into a mess of chocolate and broken porcelain. The candle flickered out in an instant, plunging the room back into a depressing gloom.
"I don't want your cake," Fay hissed, her breath hitching. "I don't want your 'surprises.' And I don't want to see you anymore. Not in this hospital, not at my house, and not in my life."
Kei stood frozen, her empty hands still hovering in the air. The rejection was so physical it looked like she had been slapped. The light in her eyes went out along with the candle.
"Fay... I just wanted you to be happy," Kei whispered, her voice cracking.
"Then leave!" Fay screamed, the sound tearing from her throat. "If you want me to be happy, then get out and stay out! Stop reminding me of how much I lost!"
Fay turned her back, her shoulders shaking as she fought to keep from sobbing out loud. She heard the soft sound of Kei's footsteps as she slowly walked toward the door. She heard the heavy creak of the wood as the doors opened and then clicked shut.
Fay sank back into her chair, her head in her hands. The room smelled of chocolate and dust. She had won. She had driven the ghost away. But as she sat there in the dark on her birthday, Fay had never felt more haunted in her entire life.