I back out of the room, deciding I would ask Rosa and continue on my way cause Mom will be pissed if I delay her having coffee.  I press the button to the elevator waiting for the familiar ding.  The doors open and I step in heading up.

The NICU had to be my second favorite place.  Not because babies were the passion of my life or something.  It was peaceful and quiet.  Like the world had stopped moving and all that was left were the few babies breathing peacefully in their little containers.  

Today there were only two.  I watched through the glass, as my mom wrote something down on her clipboard, poking her gloved hand through the little holes to hold a baby's finger.  She smiled.  I used a knuckle to knock lightly the glass, to which she looked up, and beckoned for me to come inside.  I pushed open the door with my shoulder and leaned on the counter in the back.

“5.7 pounds, born an hour ago.  Isn’t she precious?” my mom murmurs.  I’m never gonna forget when my mom got clearance to work in the NICU.  She was so excited it would’ve annoyed other kids.  All she talked about was this baby and that baby and how much they weighed and how they were taken care of.  I never understood much of it, but I just smiled content that she was happy.

“Okay, time for coffee,” she concludes, peeling off the latex gloves, and washing her hands in the sink.  She takes the coffee from me, planting a kiss on my cheek leaving behind her clear gloss stuck to my face.

“Let’s go kid, Barrett’s probably wondering where you’re at,” she remarks, and I let out a laugh.  I sip my coffee as she tells me about her day.

“Oh, I forgot to tell you! There’s a new patient… a girl may I add,” she teases.  I let out a groan, letting my head rest on the cold walls of the elevator.  Mom was always pointing out girls she thought were pretty commenting how “handsome” and “sweet” I was like every mom does.

“Mom, I don’t want a girlfriend or any romantic entanglements,” I specify, and she rolls her eyes with a dramatic release of her breath.

“Fine.  But I would love to have a daughter and--”

“Caroline, I am not entangling myself with girls,” I cut in, and she rolls her eyes.  

“Fine, don’t listen to your mom,” she snuffs, sticking her nose in the air, elevator doors parting.  As she exits, she turns to point an accusing finger at me.

“Ten bucks you’ll think she’s pretty!” she shouts way too loud, and I groan once again, following after her.  I don’t know what it was with my mom wanting me to have a girlfriend.  I had Barrett, and what more did I need?  Girls were not my forte--I had no idea what any of them were even talking about half the time--and never had been.  I would be putting my money on that I wouldn’t understand girls any better than I understand parabolas and rational theorems.

I pass the mysterious new patient’s room, and into Barrett’s.  I don’t even knock on the door, throwing it open.

“Jeez!! Oi, I’m half naked!!” Barrett barks.  He’s standing in his underwear, trying to find pants in the mess of his room.  I shout out a laugh, plopping down on his bed.  Barrett grunts in annoyance, throwing on a sweatshirt, and sitting down next to me.

“You are the worst,” he snaps, flinging a pillow at my head.  I catch it and whack him with it.

“Ouch, man you’re gonna mess up the hair!” he complains, running his hands over his bare head.  I laugh falling back on his bed.  Barrett lays down next to me, folding his arms over his stomach.

“What facts do you have for me today?” I question.

“Rasputins penis was eleven inches long and in a museum,” he repeats from whatever weird website he got that from.  My mouth turns down in a confused way but I give a nod anyways.

“How was chemo?”

“Oh, a joy.  I love having needles poked into my veins, and losing my hair in the process.”

“You should get a wig.”

“I am not spending three hundred dollars on someone else's hair, that is gross,” he replies, most likely scrunching up his nose.

Barret came to the hospital when we were four.  I remember him in his wheelchair, and I watched as Rosa rolled him into his room, evident fear filling his eyes.  I remember thinking I only got scared when I saw a clown or a scary movie.  I didn’t understand why a little boy like me would be scared of the greatest place on earth.  I mean they had free pudding cups.  I knew Rosa would kill me, but I still snuck into his room.  I touched and looked at all his toys, while he told me random facts about whales.  We played Spider-Man and Iron Man for almost an hour before Rosa caught us.  She kicked me right out of his room insisting I could return tomorrow.  And that’s how I met Barrett.  And we had been friends ever since.

“Oliver?” His voice breaks through my flashbacks, and I come back to the present.

“Yeah?”  Barrett doesn’t say anything for a few moments.

“You see the new girl?”  I let out a huge groan, sitting up in the bed, and Barrett laughs.

“Why does everyone want me to meet this girl?  Does she have a horn coming out of her head or something?!” I cry, throwing my arms up into my hair, and Barrett falls back into the bed laughing.

“I don’t know man, but Rosa was telling me about her.  She like moved from Washington or Illinois or something,” he shrugs, sitting up to grab his laptop.  I raise my brows, letting out a half scoff.

“Illinois and Washington are both very different Bar,” I reply shaking my head.  Barrett just shrugs, rubbing a hand over his head.  Barrett did that sometimes.  He’d be really excited and joking, getting into pillow fights.  But sometimes he got tired quickly and slowly shut down, went to do his research.  I give him a small smile.

“Love you, man,” I say, heading to leave the room.

“Love you too.”