I had never seen someone as fragile as my little brother Daniel on the hospital bed. His skin was so white, it was surprising you could see him under the white sheets. His leg was bandaged, and so was his head. His eyes were closed. Please, please open your eyes, I begged to him. I need to see those blue eyes. Please! The beep-sound that the heart machine thing made, made me so nervous. What if it started beeping quicker, or stop altogether? Why, why did this have to happen? I had never felt more scared for someone in my entire life than now. What would I do without Danny?

I would have given anything for today not to come. When I was at school, everything was fine. My brother wasn’t feeling well, so he stayed home. I didn’t really think about him at all during the day. When I finally arrived home, my brother was playing outside since he was feeling better. He kicked his little ball around, laughing, just like an innocent five-year-old should. He kicked the ball to me, and I threw it back.
“June, play with me!”
“No, Dan, I’ve got piano lessons in like, ten minutes!”
“Then play with me for ten minutes!”
Boy, do I wish I had stayed. But then again, how could I know what was coming?

I had never expected to come home to find an ambulance and the police in front of my house. From that moment on, everything was blurred. My mother was crying. There was a little boy lying on the ground, a blood coming from his head, his leg bent into an awful looking angle. A crashed car. My father hugging my mother. A man with hand cuffs, being brought to the police car by a policeman. A policewoman came up to me.
“Are you the sister of Daniel Rosegarden?” she asked gently.
“What happened to my brother?” I whispered. Tears stung my eyes, but I tried to hold them back.
“He’s in a critical state. He was hit by a car driven by a drunk man.”
“W-what?” I screamed. “No! No! Not Daniel! Not him! Please tell me his isn’t dead!”
I ran to my parents, who cried with me. Only they understood how sad I felt at that moment. Daniel wouldn’t die, would he?

And there he was, lying all alone in the hospital bed. He was unconscious. So helpless.
“Daniel,” I murmured. “Daniel, please wake up.”
If only he answered; “Hi June. Can we play now?” If only, if only.

My parents weren’t in the room. They didn’t see me cry. They didn’t see me pray. Please, please wake up Danny, please, then we can play with the ball like you wanted to, then we can pretend we’re the king and queen of a fantasy land where nobody ever died. Then everything will be normal again, and you wouldn’t be here, making your family cry. I wished a miracle would happen, that Danny would wake up again.
“Danny,” I said. “You are my only brother. You are so important to me. Please don’t go, Danny. Fight like the knight you pretend that you are, save me, the princess, trapped in the castle of fear. I’m so scared, Danny, please come and save me.”
Still no response.
“Daniel, please stay. Stay with me forever. Forever.”
He still wouldn’t speak. I cried until my parents said I had to go home. Dad stayed that night to look after Daniel.

The next day I felt terrible. Mom said I was allowed to stay home. We both went to the hospital. We waited, waited for some miracle that wasn’t coming. We hoped, hoped that Danny would live. We cried, cried for Danny. But most of all, we sang quietly. We sang songs that gave us the patience to wait, the hope to hope, the tears to cry.
My parents left the room. I stayed. It was such a cold room. Bare walls, everything was white. Even Danny.
“June,” a little voice filled the air. “June, can we play now?”
I knew I was imagining it. I knew it.
“June, I can hear you. You’re here. Can we play?” No! Yes! I wasn’t imagining it! The small boy in the hospital bed opened his eyes. A smile warmed up his face.
“Why are you crying? Please, can we play now?”
“Yes, Danny, of course! But you have to promise me one thing,” I sobbed through my tears.
“What?”
“Stay with me Forever, and never, never leave.”