Luke watched the traces of water slide down the window. There was much to see from the two large-pane windows that let the muted light into the hospital room. The light would glimmer off the glass every once in a while, showing the circuitry for the transparent solar panels every building had. Luke rarely look out toward the city scape of Pontis, or Central as most nicknamed it, anymore. He had seen it millions of times and he could care less that he soon may not see it again. Being in the hospital from near birth, and in this specific room, for more than six years would make anyone bored. From seven stories up, he could see the entire city and not much changed except a completed building here or renovations there.

Luke stared all the same, following a particular bead of water down until it hit the bottom. This was a rare moment of peace where he did not think of anything. His usual time was spent reading books or watching shows. He would read or watch these on the screen above him, only using eye and head movements for control. It had been years since he was able to even move his arms or legs slightly. Now, he only had movement from his neck and above.

He would switch the content that filled his day from academic to entertainment regularly, trying to understand the world through emotions and intelligence. Luke would say his best attribute was understanding. Not just technical subjects, but people as well. It was his personal journey to search for the unanswerable questions of the world. A large task for someone stuck in a small room.

A small pop-up screen on the screen asked if he would like to continue the show, but he focused his eyes and blinked on the 'no' option. Mary would be coming soon. The light of my life, Luke thought to himself just like every moment he thought of her. Mary was a nurse at the hospital and had been long before Luke was here. She was also the most caring person on the face of the earth, in Luke's opinion. He remembered a time when thinking about another person in such a way seemed impossible.

He met her when he was ten, far too cynical and hopeless for his age. He would not let the various doctors and nurses see his vulnerable side and put up a brave front that all of them complimented him on. His days were spent thinking of killing himself, and then cursing his own cowardice for not just biting his tongue off. But not Mary. It was during the third week of her becoming his main nurse and she saw through him. They had already gotten through small talk in those three weeks, and the lines he fed her were repeating. Mary had already done all the checks and headed toward the door when she turned back. She stared at him for a few minutes in silenced, Luke started to squirm before she spoke.

"Are you okay?" she asked out of the blue. He paused for a moment before registering what she had said.

"Of course, other than being stuck in this bed," he said in a placating voice with a small chuckle. Just another line. Luke had a deflecting answer to almost any question. She walked over as if gliding to the side of his bed and slowly extended her hand to caress his cheek before he could react, not that he could move much anyway. The touch was hot. Too hot. All of the machines the doctors used to check his status were automated devices. Even the bed was the one that massaged his atrofied muscles. This was the first human contact he had remembered in years.

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He went stiff against the touch and she leaned forward to look him directly in the eyes. 

"Are you okay?" She asked again.

He opened his mouth to answer, but couldn't speak. He wasn't. He couldn't remember a time when he was. For years he thought about his death or just death in general. He fantasized about finding a chance to sneak medicine that a doctor left to overdose. He had watched movies and read books. Luke journeyed to these worlds that he knew would never be his home. He slowly started to hate everything and knew he was close to breaking after bending for so long. Even at the age of ten, he felt he could not go on.

"I...I..." He still could not get the answer out, and his lip quivered. Tears, the first ones he had ever shed in front of another person, came out in streams. Sobs and moans were all that came out and Mary held him gently as he unleashed all of his feelings that he had always bottled up inside. She sat with him until well after her shift had ended and into the night.

"Thank you," he said the first sentence of his life that he meant with full sincerity. 

Six years later, and they were more than friends. They were soul mates in Lukes mind.  Not in terms of romance, but a true kindred soul. They talked about everything. They would recommend books to eachother and discuss it with such nuanced details that it could be mistaken for a liteature discussion between experts.

Mary pushed him to better himself and complete online schooling. Luke qucikly got his high school degree within a year of studying for the GED and continued on to get four college degrees: Mechanical Engineering, Electronic Engineering, Liteature, and Philosophy. All easily available online from his bed. He had nothing better to do and quckly tested out of any class that would let him. Luke could have completed more, but felt that the piece of paper he got at the end didn't equate to anything more than his independent studies. Mary did not think the same and printed out each degree and put them up on the wall for everyone to see.

Mary was the center of his universe, and Luke knew that she had saved his life. 

I am truly blessed, Luke would tell himself. Despite the constant pain in the entirety of his body and being stuck to a bed for the rest of his life, he felt Mary was a companion that fished him out of his self-made hell.

As Luke waited for the final minutes before Mary promised she would show up, he felt his chest constrict and his body convulse. He tried to contain it and keep his body from shaking, but the heart monitor sound indicated jumping lines and panic set in. Luke could barely hear the alarms as nurses and doctors swarmed in and started yelling. Luke felt the pain that he was familiar with jump to a new level and he screamed. His world was pain and it felt like each second stretched. Luke felt like his body was like glass and each movement he could not control made it seem as every bone was breaking. A dimness in his sight and sudden withdrawl from the pain let him think again.

So this is the end, eh? Luke was not afraid of death, it was a freedom that he had wanted many times in his youth. 

He looked around for the last time and saw Mary standing in a corner away from the panicing doctors. Luke saw her cup her hands to her mouth and streaming tears rolled down them. She still had her scrubs on after the end of her shift.

Mary, it's okay. I'm free now. He smiled gently while looking at her. My only regret is making you sad and not being able to talk with you more. He imprinted her face into his mind as his vision grew blurry. Her sandy blonde hair framed her face and fell loosely on her shoulders. Her green eyes that held so much kindness and warmth. Her gentle touch that he could still feel on his cheek even six years later.

I'm sorry, Mary. I have to go now. I love you. You have made my life.... everything. Lukes world faded into blackness and he could hear Mary's heart-wrenching scream as he closed his eyes.