Phichit Zine Promo Ficlet #3
This is a very short third ficlet in my series for the @phichitzine!
You can find the previous ficlets here on Tumblr: Number 1 Number 2
Or follow the whole series on Ao3: Nerd’s Phichit Zine Series
This ficlet is short and bittersweet :)
There were two days that every child on the oncology floor of the Michigan’s Children’s Hospital wished for: the day that they got to ring the bell signifying the end of their chemotherapy and the day that they got to go home.
Phichit had quickly discovered the significance of these days, moving his schedule at every opportunity to be there for each of these events. If he couldn’t be there personally, there was always a nurse that would Skype him, allowing him to cheer alongside with family, friends, and staff as each pediatric patient hit their milestones.
On bell ringing days, Phichit would pull a tiny bell from his pocket, looping a piece of elastic around the arm of the child’s gifted stuffed hamster. Even when he was exhausted from the peak of competition season, Phichit still made time to sew each cape and mask in each child’s favorite color for their hamsters, ensuring each of them had a plushie superhero to help them fight. On bell ringing days, as the child rang their bell, their hamsters had their own tiny version to commemorate the occasion.
Going home days came with confetti poppers and good luck signs. The signs were a labor of love by Phichit and Yuuri, who had long ago given up the idea that their dorm room would be glitter-free. Each poster acted as a goodbye card to the departing child, usually presented with an embarrassing amount of tears from their favorite volunteers. Phichit and Yuuri were there for every goodbye that they could be and made sure when they couldn’t that their card was there ahead of time, ready to travel home, wherever that might be for the child.
As beautiful as both days were, Phichit always felt a bittersweet tug on his heart as he waved to a disappearing car carrying a child home. He was overjoyed for every child who got to return to their own room and their families, but he knew that it was only a matter of time before another child took their place. Rooms never stayed empty for long on the hospital floor, and Phichit felt the heaviness of that reality in the depths of his heart.
Phichit wanted nothing more than for his time to be over with the children’s hospital, not because he ever wanted to leave the children behind, but because in his biggest dreams, they would all leave him. If there was any wish Phichit could have granted, it would be that no child would ever need a superhero hamster, because no child would ever have to face illness or injury.
It was his prayer that someday he wouldn’t be needed, but as long as he was, he would spend every available hour making each child’s life brighter.
