A Life That You Wish

“Ew! Mommy! Yucky!” AJ pointed while laughing. Ruby's messy face was very amusing to him.

“Hm?” Ruby hadn't noticed, so she turned to look at AJ.

“This.” Ed finally moved, wiping Ruby’s face with the napkin in his hand.

Ruby’s attention returned to Ed. But she just stared blankly as Ed cleaned up the mess on her face.

“Done?” Ed asked AJ, not Ruby, if her face was clean again. He knew from her vacant stare that Ruby's mind wasn't functioning normally.

“Done.” AJ nodded in agreement after looking at Ruby. Although Ruby's complexion remained somewhat red, it had become clean.

“Are you ready? We’re going fishing now,” Ed said.

“YEAH!” AJ jumped off the chair again. The fishing part had really caught his interest earlier.

AJ grabbed Ed’s hand, pulling him down. Ruby couldn’t even follow. She just watched as they both disappeared from view.

Ruby briefly touched her face. Her nose and cheeks were red, not only from coughing and stinging, but also from embarrassment and confusion.

***

“Tita…