What Ever

Early Saturday morning, with excitement and anxiety pumping through my blood, I drove to the local children’s rehabilitation hospital. As I entered the hospital's colorful playroom on my first day of volunteering, I politely greeted each patient and nurse and introduced myself. After I settled in, I immediately asked one of the nurses if she needed any assistance, and she advised me to find a patient named Mason and bring him into the playroom. As I journeyed through the hospital’s hallways, I smiled brightly at the doctors and nurses, silently letting them know I appreciated their dedication. I finally arrived at a door decorated with a vibrant scripted poster saying: “Welcome Mason!” I knocked on the door and slowly opened it.
“Hello?” I asked in a whisper, poking my head into the frigid and sterile room.
A boy in a wheelchair rolled out of the ominous darkness and exclaimed, “Hi! I’m Mason! What’s your name?”
As he rolled into the light he lifted up his handless arm to shade himself from the bright light. With one quick glance, I began to discreetly examine his body; he had no hands and had burns and scars covering his entire body.
“I’m Nicole!” I blurted sounding extra enthusiastic.
“Do you want to play checkers?” Mason eagerly asked with pleading blue eyes.
“Sure! But I’m the Queen of checkers!” I lightheartedly teased him.
Mason chuckled to himself and playfully replied, “Well, today you’ll meet the King!”
That day, I realized the most important thing in the world to Mason was playing checkers, not his appearance or hardships. After that day, I played checkers with Mason every Saturday I came to the hospital; each week wasn’t complete if I didn’t. I looked forward to playing checkers with him, because I would get the opportunity to make him smile, which happened to be the best smile I had ever come across. I also had the chance to assist Mason with his intensive physical therapy and was fortunate enough to be able to witness him gradually healing...