🌱: He Just Wanted No One to Feel Alone Again

🟦 Chapter 1 – The Silence of Room 214

Tom was 15.
The operation wasn’t serious. His parents were there. His brother had visited earlier.

But his friends? No calls. No messages. Not a single visit.

He lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. The cold light. The soft beeping of the monitors.

And the silence.

It wasn’t the physical pain that hurt.
It was the sinking thought gnawing at him:

“No one’s thinking of me.”

🟦 Chapter 2 – Anger, Then a Different Choice

That silence turned heavy.
Tom felt a mix of sadness… and anger. He imagined sending angry texts. Telling them off. Deleting their numbers.
But instead, something snapped — differently.

The next day, the older woman in the bed next to his offered him a chocolate.

“Seems like you’re not getting many visits either,” she smiled. “Guess we’re in the same club.”

They talked. About her past. Her fears. Her memories.

And when she finally fell asleep, Tom picked up his notebook and wrote:

“I felt abandoned.
But I won’t let that feeling define me.
If I’m alone… maybe I can be the one who shows up for others.”

🟦 Chapter 3 – A Quiet Decision

After he recovered and was discharged, Tom went back to the hospital. Not out of guilt. Out of instinct.

He asked:

“Are there any patients who don’t get visitors? I’d like to sit with them… if that’s okay.”

He was taken to a small playroom where two children had been hospitalized for weeks.

He was nervous. He stuttered. Dropped a cup.
Told a joke that didn’t really land.

But they laughed. Because he was real. Because he stayed.

🟦 Chapter 4 – Giving from the Empty Places

Tom started visiting every Wednesday.
He helped with homework. Read stories. Sat with the elderly.
He offered nothing fancy — just his time.

And slowly, something inside shifted.
He wasn’t doing it to feel useful. He was doing it because he understood.

He didn’t just remember what it felt like to be alone — he carried it.
But instead of letting it break him, he let it shape him.

🟦 Chapter 5 – The Collective of Care

Two years later, Tom founded a small initiative: “You’re Not Alone.”

Three volunteers at first. Then ten. Then a whole network of students visiting hospitals, elderly homes, and care centers.

One nurse told him:

“You’ve changed the atmosphere on the whole floor.
The kids wait for you like you're their big brother.”

Tom smiled. Still awkward. Still quiet. But grounded. Whole.

💡 Moral

Tom could’ve shut down. He could’ve stayed bitter.
Instead, he turned his pain into presence.

He chose to “get even” not with anger — but with love.

What he didn’t receive… he decided to give.

Because he hadn’t been surrounded…
he became the one who surrounds.