The cold knob warmed against my skin as I held it for a minute, hesitating over whether it was the right time to enter Kaiden's room.

If I saw him, what would he ask me? I have nothing good happening to me lately.

I exhaled, opened the door, and saw that he wasn't there.

"Kaiden?" I called, placing the box of chicken on a table. I figured he must have gone out to his friend's room since he's always bored.

On his bed, there were papers lying face down. I picked it up, thinking it was documents, but it was just a bunch of portraits of Kaiden's hospital friend. The drawings had vision, but they were clumsy.

The door opened.

"Where's my chicken?" He greeted me with a fake angry expression—puffed cheeks and eyes glared.

He didn't ask about work. Thank God. I wasn't ready to lie about another thing today.

"Up your ass, maybe?" I grabbed him in a hug before he could run. "Give me a kiss."

"Stop! Yuck!" He giggled, leaning away from me.

"Why? Oh—is it because you want Tucker more than your brother? Is that why you're keeping portraits of him?"

He gasped, ran to his bed, and stuffed the portraits into a drawer.

"The art teacher said we should pick a friend to draw, alright? And he was there with me." He defended himself as he sat on the bed.

"Art teacher?" I lay beside him, half of my body hung.

"Oh, haven't I told you? It's a charity thing. They teach us how to draw for free," he said, grabbing one chicken and stuffing it in his mouth. "I love joining them. They'll be here later since it's the weekend."

Good to see him fired up about something for once.

"Really? How was it?"

"Great. I learned a lot. It's the only time I forget I'm in here," he said with a tight smile. "And the teachers, they're really supportive. There's this one guy who tags along—tall as hell, really nice. He keeps saying that my drawings look good."

I almost forgot he was sick when he talked like that—like any other kid with plans bigger than the surrounding walls.

Kaiden's eyes brightened as he went on about the art class.

"If I'm good enough, I'll be an artist, sell my art, and make money, even without graduating from college," Kaiden added proudly.

I smiled at him, then looked at the ceiling, thinking about life if he gets well enough.

"You'll study at an expensive university," I said, pretending I believed it. I used to tell him that back when I still thought I'd go to college too.

His eyes widened, and he smiled with his greasy lips—he looked down on the box of chicken as if he didn't know how to react.

The door suddenly opened, and a nurse entered, carrying a nebulizer.

"Good morning." She placed it on the bedside table to set it up. "How are you, Kaiden?"

"I'm doing great. I think I'm ready to go now," he joked.

The nurse laughed lightly at it, loading the machine with medicine. "Just keep breathing normally, okay? I'll be back when you're done." She turned it on and let Kaiden hold the mouthpiece before leaving.

The steady hiss of the nebulizer filled the room. Mist fogged up the mask over Kaiden's mouth.

I dragged a chair closer and sat beside him. "It's almost Christmas, isn't it? It's your favorite holiday."

"Yeah," he said, then inhaled the medication deeply.

"Do you want something for Christmas?"

He smiled with his eyes, then looked up to think, but then his brows furrowed. "You have money?"

I raised my eyebrows. "How poor do you think I am?" I joked, clutching the money in my pocket that I got from that Akio guy.

"Aiden, without your height, you're a zero."

We joked for a bit, talking about the things he wanted and the things that he wanted to do until the nurse came back.

She checked the nebulizer's timer, then smiled. "You two sound like trouble," she said lightly. "Kaiden, keep breathing that in until it stops, okay?"

He nodded through the mask.

Then she turned to me, her tone shifting. "Sir, could I talk to you outside for a moment?"

I followed her into the hall.

"He's been doing well lately," the nurse said, checking her chart. "Hardly coughed today. The doctor says we'll keep him longer for observation, just to be safe."

Relief spread through me anyway. "Hardly coughed" sounded like a win.

I let out a slow breath I didn't realize I'd been holding. "So he's okay?"

"For now, yes. But if he shows symptoms again, we'll have to put him back on oxygen support. Nothing to worry about yet, though. Just observe him. Make sure he rests."

She gave a reassuring nod before leaving me standing there, relief half-settled in my chest.

When I came back inside, the room was quiet, and the bathroom light was on.

Then, I heard a soft cough, cut short halfway through.

"Kaiden?"

The faucet turned on, drowning out the sound.

Then I realized—he was faking it. I sighed, dropping into the chair with my head hung. I knew that the news was too good to be true.

The bathroom door opened, and he came out, face wet as if he had just washed it.

"What were you doing in the bathroom?" I asked.

"Peeing." He answered after a pause.

I nodded. Letting it go. Since I wanted to believe him, too.

"Wanna come with me? It's the last day of art class!" he cheerfully rode my back. "I wanna show you how I draw."

"Right now?"

"Yeah!"

I went out with him, watching as he tried to suppress the incoming coughs.

He smiled through it, but his chest told the truth.

We walked side by side down the hallway. He was talking about art class again, but my mind drifted somewhere else—back to that man on the street.

He talked about art; I thought about money.

"Five paintings. You won't even have to move a muscle."

I shoved my hands into my pockets, fingers brushing the folded bills he'd given me. I told myself it was dirty money, but it still paid for dinner. It still made Kaiden smile.

Maybe that was all that mattered.

Still, I couldn't stop wondering if he meant what he said—if he'd really pay that much just to have me sit there. Or if I'd end up owing him more than I could ever pay back.

Kaiden laughed at something I didn't hear. He was glowing, even with the faint wheeze under his breath.

I smiled weakly, pretending not to notice. "Lead the way, artist."

He grinned, tugged my sleeve as we turned the corner toward the courtyard.

There were papers playfully scattered across the floor near the sunny windows by the art tables. The smell of paint hit faintly in the air.

A tall guy stood near the entrance, greeting everyone with a bright, serene smile.

"Welcome!" he said.

I nudged Kaiden. "Hey, is that the guy? The tall one?"

He pouted, with his eyebrows furrowed. "Oh, Aiden, I didn't know you'd be into men."

I nudged him harder this time as he snickered, his lungs faintly bubbling.

"Shut up."

"He's not the one. I think he'll come by later," he glanced around as he said that.

Then, his face brightened, waving at someone behind me. "There he is!"

I smiled before turning, trying to make a good impression on the person who was treating Kaiden well. But it immediately dropped when I recognized who it was.