Leo rubbed his forehead. The flash of heat was coming on quicker than it usually did. He’d spent a considerable amount of energy dumbing down some aspects of his story and rehabilitating it for a child as young as Shore. He knew it would take effort, but he hadn’t expected it to affect him as strongly as it did.

A knock came at his door shortly before the nurse cracked open the door.

“Leo? May I come in?” the nurse asked.

Leo quietly thanked the nurse for her incredible timing. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could keep up the facade in front of Shore.

“Yes, you can come in,” Leo said. He watched as Shore ran to the door, stopping short just a couple of feet. The nurse smiled when she saw her, and Leo took this chance to massage the pain in his forearm.

“Come in.” The nurse motioned to another behind her. The first who’d entered was Miranda, the second was Rachel. It was rare that Leo saw these two on duty together. Miranda fingered an errant strand of her chestnut-brown hair behind her ear while Rachel kneeled to give Shore a hug. The two knew Leo and Shore on a first-name basis, and Leo viewed them as friends. “Rachel, can you escort Shore to the lobby and call their mother?”

“Of course,” Rachel said, rising.

“Bye, Leo!” Shore said, turning around briefly and blowing a kiss to him. Leo caught the imaginary kiss and smiled as the two waved on their way out.

When they were gone, Miranda’s expression darkened. Turning to look at Leo, she approached his bedside and put a medical chart in the cubby behind him. Leo squeezed his eyes tightly, allowing himself to moan in pain.

“God, it hurts,” he rasped. “Please, help me. Make it stop.”

“I have something for you right here, just hang in there.” Miranda worked behind the bed with the IV while Leo rocked back and forth, gritting his teeth. Clammy with sweat, beads of perspiration traveled down the side of his head and dripped onto the sheets. A tingling sensation shot up his arm, and each time it did Leo wanted to scream. When she was done, Miranda grabbed his good arm gently and stuck a needle into the vein before taping it against his skin. “It’s going to take a minute, but you should feel the relief soon.”

“Guh!” Another sharp wave of pain swept over him. Leo kicked. Seconds later, a cool sensation entered his body. The feeling was as if someone dunked the entirety of his organs into a pool of ice-cold water. And it felt amazing. He drew a deep breath and leaned back against the cushion. Pure bliss. “You are an angel.”

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“Hardly,” she said with an obviously forced smile.

As the minutes passed and silence filled the air, Leo’s head began to clear now that it wasn’t filled with thoughts of taking off his own arm. With each second that passed, the discomfort only grew. The sound of shuffling papers as Miranda worked wasn’t doing any favors either.

“You can tell me,” Leo finally said. He stared at the ceiling while he spoke. He’d spent far more time in this sterile box of white than he would’ve liked. Miranda had spent a considerably larger amount of time watching him than usual. Not a great sign. “I’m ready.”

“Okay,” Miranda whispered. She took a deep breath, retrieved a chair from the corner of the room, dragging it to Leo’s side and sitting. “It’s not very easy to say this, and… I can only imagine how this will make you feel, but the doctor spoke with me.” She paused. “Your disease is terminal, Leo.”

“Yeah. Had a feeling.”

Miranda went silent.

Leo forced a smile as he turned his head toward her, still leaning against the bed.

“Nobody stays in a hospital as long as I do without something being seriously wrong with them.” Leo shrugged. “It only makes sense if you think about it.”

Miranda gaped. “Aren’t you upset?”

“A little bit, yeah. I mean, that means I’m going to die right? I think anyone would be upset.” Leo turned to the side opposite and looked at the stars. “What else can I do?”

“The doctor is going to do everything in his power to help you. He has some ideas. We haven’t given up yet, so I don’t think you should either. I don’t know the specifics, but we’ll have the doctor talk to you tomorrow. Even so, though, we felt you had a right to know.”

“I take it that I won’t be leaving any time soon, then.”

“We can’t stop you, but we would advise against it. Your body is breaking down. Even exercise could put you back in bed.”

“I see.”

A shooting star streaked across the sky. It’d been the fourth one he’d seen in a month. He’d stopped making wishes after his first month in the hospital. Forcing a smile, he turned back to the nurse. He glanced at the book on his lap, thinking briefly on the story he’d shared with Shore that evening. With slow movements, Leo moved to put the book under the cushion, halted momentarily by Miranda.

“Wait, let me do that for you.”

“Nah, I got it. I’m not just gonna sit here like a corpse while this disease kills me.” When he was done, he adjusted his posture until he was comfortable. “Hey, sorry if I’m sounding like a jerk, but can I be alone for a while? I’m kinda tired.”

“Of course,” Miranda nodded and rose from her seat. She put a gentle hand on his arm. “Just beep me if you need anything, okay?”

Leo smiled and nodded.

When Miranda was gone, Leo bowed at the neck, his mind a cacophony of thoughts. This story needed to complete itself, one way or another. It was so close. Perhaps by sharing its details with Shore, he could complete it.

I wonder how much time I have left, he thought.

Tears formed at the corners of his eyes and his nose began to run. His fingers curled between the sheets as his mind imagined people at his funeral. His breath hitched, and soon his facade fell. He wept into his hands, profusely, quietly.

Why was his life being cut so short?