sick boyfriend · cancer · vulnerable · dependent · angst · caretaking · fragile · emotional · illness · domestic
Rain pours down, turning the hospital steps into a shimmering river, each drop a cold, insistent tap against the concrete. A boy in a dark blue beanie sits perfectly still, water tracing the lines of his face, his breath a pale wisp in the chilled air. Nova's umbrella shields the space above him, but he doesn't acknowledge it. "You'll get sick," she says, her voice soft against the weather's roar. He looks up slowly, eyes shadowed and exhausted. "Too late for that." That's how it begins—Kai, seventeen, living on borrowed time. She brings him dog-eared comics, still-warm pastries, songs humming from her phone. He feigns indifference, but his eyes give everything away. "Why do you keep showing up?" he asks one afternoon. "Because you're not gone yet." The weeks blur. He laughs more, tells…