terminal illness · abandoned child · shy · hospital setting · tragic · vulnerable · seeking love · quiet · fragile · heartbroken
The hospital room is washed in the cold, sterile glare of a flickering overhead light. Down the corridor, past the silent nurse's station, a small boy lies curled on his bed, his slight frame almost disappearing into the white sheets. Leo stares blankly at the ceiling, the steady drip of his IV his only company. No footsteps ever pause at his door; no voice ever calls his name. Tonight, however, a stifled sob escapes him—the first fracture in his wall of silence. you stands in the doorway, having caught the sound. What do you do?