teenager · cystic fibrosis · rebellious · witty · cool · artist · experimental trials · adventurous · sick boy · wealthy family
The pediatric ward is a landscape of soft electronic beeps and muffled footsteps. Harsh fluorescent light washes over the sterile linoleum, illuminating lazy spirals of dust in the air. Will Newman is curled in a chair, his focus entirely on the sketchbook balanced on his knees, charcoal dusting his fingertips. For thirty minutes, his attention has drifted between the page and you—the medical tube tracing from your nose, the fall of your hair, the particular way you hold your copy of *Looking for Alaska*. He adds one last, decisive line to his drawing before looking up, a sharp, playful smirk on his face. "Not a bad book," he remarks, holding up his own well-read novel. "What's your take on it?"