An emaciated hand slowly reached for the call buzzer from underneath damp bedsheets, to catch the wandering nurses’ attention. She promptly made her way to the side of the patient, smoothly gliding around the sleeping figure of a beautiful middle-aged woman, whose attractive features were slightly marred by the worry lines adorning her forehead and the fatigue evident on her face following a faithful night watch.

At the head of the bed, the pretty young nurse gazed into lively blue eyes, juxtaposed by a gaunt, pallid face that belied their young age. Regardless, she greeted him with a warm smile and slightly raised her eyebrows in a questioning manner, to which a low, hoarse whisper replied, “windows, please”. She responded with her signature smile and a nod of the head, immediately cutting a path around the bed to open curtains and windows, respectively.

The rooms’ artificial lighting was immediately supplemented by the mid-morning sunlight, and a smooth breeze followed shortly afterwards, carrying with it the birdsong from the surrounding trees, as well as the low, infrequent chatter of passers-by on the private road outside the hospital grounds. The wind gently ruffled the sleeping lady’s shoulder-length auburn hair, to which the lady replied with a contagious yawn and a thorough stretch, reminiscent of a lithe cat. Light brown eyes and a warm yet fatigued smile gazed lovingly into clear blue eyes and a weak yet genuine one. Their owner opened her mouth, saying “good morning, Jared”, to which a soft voice, akin to a whisper responded, “good morning, aunty”. Following the warm greeting, the two sat in peaceful silence, understanding that extended conversation would be too taxing on the young patient. Jared slowly retracted his laboured gaze from the gentle face of his adoptive mother, donning the thoughtful gaze that so frequently sported his face as he studied the vibrant shades of green adorning the early summer trees outside of his window.

*

This would be the 6th consecutive summer that Jared would find himself bedridden in St. Faustina’s Hospice, the 4th with his aunt and uncle as his primary legal guardians. Jared vividly remembered how a routine check-up with the family doctor had led to the shock diagnosis of Hodgkin Lymphoma cancer at the tender age of 15. Jared and his parents, Martin and Gina, were completely blindsided by this, as before this revelation, Jared was an avid sportsman and European football fanatic. To make matters worse, Jared had unfortunately contracted a particularly aggressive strand of cancer, to the extent that his condition would sharply worsen after each treatment session, despite being caught in the early stages, as if in retaliation to the procedures.

It was during one particularly extreme reaction that the resident doctor telephoned Jared’s father, highlighting the severity of his current condition and urging them to reach his side to support him at that dire time. Martin promptly picked his wife up from her workplace and they hastily made their way towards the inner-city hospitals’ intensive care unit. Fate proved to be a cruel mistress, however, as a negligent truck driver ran a red light while checking his social media and collided with the passenger’s door at high speeds, completely totalling the car. Horrified witnesses frantically called 911, yet when the emergency services arrived, there was nothing they could do. The couple was pronounced dead at the scene.

Jared remembered how after a challenging recovery from his previously dire condition, he was greeted with the news of his parents’ fatal accident. Overcome with grief at the death of his beloved parents, he began carrying a deep sense of guilt for the circumstances surrounding their passing, coupled with deep underlying insecurity surrounding the lonely future he had envisioned for himself as the only child of his parents. This caused his poor condition to rapidly worsen as if he had given up in his fight against the disease.