My Little Sister Gave Away Her Lunch Money to Buy a Lonely Boy at the Hospital a Birthday Cake – The Next Morning, We Found a Black Balloon Attached to a Red Box on Our Lawn

“Then why?”

She looked toward the elevators.

“Because I thought paying the bills and answering doctor calls meant I was still his mother.”

“It meant you were handling paperwork.”

“Yes.” Anna swallowed hard as tears filled her eyes. “The doctors can’t cure him. When he asks if he’s getting better, I don’t know how to stay in the room.”

“That’s still where you belong.”

“I know.”

“Then start acting like it.”

She wiped away a tear.

“That’s why I asked you here. I want to pay for your caregiver training, first aid, a background check, and whatever the hospital requires. Proper pay.”

“You want to hire me? You don’t even know me.”

“I want help from someone Tobias trusts. Not to replace us, but to stop us from disappearing. Nurse Gloria told us about Della.”

Before I could answer, a man snapped,

“Anna, what is this?”

A man walked toward us, staring at the red box.

“No,” he said. “Absolutely not.”

Anna stepped toward him.

“Will, listen. He needs this.”

“To what? We’re hiring strangers now?”

“I’m the person your son asked for,” I said.

Will glared at me.

“You don’t know what our life costs.”

“No,” I said. “But I know what your absence is costing him.”

“You need to leave.”

I stood my ground.

“No.”

Will narrowed his eyes.

“No?”

“No,” I said. “I left yesterday because I respected the rules. Today, Anna invited me, Tobias asked for me, and someone needs to say the truth.”

His jaw tightened.

“And what truth is that?”

“You don’t need a stranger raising your son,” I said. “But you’ve made strangers the only people he can count on.”

Will looked away first.

“You don’t understand what it’s like to watch your child fade.”

“No,” I said. “But I know what it’s like to wake up and realize the people you love might not come back.”

Della pressed herself against my side.

“I know what it’s like to become the adult because no one else can. Fear doesn’t get to leave a child lonely.”

A soft voice came from behind him.

“Dad.”

We turned.

Tobias sat in his wheelchair with Nurse Gloria behind him, the green blanket across his lap and Della’s dinosaur tucked beneath one arm.

His eyes were wet.

“I’m the sick one,” Tobias said. “Why am I making everyone else feel better?”

Will went pale.

“Tobias.”

“I don’t need more presents. I need you to stay when I open them.”

Anna covered her mouth.

Will dropped to one knee.

“I’m scared.”