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When I arrived at the hospital, my heart was pounding so hard that I could hear it in my ears.
Lily’s mother’s words echoed in my mind the entire drive.
“You need to come to the hospital and see what your son did.”
She hadn’t sounded angry exactly.
She had sounded… overwhelmed.
That frightened me even more.
A thousand terrible possibilities raced through my head.
Had Aaron argued with one of the doctors?
Had he broken hospital rules?
Had he done something reckless trying to help Lily?
I parked so quickly that I barely remembered locking my car before rushing through the hospital entrance.
The familiar smell of disinfectant filled the air.
Families sat quietly in waiting rooms.
Doctors hurried down the halls.
Machines beeped softly behind closed doors.
When I reached the oncology floor, Lily’s mother was waiting for me.
Her eyes were red.
She looked exhausted.
But she wasn’t angry.
She simply looked at me for a long moment before saying quietly,
“Come with me.”
Without another word, she led me toward Lily’s room.
As we walked, I noticed something unusual.
People were smiling.
Nurses smiled as we passed.
Patients smiled.
Parents smiled.
One elderly man gave me a thumbs-up without saying anything.
I had no idea why.
When we reached Lily’s room, the door was open.
I stepped inside.
And then I stopped.
There must have been nearly twenty teenagers crowded into the room and spilling out into the hallway.
Every single one of them…
Had a shaved head.
I blinked.
Then blinked again.
Aaron stood beside Lily’s bed, laughing about something one of his friends had said.
His head was smooth.
So were theirs.
Every boy.
Every girl.
Every classmate.
Every teammate.
Even teenagers I recognized from different schools.
Some had buzz cuts.
Some had completely shaved heads.
Some wore colorful scarves.
One girl had shaved only half her head because her parents would not allow her to shave all of it.
But every single one had done something.
Lily sat in the middle of them.
Continued on the next page
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