The academy gates stood tall behind Kyle.
He shifted on his feet, trying to get comfortable. He had a bag hung on his shoulder.
Inside the bag was a coloring book. Not just any coloring book.
One with magical beasts and floating castles. Full of swirling colors and enchanted places.
It had glittery pages and tiny sticker stars. He'd picked it out from a small shop near campus.
The wind tugged at his hair, and the sky overhead was cloudy. The kind of gray that came before a light rain.
He checked his phone again. Still no new messages.
Then, in the distance. He saw her.
Mira Farrow walked slowly toward him. Her steps looked tired, like each one took effort.
Her red hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail, and a few strands had come loose, falling around her face.
She looked pale. Her eyes were red and puffy. With dark circles under them like bruises that hadn't faded.
"Hey," she said quietly, her voice a little rough.
"Hey," Kyle replied, just as softly.
They stood there for a moment, not speaking.
The silence stretched out.
Mira's fingers twisted in the sleeves of her sweater. Like she didn't know what to do with her hands.
"Thank you," she whispered. "For coming. I... I didn't think you actually would."
Kyle gave a small shrug and adjusted the strap of his bag. "I said I would."
Mira nodded quickly. Blinking as if she was trying to stop tears from falling. She looked away and rubbed her eyes with the heel of her hand.
"Right. Yeah. Just... thanks."
She took a deep breath and motioned toward the bus stop down the street. "It's not far. Just a few stops."
They walked together in silence, their footsteps soft against the pavement.
When the bus arrived. They sat next to each other, but not too close.
Mira kept her hands locked together in her lap. She stared down at them like they might fly away if she let go.
Kyle looked out the window. The city passed by slowly. Gray buildings. People hurrying down the sidewalks.
Cars rushing through puddles left by last night's rain.
The moment they stepped inside the hospital, the smell hit him.
Antiseptic, bleach, something else underneath it. The air felt too clean. Like it had been scrubbed too many times.
Kyle's nose wrinkled, and he understood what Mira meant when she said Lila lived here now.
Mira moved like she knew every hallway. Every turn. The nurses nodded at her as she passed.
Giving her small sympathetic smiles. She didn't smile back.
Finally, they stopped outside a door. There was a handmade sign taped to it. Crooked and colorful.
Glitter clung to the paper, and the words were written in large, bouncy letters.
LILA'S ROOM – KEEP OUT (UNLESS YOU HAVE CANDY)
Kyle smiled before he could stop himself.
Mira rested her hand on the doorknob but didn't open it right away. She glanced back at him.
"Just… if she says anything weird. Don't take it seriously, okay? She gets excited. And she doesn't have much of a filter."
Kyle gave a short nod. "Got it."
Mira took a breath and pushed the door open.
Sunlight spilled into the room through partly closed blinds.
The walls were covered in drawings. Crayon rainbows. Strange animals with wings. Stick-figure people with big smiles and even bigger swords.
It didn't look like a hospital room. It looked like someone had tried very hard to make it a place where dreams could still live.
In the center of it all. Tucked into a pile of pillows, was a little girl.
She was smaller than Kyle expected. Her skin was pale, almost paper-thin. And her freckles stood out sharply against her face.
Her red hair matched Mira's. Though it was wild and unbrushed, curling around her cheeks.
An IV line ran from her arm to a beeping machine beside the bed. But she didn't seem to care about that.
The moment she saw them, her eyes lit up.
"Mira!" she shouted. Lifting her arms as if to reach for her sister.
Then she spotted Kyle.
Her mouth dropped open. "OH MY GOSH. YOU ACTUALLY BROUGHT HIM."
Mira let out a sigh and rubbed her forehead. "Lila. Inside voice—"
"IS HE YOUR BOYFRIEND?" Lila asked. Pointing directly at Kyle like she was accusing him of a crime.
Mira turned bright red. "Lila! No! He's just a friend! From academy!"
Lila narrowed her eyes at both of them. "Hmm." She crossed her arms. "Prove it."
Kyle blinked. "Uh. How?"
"If you're just friends. Then you won't mind if I ask him to marry me instead," Lila said with a grin.
Mira groaned and buried her face in her hands. "Oh my god."
Kyle laughed. He couldn't help it. It was quick and real, slipping out before he could stop it.
Lila laughed too. Her whole face lighting up.
"I'm kidding," she said, rolling her eyes. "Mostly. But you are really pretty."
She tilted her head. "Do you like dragons?"
Kyle blinked again. "Uh… yeah?"
"Good," she said with a very serious nod. "Then you can stay."
Mira just shook her head. But Kyle saw the way her shoulders relaxed. Just a little.
He stepped farther into the room and gently took the bag off his shoulder.
"I, uh… brought you something," he said, reaching inside.
Lila's eyes widened. She gasped so loudly it almost startled him.
Lila's voice filled the room.
Kyle smiled and reached into his bag. He pulled out the coloring book.
Thick and shiny. The cover full of swirling clouds and giant dragons. Castles floating in the sky, and creatures with wings made of light.
Lila's eyes went wide.
She reached out with both hands. Fingers trembling as she touched the cover like it was something magical.
"This is… so cool," she whispered.
For a second. Her excitement faded. Her grip weakened, and the book almost slipped from her hands.
Kyle leaned forward quickly and caught it before it could fall. His fingers brushed against hers. Her skin was freezing.
She didn't seem to notice. She looked up at him with a smile so big it almost didn't fit her small, tired face.
"Will you color with me? Please? Mira always picks the boring colors."
Mira let out a loud groan. "I like blue, okay?"
Kyle chuckled and sat down on the chair next to the bed. "Yeah," he said, voice soft. "I'll color with you."
Lila cheered and flipped the book open right away.
Her small hands turned the pages until she found a huge dragon. Its wings spread wide. Its body coiled around a mountain.
"This one!" she said. "And you have to use the glitter pens. Mira hates glitter."
Mira pulled another chair closer and dropped into it with a dramatic sigh. "You're a menace."
Lila grinned and stuck her tongue out. "You love me."
Mira's smile stayed, but it changed. Softer. A little sad. "Yeah," she whispered. "I do."
They colored together for hours.
Kyle let Lila boss him around like she was the queen of the room.
"No, Kyle! Dragons can't have green wings. That's gross. Use purple!" she said. Passing him the sparkliest pen she could find.
He laughed and obeyed.
She talked the whole time. About her favorite fairy tales.
About how she used to draw comics about a brave squirrel named Captain Nutwhisker.
About the nurse who always brought her extra jelly cups.
Her words started fast and happy, but the longer they talked. The slower her voice got. Like her body couldn't keep up.
Kyle noticed Mira glancing at the monitor next to the bed.
The little green line that jumped every time Lila laughed. Her smile would falter when Lila coughed, but she never said anything.
Just rubbed her sister's back gently and whispered something too quiet for Kyle to hear.
But for those hours. Lila wasn't sick.
She wasn't stuck in a hospital room. She wasn't hooked up to machines or watched with worried eyes.
She was just a little kid with big dreams.
A noisy laugh, and a new coloring book full of magic.