Tristan jolted awake in a dark room, the sound of coughing piercing through his groggy state. He stumbled across the hall before his mind had fully registered that he was awake. Bee was sitting up on the bottom bunk of the bed she shared with Sophie, bent over as she did her best to cough up her lungs, a dinosaur-shaped night light on the bedside table casting a soft glow over the scene.

He'd watched Sophie help Bee earlier, so he already knew what to do. He got her water, her medicine, and her nebulizer, then sat beside her, rubbing her back as she struggled to breathe. They didn't exchange a single word the entire time, and Sophie didn't stir. Finally, Bee hacked up what might have been a part of her lung, judging by how lumpy and colourful it was, into a tissue. She collapsed back onto her bed, looking like she planned to go back to sleep, so Tristan went back across the hall and did the same.

It could have been ten minutes or two hours before Tristan was pulled out of sleep by the sound of coughing once more. He got up and helped Bee with her nebulizer, then went back across the hall, picking up Sadie in one arm and using his other hand to drag the camping mattress over to the girls' room. As he was laying down to rest until Bee needed him again, Alice appeared in the doorway.

Tristan immediately realised how bad it looked to be in the girls' room at night. He sat back up, wishing he was at least wearing a shirt. "Sorry. Bee was coughing, so—"

“I know.” Alice sat down on the edge of Bee’s bed and rubbed her back as Bee sagged against her. “Nights get pretty rough sometimes. Don’t they, hun?”

Bee nodded. Her breathing was back under control and she was starting to look like she was struggling to stay awake, so Alice helped her take the nebuliser off and put it away.

"Sorry," Tristan said again, his voice tinged with embarrassment. Bee had already laid back down, and he was pretty sure she was asleep. "This was the second coughing fit tonight, so I was just going to sleep in here so that it would be easier to help her, but if that's weird…"

“I trust you, Trist,” Alice said, no hint of doubt in her voice. "And the fact that you want to help, that's incredible. Bee might not have made it this far without your support. But, Trist, you're still young. You should get the chance to be young. It's my job to be the one who drags herself out of bed in the middle of the night to play nurse."

“Yeah, but you have work tomorrow, right? I don’t have anything I need to do, so it makes sense for me to do it.”

Alice grimaced. “That’s such a terrifyingly easy thing to say, though. That a kid should take on an adult’s responsibilities because the adult is busy.”

“I’m not exactly a kid,” Tristan murmured.

"No, I know," Alice said, her tone softening. "And maybe I'm projecting a little because that was something my parents did to me. I practically raised my two younger siblings on my own. It didn't go well. Bee's dad and Sophie's mum. It makes me so angry on my behalf and theirs that I was given the responsibility of raising those two kids when I had no chance of doing a good job of it."

“Fuck. Yeah. I get that.”

“And this isn’t me saying I’m worried you’ll do a bad job,” she hurried to add. “It’s not about that. I just don’t want to do that to you. It’s not fair for a child to have to take on the role of a parent.”

Tristan fell silent for a moment, turning her words over in his mind. "That does make sense. I get what you're saying. But... can I help anyway, because I want to? I just need something. To do some kind of good. I think helping Bee is the only thing that's ever really made me feel like I'm worth anything."

Alice’s eyebrows shot up. “Now that’s a whole basket of issues, and I’m not sure leaning into it is any kind of solution. But it’s late, and we all need some sleep. If you want to stay in here and watch over Bee, I won’t stop you. If she wakes you up again and you want to get some rest, though, just come and get me and I’ll switch beds with you for the night.”

"Okay, sounds good," Tristan said, though he suspected they both knew he'd never take her up on that offer.

Alice left the room and Tristan flopped back down on the camping mattress, letting his eyes fall shut. He fell asleep to the sound of Bee’s laboured breathing.

When Tristan woke up again, the room was bathed in the soft glow of morning light, and Bee was still asleep, her chest rising and falling with each steady breath. Sadie was nowhere to be seen, and when Tristan got up, he found that Sophie had already gotten up as well. He went to the toilet, threw on a clean shirt, and wandered out into the living room.

Sophie was curled up on the couch, a bowl of cereal balanced precariously on her lap as she watched anime, Sadie nestled at her side. She acknowledged Tristan's presence with a wave of her spoon, her cheeks bulging with a mouthful of food.

“Hey,” Tristan said as he sat down on the other side of Sadie.

"I almost stepped on you when I woke up," Sophie said after she swallowed her mouthful of cereal, her tone nonchalant. "You could have just said if you were lonely and wanted to have a slumber party, you know. We could have told ghost stories."

“Sorry I caught you by surprise. I was helping Bee with her medicine.”

Sophie let out a dramatic sigh. “Obviously I know that. It’s just so boring.”

Tristan quirked an eyebrow. “Are you jealous of all the attention she gets or something?”

Sophie scoffed. “No. That’s dumb. I just think it’s lame that you’re not as fun as you could be. Like a dutiful but boring babysitter.”

“I’m not a babysitter.”

“Yeah, well, you’re not a nurse either, but you’ll take that on like it’s your job.”

“I guess I’m not in a very fun mood right now.”

Sophie gave him a measuring look, her eyes narrowing slightly. "Are you ever?"

The answer that immediately sprang to mind was 'no,' but that wasn't exactly true. He could be a bit of a recluse, sure, but there were a few guys whose pants he'd gotten into, and he hadn't managed that by going full moody loner. He could be flirty or even passionate when the mood struck him. He wasn't sure that was something he wanted to share with this fourteen-year-old girl, however.

Tristan shrugged. “You might not think so.”

Sophie let out a deep sigh. “It’s okay, I guess. I just thought maybe you’d be cool. That maybe we could hang out and go to the aquarium together.”

“You can go with Bee when she’s better.”

"Yeah..." Sophie fell silent for a long moment, the only sound the tinny voices emanating from the television. When she spoke again, her voice was hesitant, almost unsure. "Do you think she'll ever get better? Or..." Sophie shook her head. "I probably shouldn't have said that. You guys are pretty close."

“You’re worried?”

"Everyone is, but it feels like we're not meant to say it. It's like we're just meant to treat her getting better like a sure thing, but I don't know if that's true or it's just what we get told, because we're kids. Or because nobody wants to think about the alternative," Sophie said, her words tumbling out in a rush.

“This isn’t the sickest she’s been, so… I’ve thought about it.”

“How did you deal with it?”

“Probably not in any wise or healthy way. It is normal to worry, though. You’re not alone in that.”

“I wish you were asleep on our bedroom floor every night. So that if something happens, you’re there.”

“Alice is just down the hall, right?”

“Yeah, but it’s not the same. I might not wake up if Bee’s in trouble, and what if Alice doesn’t hear? I know you can’t, but still.”

“Well, I’m not leaving today, so I’ll sleep there again tonight. Okay?”

"Okay," Sophie said, a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. "And I take back calling you boring. Not because you've really done anything to prove you're not, but now I just feel bad for it."

“You may be overestimating how torn up I was about that.”

"Ha!" Sophie exclaimed, her grin stretching wide. "You know, I like you, Trist. You're a good sort."

"Thanks?" Tristan said, his tone uncertain.

“Yes, thanks is right. Now, be quiet and watch the anime. It’s good for you.”

"If you say so," Tristan said, settling back into the couch cushions, his attention turning to the colourful characters on the screen.