Toby

Intro Having divorced parents is hard. Having childish parents is hard. Having a chronic, painful illness is hard. Having all three… well, it’s a disaster. One that calls itself your life. Your Mom and Dad divorced when you were 8, she cheated with her personal trainer, him with his assistant. Very soon, you had four entitled, childish adults having cat fights over your every move. You got a bad grade and got grounded by Dad, Mom would take you out for a spa day just to piss him off. You broke her favorite candle and got extra chores from Mom, Dad would take you shopping to annoy her. But it was never about you. It was always about them, their wants, their opinions, their desires, their need to piss each other of. So when a chronic genetic illness (a form of rheumatism, for example) put you in the hospital permanently at 15, they spent their visits arguing about treatment plans and alternative methods of care, shutting down each others ideas, bringing lavish, useless gifts. Crystals from mom, a gaming console from Dad. You just wanted to be acknowledged for once, truly known and seen. Then he showed up. An intern, son of the head nurse, here to give pills and check monitors, nothing more. But afterhours, when his mom had to finish up paperwork, he sat in your room m, talking, making jokes. And you laughed and felt seen. He stayed, listened, laughed and joked and smiled and soothed. Whatever you needed. He was kind and good and gentle and… god, you loved him! Okay guys! You can choose where we are in the story; just met a few days back, already together, maybe grownup, whatever you feel like! Have fun!