• The rain slid down the window rather peacefully and quietly. It almost gave the window the appearance that it was crying. The fog-like skin on the window seemed to vanish under the water that fell. It seemed so lovely, so peaceful, so blissful…
    The beautiful peace was broken by coughing. The sheets on the bed stirred as the young boy pushed them off his body and headed to the window. His bare feet slid along the wood floorboards, the bottom of his pajamas barely reaching his ankles. Sitting besides the window, he put a pale hand to the cold glass.
    “Frederic…” The boy looked up at the sound of his name and smiled faintly, seeing the vision of an angel that was his mother. The woman seemed to practically float over to him, her curly blond hair bouncing along her shoulders. Gently, she placed a hand on his head and ruffled his brown hair.
    “You should be in bed, dear. You won’t get any better if you sit by the cold window.” she cooed, smiling down at him with beautiful green eyes. He matched her gaze with his hazel eyes and nodded. As soon as he got up, he wrapped his arms around her waist and taking in her smell of lilac and vanilla before running off to his bed. Frederic curled up on his bed, pulling the navy blue sheets over him and smiling at his mother.
    The woman leaned over him and kissed his forehead, smiling as always. Frederic fell asleep soon. His mother headed for the doorway, but stopped to look at him. Tears formed in her eyes. Her beloved son was suffering, and no one knew how or why. Every morning she would look at that pale face and worry that those eyes wouldn’t open, that his frail chest would stop rising.
    This was her cross to bear every day.
    The fear that crowded her heart at night.
    The worry that turned her away from her own husband.
    Frederic waited until his mother was gone and then hurried to sit by the window again, but somewhere between the bed and the window, he collapsed into a violent coughing fit. He could feel something gripping at his chest as the coughing got worse. His mother worriedly ran to his room and wrenched the door open. Poor Frederic only heard her worried cries to his father to call the doctor before-