“Guys! I’m here!” Aaron called as he walked in the door.

“Hey Aaron,” Caden walked into the room with a banner. “Can you give me a hand with this?”

“Sure.”

“Hey you two. Does my cake look okay?” Mom walked in the room to show off her cake.

“It looks great Mom.” Caden smiled.

“Guys its time to go.” Dad walked in with his keys and jacket.

Aaron and Caden secured the banner and they all walked out to the car and headed for the hospital. Not much was said on the ride there but there was an air of anticipation. “Does she know I’m staying?” Aaron whispered to Caden as they entered the hospital.

“I’m not sure if Mom told Jess but she told the doctor.”

“Okay.”

“Well, here we go,” Mom took a deep breath before opening the door to Jess’ room.

When they stepped in the room Jess was standing, her hair brushed and pulled into a tight braid. Her face was pale but when she saw them her eyes lit up and she smiled.

Aaron looked over just in time to see Mom wipe away a tear before giving her daughter a hug. “Hi sweetie.”

Jess stayed silent as she hugged each of them. “Are you ready?” Dad asked after coming back from talking to the doctors. Everyone nodded and Aaron lagged behind the family on their way out of the hospital. When they got home everyone but Jess ate cake and ice cream and they all watched TV until it was time for bed.

“I’ll stay up with her for awhile and then we’ll go to bed.”

“Okay Aaron, could you try to get her to eat something too?”

“I’ll try Mom.”

Once everyone else was in bed Aaron went to the kitchen and got a small piece of cake and some ice cream. “You need to eat Jessie.”

Jess set her head on Aaron’s shoulder and let him feed her a little bit of cake. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, “I’m not trying to hurt anyone.”

“It’s okay Jess, I know.” They sat together on the couch until Aaron was almost too tired to keep his head up.

He took Jess to her room and stayed with her until she started to fall asleep then went to his room. Early in the morning Aaron woke up when his door cracked open. “I had a dream,” Jess whispered attempting to hide the tremble in her voice.

“Come here,” Aaron lifted the covers and scooted over to give her some room.

“I’m scared Aaron.” Jess stepped closer to the bed and Aaron could see tears streaming slowly down her face.

“Shh, don’t be scared. I’m here.” Jess slowly crawled in next to him.

“I can’t sleep without having a dream.” As Aaron wrapped his arms around her Jess felt an instant calmness rush over her.

“It’ll be okay.” Aaron gently kissed the top of her head. He began to hum and gently rock back and forth. Aaron watched as her eyes slowly began to grow heavy and close.

“Where’s Jess?” Mom called through Aaron’s door in the morning. “Aaron I can’t find Jess!”

Aaron crawled out of bed careful not to wake Jess up and crept to the door. “She’s in here Mom. She’s sleeping.” Aaron slowly opened the door to show Jess lying on the bed sound asleep.

Mom hugged Aaron and smiled. “Thank you.”

“It wasn’t a problem. I also got her to eat a few bites of cake last night. It’s almost like she’s a little kid and just can’t do it herself. She’s still smart and knows how to do it… but it’s almost like she’s incapable on her own.” Aaron glanced over his shoulder at Jess. “I’m going to help her through this. I don’t care what it takes.”