After everything had wrapped up, we had spent a few hours together recapping, but Tristan had wanted to get Byron looked after, Kenzie’s ride had come to pick her up, and the rest of us had needed medical attention. I’d gone back to the apartment, cried some, and crashed hard. I woke up sick and Kenzie had been the first thing on my mind. She’d come over that evening and she had stayed every night since. She had opted to sleep on the couch rather than disturb Ashley’s room.

She ran down the hallway and up the stairs to the living room, banging into the table in her hurry to get situated in front of the television again. I peeked, and saw her bundling up in her blankets.

No sign of any agitation. Her eyes weren’t red, she wasn’t smiling incessantly, she wasn’t crying.

I made the french toast, quickly fried up some hash browns with sweet potato, and got the O.J. out. I turned the kitchen TV onto the channel with the spaceship show.

The process of putting it all together was nice, even if I had less than zero appetite, still feeling groggy from the illness.

“Kenz, breakfast!”

She came without protest or hesitation, but I did see her perk up when she saw that the show she was so into was on in the kitchen as well. Ashley’s thing had been to have a lot of televisions and radios.

Kenzie leaned over her plate to reach out and touch the screen. She dragged the image aside, beyond the confines of the screen itself, and onto the wall. She did it a few more times, bringing up email and a news channel that was currently showing the weather.

“I didn’t know you tinkered the TV,” I commented, as I sat down with my own plate.

“I did it to keep myself busy the other night, while you napped.”

“Sorry,” I said.

“No, it’s fine. We did something before, and we watched that movie after, that was nice. And this is really nice, thank you so much.”

It was. I had no appetite, and my senses were dulled, and it was still surprisingly good. I liked challah and I liked french toast, and I’d never thought to put them together.

“I feel guilty, not being able to give you my full attention.”

“You’re sick. It’s okay. I’m just really happy you’re keeping me company,” she said, speaking between bites. “I would have gone crazy if I was at the facility.”

The place for the orphans and foster kids in transition. Chris’s old place.

“Are you feeling like you need more routine, or to get back to where you have your stuff?”