44.

"His condition has improved at the moment. It looks like he might have more than a week left, so you should go home and get some sleep now. You'll see him again tomorrow."

The man in the white coat who operated on Daniel smiled at him. Callum sighed in defeat and nodded. He couldn't go back there again and say goodbye for now, so he just stared at the all-white door for a while, turned and went home.

He was tired, but not the kind of tiredness that sleep would fix. He was tired of all that happening, of the amount of new information, and most of all, his head was full of brunette. He thought of nothing but the boy he had left lying helpless in the hospital bed.

He spotted a small box of red Marlbors on the table. Hesitatingly reached for her and lit a cigarette. It wasn't right, but he couldn't take it anymore. He knew that it would be the last cigarette he would ever light in his life, so he calmly exhaled the puffs of smoke.