James awoke that morning to gentle coughing on the other side of their bed, a sound rarely heard from his girlfriend's lips, which immediately made him worried.

Usually, it was him who needed to be bandaged and cared for after getting into a bad fight or nearly escaping getting caught by the cops again. He couldn't afford getting another sentence — he'd already gotten lucky with a couple short years and some community service. But this morning, it was her sniffling with congestion. A rare instance, but James was insistent on taking care of her nonetheless.

"My sweet girl," James mumbled in concern, turning over on the bed to press a hand over her forehead to get a feel of her temperature. "You alright, sugar? D'ya need anything?"