Against the unforgiving landscape of a hospital, I Fell in Love with Hope through a mischievous, sun-eyed boy who became my only joy in that desolate place. That’s what made it all the more soul-crushing when he committed suicide in front of me.

Since then, I’ve sworn never to love anyone again. With three exceptions: My friends, Sony, Neo, and Coeur, a little gang of rebellious, dying kids. Sony leads the charge with the air of freedom and only one lung to breathe it. Neo, a bad-tempered and wheel-chaired writer, keeps track of our great deeds from stealing to terrorizing our nurse. Coeur is the quiet one, her voice soft but her spirit fierce, her heart condition making her fragile but never weak.

We are bound by our shared defiance against a world that expects us to fade away. Instead, we choose to live wildly, stealing moments of joy and creating stories of our own. In our brokenness, I Fell in Love with Hope once more, not in the romantic sense but in the belief that even when life is merciless, there’s beauty worth fighting for.

We spend our days navigating hospital corridors like it’s our kingdom, breaking rules just to feel alive. And in the silence of the night, Neo writes our legends, his pen a sword, turning pain into poetry. Sony’s laughter is our battle cry, his resilience a reminder that even when life tries to take everything from you, you can still fight back. Coeur, though quiet, speaks with her actions—gentle kindnesses that stitch our fractured hearts back together.