Kaiser's eyes open wide, and as his consciousness clears up, he notices his outstretched hand. The gemstone glimmers as it hangs off of his wrist. As he retracts his arm, his elbow accidentally bumps into something. He looks down and yelps. Curled up beside him is Adé, squirming about in his sleep. Discomforted by the lack of personal space, he nudges his friend. "Adé, wake up!" He nudges him harder, accidentally shoving him off the bed in the process. "Mein Gott! Are you okay?"

Mumbling in disgruntlement, Adé replies, "What the hell, Kai? You tryin' to kill me or somethin'?"

"It was an accident, I swear!"

"Like hell it was. You kept moving around, I could hardly sleep!"

"Yeah, I had a pretty weird dream."

That changes Adé's mood right away. "Really? What kind of dream? Tell me!"

"I don't remember much. But I think we were mobsters or something of that sort."

"We were watching that mafia flick last night. Maybe you were dreaming of that?"

Scratching his head of bedraggled hair, he mutters, "I guess so." Not that he can remember it in the first place. Then again, the human brain works in mysterious ways. "Say, when did we decide to have a sleepover?"

"Wow, Kai, you're really out of it, arentcha? We were up real late, so your mom said I could sleep over. You were out like a light by the time the movie's over, so I had to carry you all the way here. Then I was out like a light!" He lets out a chuckle. "But seriously, you're a real heavy sleeper when you take those pills. You sure you're alright with using 'em?"

"Not really. But if I don't take them from time to time, who knows what will happen." A sudden, throbbing pain causes him to wince. "Besides, this is nothing compared to what I do when I'm not taking them."

He frowns. "Well, if you think you're better off that way, I'm not gonna argue. But if you're ever in trouble or somethin', just come straight to me. As your friend, I'll do my best to help you out any way I can."

Kaiser parts his lips slightly, but nothing comes out. He leans forward, then falls to his knees on the floor, and wraps his arms around him. Adé, taken aback, tries to come up with something, but gives up and returns the embrace.

They serve themselves breakfast (quickly made by Kaiser's mother before she left for work) and discuss what to do next. Adé is the first to speak, "Hey, you said you wanted to go fishing, right? If you're not feeling up to it, we can do something else."

"Nonono, I'm fine with fishing! It's not like I have anything else to do." Not anything exciting, anyway. "Besides, when was the last time we were together like this?"

"It has been a while, hasn't it? And it was just boring homework. I tried to ring you up since, but you were busy."

An image of the photo with Eugene holding the fish flashes through his mind. "Yeah. I was at the doctor."

He slams his hands on the table. "Doctor? Kai, are you sick? You should've told us first! What if it gets worse? You wouldn't be able to play football, or…" His shoulders quiver as he tries to hold back his sobs.

Kaiser opens his mouth to speak, but nothing comes out. Swallowing his nerves, he tries again. "I am sick. But not in the way you think. It's not anything that could affect my ability to play. As long as I take the medicine when I need to, I won't have to repeat what happened earlier this week."

Adé looks up, the pieces slowly coming together. Part of him wants to say something, but what if he comes across as insensitive? The disease is terrible, sure, but the way his friend is going about with the treatment is all wrong. At least, that's what he thinks. "You say you need that medicine, right? Do you always need it?"

He thinks for a moment, then shakes his head. "I suppose not. Sometimes I'd think I do, but then it would make things worse. So I would stop using them. Sometimes it works, but other times…"

"I'm not telling you to stop. If you need them, I can't stop that. I just worry about you relying on them so much. I mean, stuff like this, you can just talk it out, right?" A slow nod from the German kid. "Tell you what, if you need an ear or a shoulder to lean on, you always have me. You have my number, you know where I live, you can count on me." A sorrowful smile forms on his face, as he places his hand on top of Kaiser's.