Mrs. Woods was crying. And I mean, crying. At the top of her lungs. Her eyes were redder than a tomato and wetter than a wet sponge. Lilia's sister was trying to comfort her but was also crying deeply. Mr. Woods also had teary eyes and was trying to comfort both.

"What's going on?" Lilia asked, worried.

Mrs. Woods tried to talk but she broke into sobs.

Then her dad said, "We…saw your aunt today. She suddenly got very sick and lost consciousness. We took her to the hospital. They examined her and they said…they said that…" he voice got down to a whisper. I guess he couldn't hold it in either. I was too afraid of what he was going to say. Lilia looked terrified.

"What? What did they say?!" she said.

He sighed. "That she only has days of life."

Time suddenly stopped. Time and space suddenly stopped. I feeling which I didn't know even existed came over me. It started out as shock. Then it turned into pain. Then sadness and grief. And finally…fear.

Lilia ran up the stairs to her room. I didn't know what to do. I was frozen. Like a statue. Then, my mind clicked back into reality. I ran up the stairs to Lilia's room. I didn't bother knocking on her door. I opened it and saw her sitting on her bed, crying softly.

I walked up to her. She sniffled and looked at me. She bit her lip. "Could you…sit next to me?"

"Sure," I said. But first she asked me to close the door. I did so and went back to sit next to her. She suddenly started crying loudly. I put my arms around her. She cried on my shoulder. I wanted to comfort her. But I felt like an idiot. Like a traitor.

I even felt guilty. I felt guilty. Here I had the cure for all their problems and sufferings. And I was being forced not to reveal it. Well…I couldn't stand it. Like the saying goes: Some rules were made to be broken.

And now it was time to practice it.

"Lilia, there's something I have to confess."

She sniffled and looked at me. "What?"

I sighed. "Larry and I have a cure for cancer."

"What?!"

"Larry and I have a cure for cancer."

She was obviously in shock. And I didn't blame her. I was the same way when Larry first told me. But I knew how to take care of that. I gave her a simple, but reasonable explanation of how it works.

You should've seen the way her face changed. She had the biggest smile in the world. "Oh, Spiny Kyverná, I love you!" She knocked me over and kissed me so hard, I think she rattled my teeth.

And I almost died of asphyxiation. When she finally let me breathe, she said, "You're the best!"

"Yeah, but could you do me one favor?"

She caressed my hair and looked at me with a fondness I'd never noticed. "Anything, for you." Wow, even her voice. She had such affection. I'd never noticed it either.

"Um, could you please let me sit up?"

"Oh, sorry!" She got off and I sat up. Ah! Feels good to stretch those back muscles. I mean, she'd pinned me pretty hard. Then I said to her, "Now look. This is confidential. It's government information. I've made an exception with your family because I can't stand to see your suffering. And I'm not guaranteeing anything. I don't even know if the medicine will work on her."

She shook her head. "I don't care. You've given me a ray of hope. Even if it's the last one, I want to hang on to it." She put her arms around my neck and held me tight. "I love you!"

Great! Now what was I supposed to do? "Well, I'll make a deal with you. I'll come tomorrow early and you and I can tell your family. How's that?"

She nodded. "Okay…but um, can I ask you something?"

I nodded. "Sure."

Wow, her face blushed harder than I'd ever seen. Even more than when we had our first kiss. "Could you…could you…could you spend the night here?"

I felt like someone had just told me that Kathy was having a baby. "What?" I said.

"Please?! You could sleep on the floor next to my bed. I…I'm so thankful and I love you so much, I…I just need to have you close to me. I feel so safe."

"Lilia…"

"Please?!" She looked at me with such a way of pleading. Sigh. What could I do? "All right. But I'm going to stay on the floor." I made sure to emphasize this. "I'll be right back."

She grabbed me. "What for?"

"Well, I need to get my pajamas and my toothbrush, my acne soap, and my slippers. And, most important, my sleeping bag and my pillow."

"Okay. But when you come back, come up the tree to my window."

"What?! You mean you aren't going to tell your mom and dad?"

She was started to beg me when I said, "Okay, okay. I'll be right back."

I got out of her room and raced down the stairs. I made a brief goodbye and goodnight and raced back to the Palace. Huh. The family had obeyed me. Everyone was sleeping and the lights were all out. I got in quietly and creeped up to my room. I packed up my stuff.

I left a note on my bed saying I'd been invited to a last-minute sleepover. Never mind explanations.

Then I creeped out again and raced back to Lilia's house. I'd gotten pretty used to climbing trees, so that wasn't a problem. Once I was on her window, I tapped on it. She opened it and let me back in.

"Lilia Woods, you are insane!"

She smiled. "No, I'm in love! I'm sorry, Spiny. I don't know what's come over me, but I just need you close while I'm sleeping. On the floor that is."

I crossed my arms. "Yes, I'm on the floor and only I'm on the floor."

She smiled again. "I know, Spiny. When we got together, we agreed to this. We agreed to stay this way until we grew up and got married." In case you didn't know, when Lilia and I got together for the first time, we agreed to set limits. One of those was to stay virgins until we grew up and got married.

And we both do everything to respect that. That may be old-fashioned and outdated to your friends or peers, but I call it high morals and the key to happiness and self-respect.

Anyways, I set out my sleeping bag on the floor next to Lilia's bed. Meanwhile, she changed in her bathroom and brushed her teeth. I waited patiently while she finished. I'd seen the inside of her room dozens of times. But there was something different. I guess it was the current circumstances.

She came out, wearing white pajama pants and a light pink pajama top. Shirt. Blouse. Whatever you call it! Anyways, I went in and changed and brushed my teeth. Then I got into my sleeping bag. Lilia had turned off the ceiling light and turned on a small lamp. She came over and kissed me. "Goodnight. And thank you. For everything."

I couldn't help smiling. I have to admit that I liked being with her at that moment. It was just like a real sleepover. "Sure. I love you too. Goodnight." I laid down my head on my pillow. She turned off the lamp and climbed into her bed. The moonlight was peering in through her window. I was right in the middle of it.

The docile and innocent way that she'd done all this amazed me. I guess we learn new things every day. I sighed deeply. "You want to talk?" she whispered.

I looked at her face through the darkness. "I don't know. What about?" I whispered as softly as I could.

"Anything."

"How about if I say how crazy this is?"

She giggled quietly. "Then that makes you crazy for listening to me."

"Well, that make you even crazier for coming up with that idea."

She threw one of her pillows at me. Landed right in my face. "Oh, so that's how it's going to be?" I said. I threw it back at her. She tried shushing me, but couldn't help laughing into her pillow.

Come to think of it, I couldn't help laughing either and I had to bury my face in the pillow. When the laughter finally passed, I looked up at her. She still had that same smile. I shook my head. "Well, I finally get to know you."

"Same here."

"Go to sleep, will you?"

She giggled. "Okay. On one condition."

"What?"

"I want a goodnight kiss."

"All right." I stood up and sat on her bed. She stood up, the springs squeaking and leaned her face to mine. I kissed her lips as softly and affectionately as I could and caressed her face and hair. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight." I stood up and got down in my sleeping bag. She laid back on her bed. She went to sleep pretty quick. I had a lot on my mind. While I'll admit that I really was enjoying this moment, I couldn't help worry about her aunt. And Larry. And what would happen when…when the time came to tell the world.

I finally fell asleep about half an hour later. I dreamed…what did I dream? I can't remember. It had to do something with swimming at the beach. I guess I missed that. I woke at around two in the morning. The moon had gone down so it was pitch-black. I felt something warm and soft on my head.

It took me a while to realize that Lilia's hand was dangling from the edge of her bed and it came to rest on my head. I took it gently and kissed the back of it. Then I held it close and fell asleep with her hand in mine.