"Well, yeah, it still twinges a little. Or a lot. But not all the time. Just some of the time," Jake answered, looking up at his Dad. "You aren't mad at me for leaving, right? I didn't want to get a shot. Daddy said it was okay..."

Blaine brought back a snack for the two of them. "Hey... you guys are probably hungry," he ventured, putting it on the table beside Jake's bed, hoping it would help a little. He didn't want to have a fractured family like he'd grown up in.

((Suffering a nasty cold, but alive. :D))