The orphanage turned out not to be as bad as he imagined, well, in comparison to his previous way of life anyway. He got fed three meals a day -however light they were still better than nothing. He had warm blankets to sleep in at night, and he made a good number of friends there as well. That's not to say it was all good, there were quite a few instances when the caretakers of the orphanage would discipline a child a little too hard, or punish them unfairly, but it was nothing Bruno couldn't deal with.
A few detectives would often come to ask Bruno a few questions about his mother, but that stopped after a few weeks. It was as if the case was suddenly shut tight, but it wasn't as if Bruno understood the law system anyway. Them going to jail wouldn't have helped him at all.
After spending a few months together, Randy and Bruno became something like blood brothers - both of them having lost their parents in similar accidents were able to understand what the other was going through. There were nights where one of them would have to comfort the other as they had an anxiety attack. The attacks came in sudden waves, one moment they would be laughing and the next they were in tears, and the fact that they had no idea what was happening only fueled it more.
The orphanage therapist said it was nothing for them to worry about, but the attacks never disappeared, if it weren't for their friendship they would've been crippled by it.
A few years passed and Bruno and Randy were closer than ever. Although the anxiety attacks didn't go away, they were generally happier than they were when they first came in here. In fact, they had become rebellious much like other teenagers.
"Wanna go piss on the Director's door?" asked Randy, a crude smile on his face.
"Hehe, what else would we do for fun? After all, they did say that we weren't allowed to play in the building," replied Bruno, a smile just as evil as his best friend's across his face.
As they snuck through the hallways, Randy broke out into a fit of coughs, their chest-deep sound causing Bruno to look at him in disgust.
"You're going to get us caught, shh. And I thought you went to get that cough looked at. Honestly, just drink your cough syrup, I know you don't like medicine but it's for your own good," whispered Bruno, a stern but kind expression on his face.
"Okay okay, I'll take my meds. Now let's carry on before the Director comes back," replied Randy before continuing their mission.
"Be lookout, I'll go first," whispered Bruno, sneaking up on the Director's door, while making sure that no one was looking.
"Hehe, serves you righ-"
"And what do you think you're doing?" asked a groggy old voice.
"S-Shit."
"Shit indeed," snorted the Director, before calling for the caretakers.
The caretakers weren't actually caretakers, they were more like guards, who only appeared when children needed 'disciplining,'.
As Bruno and Randy received their punishments, the Director walked in on them. A satisfied smile on her face as she watched them shudder at their beatings.
"It's quite a shame we will have to part soon, Bruno. You've become something like the son I never wished for. Oh, how I love to see you in pain," smiled the Director, staring daggers at Bruno.
Bruno's sixteenth birthday was quickly approaching, and so was the day he would finally be let out into the open world.
The orphanage was only allowed to keep children until they were sixteen, or in some rare instances eighteen. However they would have to give proper reasoning for this, of which the Director had none.
"And you, the pitiful sidekick. It seems our time together is quickly coming to an end as well," she smiled, this time a more sinister look on her face.
"What do you mean? Randy's still fourteen, he's here for at least another two years," grunted Bruno as he received another beating.
"So you haven't told him yet?" asked the Director in a mischievous tone.
"What is she talking about?"
"B-Bruno, I was going to. I just thought that now wasn't the right time, what with you going soon and everything," coughed Randy, a bitter smile on his face.
"What do you mean? What's going on?" Bruno shouted as he tried to stand up, just to be pushed back into his kneeling position by one of the caretakers.
"Your friend here has stage 2 lung cancer. And there isn't enough money to help him with his treatment, so he's basically a dead boy walking," laughed the Director.
"Y-You're lying. Why are you lying you bitch!? What are you trying to get at!" shouted Bruno, before lunging at the Director, punching the old woman in the face.
The caretakers quickly restrained him, before laying a beating on him.
"Fuck you! Stop lying!" shouted Bruno, squirming on the floor. Although he accused the Director of lying, tears were already flowing down his face.
Once again he was vaguely aware that his best friend really was dying. All the coughing, the strange medication, the constant distant looks. Bruno knew that it was the truth, but he couldn't bring himself to believe it, he couldn't even bring himself to look at Randy in the eye.
"With any luck, you'll get to see him leave before you go," laughed the Director, wiping the blood of her nose.
"I'm sorry Bruno, I just didn't want you to try anything funny, like staying here to be with me. I know how much you hate this place, you shouldn't have to stay just because of me," cried Randy.
"What are you saying? You aren't going to die, I'll find a way."
"There is no way Bruno. They said even if someone were to donate money right now, the chances of me living are slim," continued Randy, a kind of acceptance on his face as he stared at his friend in pity.
'You can't leave me here alone, you can't,' thought Bruno, but he knew that was just being selfish. He knew that it wasn't his decision to make, he knew that life would once again claim someone dear to him.
***
A few months passed, and Randy's condition grew progressively worse. He had been in the hospital for a few weeks, before finally being discharged.
"It's out of our hands," they said. There simply wasn't enough money to keep a dying boy in ICU.
*cough* *cough*
"Here's your medicine," said Bruno as he handed Randy a bottle of cough syrup.
"It hurts Bruno," croaked Randy, as his pale, thin hand reached for the bottle.
"I know Randy, I'm sorry," Bruno said, before opening the bottle and giving Randy the medication himself.
"It hurts," cried Randy once again, his voice fainter.
'I know, but please don't give up. Please, I need you,' thought Bruno internally, staring at his friend with a sort of desperate expression.
"I'm sorry, I-I c-can't anymore. S-see you later Bruny," stuttered Randy finally, before closing his eyes.
"You know I hate that name," whispered Bruno, hugging his friend's dead body as he cried.
"Fuck!" he shouted, before throwing a stream of curses at life. However it all felt meaningless, he had already lost, there was no point in being a sore loser.