Midnight Gang: The

“You don’t have to go,” he said quietly.

That night, the gang held one last meeting in the supply closet. Tom, for the first time, looked unsure. The Midnight Gang

“Rest is for daytime,” Tom said, pulling back the blanket. “The night is for adventures.” “You don’t have to go,” he said quietly

Within twenty minutes, the gang had transformed his room. They turned off the lights and projected a wobbling blue pattern onto the walls using a torch and a jar of water. Raj rigged a small fan to blow a salty breeze from a bowl of seawater filched from the hospital’s physio pool. Molly hummed a shanty she’d learned from her grandfather. And Leo, finding his voice for the first time, described the waves in a low, steady murmur—how they lifted and fell, how the stars looked like scattered diamonds, how the ropes smelled of tar and adventure. “Rest is for daytime,” Tom said, pulling back

He tapped his chest, just over his heart.