Teo's Alternate Ending

Teo didn’t know if it was his illness or the prospect of skipping class that made nausea bubble in his stomach. Slipping way unnoticed was unbearably easy, and making his way back to the orphanage was even easier. His thoughts raged against each other, pitting his need to rest against his chance of a scholarship and a future as a surgeon. It should’ve been an easy decision, and yet Teo made the wrong choice.
Teo snuck in through the back door of the orphanage, not wanting to risk alerting those who took care of the younger children. Making his way to his room, his heart stopped with every sound he heard, even if – especially if – he made it himself. Walking past Ms Whittler-Jones’ – the head of the orphanage – room was sure to be a nightmare,
It was usually closed. Instead, Teo sat on the floor by the open door and waited.
“Two unmarried individuals can’t adopt together,” Teo didn’t mean to overhear. Ms Whittler-Jones had a voice that was unforgettable to Teo, but as he heard it he couldn’t help but note a change in tone. It was almost disgusted.
“We understand that, Ms Jones, but we truly are desperate. Even if Michelle and I can’t adopt together, surely one of us can adopt as a single parent? Or at least foster?” a accented and distinctly female voice said softly.
“We understand that you have an older child who’s been here for most of his life. Won’t you let Aama and I provide them with a loving home?” a different voice – Michelle – with veiled agitation asked, and Teo’s pulse spiked. He, at 15 years old, was the oldest orphan in the small home, and had been told gently, but repeatedly, that there was little chance of him ever getting adopted. It had been years since he had allowed himself to hope for it, and ever longer that he had expected
The thought of having a parent love him ached, he wanted it so much, but it seemed so far out of reach.
“I refuse to let a child be raised by people like you.” Ms Whittler-Jones’ words were crushing, but expected. Teo just forgot they were expected for a few moments.
“I understand,” Aama said softly as Michelle swore under her breath.
Too distracted by his hatred of the world, Teo stayed sat on the floor even as the two women exited, hand in hand, closing the door behind them. It took a few moments for one of the - a lovely women with darker skin – to look down and meet his blank gaze. She offered him a watery smile before being tugged away by her oblivious partner.
Their eyes only met for a moment – one pair red, rimmed with unshed tears, the other dead and empty with resignation – but Teo could see an entire future in those eyes. He could see happiness and misery, pride and disappoint, love and forced hatred. He could see the chance for a good life, for a new beginning. But while that second their eyes met felt like eternity, it was broken in an instant and the two women left, their posture slacked with disappointment. And Teo stayed, sitting on the cold floor of the orphanage he was forced to call home, the same was he always was and always would