Sophia glanced at him. "When I was younger I used to ride horses. There was this one horse that Dad had gotten that I wanted to ride. I had always seen Pyper and Ryan fall off. I thought nothing about it cause they would jump up and get back on. Well I was riding a horse and he took off with me. He charged the fence. When he tried to land, I flew over his head and he fell over my legs. I shattered both knees and was in the hospital for two months while they did multiple surgeries. The doctors said I would never be able to ride or walk or run again. I pushed through after two years of homeschool and came back. I'm scared to ride still, but I can walk and run and play. That's why I run the bases weird. That's why I trip so much. That's why. " she wiped away a tear and looked away from him. She fiddled with the blanket in the bed

(Me going: No- no NO NO NO NOOOOO and Zephyr teased her about tripping so much *sobs*)

-

Zephyr glanced at her with a slightly worried expression- she looked... unhappy? Scared? Sad? He could barely tell. It was a mixture of emotions that weren't good. As she continued his gaze widened slightly, and shock overtook his expression. "I- I'm... I'm so sorry... that's horrible..." He whispered, glancing away. Now he felt even MORE irritated about how petty he was being, worrying about himself and not even trying. If she had pushed through that... well... he was no where near as strong or determined as her. 1 month seemed daunting to him but she had spent 2 YEARS away from everything. "Now I'm really sorry I teased you about tripping too..." He mumbled, the words coming out on their own without his brains permission. "It's .. amazing that you recovered from that. You are really strong like that..." part of his brain still wanted to ask about the horse thing. They had horses!? How did he not know this!? He loved horses! He just was never able to be around them. "Now I'm going to feel guilty about asking, but does that mean your dad is a horse trainer?" He asked quietly.

Lollllll it's ok)

-

Sophia gave a weak smile. "It's ok. There was nothing I could have done to stop it." She squeezed his hand. "Yeah. He's trained quite a few. The one I rode impaled himself and they had to out him down" she sighed and looked down at the blanket "I'm fine though. I was just hoping it would help you out a little "

Zephyr looked at her again, really not wanting to ever move or talk again but hiding it so she didn't worry more than she had to. "Life does whatever it wants." He said drily, then tilted his head a little as she answered his question. "That's... horrible. I bet your dad was much more devastated you got hurt, though." He said quietly. +Haha, help, nawww it just made me feel like more of a jerk for only thinking about myself+ he thought sourly, but offered a faint smile, even though it hurt. "It helped. In some way. Your attempt did not go in vain." He half-heartedly joked, his head turning a little more quickly to the doorway as a nurse walked in.

"Sweetie, what are you doing in here? Zephyrus needs to rest. You can visit him as soon as hours open." The nurse said.

This earned the best glare Zephyr could possibly give while half of his face looked like a pancake and his eye wasn't really working correctly, but then he turned to Sophia. "You need rest too. Don't worry about me. I'll be fine."

Sophia was about to speak when the nurse walked in. "Oh. Alright..." she took one last glance at Zephyr before giving a stiff wave and walking out of the room. Tears stung at her eyes again as she got in her car and drove home. She was still going to be home alone, so she went straight to her room and flopped on her bed. She slept a tiny bit before her alarm woke her up. "School or hospital?" She picked up her backpack. "Have to go to school. I'll drive straight to the hospital after" Sophia went to school, although she didn't remember or comprehend anything from that day. After school she drove straight to the hospital. "Can I see Zephyr Lawrence?" She stood at the counter waiting for an answer. "Yes. His door is open"

Zephyr watched her leave with a rather forlorn gaze.

The nurse walked over to the bedside and started adjusting the fluid bags. "You need to sleep. I'm going to give you some painkillers and drugs that'll make you fall asleep." She said.

Zephyr's gaze snapped over, widening slightly. "No- please, don't..." His voice trailed off. She had already done it. His head started getting cloudy as it set in, then the world went black.

In the morning he awoke, drowsily, to his father sitting in a chair.

"Ah- Zeph, you're awake. Good. How you feeling, slugger?" He asked with a small smile.

Zephyr winced as he shifted, trying to get a little more upright. "I feel like I got fileted..." He answered.

His father laughed. "That'll go away someday."

The conversation went on for a while before his father had to leave for work. Zephyr was then left alone for the rest of the day, boredom flooding every nerve in his body.

-

(Ima skip to when he comes home)

-

It had been a week since the accident and the doctor's just cleared him to go home. Zephyr got out of the car with a wince, his shoulder all wrapped up. His face looked much better now, back to normal except for a few healing wounds. He walked into his house and up to his room, sitting down with a small groan, though happy to be home. At least there was stuff to do here. It was a good thing he was mostly left handed, so he could still eat and write just fine, since his right shoulder had been broken.

It had been a week, and Sophia had been the saddest she had ever been. She had visited Zephyr some, but the doctors were pretty strict about times. She sat in her room after school, talking to Ryan about the past week.

Zephyr sat on his bed for a couple minutes before wandering over to his desk. He sat down at the chair and pulled out a piece of paper, staring at it for a second before sharpening a pencil and starting to draw. Before he really knew what he was doing he had a sketch of Sophia, sitting on a beach and staring at a sunset. He sighed. Zephyr missed her- she had visited him a couple times, but she wasn't really the same. It was like she tiptoed around him, or didn't even want to be around him at all. He ducked his head, running a hand through his hand hair. Well, his working hand, anyway. He just... he felt this empty, crushing, lonely weight on his chest. He just wanted to talk with someone- laugh with someone. Have people treat him normally, instead of like a Vase that can get easily broken. He stood and paced around the room, not quite sure about what to do anymore. If he drew anymore he'd have a whole folder of drawings of her. Which was only slightly creepy. Maybe he needed that. He sat back down and spent the next couple hours sketching, whatever came to mind. Most were of Sophia, but some were other people he cared about, like his parents or siblings. Some were failed sketches of animals. Some were landscapes. It varied.

Ryan grabbed her arm. "Come on. I think you need to talk to him again. " Sophia's eyes brightened "but what if he doesn't want to talk to me? We haven't really talked like we did before. " she shook her head. "I don't know" but Ryan was already tugging her down the stairs. "Come on Sophia. Please." She gave in and jumped into his truck. Ryan driver her to the park that she and Zephyr hung out at. "It's like you thought he would be here waiting for me" she said with a sigh. Ryan rolled his eyes and sat her down at a swing and disappeared behind the tee line for a second. "Ryan?" She asked but remained at her swing

Zephyr had drawn about 300 drawings before there was a knock on his door. He stood and walked over, opening it to find his father standing out there.

"Zeph, you can't sit in here forever." His father huffed.

"Yes I can. Go away." He mumbled, turning back.

His father caught him on the shoulder- his good shoulder, thankfully. "Come on. We're going for a drive." He said firmly, dragging Zephyr down and into a truck. He then dropped Zeph off at the park. "Go. Wander around. You like this place." His father commanded.

Zephyr opened his mouth to complain but realized it was of no use, sighing and ducking his head to slowly walk into the park, one hand stuffed in his pocket.