The back tire of the bike was still spinning slowly as Edd worked his way into a clumsy half sitting position. His lips were drawn back from his teeth, exposing the gap in a grimace of pain while his muddled mind slowly tried to piece together the seriousness of the accident. He was returning from the post office after dropping off a letter for his father. He had been riding rather fast, admittedly, having simply let his guard down on that bright Saturday morning. The sun was shining with enthusiastic brilliance and the early spring day was just starting to get warm. His spirits had been high. In fact, it still bathed his back in its radiant cheerful warmth through the shadows of the tree whose leaves were just starting to unfurl.

He didn't see the pothole until it was too late. Swerving did him no good, he was going downhill at a pretty good clip and the side of the tire caught on the lip of the chipped asphalt. The front tire bounced hard in response before wobbling madly towards the green of the park. Such was he in his panic in the moments the parking curb grew deviously close, he didn't think to apply his brakes before the bike struck it, and before he could calculate his options he was launched up and over and straight towards the old oak that Jonny often enjoyed hiding within the confounds of its boughs.

"Ow…" he moaned softly as he reached out with his good arm. He tried to push the bike away from his body, but the wind had been knocked out of him when he landed on his side against a twisted bit of root that had long ago broken through the ground. The bike fell back onto him and he gave up for just a moment longer as he cradled his injured left wrist to his chest. He didn't think anything was broken, perhaps the wrist was sprained. He was able to wiggle his fingers without too much pain in the carpel region.

Taking another moment to assess himself, Edd's hazel eyes bravely traveled along his legs. Both knees were badly skinned but hardly bleeding. They stung, though and he knew the scabs would be ugly by Monday morning. The top of his right foot hurt where it had smashed into the pedal when he crashed into the tree, and his ribs throbbed with a dull ache where he had landed on that root. He had bumped his head when he landed and when the wind rustled softly, his thick fall of chocolate brown bangs danced along his forehead. His hat was lying haphazardly on the ground, just beyond the front tire. Reaching out, he found the weight of his bike coupled with the instance of still regaining his breath too strenuous and he let out another soft complaint of pain. It was then that he heard the thunder of footfalls coming from behind him. Stiff and sore, he just sat and waited for whoever it was that decided to come to his aid, grateful for their help if it was to be offered.

"Double Dee!" Ed's familiar voice bellowed as the tall youth galloped towards him. Jumping easily over the curb that had sent the bike flying, Ed's long legs quickly ate up the distance between the two boys and he continued to call his friends name in a near frenzy. Edd lifted and then turned his face over his shoulder as an expression of sorrow mixed with vulnerability crossed his features while he watched his friend approach him. Tears began to well as his emotions roiled within him. Try as he might to be a rational thinking adult, he was still, all in all, a child. A child who had taken a rather nasty spill at that and the tears slipped readily down his cheeks.

"Oh Ed!" he said. "I had a wreck, it was terrible!"

"Double Dee," Ed said again as he lifted the bike up and off of his slender companion. Leaning it against the poor tree without a second thought for it, he kneeled down in front of him, his ice blue eyes scanning over the bedraggled form still sitting on his hip. "Let me see, okay?"

"I don't know what you can do for me, Ed, other than accompanying me home," Edd answered softly as his lower lip trembled. Best not to cry in front of Ed; he tended to get emotional when he saw others cry.

"I'll help you. C'mon, let's get you home, mister!" The sudden no nonsense tone of his voice comforted Edd and he allowed his friend to gingerly ease him to his feet. With one arm around his side, he lifted the bike up with his free arm and together, they began to walk slowly back to the cul de sac.

"You sound bad, Double Dee," Ed observed softly as he listened to the rapid reedy breathing with his brow furrowed. "Are you going to die?" This thought troubled him and Edd let out a moan as the arm holding him for support suddenly squeezed harder.

"No, Ed, I'll be okay… I just need to rest and recuperate and perhaps the use of an ice pack would be most beneficial."

"Are you sure? We can call for an ambulance. Remember when Sara had to do that for me that time I got my head stuck in the chimney?"

"I remember, Ed," Double Dee answered. Right now, he was just concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other. Now that the adrenaline had worn off, his body decided that yes, yes it was in pain and it didn't care for that one little bit. The gratitude he felt for his friend who was holding him up welled up in his heart and he smiled despite the pain.

"And remember that time I got stuck in the dishwasher? The firemen had to come get me out."

"Yes," Edd agreed.

"And remember that time I thought it would be cool to be a land octopus and I super glued myself to the wall because I wouldn't stick by myself?"

Double Dee lifted his face and gave his friend a blank look. "I… don't think I remember that one…"

"I think you were at your cousin's house that year," Ed said thoughtfully as they entered their street. Double Dee's house was just on the left. "We're almost there, hang on buddy, don't give up on me!"

"I won't Ed," Edd said tiredly. "Thank you so much for your assistance."

"Eddy's still asleep," Ed said as they made their way through the yard and towards the walk. "He told me to go jump off a cliff, but I don't think we have those here," he continued as they reached the door. Knowing where the key was hidden, he didn't let go of his friend as he retrieved it and stuck it in the lock. The house was cool and dark, a safe haven for all the troubles from the world and Double Dee once again felt that old and familiar sense of relief and gratitude.

"Just as well, he'd probably try to come up with a scam to profit off of my misery," he said as the door slammed behind them. "Ah, Ed?"

"Yeah, Double Dee?"

"My bike doesn't have to come inside…"

"But it's hurt, too!"

"But it lives in the garage, Ed," Double Dee reasoned sweetly with a bit of humor in his voice.

"Oh yeah… be right back!"

When Ed let go of him, Edd found himself suddenly lurching forward. His friend had been carrying more of his weight than he had realized. He staggered towards his father's chair, where he fell into it unceremoniously. It was then that he realized his poor hat was still on the ground by the tree.

"Ed?" he called, turning his face towards the interior door that led to the garage.

"Yeah?"

"I think we left my hat in the park!"

"It's in my back pocket!"

He felt guilty for grimacing, especially after all Ed had just done for him, so instead, he thanked him graciously.

"I know where you keep the other ones, I'll get you a fresh one when we fix those boo boos," Ed said as he came back into the house.

"Do you remember where my first aid kit is?"

"Absolutely!" came the enthusiastic answer before the lanky boy jogged noisily up the stairs. He rummaged through the little linen closet in Double Dee's bathroom, returning five minutes later with the little metal box pressed to his chest in one arm. "Alright, let's see how the patient is!" Squatting down in front of the chair, Ed sat the kit gently on his friends lap before slowly rolling the torn jeans up past each knee.

"Those scrapes are pretty awesome," he said in awe as he took them in. "Alright Nurse Double Dee, it's time for surgery!"

"Surgery?" Edd asked in shock, but then relaxed when he realized Ed had probably meant triage instead.

"Napkin!"

Edd shook his head as he looked inside, and then retrieved a package of wet antiseptic pads. He tore one open and handed it to Ed, who gently began to dab at the raw knees. Edd hissed in pain as his tried to double over, but instead, forced himself still. With Ed administering treatment, it was perhaps for the best not to distract him and derail his train of thought. The last thing Double Dee needed was to be treated for injuries one moment, and perhaps rearranging the furniture into a fort the next.

Ed was thorough as he cleaned the knees. "Owie cream!"

Edd chuckled as he opened a tube of anti-biotic and pain relief ointment and handed it down. The cooling feeling of the gentle application soothed him and he began to relax as the pain began to abate.

"More napkins!"

A package of gauze with adhesive edges was opened next, and then handed to Ed one at a time who took care in placing them on each knee, wanting to get them just right.

"Clear!"

"Clear?"

Ed looked up, his eyes innocent as he searched Double Dee's face. "Don't I get to shock you now? Just like in that movie I watched last night. There was this zombie from outer space and it crash landed on this guy's roof causing it to turn into an unholy blob of rotted flesh when it rolled off and landed in his yard! It started to shake like a big bowl of jello and the guy ran to the ambulance that had been called because the mother ship had crashed next door and he got the paddles and then he began to shock it until it exploded!"

Slowly, Edd closed the lid to the med-kit while looking at his friend with very wide eyes. "Uhm… that won't be necessary Ed, you've done a wonderful job with my knees. They feel so much better now…"

Ed's eyes lost their focus for a few long beats before a thought seemed to come to him. "Ribs?" he asked, his head canting slightly to the side.

"I think they'll be alright, bruised if anything. I hurt my wrist and my foot, though."

"You've got a scrape on your temple, too," Ed noted as he began to untie Double Dee's shoes. "We'll get to that soon enough, we don't want your brain to rot; we need you too much."

"Thank you, Ed," Double Dee D said with tender sincerity. It always made him feel good when someone complimented his intelligence.

His shoes were slipped off and socks carefully removed. Edd's left foot was fine, but the top of his right sported a large hematoma that was already the color of a ripe plumb.

"It's gonna blow!" Ed said in fascinated disgust.

"Ed, please don't poke that!"

"What is it, Double Dee!?"

"A hematoma!"

"What's that?"

"It's a blood filled bruise caused by blunt force trauma."

"It looks wobbly," Ed said as his fascination once again turned to it. "What do we do for it, Double Dee?"

"An ice pack and a wrap should do the trick," Edd answered. "Same for my wrist. Oh thank goodness I have that spare wrist brace. Ed, could you be a dear and get it out of my room, please? It's in the desk drawer, top right hand side."

"Okie Dokie, Double Dee! I'll be back in a jiff, don't you move, mister! I'll get the ice packs too, I know where those are."

"As much as we get injured around here, I'd be disappointed if you didn't," Double Dee answered wearily as he leaned his head back against the chair's headrest. "Could you bring me a clean hat please?"

"Got it!"

He slipped into a half doze as Ed gathered the rest of the items they needed. His eyes rested well, though he could still hear his friend moving about the house. The freezer door opened and shut, and then a cool sensation was pressed to the top of his foot, causing him to snap awake.

"Oh… sorry Double Dee, didn't mean to hurt ya."

"It's okay, Ed," he said gently as he reached out to pat the burred head. "You're doing awesome."

That praise caused the awkward youth to beam at his friend before he went back to work. Double Dee gently reminded him to wrap the foot and wrist first, then to place the ice pack on. While Ed was in the other room, he had fought with the chair to pop the footrest up to make things a little bit easier. He adjusted the ice pack on his wrist and watched as his friend went back into the kitchen. "What are you doing, Ed?"

"Making snacks!"

"Please don't make a mess; I'm in no condition to clean up."

"I won't. Then we gotta fix that scrape on your head, and then I'll go get Eddy and we can watch TV because it's getting dark outside."

"That's why I went to the post office so early, we're supposed to get storms today and I wanted to feel a little bit of that sunshine on me." His voice turned a bit melancholy. "I got careless however, shame on me, and look what happened."

"Ah, C'mon, Double Dee D, it happens to everyone," Ed reasoned as the microwave beeped and then hummed. "Popcorn?"

"That sounds great, Ed." Closing his eyes again, Edd decided to take another catnap while he waited for the pain to abate. The sounds of his friend moving about in the kitchen continued to lull him deeper and he wasn't aware of when he fell completely asleep until he realized he could feel a soft rhythmic puff of air striking his cheek. Opening his eyes slowly, he was faced with the realization that Ed's face was very close to his. Fighting off his discomfort of having someone so suddenly close in his space, he understood that all his friend was doing was tending the scrape on his temple. In fact, he was just finishing up by placing the band aid on. Opening his mouth to offer his thanks, he was startled by the surprisingly gentle kiss Ed gave the bandage.

"There, that'll make it all better," the tall youth murmured to himself, thinking Edd was still sleeping.

"Thank you, Ed," Double Dee whispered gently.

"No problem, Double Dee," Ed whispered in return before leaning back and offering Edd a fresh hat.

"You're the best, Ed. What a true friend you are," Edd complimented as he smoothed his hair back from his face before returning the hat to its rightful place. Moments later, arms wrapped around his shoulders in a warm and surprisingly gentle hug considering the source.

"You're the best too, Double Dee," Ed said as he rested his face on his friends shoulder.