Jason Street pushed his chair away from the hospital window. Why the hell would Riggins and Lyla take him out for a night of partying, and then make out in the parking lot of the hospital?

I mean, they were his friends, right? If Lyla didn't love him, the least she could do is break up with him, or actually get out of the parking lot of the hospital before she began sucking face with an idiot like Tim Riggins.

Was it all over the team? Were Smash and Bobby Torres talking about how Lyla was cheating on the poor cripple, the team mascot? It was more than Jason could take.

Things were getting a little better—Jason enjoyed watching quad rugby, and hoped he could play in a few months. Some days he actually woke up now not wanting to kill himself, it was not horrible. But then something like this happens. God damn Lyla. Fuck Riggins. This was total bullshit.

Jason grabbed the wheels of his chair, awkwardly, (those damn fingers just wouldn't work right) and pushed himself out of his room, cursing silently. If Lyla wanted to break up, that was one thing, but she really should be able to make up her fuckin' mind.

"You look a little depressed."

Jason looked up, resentfully. Someone else to get in his business, like everyone else at the rehab center. Who was this? A strawberry blonde, pretty…also in a chair. But she was obviously not using her hands to push the wheels, she had a joystick.

"Hey, I'm Taryn. I just got transferred to this floor. The ninth floor has some kinda asbestos problem."

"Oh, uh, I'm Jason. Ninth floor's kind of a permanent resident floor, right?" How could anyone live in this hell-hole for their entire life?

"Yup." Taryn smiled. "I've got Duchenne's muscular dystrophy, and I've been a patient here on and off since I was seven. I'm sixteen now." She smiled as she revealed this depressing information, and yes, she had nice dimples.

Taryn looked at the ceiling, and spoke again. "I got used to it, after a while. You know, watching "All My Children" with the geriatrics in the middle of the day, wheeling down to the front lobby to see if there were any new snacks in the vending machines. Time went by."

"Seriously?" Jason asked, incredulous. "You got used to this?"

"Unfortunately, sometimes the people at the hospital treated me more normally than my own parents—and then my mom died and my dad left, and my aunt put me in foster homes, and shit, after that I looked forward to this place. I just hope they don't put me in a nursing home before I'm twenty, you know what I mean?" Taryn grinned, and Jason watched freckles gather around her little pug nose. She was cute, he had to say that.

"I'm um, I've been here for only—"

"No, I heard. Big football star. Just getting used to the County rehab center, are we?"

"You must've talked to Herc. He's always giving me shit about my big athletic past."

"Yeah, Herc is kind of the tough love type." Taryn smiled. "Hey, who were those guys who were visiting? Is that your girlfriend?"

Jason swallowed. "Well, one of them is Tim Riggins, he's sort of an old buddy" Sort of. "And the other is my high school girlfriend Lyla, though I'm not sure how that's playing out, now that the accident is…" Jason paused. "I just saw them making out by Lyla's car, after they spent the day with me. It's total bullshit."

"They took you out for the day?" Taryn smiled. "That must've been cool."

"Yeah, sure, we went out drinkin' and stuff, I really liked it, but damn, it hurts that they'd fool around after they left me."

"I find it's better to focus on the positive part of the day, Jason, even if it didn't go all that well at the end, you know?" Taryn leaned forward a bit, and Jason watched her long curls bounce on her chest. "I'd kill for someone to take me out for a party, you know?"

"But you don't get it, Lyla's cheating on me. She was making out with me this afternoon, and now she's fooling around with HIM." Jason wondered if Taryn was a little retarded.

"Stuff changes after we go in the chair, I guess, though I've been in this situation a lot longer than you have. But I remember when your friend Herc lost his girlfriend, and he was crying a little, Jason."

Jason couldn't imagine Herc crying. Herc seemed indomitable. "I gotta go back to my room. Physical therapy tomorrow."

"Well, good night then." Her very cute feminine voice floated over Jason as he wheeled himself back to the room with his still almost immobile hands.

Would he ever be able to make a fist again? If he did, he'd punch Riggins out. That was the answer to all this. Jason couldn't believe all this was happening to him. Riggins was like a dog, he must've broken up with Tyra, and now he just couldn't control himself, he had to hump Lyla. Well, it was disgusting. Freakin' disgusting.

That night, as he tried to get to sleep, Jason wondered if it were such a big deal anyway. He couldn't feel anything below his chest, so it wasn't like he could do his business with Lyla anyway, right?

But what a change—he'd been such a big shot. Not just a big jock, like Tim, but also an honor student who didn't need the Rally Girls to do his homework for him. And since Pee Wee football, he'd had people coming out to see him play.

He couldn't fuck; he couldn't go fishing, no more biking. It was really a drag.

But Taryn was cute…she really lit up the hallway. He'd see her tomorrow, that was something, right?