Author's Note: It's official. I'm attempting another multi-chapter.

"But, Pop, every attempt at writing multi-chapters you've made has ended in failure due to your inability to stay focused on a single project for a long amount of time."

Yes, I know. There's a chance that this won't end up actually being finished, knowing me. But, I've already written the majority of the story at the moment this time, unlike every other multi-chapter I've written. See, this was originally going to be a one-shot, but halfway through, I realized that it was much too long to be a one-shot. So, I've only got a few more "entries" to write before the whole thing is finished!

So, I tried some different things with the story! It's supposed to be Crutchie's school journal that he's required to write entries in every day while he's in the hospital. (That's explained later.) Which means it's told from the first person, which is something I rarely do. So, that should be fun! Also, I'm no romance writer, but I have low-key Jackrine* in most of my stories, but Jackrine isn't the only thing I ship (But, trust me, I'm a sucker for Jackrine), so I thought why not test out some other low-key ships? So, this is low-key JackCrutchie. Some chapters are much less low-key than others, but yeah. I'm branching out with my writing, yay!

Will there be angst? Yes. Will there be fluff? Yes. Will there be odd attempts at trying to maintain the journal format whilst telling a story, but ultimately giving up in the later chapters with the "journal" coming off as just a narrative told from the first person? Oh, yes. So, I hope you enjoy this little project as much as I've enjoyed writing it! Enjoy, and leave a review with opinions, suggestions, etc.! Thank you!

*Speaking of Katherine, I don't write about my daughter enough. If you've got a prompt involving Kath, let me know! I love her!

10/07

I love the change in the weather. When there's that just right breeze that ain't too cold and ain't too hot, just in between...that's my idea of perfect.

But, of course, it ain't my leg's idea of perfect. If my leg had its way, the weather would always stay just the same. Whenever it changes, my leg is like, "Ahhh! I can't handle change! Time to cause Crutchie immense pain!"

My leg can be a real jerk sometimes. 'Cause, I could be outside playing hide-and-seek with Romeo, but my leg thought a better plan would be spasming a ton all week then collapsing yesterday and not moving at all afterward, so I could be sent to the hospital.

Again.

I has already been here like twice this year, give me a break.

But, whatever. The food ain't too bad, as far as hospital food goes. The nurses are nice, but they're condescending, like usual.

Is this long enough for a journal entry? It's almost a full page. Or, a full half-page. Good enough.

10/8

Ahh, Ms. Anderson, do I have to write an entry every day I'm gone? I was just put on reeeeeaaaaaaaally heavy pain meds and I can barely keep my eyes open. You know, I'm just gonna write double tomorrow cause I need sleep. I'm gonna hate myself tomorrow, but...I dunno where I was going with that, I'm just gonna sleep now, thanks.

10/9

Okay, it's actually a good thing I said I'd write double today, cause a lot happened.

So, geez, where do I start? It was real late last night, and I was passed out because of those dang meds, right? Like, I was out. I thought nothing could wake me up, but then, there was all this thumping around me. I wanted to just roll over and go back to sleep, but I was also in a hospital room alone, so I was a bit freaked out. Was it the phantom of the hospital coming to get me? (Just kidding, there ain't no phantom, haha.)

Anyway, I thought I should check out what's going on, so I opened my eyes and saw a bunch of nurses. I was thinking, oh no, is something going wrong with me?

But, it wasn't me they was there for. As my eyes adjusted, I saw that they was bringing in another kid. It looked like he wasn't conscious from what I could see. They hooked him up to all that fancy equipment they only hook you up to when stuff is real bad. Like, I ain't been hooked up to that stuff in a long time.

So, I asked what was going on and they was like, "Don't worry, Andrew, just get some rest." And I'm like, "No, what's going on with this kid?" But, they was all babying me again and saying everything's fine, yadda, yadda, yadda. So, I gave up and went back to sleep, because that sounded much better than arguing with a bunch of nurses at 3 a.m.

I had to wonder if maybe this was just some weird, vivid dream from the pain meds. But, I woke up this morning, and sure enough, the kid was there. I stared at him for a while and, my gosh, does he look bad. He's got these bruises all up and down his arms and legs, and this big black eye. He's all pale, and he's got bandages everywhere. He looks sad, too. I wish I could help him.

Heck, I don't even know his name.

He ain't woken up yet. It's kinda scary. Really scary, actually. I got this beeping next to me and it's like, wow, that's his heartbeat. I'm always scared it's gonna slow down or worse.

I asked the nurse who gave me breakfast this morning what was going on with him. She said that they'se gonna be bringing him to another room as soon as there's an opening and that they just brought him to my room because there was an extra bed and it was an emergency. I told her I didn't care if he stayed in this room or not, I just wanted to know what happened to him. She didn't say, though-she just told me he'd be better.

I swear, those nurses treat me like I'm three.

Whatever. I just hope she's right, cause I really don't wanna hear that beeping slow down.