Leo couldn't sleep. The room was too quiet without the sound of Jordi's breathing, without the restless shifting from another of his fevered nights, without the quiet murmurs of Nurse Jackson as she worked. They had become a kind of music in the room. Now with them gone the silence was too much. Ironic that only a short time ago Leo had argued with Dr McAndrew about giving him a roommate. But he'd been overruled because there would be no fussy family etc. Jordi needed a roommate because he was utterly alone, an orphan. Who better for him than someone that understood exactly what he was going to go through. And Leo had embraced the idea because he wouldn't feel like such a freak being the only amputee.

And then it all fell apart. He still wasn't sure what set Jordi off. One minute they were hanging out in the school room, the next they were fighting.

"You know what your problem is." Jordi shouted, his face flushed and sweaty. "You have to be the top. You can't stand losing. You can't stand anyone that gets what you wanted, what you had."

"Yo J-Man, chill." Jordi practically shoved Dash away.

"Leo the great sports star loses his leg. Sucks but you're alive. Few more weeks of rehab and you'll walk out of here and never look back. I get to keep my leg and you break your promise because you have to sulk. Screw that my cancer might not go away, that I might never leave here.

"Leo the popular kid who can't stand now being the center of everyone's attention. So what that I'm getting that attention because I puke my guts up six times a day.

"Leo the loner doesn't want a roommate, doesn't want all that messy family stuff. You hate me because I'm the lucky one, my mother walked out on me.

"Ruben leaves ME his car and you can't stand that I got something you didn't. And Emma, that is the real prize isn't it. You had her, you screwed it up, but you can't stand that she cares about anyone else. Screw that nothing has happened other than her being the only real friend I have around here. She's the only one that's nice to me because she wants to be. The nurses, the doctors, it's their job. But Emma is my friend. And you can't have that because you don't want her to care about anyone else. So you give me warnings, you send Dash to make sure I got the message. You kiss her like a dog pissing to mark his territory."

Leo knew he shouldn't have done it. He should have seen that something was wrong. Jordi wasn't the screaming type. Not just because he was utterly exhausted from his chemo making him sick, he just wasn't. What was it he told Dash, he wasn't about to screw up his life being weirdly perfect over a fight about a girl. Something like that. And he was the one that avoided being alone with Emma, even inviting Leo to go on that drive. He didn't take sides when Leo and Emma nagged at each other. Yeah he didn't flinch when Emma touched him, but even Leo understood that. Heck it was half of why he and Emma first hooked up. When you are being poked and prodded by doctors all day there's something irresistible about being touched by someone friendly.

But he forgot all that in the moment. He forgot everything he knew, he felt. He only knew that Jordi was screaming at him, getting into his face. His defenses were up, his nerves on fire. It was instinctive.

But Leo knew he shouldn't have thrown that punch. He knew it the split second after it happened, watching in a sick slow motion as his fist landed square on Jordi's jaw. Watching as Jordi lost his balance and hit the floor. Leo could still see the look of horror on their faces.

And then got worse.