Wow, 1 chapter and I already have 4 favs… Not bad… Now to get a little deeper into the story!

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"How is he…?" I asked as the doctor came out.

"Well… Your friend is very lucky…" He began.

"Well, he's not really a frie…" I stopped when Trent put a hand on my shoulder. "…Go on…"

"Well, the bullet hit him in the spinal cord…" I gasped, both hands over my mouth. "Oh my God, is he okay?"

"That's what I was getting to… The bullet didn't do any long-term damage, but… He will be paralyzed from the waist down for a few weeks…" He finished. "Other than that, he's perfectly fine. He's just resting now. The boy is incredibly lucky… You can see him if you want," With that, he walked off to tend to other matters.

I hugged Trent as tears began falling.

"It…It's all my f-fault!" I sobbed, crying into his shirt. He held me.

"Don't kid yourself… You weren't the one who shot him,"

"B-but… I told him to leave… If I hadn't said those things to him… He wouldn't have gone in there like that… He wouldn't have…" I cried harder.

"Hey, hey… Remember what the doctor said? Cody's gonna be fine after a few weeks…" He said reassuringly.

"I have to go see him," I said suddenly, running into the room.

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I sighed to myself, lying in the bed. This REALLY sucked… A couple weeks in a hospital. And during the Christmas season, no less… I groaned. Why did everything bad always happen to me?

The door opened, snapping me from my thoughts.

"…Hey Cody…" A soft, sad voice came. I turned my head.

"Gwen…!" I yelled in surprise.

"Hey…" She forced a very small smile."How're you doing…?"

"I've been better…" I too forced a smile. "I'm not hurt too bad… Just can't feel my legs…" Gwen's fake smile drop.

"I heard…" She sighed, sitting on the bed. "And I feel terrible… This is all my fault…"

"No it's not!" I exclaimed. "Unless you were the one who shot me…" I joked. She laughed lightly.

"Trent said the same thing…" She sighed. "But…" She looked away. "I still said those things to you…" I frowned a bit. "I mean, you would have never gone in there if I hadn't…"

"Just stop," I said finally. "It's not your fault, okay? If anything, it's mine for not leaving you alone," Gwen looked back at me.

"Don't go blaming yourself…" She sighed.

"Well don't blame YOURself," I said. "Besides, I'll be out of here in a few weeks, with the right treatment…" I tried to cheer her up.

"I know, but… I still feel like I should try to help…" Suddenly, we heard a few voices outside.

"What do you mean we don't have any interns left? We aren't going to just make the kid stay in bed for a few weeks!" The doctor from before exclaimed.

"Well, they're else is too busy helping other patients…" Another voice said. Wait, I was going to have to just sit here for a couple weeks?

Great…

I looked over at Gwen, but she was already getting up and leaving the room.

"Gwen, where are you…" But she shut the door before I could finish. I sighed, lying back down.

This was the worst Christmas ever…

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"Um… Excuse me…?" I came out of the room.

"Ah, it's you…" The doctor sighed. "I assume you heard us in there?"

"Yeah…" I don't know if the next thing I said was out of stupidity, sympathy, or lov… No, it couldn't be that… Regardless, I said it.

"Could I volunteer?" I asked. Oh crap, did I just ask that…? The two stared at me.

"Uh… Well, I suppose…" The doctor said, a little surprised. "You don't mind working here during the holidays…?"

"Not at all," I said automatically. Damn it!

"Well… Yeah, that'd be great! Can you start tomorrow?"

"Well…" I started to get some rational thought back. "I'd have to make sure it's alright with my mom," I explained. The doctor nodded, handing me a quarter.

"Go call her on one of the pay phones over there," He instructed. I walked over to it; my mind was filled with dozens of different thoughts. What was I thinking? Why did I say that? Am I really gonna go through with this…? I hesitated to place the quarter in the slot. I couldn't really go through with this… I shut my eyes.

The image of Cody lying unconscious on the stretcher was all I could see.

I quickly pushed the coin in and began dialing. Regardless of what they said, I was the one who got Cody into this mess… The least I could do was help him while he recovered…

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I peeked out of the bathroom door, looking around.

"Alright, the coast is clear…" I whispered.

"Do I have to go now?" The girl behind me asked. "Come on… We haven't seen each other in so long…" She rubbed my shoulders. I sighed.

"Sorry, Heather… But Gwen's gonna be wondering where I went soon,"

"Oh, why don't you just dump her already?"

"Because I don't… I don't want to hurt her…" I sighed. This was so wrong…

"Well, you better tell her soon… Otherwise I will, Trent," Heather said sharply. I sighed.

"Alright… But can't we wait until after the holidays…?"

"Hey, no better time for breakups like Christmas!" She said, kissing me before leaving. I sighed, leaning against the wall.

How do you tell someone that you're cheating on them?

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:O P-p-p-plot twist! Sorry this chapter was short, but they'll start to get longer after this…