The smashing of glass sounded sharply around the manor, stripping the silence away instantaneously. In the room adjacent to the mysterious accident, Kid sat, a book in his hands and eyes jumping from the page to search the room around him in surprise. As the sound quieted- the last pieces settling and halting their rattling against the smooth surface of the floor- a sudden nervousness quaked inside of him.

Mere seconds passed before the glass could be heard scratching against the floor once more, as if being collected or jostled around. He closed the book unconsciously with the sudden thought of only having seven pieces left of whatever had been broken rummaging through his mind, no matter how insignificant that should have been.

His hands felt around the couch, suddenly curious as to when or where he had sat his book down; instead he found it on the table in front of him, unaware of when he had done such a thing.

His wandering and chaotic thoughts were put to a screeching halt as a rather concerned and slightly frightened, "Kid!" echoed towards him. His movements were stiff, but his search contained an air of urgency that was the extent he could muster with his true concern pertaining to the seven remaining objects still pestering his thoughts.

His thoughts froze once he entered the kitchen. As he had already guessed, a plate laid smashed against the ground, sharp pieces strew everywhere due to the height of the drop. However, what concerned him was Patty, who sat on the floor in front of the initial impact. Her hands were steadily blooming from white to bright red.

"I was trying to pick up the pieces, but I cut myself, Kid." Her voice sounded odd, as if all emotions had been subdued, or as if her voice were unused to being so... un-bubbly. "I'm sorry; now you only have seven plates." Tears were beginning to well in her eyes, and she refused to meet his own.

It was because of her unwillingness to focus away from the mess in front of her that she didn't notice Kid lean down beside her.

"Come on," he spoke, circling her wrists with his hands. "We need to clean and bandage this."

He carefully guided Patty to her feet, and he exited the kitchen with meticulous steps around the broken glass. A few doors down, the pair entered one of the numerous bathrooms within the manor. Kid flicked on the lights and turned on the faucet, all while calmly giving tid-bits of information to Patty. "Keep your hands over the sink." "Don't worry about that, I'll get it." "Do you need a change of clothes?"

It surprised her how rather un-Kid-like he was acting, and it left her stunned into a type of un-Patty-like silence, with soft replies answering his questions. He pulled a small face rag out of a closet and placed it under the water before ringing it out and gently running it over her hands. Slowly, the excess blood was rubbed away, leaving a large cut across her left palm. He reached once more into the closet and retrieved a tube of 'Antibiotic Ointment' and a large band-aid.

Once she was cleaned up, he guided her to her own room, speaking in a rather distracted tone that she should go to sleep and forget about washing the remaining dishes, that her sister would be home soon, and that he would take care of the mess.

She did as she was told, agreeing- with the hopes of cheering Kid up- that it was already eleven, past all of their normal bedtimes. As the door closed to Patty's room, Kid hauled himself to his own room, the mess not forgotten but instead being forcibly dunked out of his thoughts.

He laid down on his bed, eyes glued to the ceiling. And he wasn't sure when he fell asleep, but he woke to a pair of blue eyes starring down at him.

"You okay?"

It was Liz speaking.

"Is the mess cleaned up?"

He knew he was supposed to have thrown out the broken plate (as well as the seven others), but he couldn't face it alone, not when Patty had hurt herself and Liz was gone for another hour; he would have made no more progress than he had by sleeping.

"Yes."

The tension in his features remained.

"Is Patty alright?"

A pause, in which Liz reached for a light blanket at the foot of the bed, beginning to pull it over him. She didn't meet his eyes as she fixed the material more symmetrically, but a smile graced her lips.

"She's perfectly fine, Kid."

A sigh, and a weight seemed to lift off of him.

"Then, yes, I'm okay."

End