AN: Don't worry guys, I haven't abandoned this story! I just got a bit caught up in my millions of other projects and haven't had much time to work on this one. With all the fluff I'm writing in my other fandom, it's really hard to get myself into the angsty mindset to write this one. I won't give up on it though, I promise. This will get finished.

Chapter 10 – Recovery

"I didn't die."

Tina sits up abruptly, her brow furrowing as she stares at me in confusion. I smile a bit and repeat, "I didn't die. I just thought I'd let you know, since you seemed worried."

She lets out a little laugh and smacks me lightly in the chest. "I know that," she protests. "I just – what happened?"

"My back was still in pretty bad shape then," I explain. "I had an inflamed nerve in my spine just above the break that was putting a long of pressure on the vertebrae. When I twisted the wrong way it got pinched and that's what took me out. It happens sometimes. Not as much now as it used to, but every once and a while if I'm not careful I hurt myself."

Tina still looks concerned but she nods and settles herself down beside me again. "So what happened between you and Hayden? You guys made up?"

"Eventually," I agree. "It was rough going though."

. . . . .

Everything feels kinda fuzzy. When I open my eyes, it all looks fuzzy too. My brain doesn't want to think lots, but I know I've been like this before. This is what it felt like at the hospital. But why do I feel like that again?

"Hey kiddo, you coming back to us?"

I know that voice too.

"Artie, honey, wake up."

And I know that one too.

"Mom?" I mumble, 'cause my tongue feels like it don't wanna move.

"Hi sweetie," Mom says and then I can feel a hand brushing through my hair real soft-like. It feels real good. "How are you feeling?"

I blink a couple times and things get kinda less fuzzy. I can see a whole lot of white and my mom's face just above me and behind her is Gary's big black face. Lots of white means either I'm at the hospital again or in heaven. Probably the hospital 'cause heaven shouldn't hurt like this. "Sore," I say 'cause when I try to move my body it feels heavy and achy. "And tired. Wha' happened?"

"You hurt your back, baby," Mom says, still combing my hair.

"Gave us all a good scare too, kiddo," Gary says and his laugh sounds kinda not real. "You had to have been feeling that pain for a while, why didn't you say anything?"

"I was just sore," I say. I'm sorta more awake now, and I can remember the pain in my back when it felt like someone stabbed me. "I'm sore all over. Am I okay? Did my back break worser?" I get sorta scared thinking about it, 'cause my whole body feels so heavy and what if I can't move even more?

"No, you're okay," Mom says. When I look closer at her, her eyes look kinda red and sad. "You're okay, sweetie. They fixed the inflammation and it shouldn't hurt you anymore. You just need to be more careful. If your back starts hurting again, you need to say something so this doesn't happen again." She leans down and kisses my forehead, and her eyes look like she's gonna cry when she sits up. "Please, baby boy, don't scare me like that again."

I don't get a lot of what she says, but I nod 'cause she looks so sad and I don't like seeing her sad. She was sad last time I saw her too and that makes my eyes itch. "I'm sorry," I say quiet like. "I'm sorry. I didn't wanna yell, really. I'm sorry."

"Shh, it's okay," Mom says, brushing at my hair again. "It's okay, sweetie, I know. I love you. Just focus on getting better, okay?"

"I'll let you get some rest," Gary says. "It's good to have you back with us, kiddo. I've gotta get back to the Center, but I'll be back, okay? And I'll let Hayden know you're better."

"Hayden?" I ask 'cause I'm confused. I can remember fighting with him, and he was way mad at me. Like way, way mad.

Gary smiles a little. "Yeah, Maggie said he's been freaking out since we left," he says. "Poor kid was so scared for you. He was the one who got help for you and he would've come with you here if they'd let him. Maybe he'll calm down knowing you're okay." He comes over and squeezes my shoulder with one of his big hands. "Get some rest, kiddo, we've still got those guns to build up."

He leaves and I lean back into the pillow 'cause it's real soft and it feels nice. One of my hands itches and I want to scratch it, but then I see it's got one of those needle tubes stuck in the back and I remember I'm not supposed to touch those. Mom is holding my other hand and she's still combing my hair and it feels so nice that I just wanna close my eyes and forget about all this bad stuff.

"Go back to sleep, Artie," Mom says real soft. "I'll be here when you wake up."

I just kinda make a weird hummy noise and then I fall asleep again.

When I wake up again, my head feels lots less fuzzy. I can look around and things look normal again. I'm in a hospital room a lot like the first one I was in, 'cept there are paper snowflakes taped to the big window now. It's kinda dark outside. And Mom is still holding my hand, but she's asleep with her head on the edge of the bed.

I kinda think maybe I'll just go back to sleep, but my brain is wide awake now. So I think about what happened. I didn't understand what Mom said happened. Something about a flame that hurt my back. That don't make any sense, 'cause I don't remember anything about fire. My back is still kinda stiffish, but that poking stabby pain is gone so I think that must be good. All I know is I want it to stay gone, 'cause it hurt lots.

A person in doctor clothes sticks her head in and she smiles when I look at her. She looks kinda familiar but I don't remember her name if I know her. "Hi Artie, glad to see you're awake," she says, talking kinda quiet so she don't wake Mom up, and she comes over to the bed. "How are you feeling?"

"Kinda better," I say. "It doesn't hurt no more like it did. That's good, right?"

"That's great," the doctor lady says and smiles more. "That's exactly what we want to here. Having any other problems?"

"My hand itches," I say and lift the hand with the needle tubes in it a little bit.

The doctor laughs with her hand over her mouth. "Sorry honey, not much we can really do there, you need to get all of that medication into you so the swelling stays down," she says. "Well we're gonna keep you here for a day or two to make sure that nothing else goes wrong with your back and then you can go back to the rehab center. You'll have to be a little careful with your back for a while so you don't hurt yourself, but you should be okay to keep up your exercises for the most part. Gary can help you with that, he knows what to do."

"But I'm gonna be okay?" I ask careful like, 'cause I don't like the way she said more can go bad in my back.

"Yeah, buddy, you're gonna be just fine," she says. "And you're looking really good. I saw you before you went to the rehab center, and I'm really impressed with how good you're doing. You're a tough guy, aren't you?"

"I got guns now," I say with a smile.

The doctor laughs and mutters something that sounds kinda like, "Oh gees Gary." Then she pats my arm and says, "Yes you do. Alright well I'm gonna let you get some rest. You let us know if you need anything, okay?" I nod and she pats my arm again and then leaves. I stare up at the roof and think about getting hurt and my mom and Hayden and Gary and lots of other things until I fall asleep again.

They make me stay at the hospital for two more days after that. It's kinda nice 'cause I get to just sleep a lot 'cause the medicine makes me way sleepy, and I get less sore 'cause I don't gotta do my exercises. Mom stays with me all the time and Dad and Jack and Lizzie come see me too, and none of them hate me which is really good. But then I wanna get out of the hospital 'cause I get bored being stuck in the bed all the time. I hate just sitting around. I really wanna go home, but really I'd even rather go to the Center. At least there I could move 'round on my own.

On Wednesday Gary comes to take me back to the Center, and he lets me push myself 'round by myself and it's good. Mom goes with me on the ride in the big van that's got a cool little elevator for my wheelchair. We spend the whole rest the day in my room at the Center, and Mom even stays for dinner and we eat it on my bed. And then she leaves 'cause she's gotta go home, but she tells me when I want her to visit then I can just call her and she'll come.

After Mom and Gary leave, June comes and makes sure I take my medicines and get ready for bed. She leaves and I sit on my bed and read a book , one of my favorite spy books again. I only read a couple pages, just to the part where he breaks into the bad guy lair, and then I see someone standing just outside the door to my room. And all the bad feelings from before the hospital, all the mad and the sad, they all come back and make me feel sick again when I see him.

"Hayden."