Chapter 10: 'Cause I'm Broken When I'm Lonesome

There seemed to be a bubble around the table, because no sound from the rest of the cafeteria reached their ears. All five of the teenagers at the table were silent as the grave. Peter and Ava, who had no clue about this situation, seemed to sense the immediate tension and decided to keep quiet. Ward's eyebrows nearly reached his hairline, and Skye was gaping like a fish. Fitz looked between the two with slight panic behind his eyes. That panic escalated to full blown fear when Skye found her voice, and raised it against him. "She did what?"

Fitz stumbled for his words, "She said that she told you guys. She went back to England. Her flight was last night."

Ward rubbed his hand across his face, like he was trying to wipe the shock away. Skye was still trying to process exactly what it was that Fitz had just said. Another heavy silence hung over the table for a few more seconds before Ward spoke up, "Did she say why she went back?"

Fitz took a gulp from his carton of milk before speaking. He seemed to be trying to catch his breath. "She," Fitz coughed and started again, "her grandmother turns seventy-five today. She went back to help celebrate."

Ward let out an audible sigh upon hearing that. Skye was still tensed, but much less so now. Peter and Ava spared a side eye glance at each other and let go of the breaths that they had both been holding. Skye's hands were clenched to the point that her knuckles were white. Her breaths were heavy and she had shut her eyes tightly. Ward put a hand on her leg and directed his attention back to Fitz, "Did she say when she was coming back?"

Fitz took another deep breath and nodded, "She said she should be back on Saturday."

The bell echoed through the cafeteria and Skye spun, barely grabbing her bag as she took off towards the door. Blinking rapidly, Skye pushed the sting of salt back into her eyes. It wasn't until she reached her classroom that she stopped to breathe. A few deep breaths and she moved into the room, hoping that she didn't appear as frazzled as she felt.

Mr. Stark was sitting at his desk and announced that there was a worksheet type project waiting on their computers to complete for the day. Most of the class groaned, but Skye just silently shifted forward in her seat and got to work. She was glad to have the distraction, but it only lasted for about twenty minutes. Being as good as she was with computers, Skye finished the work in half the time as every one else. When she was done, she just wrapped her head in her arms and put it on the table in front of her. She could only take a couple more deep breaths before she felt a tap on her shoulder.

Raising her head, Skye saw Mr. Stark looking at her. He took a couple steps away from her and waved his hand to signal her to follow him. She huffed as she stood and let him lead her into the hallway. Once Skye got outside the room, Stark turned and shut the door before leaning against it. He looked at her over his glasses, and then took a drink of his coffee before speaking. "Alright, Skye. You normally don't talk much in class, except with Miss Simmons when you won't shut up, but you are extra quiet today. I do kind of miss having to deal with your incessant sighing out of boredom."

Skye just raised her eyebrows and silently questioned his point in the conversation. Stark got the message and nodded at her, opening his mouth to speak. His phone playing "Danger Zone" cut him off and he held up a finger for her to wait. Reaching into his pocket, Stark pulled out the smartphone out and silenced it. Shrugging his shoulders, he explained, "It's the theme from Top Gun. My buddy Rhodey is a flyboy. I thought it was funny, he didn't. He's a bit of a stickler though. This one time, a few years before I started working here, me and him went to this party and I tried to get him to jump off the roof into the pool with me. Well, he said no and started whining. I told him 'you spend all your time in the sky and you're scared of a two story drop?' Eventually I just dragged him up there and pulled him off the roof when I jumped. After that, well, legally I don't think I should tell you what happened after that."

Skye rolled her eyes and held back a grin. She tried to keep the fondness out of her voice when she spoke up, "Is there a reason you pulled me out here?"

Stark tapped his temple like he remembered something, "Right. What's got you all down and gloomy? Whatever it is, it needs to stop. I will not have you killing the mood in my classroom. If I want to play my music and dance around the room, I will not be interrupted by your bad mood."

Skye just shook her head, "Just tired is all."

Mr. Stark nodded and pressed his lips together. "Yeah, used that line a few times myself." He took another sip of his coffee before he continued, "Take a lap."

"What?"

"Take a lap. A long trip around the halls will do you some good. So take a lap. I know you have to come back, all your stuff is in here."

Stark opened the door and stepped in front of Skye before she could move into the doorway. He shook his head and pointed down the hall. Skye reached for the handle before it could shut, but got there half a second too late. She groaned and leaned against the door. Sliding down the door, she put her head in her hands.

Less than a minute after she sat down, Skye heard the tell tale sharp click of high heels echoing across the hall. They kept getting closer and stopped what sounded like right in front of her. Looking up, Skye saw long legs in a green pencil skirt. "Did he kick you out of class?"

Skye looked back down and shook her head, "No. Told me to take a lap."

The woman standing above her hummed, "So I guess he does actually listen to me sometimes."

Skye actually looked up at the woman in front of her for the first time. The woman held an air of confidence and power in her gaze. Her bright red hair was pulled into a bun, with a couple strands hanging around her face, and she had a single eyebrow raised. Skye swallowed, "Miss Potts. I didn't know you'd be here today."

"Tony forgot his wallet at home. I have no idea how he manages it. If his head wasn't attached to his shoulders, right." Pepper rolled her eyes, "So why did he send you on a lap?"

Skye choked out a small laugh, "Apparently I was killing the mood in his room."

Pepper nodded at her, "Well then you should start walking, you don't want to have to rush back after the bell rings."

Skye was stunned, to say the least, but stood up and took a couple steps down the hall. Before she could get too far, however, Pepper spoke up again. "And when you get back, if you are still killing Mr. Stark's mood, I'd be willing to sit and listen."

Without giving Skye a chance to respond, the older woman had opened the classroom door and disappeared inside. Skye couldn't do anything other than shake her head and start walking. She wandered the halls for a while, just looking at the pictures of old graduating classes and glancing into random classrooms. At one point, she stopped and took a closer look at one of the faces in the photograph on the wall. As she leaned into the picture, she felt something lightly hit her in the back. Looking around, Skye saw a paper airplane on the ground. She picked it up and looked around. Seeing the open door to the classroom across the hall, she looked in. Inside the room was one Antoine Triplett, pointedly looking everywhere except at Skye. When he finally looked out the door again, he faked surprise and grinned at her with a wink. Skye couldn't help but laugh at him. She waved her fingers at him as she walked away with a smile.

Skye was already in the hall of Mr. Stark's room when the bell rang. She had to fight through the current of students to get back into the classroom and grab her stuff. Her bag was sitting next to the desk, packed up and ready to go when she reentered. Stark looked up from his computer when she walked in and raised his eyebrow at her, "Better now?"

Skye faked a sigh, "I guess, Mr. Stark."

"Good. Next time you come into my classroom like that, I'm writing you up." He looked down and muttered more to himself than to Skye, "I wonder if the administration would accept 'throwing off my groove' as a reason to do that."

Skye laughed as she grabbed her bag, "See you later Mr. Stark."

Stark threw up the peace sign as he drank his coffee. Skye walked out the door and continued to her next class. She was in a slightly better mood than before, Mr. Stark tended to have either that effect on people or the exact opposite, as she walked into Mr. Rogers classroom. Her history class was uneventful, especially compared to the previous class period. Once that was over, however, the day continued on the path of its originally scheduled programming.

Skye hadn't taken more than three steps out of Mr. Rogers' classroom before it hit her as to where she had to go next. She froze in the middle of the hallway, almost causing a pile up. Quickly, Skye took off towards her locker and grabbed what she needed before running out of the school building. Before she knew it, she was sitting under the bleachers of the football field. Instead of pulling out her laptop, as she normally does, Skye just leaned her head back against the supports and tried to breathe deeply. It wasn't much longer before she dozed off.

Skye was woken up when a strong hand grabbed her shoulder and shook it. She started and rushed to her feet. Shaking off the hand on her shoulder, Skye looked to its owner. Ward was standing next to her, his arm still half raised, with a sympathetic smile on his face. He bent down and picked up her backpack before silently walking towards the parking lot.

Without a single word, the two made their way over to Ward's car and climbed in. It wasn't until the car pulled out onto the road that Skye spoke up, "Aren't you mad at me?"

Ward glanced towards her for a split second, "What for?"

"Skipping class."

Ward shrugged and looked over at Skye again, "No. You had a rough day; I'm not going to get on you about it. Plus, you went to all of them but what, one or two?"

Skye rubbed her eyes hard, until she was seeing constellations behind her eyelids, and then groaned. "Why?"

"What do you mean, why?"

"Why am I having a bad day? I shouldn't be."

"Well, the girl you're into, who also happens to be your second best friend—behind me of course—just up and left without any warning whatsoever after avoiding you for a half a week. I'd say that's reason enough to be upset."

Skye screamed into her hands, causing Ward to jump and jerk the wheel, "I shouldn't be like this!"

"Jesus, Skye. First of all, are you trying to make me wreck? Or give me a heart attack? Secondly, why not? I think you deserve to be upset."

"Maybe a little, but I've known this girl for like a month. I shouldn't shut down because she leaves. It just doesn't make sense. This is why I don't get attached."

Ward slammed the brakes on his car, thankfully no one was behind him, and pulled off to the side of the road. Skye still had her head down in her hands, not even looking up once the car stopped. The tips of her fingers were rubbing her temples as she tried to take deep breaths, shuddering as she did. Ward slammed the car into park and turned towards Skye. "Alright, Skye. I get that you have had a rough go of things; you know I do, but you can't keep this whole loner thing going. We both know you're smart and caring and friendly, so why can't you act like it?"

"You know why, Ward."

Skye's voice was forced through clenched jaws, so much so that it could barely be heard. Her breathing was getting heavier and heavier. Ward rubbed his eyes and clenched his fists, "And you know that that's not a legit reason anymore."

"Bullshit."

Ward slammed his hands against the steering wheel, causing Skye to nearly jump out of her skin. "Dammit Skye! I've been telling you for years that you aren't that little girl who can't do anything right, like you think you are; but damn if you aren't starting to change my mind!"

A deathly silence passed over the car. Neither teenager was breathing as Skye looked down at her feet and Ward stared at the side of her head, both of their jaws hanging loosely at the words that had just broken through the air. Skye finally moved, grabbing her bag from the floorboards and unlocking the car door. "Skye. You know I didn't mean that."

Skye was halfway out the door as she turned and glared at him. The fire in her eyes was not dulled any by the wet stains tracking down her cheeks, in fact they seemed to fuel it more. "Like Hell you didn't! You know, I had actually stopped thinking I was your little charity case, but thanks for reminding me where I really stand."

She grabbed the door and slammed it as hard as she could. Ward immediately rolled the windows down and called out to her, "Skye! I'm sorry! I didn't mean it! Just get back in the car!"

Skye just kept walking with her head down. She refused to answer him. The fear of her voice cracking so that he could hear the tears he caused was too much. Her backpack was pulling so tight against her shoulders she thought it might leave marks, her hands wrapped tightly around the straps. Ward's voice rang out again, "Are you going to walk all the way home?"

She snapped her head back in the direction of his voice, "Well I'm not getting back in your damn car!"

Skye whipped back around and stomped through the grass on the side of the road in the direction of Coulson's house. She heard Ward's car's engine rev up behind her and waited for him to pass. The silver car never passed her though; the engine never roared, only quietly purred behind her. Chancing a glance back, Skye saw that Ward had turned his hazard lights on and was slowly following her. Skye groaned to the sky and turned back around. "What the Hell Ward? I told you I'm not getting back in the car!"

Ward leaned his head out of the window; "Well I'm not leaving you on the side of the road!"

This game continued until they moved to pass a house and someone came sprinting out of the front door, "Skye!"

Skye looked up and saw Triplett jogging towards her. "Hey Tripp."

The young man stopped next to her with his trademark megawatt smile, "What are you doing walking? I see Ward's right here."

Skye stumbled over her thoughts for a moment, trying to find a way to state her feelings without sounding petty. Finally, she just sighed and shrugged, "I'm mad at him, he said some stuff."

Tripp's smile faltered for a moment before it was as bright as ever and he was back to talking. "Why don't I drive you home? That way, you don't have to walk, and you don't have to get in the car with tall, pale, and grumpy back there."

He nodded his head and waved at Ward as he said this, making Skye break into a smile for the first time in hours. "Sure. Have I ever told you that you are a gift, Antoine?"

Tripp laughed as he walked back towards his car, "I've never heard it from you, but one more person saying it can't hurt."

The bright green Corvette's lights flashed as Tripp unlocked it and dropped into the driver's seat. Skye carefully opened the passenger door and fell into the seat. "How did you afford this thing?"

Tripp laughed, not nearly as heartily as before however, "My gramps was a big deal in the '40's. Did some stuff for the military during World War II, apparently he did a pretty good job, since they're still sending us presents."

"Wow. What did he do?"

"That's classified information." Skye laughed at Tripp's statement and he glanced over at her as he backed out onto the road, "No seriously, I don't know. The army keeps it under lock and key."

"Whoa. That's pretty intense."

Tripp grinned over at her, "You want to see intense?"

Skye just raised a challenging eyebrow at him. Triplett sped up and was quickly right behind Ward's Mustang. He switched over to the left lane, next to Ward, and pulled alongside him, rolling down Skye's window. Ward looked over and Tripp just winked at him before slamming the gas pedal down.

Skye was pulled back into the leather seat as the speedometer flicked farther and farther up the scale. It felt like her chest was being pressed down on as she watched the trees and houses fly by the window. Once Ward was out of sight in the rearview mirror, Tripp slowed down, laughing the entire time. When she felt like she could breathe again, Skye started laughing with him. "You said you wanted intense, girl."

"That was nuts." Skye forced out, still trying to catch her breath.

Tripp shook his head, "This car is pretty wild."

Skye settled into the seat and listened to the car for a few minutes, just letting herself relax. Triplett started humming in the driver's seat, and Skye couldn't help but laugh at him. "Really, Antoine? 'Sledgehammer'?"

"Don't you laugh at me. Just because you have your angry teenage angst, My Chemical Romance, thing going on, doesn't mean I can't enjoy those girls' music. Plus, it's catchy and has a beat; and girl you know I like to dance."

He started wiggling in the seat and singing, doing what could probably be described as dancing. Skye laughed at him, glad she had ended up walking past his house. This was the best she had felt all day. He stopped releasing the song in his head and looked over to her, "So where do you live anyway?"

Triplett eventually got her back to Coulson's house, and she thanked him as he dropped her off in the driveway. She stepped onto the porch and into the house, immediately heading towards the kitchen. When she got there, Skye was shocked to see Coulson sitting in there with his laptop. He looked up at her over his glasses when she walked in. "You're home later than usual."

"Tripp gave me a ride home and he took a wrong turn."

Technically it wasn't a lie. Both of those were true statements, but it wasn't like she was going to tell him that she jumped out of Ward's car onto the side of the road with the intent of walking the entire way back. Coulson nodded before looking back down to his laptop. He spoke again without looking up, asking a question Skye really wished he hadn't, "Why didn't Grant drive you back?"

"We had a fight."

Coulson immediately looked up, "Anything serious?"

Yes. "No. It'll blow over soon, I'm sure. You know how it is."

Coulson nodded again as he raised his eyebrows at her. "Dinner will be ready in about an hour and a half."

Skye made an affirmative noise and ran up to her room. She threw her bag onto the floor and fell face first on the bed. A couple deep breaths later and she rolled over and pushed her hair out of her face. Her hand reached into a pocket and, after a bit of struggle, pulled her phone out.

As she expected, there were a multitude of messages from Ward. She had 23 unread text messages, 4 missed calls, and 3 voicemails. She quickly got rid of the voicemails, barely listening to them as she did. They were all variations of Ward saying sorry and trying to explain himself. The text messages were the same. Though only 21 of those texts were from Ward. Skye had two waiting for her from Fitz.

Fitz: I'm sorry Skye! She said she told you!

Fitz: She's going to get a good, old time Scottish telling off next time I talk to her. I promise.

Skye couldn't help but laugh at that. She texted him back, telling him it was okay and not to bite Simmons' head off too viciously. Dropping the phone to the bed, Skye had a sudden desire to find the strangest click bait article she could, or maybe one of those stupid online quizzes. She reached down off the bed, blindly trying to find her backpack, only to come up empty-handed. With a groan, she raised her head and saw that her bag was much farther from her than she originally thought. Maybe the distraction brought on by ridiculous Internet pages could wait until after dinner. Though Skye wasn't sure how hungry she actually was anyway.

Either way, Skye went downstairs when Coulson called her down to the kitchen. They sat at the kitchen table and had a quiet meal, with Coulson focused on something on his laptop and Skye surely not pushing to start a conversation. Afterwards, Skye thanked him quickly and returned back up the stairs. She finally got to find all her useless websites, and that kept her mind busy until she felt her eyes drooping.

Her dreams alternated that night. One would hold bright hair and bright eyes; the next would have dark hair and broad shoulders. Skye wasn't sure which one she hated more. It was outrageous, and led to a fairly restless night. There wasn't much comfort in sleep for Skye when her dreams haunted her like that. It seemed like Friday was going to be a long one.

Upon waking up, Skye remembered two things that made her groan. One, she had a test in History today. Two, she would either have to find a ride in the next half hour, or ride to school with Ward. Luckily, she could hear Coulson moving around downstairs. Hopefully she could convince him to drop her off. Skye got ready for school as quickly as she could remember ever doing before.

She rushed down the stairs and almost ran directly into Coulson. He grabbed her shoulders to steady her and keep her from tumbling across the floor. Skye got her balance back quickly and shyly grinned up at him. "What's got you in such a rush this morning, Skye?"

She took a hurried breath and glanced at her shoes, "I was wondering if you could drop me off at school today?"

"Grant can't take you?"

Skye didn't really trust herself to answer, so she just shook her head in response. Coulson nodded and walked towards the kitchen. He shouted over his shoulder as he left the room, "Be ready to leave in five!"

Skye ran back upstairs, where she had stupidly left her backpack, and headed back down to the garage. She jumped into the already running SUV, and Coulson pulled onto the road. The drive to the high school was fairly quiet. Coulson turned on an orchestral station on the radio, and Skye didn't even bother complaining. When they pulled up to the school building, Skye jumped out and thanked Coulson before quickly shutting the door and walking in.

Skye walked with a purpose and kept her head down. All she wanted was to get through the day without running into Ward and with the least amount of human interaction possible other than that. With the help of her trusty headphones, she figured that she could succeed with that plan.

She didn't talk to very many people anyway, so avoiding human interaction was pretty easy. The problem was avoiding Ward. He knew her schedule almost as well as she did, so if he wanted to talk to her, he could track her down fairly easily. Lunch was a simple fix, she could either take her food anywhere other than the cafeteria or just not test it and skip lunch altogether. The trickiest part, however, would be getting home that afternoon.

In the end, Skye decided to grab food and take it to go at lunch. As she munched in the hallway, she flipped through the day's headlines on her phone. After a few minutes of staring at the screen, someone kicked Skye's foot. She tensed quickly before glancing over her phone. Seeing bright white running shoes, Skye brought her eyes up the tight jeans and sweatshirt to see the pretty face above it. "Skye, right?"

Skye nodded her head, "Ava?"

Ava smiled down at her, "That's me. Care to tell me why you're eating out here Skye?"

"I'm not speaking to Ward right now, so I don't want to see him."

Ava nodded and sat down next to Skye. "Boys, they're always screwing up and never think they're wrong. You just can't live with them, but you…well no, you can definitely live without them."

Skye laughed at her and shook her head. "They can just never get it right."

"Yeah, who needs them?"

"Well, Ward is usually my ride, so I might need him a little."

"Well, I'm sure you can find someone before the end of the day. And if not," Ava pulled a pen out of her bag and grabbed Skye's hand, "Shoot me a text."

Ava smiled as she let Skye's hand go and stood up. As the older girl walked away Skye looked down at her hand and quickly punched the digits into her phone. Skye ended up sending her a message after she finished her History test.

The ride back home was quick, but entertaining all the same. Ava turned out to be quite the talkative person when she got into a mood. After thanking Ava, and the girl telling her to text her if Ward was ever stupid again and she needed a ride, Skye bounded up to the house and jumped inside.

Now the hard part came. Normally at this time, since it was a Friday, she would be getting ready for Ward's game and waiting for Mrs. Ward to pick her up. Now she had to think of an excuse to text Mrs. Ward to tell her she wasn't going to the game. Skye figured homework was a good excuse as any and sent a text saying as much. About five minutes later, Skye got a text back that said the woman understood and congratulated her on putting her best foot forward when it came to school, along with a promise to let her know how the game went.

Now Skye just needed a distraction. She did have homework to do, but she wasn't quite in the mood for that kind of trouble at the moment. Instead, Netflix was calling her name. Moving into her room and over to the TV, she flipped on the streaming service and searched around. She checked her recently viewed and saw Doctor Who on the list. There was a sudden ache in her chest and she quickly flipped by it, settling on Parks and Recreation, figuring she could use a few laughs.

After a few episodes, or more than a few as Skye lost track, she checked her phone. No notifications, but she had been lying on her bed for nearly four hours now. She figured a few more episodes couldn't hurt. As she started the next one, Coulson walked in to her room. "What are you still doing here? Shouldn't you be at the game?"

"I wasn't really feeling up to it."

"Is this about the fight between you and Ward?"

"Maybe."

Skye never took her eyes off the TV, but Coulson nodded anyway. "The game would have just started if you changed your mind."

"I'm good."

"Alright." Coulson patted her on the leg before leaving the room.

The sounds from the TV were the only sounds in the room for a while; Skye had silenced her phone after some game invite set off a Facebook notification. She was halfway through her third episode since Coulson's interruption when she heard his feet hurriedly pounding up the stairs. He got to her door and almost swung himself inside, out of breath. "Skye. Get your shoes on. Now!"

Skye sat up for the first time in hours. "What's going on? Where's the fire?"

"Get your shoes on and get to the car. We're going to the hospital."

"The hospital?" Skye was shouting as she jumped off the bed and pulled her new shoes on.

She tied her shoes and took the stairs as fast as she could. The SUV was already started when she ran into the garage and climbed in. Before Skye could ask anything, Coulson pushed the pedal down and rushed onto the road. He glanced over at her, "Apparently something happened at the football game."

Skye paled immediately, "Was it…Ward?"

Coulson nodded, "Is your phone dead?"

Skye reached into her pocket, no phone. She slapped herself on the forehead; "I put it on silent and left it in my room."

"Carrie said she tried to call you first."

Skye's stomach turned, she was letting down the only mother she'd ever known. She knew it would happen eventually. Her leg was shaking uncontrollably now. "Did she say what happened?"

"All she said was he got hit pretty hard and didn't get up, so they sent the trainers out there and they called an ambulance."

The rest of the ride to the hospital was filled with a silent tension. As soon as they pulled into the hospital parking lot, Skye jumped out and ran towards the doors. Coulson was a few steps behind her, calling her name. He caught up with her at the reception desk where a shocked looking woman was sitting behind it, staring at the teenage girl and middle-aged man panting in the lobby. "May I help you?"

Coulson caught his breath and was able to speak first, "There was a boy just brought in not too long ago, a good friend of hers," with this he put his hand on Skye's shoulder, "his name is Grant Ward."

"I'm sorry. I can't give out any information to non-family members."

Coulson nodded and pulled his phone out. He pushed a few buttons on the screen and put the phone up to his ear. After a few moments, he spoke, "Hey Carrie…Yeah, we're here in the lobby. They won't let us in…Okay."

He hung up and grabbed Skye's shoulder. "Carrie's going to come talk to us."

Skye nodded and walked over to one of the chairs in the waiting room. Coulson took the seat next to her and put his arm around her shoulders. She leaned into him, but couldn't keep her restless leg from bouncing. After a few minutes, a frazzled looking Mrs. Ward pushed through a door and hurried over to them. Coulson and Skye stood to meet her. "How are you doing Carrie?"

Mrs. Ward nodded at them, "He should be okay. One of the other players went to tackle him and they hit helmet-to-helmet, then when he hit the ground, his head hit first. They say he at least has a concussion, but they want to keep him overnight at least to check if anything else happened. They have him sedated right now. The doctor said he was well enough to get some rest and the pain might be pretty bad if he was awake."

Coulson nodded and took a deep breath, "Alright. That's good news. It means he should be fine."

Mrs. Ward nodded and then looked down at Skye, "I can get them to let you in if you want. Like I said, he's asleep right now so you couldn't talk to him, but if you want to see him."

Skye nodded, not believing she could speak. Mrs. Ward put an arm around her and led her back to the front desk. After a quick conversation, a nurse came out to walk her back. Coulson grabbed Skye's hand, "I'm going to take Carrie and get her something to drink, if you're okay with going in by yourself."

Skye just nodded again, and Coulson squeezed her hand before he walked away. She followed the nurse back to Ward's room and only looked up from her feet when the door was pushed open in front of her. The nurse left her alone and she stood inside the door looking at the boy in the bed. The only sound in the room was the steady beat of the heart monitor. She finally got up the nerve and sat down in the chair next to the bed. Skye took his hand and started crying. She muttered "I'm sorry" over and over, placing her head on the bed. After a few minutes of crying, she sat back up and looked at his face for the first time.

He was going to have a nasty bruise along his hairline from the helmet. Other than that he looked just like he did any other time. Her grip on his hand tightened as she stood up and gently kissed the top of his head, like he had done so often to her. She sat back down without letting go of his hand. It was quiet again for a few minutes as Skye just watched Ward's chest move up and down. Suddenly, the door opened and let a sliver of light into the darkened room. A light gasp could be heard from the doorway as the door shut.

Skye's eyes refocused immediately and she snapped her head towards the door. She hissed through her teeth, with tears still falling from her eyes, "What are you doing here?"

Standing in the doorway was a shocked, to say the least, Jemma Simmons; staring open mouthed at the furious girl in the chair. "Hello Skye."