In the first room, they had been together, then suddenly instructed to change into clean, white pajamas. Without a second thought, Sora followed Riku into the tiny, normally-single occupant changing room.

He immediately backtracked upon seeing the look of shock displayed across the silver boy's features. "Sorry, sorry!" he called, running for his own stall. The nurse remained silent.

Riku shook his head and shut the door, suddenly alone for the first time in over a day and all too aware of the fact. Biting back the thought, he turned his mind to changing into the supplied garb. He looked down at himself, feeling the very image of a hospital patient. His skin was no longer blotted with bruises, and only now could he see how translucent he looked.

I hope I didn't scare him, looking like this, he worried, before leaving the dressing room to be greeted by that smiling face.

All he had been thinking about was suddenly forgotten.

They were led to a large machine, taking their respective turns behind it. Riku had been second.

"That's all we need for you," the nurse told a waiting Sora.

"Huh?" he asked, unsure. "Oh, I can go home?"

Her brown braid swayed as she fidgeted from his conclusion. "N-no," she said with all of the force she could muster. "Doctor Anise wants to keep both of you overnight."

"Oh," Sora said, his excitement deflating.

"Anyway, please follow me to your room."

"Huh? What about Riku?" he asked, his tone a mix of worry and curiosity.

"We're going to perform more checks on him," she cooed, doing her best to keep the sentence light.

Sora nodded firmly. "If it helps him."

"We will do all we can," she smiled, then gasped quietly. "That reminds me. Did you have anyone you wanted to contact?"

Sora's face broke into a smile. "Kairi!"

After Riku's first x-ray, he saw no silly smile to greet him. His heart had felt like a shard of ice had penetrated deep. Sora isn't here. The cold spread up the back of his neck, and he could feel his hair prickling up.

The technician made him aware of Sora's location when he saw his blank stare directed at a wall with nothing of note in front of it.

"Should I go get him?" the technician asked, trained to see when a patient needs support.

Riku slowly shook his head. I have to get used to this again, he chidded himself.

After that, he was shuffled this way and that, from room to room, doing his best to shake off the chill that never left him. They poked the inside of his throat, inspected his head, but after a while, he stopped keeping track of what they were doing.

He took note of his surroundings again when the nurse returned with the news that she was to lead him to his room. "Your friend is already there," she smiled.

Riku moved immediately to follow her at as brisk a pace as she was comfortable with. A few times he had to slow down, when she looked at him, laughing nervously from how close he was.

Suddenly, he could hear Sora's voice, and the cold shook from his heart.

His happiness was over before it had even begun, and all he could do was stare from the doorway.

Sora was in a hospital room, staring up at the ceiling, annoyed. Even though I'm all better, I'm stuck here. The sight of white walls was driving him mad. Even his own clothes had been swapped with a dull, albeit comfortable set.

Doctor Anise insisted both he and Riku spend the night, just to be safe. Sora could understand Riku needing further treatment, but he felt fine.

Sitting up, he folded his arms. At least I can stay with Riku.

"Um," the timid nurse from earlier, whose name he found out was Marlene, peeked in the doorway. Her ribboned hair moved with every slight, fidgeting motion. "You have a guest."

"Kairi!" Sora called out, excitedly, before she could even enter his vision.

"Sora!" A head of hair flew past the doorway, landing squarely at his bedside. "I came as soon as I got the call," she stopped to catch her breath. "Are you okay?"

Sora nodded, giving her his biggest smile. "Yeah, I'm fine." He vaguely noted her disheveled appearance, no doubt due to how late it was. Regardless, his heart felt so calm just to see her.

Kairi looked up, smiling and relieved. Her head exaggeratedly turned back and forth to scan the room. "Where's Riku?"

"He's getting extra x-rays," Sora's face fell. "Of his head," he hurriedly added.

Kairi gasped quietly, holding her hand to her chest. "Tell me, what happened?"

"I just wanted to go back to the way we were before." His voice was barely audible.

Kairi kept quiet, giving him her full attention. Sora went on.

"We've been trying to get used to life back on the islands. It's hard, after everything that's happened." His eyes looked beyond the room. "All we've seen."

Kairi nodded and frowned, unable to begin to imagine.

"And Riku is in a much better place than he was before, but," Sora paused. "I don't ever want him to feel alone again."

Kairi put her hand over his, squeezing it in support.

Sora chuckled nervously at her sudden action, but appreciated it nonetheless. He squeezed back. "I mean, he has us."

"Yeah," Kairi smiled.

Sora's smile grew in response. "I found this amazing forest, and we were going to explore it together. Just like-"

"Old times?"

Sora nodded, but then his face turned serious. "We got into an argument," he sighed. "There are still things we need to talk about, but, I was careless."

He was silent for a while.

"I fell," he murmured.

Kairi's eyes widened in recognition.

Sora squeezed her hand so tightly that she almost yelped, but she held it in, desperate to keep the fragile boy in front of her from shattering.

"Riku got hurt because of me, Kairi," he whispered, barely audible.

"He jumped after me, and shielded most of my fall."

Kairi moved down into his downcast vision, offering him a crooked smile. "That seems to be a habit of his."

Sora looked at her, confused. "What do you mean?"

"It's not just him, you know. You do the same thing," she stated.

"Huh?" Sora still couldn't understand just what she meant.

"The way you two are always rushing to protect the other," she explained. "It's always been that way."

"Not when I didn't take his hand," Sora said, hollowly. "That day."

Kairi shook her head. "Even then, Riku had his own reasons." She winked. "I'm sure he was trying to protect you in his own way."

Sora smiled weakly, defeated. "You're always looking on the bright side." The smile fell away. "Even more than I do."

"I don't think so," Kairi squeezed his hand, again. "I just watch."

Sora stared, lost for words.

Kairi chuckled, continuing on. "We're all best friends, so of course I know how you two are."

"Thanks, Kairi." His smile once again returned.

Riku stood in the doorway for long seconds before Sora realized.

"Riku!" Sora called, falling silent after the expression on the taller boy's face brought the pit in his stomach back to the front of his mind. He looked helplessly between himself and Kairi, unsure of what to do.

Stirred into motion by the smaller boy's recognition, Riku mechanically moved to the closest bed, which he assumed must be his. He removed his slippers, letting them heavily thud against the floor as he sat facing away from them.

"Riku?" Kairi called, tentative. He didn't respond to either of them. Kairi looked worriedly at Sora, whose open-mouthed look only reinforced her concern.

Nurse Marlene approached Riku. "He's going to be put on medicine, so please let him rest." Her pale fingers were gripping a needle.

Sora covered his eyes, weak from the sight of it.

Kairi craned her head forward and quietly whispered, "Is he still hurt?"

"He can't talk," Sora whispered a little too loudly back as he moved his hands.

"What!?" Kairi shouted. She ran over to Riku, who was now laying on his back, above the blankets.

"Riku…" She could only look on. "What did you inject him with?" His face was nearly as pale as his hospital garb, and he wouldn't even face her. If anything, she noted that he seemed to be going out of his way to look at anything but.

The nurse stepped forward. "Something to help him sleep," she answered, before forcing authority to her tone. "Miss, I'm sorry but they both need to rest now." She beckoned Kairi to follow her out of the room.

"Alright." The redhead turned back to Sora, an apologetic smile on her face. "I'm going to get going, but I'll be back to check up on both of you tomorrow."

Sora waved awkwardly, and as Kairi passed to the other side of Riku's bed, she caught his eye. "I'm going to take both of you home," she stated to the pale, silver boy. He resumed avoiding her gaze.

Her smile didn't falter until she left the room.