Craig had never received as many phone calls in his life as he did that evening. It seemed that everyone he had ever met in his life was calling to see if he was okay. Apparently Caitlin had told Spike Nelson, who told her daughter, Emma, who in turn told most of his old high school friends. Emma, along with Jimmy, Spinner, Marco, Sean, Ashley and even Manny had called, not to mention Caitlin and Angela several times in between.

The phone was finally silent for ten minutes and he leaned back against his pillows, exhausted but glad that so many people seemed to care about him.

He tried to go to sleep but found that his mind was racing at a thousand miles an hour. After a while, he turned on the bedside lamp and picked up a newspaper that Joey had brought him. He leafed through it briefly then tossed it back on the night stand with a sigh. He wished he had his guitar. Then he remembered that he wasn't going to be able to play it for a while anyway. Not to mention writing songs. Or writing anything. He swallowed hard, the realization of what had happened finally beginning to hit him. He had been so concerned with Paige and Joey that he hadn't had a chance to think about what the doctor had told him.

Dr. Burns had sat down with him a few hours ago to discuss future repercussions of his injury. He had told Craig that it would be a few weeks before he gained back the use of his right arm and even then it might pain him to use it for extended periods of time. Craig was going to have to attend physical therapy for a while to lessen those chances. At the time, Craig had still been on a high from his kiss with Paige and he had barely registered anything the doctor said. Now the full weight of it hit him. If he couldn't use his arm for long periods of time, how could he play guitar for hours like he used to? Or sit on his bed at night, writing songs until the sun came up?

Don't be silly, he told himself anxiously. Your arm is going to be fine. Everything's going to be fine.

Still, Craig didn't get much sleep that night.

The next morning went by in a blur. After finally managing to fall asleep as light began to filter in through the blinds, Craig was awoken at nine by an overly cheerful nurse. She gave him about five minutes to take a few bites of his breakfast before whisking him off for a series of tests and exams. Finally, late in the afternoon he was returned to his room. He had barely pulled the covers over himself when there was a knock at the door. Suspecting it was the nurse again, he didn't answer, hoping she would go away. After a few minutes, the door opened slowly. Paige's head peeked into the room.

"Craig?"

"Oh, hey," he said, relieved. "Thought you were the happiest nurse in the world come to sing me a song or something."

Paige frowned. "What?"

"Never mind. Come on in." Craig motioned for her to take the chair beside his bed. "How are you?"

"I'm fine." Paige edged into the room, her hands behind her back. "How are you feeling?"

"Not bad," Craig answered, mustering up a smile. He was still thinking about his future but tried to push those thoughts aside.

Paige came to stand by his bed. "Well I brought you some stuff that I hope will make you feel a little better." She showed him what she had been hiding behind her back and placed it on his bedside table. It was a box of chocolates, a CD and a book.

"Oh wow!" Craig said, completely forgetting his earlier worries. "All this for little old me?" He picked up the CD. "I wish I had my CD player though."

"Joey said he was going to bring it by later," Paige replied smiling.

Craig grinned up at her. "You think of everything." He opened the box of chocolates and stuffed one in his mouth then nearly spat it back out. "Ugh coconut," he groaned, forcing it down his throat. Finally, he looked at the book. It was hardcovered and small with illustrations of entangled vines covering it.

"Yeah it's a book of poetry. It was the only thing I could find at the gift shop for you to read besides Teen Beat. And plus you're into poetry and stuff, right?" Paige peered at the spine of the book. "Yeah it's by some guy named Robert Frost. Ever heard of him?"

Craig held back a laugh. "Yeah, I did."

"Any good?"

"Yeah. Very good. He's actually one of my favorites." Craig flipped through the book for a second before looking up at Paige. "Thank you."

"Your welcome," she replied. She sat down in the chair and took a deep breath. "Listen, I wanted to talk to you a little, actually. We didn't really get a chance yesterday."

"Yeah," Craig said eagerly. "I wanted to talk too."

"Well, Paul and I are going out tonight," Paige said after a second. "That's okay with you, right?"

Craig felt his heart take a leap into his throat then sink back to the bottom of his stomach. He tried to mask his surprise. "Paul? Oh, yeah. Um, sure. That's cool. You know...whatever."

Paige stared at him then a grin started to form across her face. "Kidding."

It took Craig a minute to realize what she meant and let out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding. "Ooh Michalchuk, that was not cool." Despite himself he let out a shaky laugh. "Not cool at all."

"Sorry, but I couldn't resist," Paige replied, laughing. "Actually, speaking of Paul, I just remembered to call him to let him know what's going on. He's going to come by a little later."

Craig nodded. "Um, did you tell him...anything else?"

"Um, well I wasn't sure exactly what to tell him. Yesterday that doctor of yours barged in right after we ki–"

The door opened just then and Joey stepped into the room. "Hey Craig, Paige. How are you guys doing?"

Paige sighed and threw an frustrated smile Craig's way. "I'm doing fine."

"Me too," Craig added. He was frustrated too. It seemed that every time he got the opportunity to tell Paige how he felt they were interrupted.

"I went to your dorm to get a few things," Joey indicated the duffel bag he was carrying. "You roommate is here too. He just stopped in the gift shop." Joey placed the bag carefully on the table.

Craig and Paige looked at each other. Neither one was sure of what to say to Paul when he came. Craig was wishing that they had a chance to talk it over when the door opened and Paul entered, a "Get Well Soon" balloon bobbing behind him.

"Hey man," he said warily. "You okay?"

"Yeah, yeah I'm okay," Craig replied. "Really. O hey, thanks for the balloon."

"Who said this was for you?" Paul replied with a grin.

Craig laughed. "Oh I see."

There was an uncomfortable silence before Joey spoke. "Uh, Craig I spoke to your doctor. He said that you should be able to get out of here by tomorrow when they get all your test results back."

"That's great," Craig said.

"Yeah, I'm going to stay here for a while until you're better. I'll rent a car so I can drive you to physical therapy and whatnot. You can stay with me at the hotel too."

Craig was surprised at this news. "Oh, Joey you don't have to do all that. I can manage by myself."

Joey shook his head. "No, no, no it's okay. I wouldn't feel right leaving right away. I'd rather stay and make sure you're getting along okay before I go back home." He patted Craig's uninjured shoulder gently.

Paige spoke up then. "I've got an appointment at the police station to give a report in a little while so I'd better get going."

"Oh I can give you a ride, if you want," Joey offered.

The two of them left saying quick goodbyes and promising to stop by later, leaving Craig and Paul alone. Paul came to sit in the chair beside the bed.

"So what's going at school. Did I miss anything in Physics?" Craig asked.

Paul shook his head ."It's cool I got all the notes." He looked down at his hands then back up at Craig. "Look, it's okay. You and Paige."

"What?"

"I'm cool with you and Paige being together. I just met her a couple of days ago. Didn't have much of a chance to get very attached."

"B-but how did you..."

Paul smiled. "She had that look on her face, man. When she looked at you. I could see it in her eyes." He winked . "I've had a lot of experience with that look."

Craig laughed, feeling relieved. "Thanks, buddy."

Paul shrugged. "She wasn't that hot anyway...okay she was, but I'm a generous guy and there's plenty of fish in the sea."

Just then, the door to the room slowly opened and Dr. Mill poked his head inside the room. "Hello there."

"Hi, Dr. Mill," Craig said cheerfully. "And before you ask, I feel great!"

The doctor smiled at him, stepping fully into the room. "That's good to hear. I just wanted to talk to you for a little bit about the test results." He glanced at Paul who quickly stood.

"Yeah I'd better get to class. I already missed one today. I'll come by tomorrow before you get released." He patted Craig on the shoulder and left quickly. But Craig had his eyes fixed on the doctor's face. He noticed that the doctor's face changed when Paul mentioned his release date.

Craig knew he wasn't leaving tomorrow.