Annie's POV

The next few weeks passed by in a blur. I went to school, came home, did my homework, ate dinner and then waited for Caleb to come visit me. At first, he came every day and I cried, I tried to talk to him about my day, about anything really. We'd hug and be quiet. Mostly, we sat on my bed and I leaned on his shoulder. We worked on the jigsaw puzzle sometimes and he even held my yarn when he encouraged me to knit. He tried to teach me forms in self-defense. He told me I did well enough.

Some days, we'd go and visit Connor and his mom. Mom told me I tried to talk to him like I would as if he were awake. One day, I thought he did. I was sitting in a chair, reading to Connor. Ms. Sandy brought a few of his books to read to him. It was a story about an orphaned wolf who was trying to figure out his place in the pack. Connor really liked the series and he let me borrow the first book.

I was in the middle of the first book when I saw lightning out the window. I flinched and covered my ears. Out of the corner of my eyes, something moved.

"Connor?" I got up.

His eyes were open!

"Sweetie?" Mom asked.

"Is Connor okay?" Ms. Sandy asked. They walked in.

His eyes closed again.

"Connor?!" I called to him. "Can you hear me?"

"Annie, Sweetie please." Mom grabbed my shoulders.

"He opened his eyes. He was up. Connor please, wake up." Mom held me back. I started to cry. He was up, I saw it, I wasn't crazy. "Please Connor."

Mom took me away to calm down while Ms. Sandy dealt with the doctors. I didn't understand. His eyes were open. He should've been awake. I thought he would be freaking out and asking questions. When we went back into the room, Ms. Sandy was holding Connor's hand. Why isn't he awake? Ms. Sandy smiled at us and she explained to us what the doctors said. Connor wasn't in a full-on coma anymore. His mind was healing but he wasn't all there exactly. All I knew was that my friend was still not up. He wasn't talking or playing the cello like he was supposed to. This wasn't right. He should be awake.

I wanted to shake him awake. I wanted Uncle Tails to build some kind of machine that would zap him awake. I wanted to hear him play his cello again. I wanted him to come back to school and have lunch with me and our friends. I missed him.

Caleb's POV

"Two days in a row?" Nigel asked in mock surprise. "You feelin' all right?"

I was standing at the closet looking for a dark sweatshirt. Annie kept the hoodie I wore last time. She seemed fond of it. She gave me a knitted hat to cover my stripe. "Fine, it's Annie that's not feeling well."

"Are you, are you ignoring the tease or did you not know I was teasing you?"

"Ignoring." I responded as I pulled the sweatshirt over my head.

"Oh, you know, it's hard to tell with you sometimes."

"This is no laughing matter. Annie was completely distraught when I called her." I turned to him. "I'm going to visit her to help her, not to woo her." I looked at him with a neutrality treading on annoyance and anger.

"Okay, okay." He brought his hands up. "Sorry, I was out of line."

"Apology accepted." I told him. "At any rate," I walked over to our shared bathroom to brush my hair. "I will stop these visits when Connor wakes up. She'll want to help take care of him."

"What if she wants you to still sneak over?" He asked as he leaned on the door frame.

I pondered his question. I enjoyed visiting Annie, but the more I snuck out, the greater the chances of being caught. I managed to evade detection so far and I slowed down my visits to once a week. "I suppose, it wouldn't hurt to visit her if she calls for me."

"Sure, sure you can do that." I could see him in the mirror. There was more. "But… you know, maybe visit her just for the heck of it. Give her a surprise every once on a while. People like that kind of thing." His tone shifted. He was genuine.

I sighed. "Why are you so invested in this?"

"I'm a romantic, sue me."

I scoffed.

Something in the mirror caught my eye. Something… unsettling. I was growing uncomfortable with the way he was looking at me. This kind of longing sadness. I turned around and eyed my friend. We're trained to keep neutral, to see through a lie, to disappear. Nigel went through the same lessons and training I did and he never lost a stoic or neutral appearance when it called for it. In front of me, there he was, while the original look was gone, the slightest eye movement and twitch of his lips gave him away. He was holding something back. Something I wouldn't have suspected had he not told me that I liked Annie and has since been invested in this journey.

"Nigel… Do you wish to tell me something?" I swallowed. I had my suspicions but he never came out and told me. I never wanted to pry because it was his business, not mine. Still, he's my friend and I wouldn't think of him any different.

"It's nothing." He looked to the side towards the ground. He closed his eyes and he forced a smile before opening his eyes and facing me again. "Really."

"Nigel?"

"I said it's nothing." The smile turned into a deep frown. To a normal person, it would have looked like a normal frown but I knew he was upset and angry at me.

"That's a lie but you're not required to tell me if you don't want to." I felt a bubble of anger bursting from chest. I never appreciated being lied to and he knew I could see through him. "Don't lie to me Nigel."

"I don't want to talk about it."

"I respect your decision." Feeling the bubble fade, I let out a breath I was holding.

Nigel managed to grow a genuine smile. "She's really lucky to have you."

I smiled back at him with a hint of… sympathy. "I'm lucky to have a friend who's willing to help me navigate this."

He turned and walked to his bed. I decided to not read him this time. He's allowed his privacy. He flopped onto his bed. "See you in the morning."

"Good night, Nigel."

When I landed in Annie's room, she was on her bed. She was curled up with my hoodie facing me. It was worse than I thought. The sight alone caused a sudden weight to fall on my organs. A pain rose in my heart and on my head.

"Hello Annie."

I saw the tears forming in her eyes and she opened her mouth but no words escaped her. I walked up to her bed and sat down next to her, feeling the full weight of pain on my entire being.

"How are you feeling?"

A mumble of sounds escaped her. Sounds that I could only interpret as pain. I placed my hand on top of hers and squeezed her hand.

"He opened his eyes, Caleb. He opened his eyes but he won't wake up." She sobbed quietly.

For a moment, I felt anger. Anger towards Connor that he didn't deserve. None of this was his fault but there Annie was crying over him. I wanted to do more for her but there was nothing else I could do. How many more tears are you going to shed? I blinked away the tears that were starting to form at the corners of my eyes. Seeing her in this state was enough to break me down to an infant.

I used my free hand to rub her side in an attempt to soothe her. Eventually, her sobs turned into whimpers and she sat up. I let her hand go. She stared at me and I saw more sadness and exhaustion than she should ever exhibit. She wiped away her tears and then she looked down at her lap.

"He was just walking. He didn't do anything to anyone."

"You're right." I replied. She still wouldn't look up, so a simple nod wouldn't suffice to let her know I was listening to her.

I slipped off my shoes and shifted on the bed so that I could face her without twisting my body. I crossed my legs and tried to make myself comfortable.

"Why… why did this have to happen to him?"

I studied her. She was defeated and exhausted. Her body slumped and the spark in her eyes dulled. I wasn't sure if she was actually expecting an answer or if she was thinking out loud.

She looked up at me, her eyes still sad but expecting. "You can talk when you want." Her voice sounded sad and flat. I felt a stab in my heart.

"It was an accident."

Her eyes came to life and snapped a look of disbelief at towards me. "Wh-what?"

"It was an accident. The explosion was meant to damage the business inside by a disgruntled ex-employee, but he made a mistake. It didn't go off when it was supposed to." My father relayed the information to me some time ago.

"…so…" She balled up her fists and I saw something in her eyes that… would provoke fear in the average person: Rage.

She was going to yell.

"Pillow." I ordered softly.

She lunged at her pillow and buried her face into it. I heard her muffled screams. I've never seen her like this. She was never one to scream or to ball up her fists and pound them on her bed as she did… then again, she's never seen anyone she cared about in a hospital bed.

In the time we've been alive, despite the attacks… none of us were seriously injured, let alone left in a coma. When she ceased her punching, she lifted herself up. She sat facing towards me. She looked at her hands.

The news, I knew, would not magically mend the situation. Horrible things happen constantly. Unfortunately, this was a screwed up set of circumstances that could have been avoided had the bombs not been made, had this person made a different choice.

"Stupid, that's so stupid. You don't blow stuff up because you're angry." She shook her head. "You don't, you don't blow stuff up period." She looked up. "It's so simple, no one teaches you to not do it."

I nodded. We were silent. She looked at me and then at her hands several times. I continued to study her.

"So, did they catch the guy?" I was shocked that she even wanted to know.

"They picked him up not long ago." I told her.

She nodded and looked at me.

"That's good, I guess. He won't be able to hurt someone like this again." She smiled sadly at me with the exhaustion and anger lingering in her face. I nodded. As much as I wanted Annie to return to her old self, I knew she wouldn't. Not completely. She was transforming into a different Annie. Maybe there'd only be a slight difference, but a different Annie, nonetheless. I accepted this fact and I doubted my feelings would change.

As I sat there, all I wanted was to take her pain away, for Connor to wake up. It didn't matter to me, if she didn't need me anymore, if all her spare thoughts and time were spent on Connor. He very well will need her more than I ever will. But it won't be forever. We would still be in each other's lives, just under different capacities. I was willing to go through it all so long as Annie remained my friend and learn to adjust. She's stronger than she looks, physically and metaphorically. She's Annie. She'd never leave me behind.

So, Connor is making some progress and our characters are doing the best they can with what they got. My head space actually got pretty sad while I wrote this... I might actually cry myself by the time Connor wakes up. I'm starting to miss him too.

I hope this was up to par. Let me know what you guys think.