I stayed by Sahara's bedside whenever I could. I wanted to be near her. I didn't want her to feel lonely. Plus, I was worried. The car hit my side, so why did she get so bad? She doesn't even really look hurt. She looks...sick. Honestly, I'm lucky to have walked away with just a broken arm.

I went to school, of course, and gathered her homework from her teacher. Thankfully, Ms. Witherspoon was very kind and gave her less homework than everyone else. After a few, my arm wasn't in that much pain, just mild, but my doctor told me to keep it on for a while.

"Roland?" Sahara asked as I sat in a chair next to her bed. "Are you still there?"

"Yes, of course. I haven't left."

She smiled. "Thank you. But you don't really have to sit there all day."

"I know. I want to. I want to make sure you get better."

"I'm sure I will."

"I'm glad," I said, smiling. Sahara has great optimism. It's something I'm not very good at. She also has great determination. Its a nice quality. "Roland? Can you hand me my water?"

"Sure," I said, grabbing her bottle off the table. She accepted it.

Every now and then, Eugene would come in and see her too. Today was the lucky day that Sahara's mother came. "Sahara, are you feeling any better?" she checked.

"I am, thanks, mom," Sahara replied softly.

"That's great." She turned to me. "Are you Roland?" I nodded. Sahara must have told her mother about me. "Could I talk to you?"

"Yeah, sure." I stood up from my chair and followed her into the hallway. "Roland, I want to thank you."

"Thank me? For what?"

"For being a friend to Sahara. She has never had any friends before." That sounds like me. Eugene was the only one I was able to make friends with. "She was always bullied in school for being the smart one so she always kept to herself." We have more in common than I thought. "I also want to thank you for being there with Sahara in the hospital. I know it's hard and you could have some better things to do, so, thank you."

"Of course, Ms. Mint. It's my pleasure."

"I appreciate that," she said, giggling. Sahara gets her blue eyes from her mother. "Roland, I also want to thank you what you did a few months ago. For calling Sahara and then helping her with the police. I could have done it but I'm not sure if you heard the yelling that was going on."

"I did," I replied.

"Yeah, I thought so. I was talking to her father. Thank you for calling her then and offering your time to call the police. Thank you for calling her every night to make sure that she was safe and happy. I'm really grateful."

"It's nothing, really," I said. "I just like being there for a friend."

"Well, thank you anyway. I can never thank you enough." She shook my left hand, the free hand, smiled, and entered Sahara's room again. I have to admit, I've never seen a parent more grateful than that before.

A week passed and Sahara showed signs of recovery. In fact, her doctor even said she could be back at home tomorrow if she continues at this rate. That's great news! "Sahara, do you hear that? You'll be going back home soon!"

"That's good!" She reached for my sling but didn't touch it. "Does your arm still hurt?"

"Yeah, but just mildly."

"How long will it take?"

"To heal? The doctor said about a month."

"A month? That's gonna take a while," Sahara said, frowning.

"Yeah, kind of," I replied. "But it's okay."

"Aren't you right handed?" she asked, examining the sling. She only just noticed that it is on my right arm. "Well, kind of. I mostly use my right arm but I am ambidextrous."

"Really? I never knew that!"

"Well, you do now!" I said, smiling.

"I bet it's cool to be ambidextrous," Sahara said, moving her arm back onto her bed. "Being able to use both arms instead of just one."

"Honestly, I don't really know what it's like to use just one arm. I've used both arms all my life."

"But you do mostly use your right hand,' Sahara said. "That counts, doesn't it?" I paused for a minute. I guess I do use my right hand for a lot of things. I do write with my left hand though. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

The next day, the doctor came into Sahara's room, overjoyed. "You have just made a full recovery!"

"Really?" Sahara asked, sitting up in her bed.

"Yeah! You are now free to go home!"

"That's great!" Sahara cheered.

"Just...take it easy for the next few days, we don't want to have to see you again, if you know what I mean," the doctor warned.

"Right!" The doctor walked over to Sahara's bed frame and hanged the clipboard on it. "Your mother brought you clothes to change into last night. You can change in here or go to the restroom and leave the hospital robe in there. Have a safe travel and enjoy yourself!" The doctor walked out of the room.

"I'll change in here, if you don't mind," Sahara said.

"Right, of course." I left the room and closed the door behind me. I waited at the door. Sahara is finally better! But...she couldn't have been hurt. The doctor never mentioned anything about wounds. She also shouldn't have been hurt that much either, since the car didn't hit her. I wonder what the problem was.

Sahara opened the door a few minutes later. She followed me out. "Roland, tell me what it's like to have a broken arm."

"You want to know?" I asked. She nodded. "I never have had one, and I hope I never will, but I have always wondered how it feels because I always feel bad for them."

"Well, sometimes you get waves of pain but it's not really that bad," I explained. "It's hard to do anything in this sling."

"I bet it is. It pushes your arm against your body."

"Well, it doesn't really 'push.' It just kind of lets your arm sit there."

"Oh, so like this?" She copied the position my arm is in. "Yeah, like that."

"Can you drive with one arm?"

"The doctors told me not to," I replied.

"So how do you get home?"

"Sometimes, I take the bus, other times, my father gets me when he gets off of work. My sister picked me up once."

"Oh. Well, I hope you recover faster!"

"Thanks."