“That’s enough of that kind of talk” Trebor said “you can’t help who you fall in love with. We both knew the first time we got together that it was leading us to this point. We’re soulmates and all that jazz.”

“I thought you didn’t believe in that stuff.”

“I lied,” he grinned, seeing how Braylin’s eyes lit up. “I was afraid of admitting it. Running his fingers through Braylin’s somewhat greasy pink hair he continued “I really don’t know what I’d do without my hockey player.”

“I hope you never have to find out,” he said, all too aware of how close it was. They reached for each other’s hands simultaneously, their fingers intertwining.

The anger drained from him leaving him drained. Crumbling onto the edge of the bed he stroked Braylin’s fingers. “You haven’t disappointed me. Not once. Not ever.”

“Look at you” he motioned with his chin. “I did that to you. All because I had to have a god damned drink.”

Trebor stared at his cast for a moment. “This wasn’t your fault.

Hissing as if he were in pain Braylin said “I know what I did. I knocked you down a flight of stairs. You could have broken your neck. You could have died.”

Braylin stared out the nearby window. He didn’t move when the door opened. Distantly he heard his parents talking to someone. Probably a doctor. Not his doctor though. His doctor hadn’t been there. Probably wouldn’t be ever. The voices faded and the door closed. Silence. Assuming he was alone he turned his head from the window. He gasped when his eyes fell upon his doctor. Averting his eyes he asked “what are you doing here Doctor Bennett?”

“You scared the living shit out of me” he said the first thing that came to mind. He meant to say I love you. Don’t ever do this to me again. I don’t know what I’d do without you. But nope none of that came out of his mouth.

“You weren’t supposed to find me” he mumbled, moaning a little when he tried to lift his arm up to cover his face.

“I was worried about you” his voice was harsher than he expected it to be. All the bottled up anger and fear coming out at once. “You weren’t answering my calls. Returning my messages. What the hell did you expect me to do?”

Trebor’s arms pinwheeled trying to keep himself from falling backwards. Too late he realized he was closer to the stairs than he thought. There was nothing but air behind him. The loud popping crunch as his shoulder and elbow took the brunt of his fall echoed in his head as he fell the rest of the way down.

He must have blacked out for a minute or two. The next thing he became aware of was lying flat on the floor at the bottom. Matt’s concerned face near his. “You’re going to be alright. An ambulance is on the way.”

“Bray” he called out attempting to sit up. “Where is he? Is he alright?”

“He’s fine” Matt muttered “stupid jerk pushed you down the stairs.”