Dawn Hollow

VIII

The constant rainfall slipped through the crack of the forever-open bus window. This particular window had been rusted open for a few years and was often a seat that was passed up in harsh rain, wind, or snow. But, when you're the last person to board the bus on one of those days, more than likely, the seat was privately reserved for you.

PJ was hugging the window seat with his new leg cast and crutches in his lap while his backpack provided some kind of cushion between him and the cool metal of the bus. He had been letting the rain fall on him, being beyond caring at this point. It had been three days since going to the hospital, and PJ still felt like he was there. As soon as he got home, his mother smothered him from wake until sleep, and if it wasn't her, it was the twins. They were acting like he had the plague, not a sprained ankle. Despite appreciating the kindness and love, it was starting to drive him over the edge.

They hadn't even talked about anything that had happened, not that PJ remembered much after the x-ray. It was all a blur, and Joseph refused to make eye contact with him at the moment, so something told PJ that he was the culprit. And it bothered him to not remember what happened; he liked being in control of his brain, which was taken from him. But it also brought up the notion that whatever he saw in the mountains wasn't real either. It made his head spin sometimes just thinking about it.

"Hey, PJ?" Noah coughed halfway to school. He only got a partial side-eye from the boy as proof of attendance, "D-Did you bring your wheelchair to school like the nurse suggested you should?" Both twins tried to judge by his blank and numb expression a 'no' or 'yes,' but Noah sighed, turning his head back to the painting outside.

"PJ, the nurse tells you these things to help you get better. You don't want to be in that big thing your whole life, do you?" Joseph gestured at the blue cast on his leg. It itched his skin all the way down his knee, but it felt like it stretched on for much longer.

"It didn't even break that bad," Was PJ's petty response.

"You broke it in three different places!"

"No, I rolled my ankle!"

"That's literally the same thing!"

"How the hell is that the same thing?"

"Guys, please, people are staring at me!" Noah butted into their whispering fight. Sure enough, when PJ's eyes sprang up, half the eyes on the bus were all on him and Joseph. He scooted away from them as much as he could and pulled up the hood of the hoodie he was wearing under his jean jacket, trying to clue them into ending the conversation, but Joseph just continued not after long.

"Seriously though, PJ, you have to do what the nurse tells you if you want to get better anytime soon."

"Well, technically, I don't even remember her saying that, so how do I know she did?" Joseph's face lit up red which immediately shut him up. When he didn't answer, the other started to get worried. Finally, he faced Joseph, just seeing the side of his upset face and his arms hugging himself, "Joseph, why don't I remember anything after the x-ray?"

"I'm sorry, okay?" He forcefully shoved out of his mouth, "The nurse thought giving you a sedative would help you and...I-I just agreed! I thought it would help, and I'm sorry because clearly it just made things worse!" He collapsed into the back of the seat in his growing anger towards himself and hand to his forehead, which then wiped down his face.

"I think what Joseph means is you really scared us, PJ," Noah interjected where he shouldn't have been.

"I know."

"I don't think you do, PJ." The flatness in his tone made the teen's eyes leave the calming window, "I mean, people don't just sprain their ankles, get random cuts and bruises, and concussions overnight!"