"Leave me alone," Isaac mumbled, rolling over on his bed. Zac shook his shoulder and tried to turn him over, but he wasn't strong enough. Isaac grunted, shaking off his younger brother.

"You haven't left the house in a week Ike!" Zac exclaimed.

"So what?" Isaac said, finally turning over to face his brother. "I don't have any reason to leave." Zac gave up and began to walk out of the room.

"You know Ike," Zac said, "you can't lay around here and sulk about Nicole forever." As he stepped through the doorway, he heard Isaac speak softly.

"Yes I can," Isaac said under his breath. Zac shook his head and ran down the stairs. Taylor stood there, curiously wondering what had just happened.

"He's not coming," Zac said. "He wants to stay in his room and think about Nicole, I guess. They had a really bad break-up, huh?"

"The worst," Taylor said. He opened the door and walked out, sitting on the back porch to fasten his blades. Zac took off down the deck, skateboarding down the rail, and landing in the grass.

"Hey Zac," Taylor said. "Didn't mom tell you not to do the rail trick?"

"Yeah," Zac said, rolling his eyes. "But it's my best one. Don't tell, okay?"

"I won't," Taylor said. Then they made their way down to the road. They skated for a while until they reached their destination, an abandoned warehouse parking lot, across the street from a Cafe and a grocery store. They could see some girls who looked about Zac's age at the Cafe.

Zac, trying to act cool, immediately started in on some kick flips and other skating tricks, while Taylor warmed up. Zac raced around on his board, finally settling on skating down the ramp of the warehouse.

He started on the sidewalk, going fast, grabbed the nose of his board, and took a leap into mid-air. He smiled broadly as his board connected with the ramp railing. Zac could see the girls across the street looking at him, and he lifted his feet for a split-second, trying to "catch air". But when he came back down, his board skidded off of the hand-rail, and he felt himself soaring through the air. He saw nothing but concrete below him.

Zac felt his board hit the ground, and in one quick motion, he flew off of it from the impact. He reacted too slowly, and his right knee connected to the ground with a sickening crunch. He flew forward, his forehead bumping the pavement next.

Taylor saw his brother hit the ground, and he ran toward him in shock. Emotions of sickness and guilt came to his heart. He knew that he shouldn't have let his younger brother do the rail trick. Zac was lying on the ground, on his stomach, holding his knee. Please don't let it be broken, Taylor prayed. He dropped to the ground beside Zac.

"Zac? Zachary, are you okay?" he frantically asked his younger brother. "Talk to me man!" Zac looked up confusedly and then dropped his chin back onto the ground.

"Tay....it hurts Tay. My knee. And my face," Zac said painfully. Taylor could now see a large scrape and some cuts on his younger brother's face. They were bleeding very badly, running into Zac's blond eyelashes.

"Stay right here and don't move," Taylor said, smoothing his brother's hair. "I'm going to call Ike to come get you. I'll be back in two seconds." Taylor took off running to the pay phone in the corner of the parking lot and called Ike, who promised to be there quickly. As Taylor returned to Zac, he could see Zac's leg was bent into an unnatural angle.

"Did you call the hospital?" Zac asked.

"No," Taylor said. "I called Ike. He's coming soon." Then he wiped some blood off of Zac's face. "Are you okay buddy?" he asked. Zac was crying now and shaking his head.

"I....I can't feel my leg Tay," he said. "And my face hurts so bad. When's Isaac going to get here? I'm so tired," he finished, yawning.

"No Zac, don't go to sleep, whatever you do," Taylor stated quickly. "You could have a concussion." He reached out and took Zac's small hand into his.

"I, I'll try," he said quietly. A few minutes later, their white van pulled up in the parking lot. Isaac jumped out.

"Holy shit," Isaac cursed. "What happened?" Taylor quickly went through the details of the past ten minutes as they carried Zac to the van. They laid him in the middle seat, and Taylor sat in the back to keep him awake. They reached the hospital in record time, and they quickly carried Zac into the emergency room after Isaac parked the van.

Isaac went to talk to the nurse, and Taylor situated Zac on one of the green plastic couches in the near-empty waiting room. He saw a phone in the corner, so he felt his pocket for another quarter, and when he found it, he dropped it into the slot.

"Hello?" Nicole's voice came over the line.

"Nic, hey, um....something bad happened," Taylor stuttered, feeling tears rush to his eyes. "Zac's hurt," he started again.

"Ohmygosh....what happened?" she asked. "Is he okay?"

"I....don't know," Taylor said, feeling the tears spill over. "I'm so scared Nicole. He's so messed up...."

"Taylor, calm down," she said. "Start at the beginning."

"Okay," he said, wiping his face. "We, me and Zac, were skating at the old warehouse in town, and he tried to do the rail trick that mom won't let him do. He fell on his knee and hit his head pretty hard. He's all cut up, and I think he has a concussion."

"Oh man," Nicole whispered. "I'll be right there, okay? I'll get my dad to bring me. Are your parents there?"

"No, they went out for lunch," Taylor explained. "Isaac brought us here. He's up at the front desk. Come quick, okay?" They hung up, and about ten minutes later, Nicole rushed through the emergency room door. At the same time, Zac was being taken into the emergency room in a wheel chair.

"Oh my god..." Nicole said, covering her face with her hands. She slowly walked over to Taylor, who was sitting in the corner with his forehead in his hands. She embraced him, and a few seconds later she became aware that he was crying so hard that his whole body was shaking.

"It's my fault Nic," he whispered. "It's all my fault."