The first thing I hear is Tristan's voice. The world around me is still dark, but I can hear him speaking.

"Is she awake yet?"

"No," I hear Aria say. "I'm starting to get worried."

I can hear you! Aria! Tristan! I can hear you!

"Do you think we should get help?" Asks Tristan.

"I don't know. There must be an infirmary around here somewhere, but I don't know what they'd do there. What do you think?"

"I don't know. There is an infirmary, I know that. For the most part it's run by older people, like Greyson and Jay. Maybe I could find out who's working there today?"

Aria seems to like this idea. "Yeah, that would be good."

I feel the little bit of consciousness that I have slipping away.

Aria continued her thought. "I think that maybe-"

The hands of sleep pull me back under.

---

This time I really wake up. My eyes are open and I can lift my head. I decide that they must have brought me to the infirmary, because this is most definitely not my room.

I sit up and look around. I'm so tired, and I really don't know why. The door opens and I turn my head to look over there.

"Amber!" Aria exclaims. "You're awake!"

I try to say yes, but my throat is so dry that I can't make a sound. So I just nod.

"Amber?" She asks again.

I nod again.

"Oh! Do you need some water?"

I nod a third time.

"Okay. I'll be right back." Aria dashes out of the room and returns shortly with a glass of water.

I gratefully accept the glass of water and take a few sips before asking, in a still hoarse voice, "What's going on?"

"What do you remember?" Aria asks me.

"I remember being outside, then there's a big blank space from there to when I overheard you and Tristan having a conversation about taking me to the infirmary. And I'm assuming that that's where we are now?"

"Yeah. We talked to Mitchel and Kendra and they know the girl that's here today."

I nod. "What happened to me? I don't remember."

"I'll go get Tristan," Aria tells me, "And we'll explain together."

Aria leaves the room again, and I take this time to get comfortable. I push myself up into a sitting position, and everything hurts.

I groan in pain and reach for my water.

Aria comes back into the room with Tristan and Quinn.

"Amber!" Tristan exclaims. "I'm so glad you're okay!"

I smile, glad I have friends who care about me.

"Can you guys please explain what happened?" I ask impatiently.

"Yeah, yeah, don't get all anxious," Aria says with a laugh. "No, I'm kidding. We were out playing paintball, and then one of the guys from the other team slammed into you, and you fell down the big dip in the ground. Then-"

Aria is cut off by a girl opening the door.

"Hey June," Tristan says, greeting her.

I'm confused.

"Amber this is June, she's one of the ones that works in the infirmary right now," Aria tells me.

"Yep," June says. "The ADCCG just sends me what I need and notes of what to do with it. So I have some painkillers for you." She hands me two small white pills and a Dixie cup of water.

I swallow the pills and thank her.

"Not a problem. We also did some x-rays, nothing is broken, but you have a pretty nasty sprain on your ankle and you're pretty bruised up."

"Will I be on crutches, or what?" I ask.

We have crutches that you can use, but you should only need them for the first few days. I'll wrap your ankle with a tensor bandage when you leave."

"Okay," I say, overloaded with all this information. "Thanks."

"Not a problem. I'm glad you're awake," June tells me and leaves the room.

"Anyway," Tristan says. "Back to the story. So Cody was the one to body check you, but Daniel had a part in planning it. So a whole bunch of people ran down the hill and we carried you back to your dorm, unconscious. The next day, you still weren't awake, so Aria and I debated taking you here. As you can-"

I interrupt. "I heard that conversation."

"So we brought you here. That was yesterday. So you were out for all of yesterday, half of the day before, and half of today."

I take a moment to digest the new information.

"Can I leave now?"

"I'll go ask June," Aria says, and drags Quinn with her.

Tristan sits down on the edge of my bed. "I was really worried."

I nod, not knowing what to say.

A few minutes later Aria and Quinn come back with June in tow.

"Ready to get out of here?" June asks me.

"Yes."

"Okay. I have a tensor bandage here to wrap up your ankle, so let's do that. There are crutches in the corner of the main room, could one of you go and get them?" She asks the others.

Quinn heads out to get them.

My friends help me sit up and June does a great job of wrapping up my ankle. Quinn returns with my crutches just as June finishes.

"Our jobs are being switched soon, but Amber, you can always come back for painkillers."

"Okay. Thanks again June."

"It's not a problem," she tells me with a smile.

I slowly stand up off the bed and Tristan hands me my crutches.

Aria and Quinn head out the door, and Tristan and I follow.

"You good?"

"Yeah. It's kinda hard, but I can do it."

"I hate to tell you this, but we're in the basement. There's a lot of steep stairs up here."

I groan. "Why!"

Tristan laughs. "So dramatic."

Aria and Quinn are waiting at the base of the stairs.

"Give them your crutches," Tristan tells me.

"But-why?"

"You have to get up these stairs somehow."

"And I'll need my crutches or do it, numbskull."

"Just give them your crutches and trust me."

I reluctantly hand over the crutches and Tristan picks me up bridal style.

I squeal. "Tristan! Put me down!"

He laughs. "You have to get up the stairs somehow!"

"Oh my gosh, please don't drop me!"

"Do you really not trust me? You can go up these four flights of stairs on crutches, or I can carry you."

I relent. "You're right."

"Well of course I am," he says with a smug smile.

I laugh and he heads up the stairs.

When we reach the top, I can tell Tristan's tired, but he won't admit it. Aria and Quinn hand me my crutches.

The four of us go to the common room for a while, and then go to lunch. For lunch there's pasta salad. I don't realize it until now, but I'm really hungry.

"Amber, we can get you food," Aria tells me.

"Yeah, just go sit down at our table," Tristan adds.

"Thanks."

I crutch over to our table, feeling like all eyes are on me. This sucks.

Tristan, Aria and Quinn come sit down and we eat our lunch in peace. Afterwards we go to class, where we do some crap with polynomials.

Right before curfew, Tristan and I go downstairs to get me painkillers. Again, he refuses to let me use my crutches.

+++

It's been five days since I woke up. Today I'm going without my crutches.

I'm not sure why I'm awake at 5:00am, but I am.

"Psssst. Amber!" I sit up abruptly and look to see Aria and Kendra at the door. "Get up!" They whisper.

I pull some sweats and a hoodie over what I'm already wearing and sneak out the door.

"What's going on?" I ask quietly.

"Mitchel came to my room and got me up," Kendra says. "Jay and Greyson want to have a meeting."

The three of us head down the hallway in the dark, and I struggle a bit.

"Oh! Right! Sorry Amber!" Aria apologizes. She takes my arm and let's me lean on her a bit. I still have the bandage on my ankle giving me a little bit of support.

We go to what I think is the same storage closet we usually meet in.

Tristan, Quinn, Mitchel, Jay and Greyson are already waiting.

Greyson stands up and hugs me. "What did you do?" He asks, sounding really concerned when he sees my ankle.

"I sprained it. I'm off of the crutches now, so I get to limp around."

"Who told you to stop using the crutches? How long has it been?"

"June was working in the infirmary. She said I only needed them for five days."

"It's never going to heal like that! The ADCCG dumb-"

"Greyson! Calm down," Kendra interrupts.

"No! They don't want her ankle to be completely healed! That's why we're here!"

"What's going on?" I ask.

Jay pipes up, ready to explain. "The reason we're here is because we want to escape. The job rotations were switched again yesterday, and Greyson and I are finally on security. It's time to get out of here."

+++

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