The lads of 5 Seconds Of Summer were having a moderately relaxed day. They only had a soundcheck today, no concert until tomorrow. They were doing their soundcheck now and it was going really well, Ashton was hitting his drums in time, the bass line was perfect, the guitars were amazing and all the vocals were pitch perfect.

They finished up and hopped off the stage ready to go go back to the hotel they were staying at. Ashton and Luke decided to head back out the car to wait. When they were gone Michael and Calum went backstage. They were just messing around when Michael decided he wanted to play tag.

"Tag! Your it!!" Michael announced and took off running back to the stage. Calum groaned and reluctantly chased after his immature friend. He was much faster than Michael so he easily caught up to tag him back.

"You're it!!" Calum shouted, turning and running in the other direction. Michael was quick to flip around and start running after the new zealander. The two ran through the halls of the backstage area, dodging crew members and guitar racks. Calum turns a corner and sees some storage boxes up ahead, blocking his path with only a metre gap between the top of the boxes and the ceiling. He knew he could get through, Michael, not so much.

He ran a little faster, getting ready to jump up. He gets to the boxes and jumps, landing on the top. He runs over them and jumps to get off, but he bumps his head, sending him flying to the ground. He flips over mid-air and lands on his head, hitting it for the second time and knocking him unconscious, blood dripping down his forehead.

Michael wasn't far behind and quickly saw his friend lying face first on the floor. He was panicking since he had no idea what to do besides call for help. So that's what he did, he called for an ambulance and then Luke and Ash. Of course they got there before the ambulance so they tried to stop the blood. By the time the ambulance arrived their shirts were soaked in blood and Calum was still unconscious.

The paramedics put him on a small white stretcher to be wheeled away and asked for someone to come with. Michael volunteered and the rest of the lads agreed so they left racing towards the hospital. They arrived in record time and Calum was wheeled away to get checked out. Michael sat down in the classic uncomfortable hospital chairs to wait for Lashton and for news on Calum's condition.

Luke and Ashton arrived around 15 minutes after Michael sat down. Michael had been staring at the door the whole time, waiting for the two to appear. The two spot him pretty quickly and sit down on either side of him. They don't bother to ask questions, they just leave him be, letting him rest his head on their shoulders. The three sit in silence for half an hour before the silence is broken.

"Do you think he'll... um.." Michael mumbles, fading out.

"What is it Mikey?" Luke asks tentatively.

"Do you think Cal will be okay?" Michael asks.

"I can't be sure Mike, but Calum is strong, he'll come through for us." Luke answers, placing an arm around Michael. The boys sit in silence once again until a doctor comes through the doors, calling for relatives of Calum Hood. Ashton raises his hand, not wanting to disturb Michael, who is now sleeping. The doctor comes over, double checking who the lads are before telling them the news.

"So I have some good news and some bad news." The doctor started. "The good news is your friend is awake and stable, the bad news is he may have some side effects but we will have to run some tests to find out." The boys were ecstatic about Calum being awake but they prayed that the side effects if any weren't that bad.

"C-can we see him?" Michael whispered. "Please?" He had woken up and was worried about his best friend. The doctor nodded and led three boys to Calum's room. When they entered they faced a very awake Calum. He looked bored out of his mind just sitting there. He turned to look at them and motioned them over. They speed walked over and engulfed him in a hug. Nobody said anything for a while, they were just glad to be together again.

"I'm so so SO sorry Cal, I-I- I didn't mean to." Michael apologised out of the blue sobbing into his hands. The boys tried to comfort him but he was stubborn and claimed it was all his fault and if he hadn't tagged Calum than he wouldn't be in the hospital. The doctor came back shortly saying they had to run some tests and when they were finished they could come back. They grudgingly agreed not wanting to leave the friend's side. About an hour later the doctor summons them to his office.

"Mr. Hood seems to be ok but he has developed traumatic dyslexia, meaning that he will have trouble reading, and has to stay overnight to make sure there are no further complications." The doctor announced. The lads were worried sick about their friend but were ordered to go home and get some rest. They visit Calum one more time before heading out back to their tour bus.

That night none of them ate dinner or got any sleep because they were so worried. Traumatic dyslexia is a big deal and they couldn't bear to imagine how Calum would deal with it. The morning came slower than any of them wanted and again skipping their meal they went straight to the hospital. They made it in 10 minutes right when visiting hours started.

"Hey Cal!" Ash exclaimed as the three lads entered Calum's hospital room. Calum was sitting up in his bed, dressed in a spare set of clothes that the lads had dropped of yesterday afternoon and talking to his nurse.

"Hey guys." Calum waved at the three. The doctor said one last thing to Calum before turning to his bandmates.

"Alright, Calum is able to go home right now. But before he does I need to explain a few things." The doctor announced. The three lads walked over and sat on the bed and chairs, Michael motioning for the doctor to explain. "Right. So, Calum has developed Traumatic Dyslexia, which means that he will not be able to read very well anymore. We did a few tests this morning before you guys arrived, and the results were not the best I have seen.

"Calum isn't able to read anything other than his name, you guys' names, your band's name, those of his family and yours', numbers and simple words like dog and cat. He is able to understand logos, like vegemite and adidas, but cannot read many of the words of them. He isn't able to read full sentences, only selected words within. He can speak and understand perfect english, so that is not an issue. He is able to read sheet music and play guitar, which is good.

"Calum will need a lot of help to read. You may have to read for him in some cases. He will need all the help he can get. He will most likely not be able to use a smartphone, so you'll have to be the point of contact for his family and friends. It is not likely that Calum will ever be able to read or write again, there are very few cases worldwide where the patient has learnt to read to the standard they had been before. He will eventually learn to read and write sentences and words that he sees often, but other than that he will be almost literacy blind."

The four lads left the hospital that morning feeling upset. Calum felt like his life was over. If he could read or write, how was he meant to write songs? The other three were thinking along the same line, except they were feeling sorry for their bandmate. It must suck being in his position. The four got to the bus at about half past eleven so Ashton went to the kitchen to make lunch, the other three heading the back room to play some video games.

When they turned the xbox on, Calum was confused. He couldn't read anything that was on the screen. He tried concentrating on reading the words, but he couldn't. It was hopeless. Tears sprung to his eyes and immediately the game was paused. Calum was pulled into a Muke hug and the three stayed like that until Ashton called them for food.

"You alright?" Luke asked Calum. Calum nodded, the three leaving the back room. Ashton passed them all a plate of chicken nuggets and fries and they all sat down at the table to eat. The table was quiet until Calum's phone started ringing in his pocket. He pulled it out and looked at the caller id. He couldn't read it, but it had a smiley emoji after it so he knew who it was. He answered the call and put the phone to his ear.

"Hey mum." He said as he stood up from the table, walking into the back room to have some privacy. The boys were confused, Calum couldn't read but he'd answered the call without hesitation, despite the caller id being a set of words the doctor said were part of the words he couldn't read. 'The woman who raised me 😀'.

"Okay, see you later." Calum said as he returned to the room. He sat down again and put his phone on the table. The table was silent until Calum's phone buzzed once again, but with a text this time. Calum picked it up and pressed on the message, which was from his sister, furrowing his eyebrows when he couldn't read it.

"Ash, do you think you could read this out for me?" Calum asked. Ashton nodded and Calum passed the phone across the table to him. He continued eating while Ashton read out the message:

That annoying girl who lived with me 😝 : Hey Cal. I know you probably can't read this, but you can probably get Ash or one of the others to read it for you. Anyways, I heard what happened and I just want to tell you that whatever happens, we all love you, no matter what. Me, mum dad, the boys, your fans, we all love you, whether you can read or not. I know you, you'll be thinking that everything is over now that you can't read or write but soon you'll figure out that everything is going to be okay. Everything may be different for you, but you are still the same Australian idiot we all know and we love you for it. Please don't beat yourself up over this, you don't deserve this. I love you Cal.

Tears in his eyes, Calum asked Ashton to sent back a simple reply:

That idiot called my brother 😝 : Thank you. I love you too.