Kate and I had shrugged and followed the guys to the impromptu basketball court they had in the back of the venue, one of the many days we had been on tour with them. It was fun joining the guys while they did some stuff. They liked sports and, since we were never the ones to play them, we would just watch. We had watched for a week and something into the tour, but today seemed to be different.

And, of course, as fate and Murphy's laws decided it should happen, the guys, as a group, are only five.

You can't play with five players. I have no idea how they've been doing it for the years they've known each other, but all five of them voiced the fact that you can't play with only five players.

"Come on Matt," AJ had said, brown eyes looking at mine. "You can play in our team."

Their team meant AJ and Kevin. Because it just wouldn't be fair to put Kevin, Brian and Nick in one team. Apparently, Nick and Brian were the only two who actually rocked in the court.

I had shaken my head vehemently. No way I was playing. "No, thanks," I had declined very politely.

"Oh, it's not that hard," Brian had added, waving me over to the court.

I had continued with the busy job of sitting down with Kate by my side on the bench of the court, just looking at the five of them. I shook my head again. "No. Thanks."

"Matt," Howie had chipped in his two cents, "if I can do it, then you can do it."

Kate had chuckled and I had had murderous thoughts. "I don't play," I finally said, convinced that would have them out of my case.

Wrong thinking, because that only seemed to encourage them.

"So?" Howie continued talking to me like he was actually going to sell me the idea of playing. "Neither do I but I do it for the guys. You just have to run around. If I can do it, then so can you."

If I had thought at least Kate would be there to back me up -- she had, after all, seen me play before -- I was so very wrong in so many levels. She actually pushed me -- she pushed me -- over to where those five stood.

I stumbled slightly and it was a miracle I didn't feel off.

"Go, running should do you some good."

I stared at her, eyes wide and mouth hanging open. "Are you out of your freaking mind? You actually pretend I play? Me? Haven't you been my friend for the past fourteen years?"

She giggled -- she had the nerve of giggling. "You're not too bad."

"No Kate, bears aren't that bad at playing piano. I suck. I royally suck."

"Then you'll fit perfectly fine in our team," AJ finished, a smug smile on his lips.

I looked over to Kevin, seeking cover. He just shrugged. "I do think you should play. It won't be that bad."

I sighed. "You all hate me."

"Oh, you dork." Nick didn't wait for anything else to leave my mouth. He just walked over me, placed his hand around my arm and dragged me over to the court. "You're playing. It's not bad and you know it. Besides, what could happen?"

He shrugged just as I was being, once again, pushed. This time, however, it was Brian who pushed me towards the other team. "There you belong," were his only words.

I looked at my so-called teammates. AJ grinned madly and Kevin gave me a small smile.

"You'll be fine," Kevin said, running towards his basket -- or what I thought was his basket. "Who knows, you just might enjoy yourself."

"No chance of that," I said under my breath as I followed them.

I'm not a total idiot when it comes down to the sport. I know the theory. You have take the ball, dribble it towards the other team's basket and shoot. And, of course, get it in. Easy.

That is when you're playing alone. But when there are other five players, two of which are actually pretty good at it and one who is tall and athletic and manages more than good, it's not that easy. It's not easy at all.

We couldn't have been playing more than twenty minutes, even though it felt like ages but my brain kept telling me that was scientifically impossible, and I was already sweating like I pig.

I shouldn't have been since, it was summer and I was in shorts and a shirt. But you sweat when you're running from one side to the other, not really knowing what to do.

"Here!"

"Take it!"

"Frack, cover!"

"Kevin!"

"J, go, block!"

I heard words, I always hear words, but I didn't understand what they meant. Brian and Nick were always signaling for each other and, each time they made a point, they would jump and crash their chests against each other. I didn't understand that either.

They were good; I can say that. They were really good. I didn't know what they were doing, so I take that as being good.

Kevin would get the ball every once in a while and pass it to AJ and then AJ back to Kevin and he would get the ball in. I, in the mean time, was running behind them, trying to see if some knowledge was to get stuck in my mind while I was following them. It didn't, but I already knew that.

There were times I had heard the guys addressing me. "Follow Brian," I had heard AJ said once. "Cover him."

But I didn't know what cover means. And, certainly, I didn't want to know either.

I had, however, followed Brian and ended up looking up at him as he scored another point. Or was it two? I wasn't sure either. Kate was keeping count and that was because Nick kept telling her how many points each one of us had.

Finally, about thirty minutes in what would always be the longest game in my life, something happened. Somehow, someway, miraculously, I ended up with the ball in hand. I really, all truth be told, have no idea how that happened. One minute I was running, the next, I have the ball in my hands. I looked at the guys, then at the ball, then at the guys again.

"Run!"

I heard someone say. So I did. I barely did remember to dribble the damn thing. I don't know if I did it good or not, I do know the ball kept hitting the floor and then going to my hand. For me, that was enough.

So I ran. I ran over to the other team's basket -- I am proud to say I did know what basket was mine, I wasn't going to make a bigger fool of myself, that was for sure. I kept running. When I finally reached the ring, I looked at it.

What the hell, I remember thinking, I might as well throw. After all, I knew that if I didn't, either Brian or Nick were going to take it away from me. Not Howie, never Howie. He had told me the truth. He didn't play basket, but he was more aware of the game than me. That was something.

I lifted my arms, ball in hand, ready to throw and let it all to fate. Suddenly, as most things happen, something hit me -- or hit against me, I'm not sure. I lost balance, because, I was kind of in the middle of a so called jump. I lost balance and I suck at finding it again at last minute notice.

I skidded -- there's not better or fancier word to it. I just skidded sideways through the floor and face first. I could have said I tried to cover myself, if not for the fact that I used my arms against solid concrete. I think it actually came down to a fight between equilibrium and me and I happened to loose.

One second I have the ball in my hands, the other, I'm face on the floor, my arm before me, and everything hurt.

"Oh God!"

"What happened?"

"Matt?"

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry." Someone tried to touch me and I winced. I think I cried out too, I'm not sure. "I didn't mean to--"

I heard a shove and then the person who was trying to touch me wasn't there anymore. "Nick, move damnit!"

Suddenly, Kevin was by my side. "Are you ok? Matt? Are you ok?"

I was smart enough as to shake my head. "Don't think so."

"Matty, it's me Kate." Her voice was on the other side of me, or I was just hallucinating her. "Are you hurt or are you just regrouping?"

I wanted to chuckle, I really did, but it came out more like a cry. Oh boy. If I'm crying instead of laughing, then it's bad.

"It hurts Kate," I let out a long breath. I wanted to laugh so much. I was still on the floor, face against cement, talking with my friends. It was so freaking hilarious, I have no idea how I bit it back.

"Can you turn around?"

I wanted to do more than that. I tried to sit down slowly, and then tried to stand up, placing my left hand on the floor to push myself up. It was then when the real pain begun.

"Oh!" Was the only thing that left my mouth. I moved my hand to my eye line. It hurt all the way from wherever it was to where I could see it. I wasn't even moving it, or I thought I wasn't moving it, and it hurt like hell. I had tears in my eyes, I knew that, but I kept biting them back.

I looked at my wrist, trying to think clearly and not panic. It was swollen, rather dark. How had this happened in less than a minute?

"Oh god," I groaned, but I think it came out more like a complain. I looked at Kate. "It hurts. It really, really hurts."

She nodded, and by the look in her eyes, I knew I looked bad. She wouldn't have that concern look in her face if I didn't look close to hell.

"I'm taking you to the hospital."

I would have shaken my head in any other given circumstances. I would have denied, but the pain just didn't seem to stop.

"We'll take the van. Don't worry Matt, we'll be there in a minute."

It was his voice that forced me to turn around. Kevin was staring at me, looking as concern as Kate was at the moment and, even if it was for just a minute, I had forgotten Kevin was with me as well.

"Van?"

He nodded. "It won't take us long."

I shook my head and I have no idea how in the world my hand hurt. I whimpered in pain. To hell I'm eighteen, I was in pain and I was going to whimper if I wanted to. "No," I muttered. Jeez, even talking hurt. "Kate and I can grab a cab."

Kevin shook his head and placed his arms around me. "Let me help you up."

I accepted the offer and leaned against him. When I was finally on my own two feet, my hand seemed to complain, pain shooting all over my arm. I have no freaking idea how that was possible, but I didn't care.

"No way, I'm taking you to the hospital."

"But --"

"I'm going Matt, so don't try to fight back."

I knew when I had lost a battle. That and the fact that I was in too much pain to really want to fight.

"I'm going too."

I heard words but didn't pay attention. I had just realized the guys had all gathered around me, watching my face skid down the floor. I didn't have the brain function as to understand what they were talking about.

"No way!"

"Kevin--"

"No Nick. Ok? You're not going."

"Kevin, I'm going. I don't care what you say. I'm going."

I didn't hear anything after that; Kevin led me through the venue, being very careful with not moving me too fast. It didn't help that much because, every single second, every single movement, sent waves of pain from my arm all over to my body.

Finally, we reached the van. Kate was already inside, helping me up, then Kevin jumped in and, to my surprise, Nick too. They wanted to argue, but Kate stopped them. She placed her arms around me and I wanted to bawl like baby. My wrist had to be broken. It doesn't hurt this much this long this often unless you've got something broken. I knew that. I had previous experience on this one. I was crying, so it had to be broken.

It was just the four of us in the van, unless a couple of the bodyguards had come with us and I hadn't noticed, and it was all quiet. Every now and then, you could hear my cries, my biting back my sobs, but that was pretty much all.

*****

I hate it when I'm right. Not really, but I do hate it when it means I have wear a cast from two to three weeks.

Kate is sitting on the left side of the room, looking at the doctor applying the plaster on my wrist.

I was right. My radius. Broken. In two places. Should be glad it's not the ulna. It's a miracle it didn't splinter. At least I didn't need surgery. I sighed. The plaster is hot against my skin as he puts more pressure. He was nice enough to give me something for the pain. It doesn't hurt that much. Oh, it still hurt, but not the excruciating pain it used to be.

I sighed once again. Kevin is standing against the desk, looking between the doctor and me while Nick is sitting on the other side of the room, staring at his feet.

Kevin and Nick hadn't said a word to the other since we got into the van. I wanted to talk with Kevin, but not with the doctor by our side. Every once in a while, while Kevin thinks I'm not watching, he'll turn around and shot daggers at Nick. I don't think that's fair. You can see by Nick's stance that he feels guilty. I still don't have particularly clear why, but from the facts, I think it was Nick who bumped into me.

"Well," Doctor Stockhard said, lifting his eyes and looking at me, "I think that's it. It'll dry in a couple of minutes. Does it hurt?"

I shrugged. "A little. It should get better, right?"

He nodded. "Yeah, the pills will help for the rest of the day, and then it shouldn't hurt that much." Big blue eyes stared at me for a second. "How old did you say you are?"

"Eighteen."

His eyes moving to my chard, he nodded. "You shouldn't have broken your wrist. The way you fell, by what you told me, should have just dislocated it." He looked up at me once again. "Have you had any fractures before?"

I nodded. "Yeah, a couple of times when I was younger. My left wrist before when I was around twelve and my leg twice when I was fourteen and fifteen."

Doctor Stockhard wrote down on my chart, making his way to the stray standing a couple of feet away from me, not saying a word. He picked up a needle. "I'm gonna need a blood sample, alright?"

I shrugged. "Sure." I knew it was also a normal procedure as to request for a blood sample, so I wasn't concerned.

"Is he alright?"

The doctor turned around and stared at Kevin's concern eyes. I wanted to reassure him that I was fine and he shouldn't worry, but decided against it. I think it was weird enough when you go to the doctor with two friends and who could be patched as your girlfriend.

"It's just procedure. Nothing to worry about."

Kate however, new better, as she looked for my gaze. We held each other's eyes for a moment before mine drifted to my cast. I knew what she was thinking and, to tell the truth, I was thinking something along the same lines. And I didn't want neither Kevin nor Nick to know if I was right.

He drew the blood without a single comment from my part. I had become quite used to needles by this point. "It shouldn't take more than an hour."

He took my blood pressure next, looking at me for a moment. After that, he left for a minute and I addressed to Kevin. "You should leave," I said. "You'll be cutting short to the concert."

Kevin shook his head, making his way towards where I was sitting. He looked at the door, making sure it was closed, before leaning over and kissing me softly. "No. The doctor said it shouldn't take more than an hour, so it won't be that close. We have enough time."

"If in an hour he isn't back, then you two are leaving, alright?"

Kevin seemed to think about it for a minute, but since my stubbornness reflected in my eyes, he nodded. "I'll give you that."

I turned around slightly, my gaze falling on Nick. The blond opened his mouth and I'm sure he was going to finally say something when the door opened. Kevin, not missing a beat, made his way back to where he had been standing.

"It shouldn't take long," the doctor said and I believed he was talking about the test.

"Hmm...," he said after writing a thing or two in my chard, "you said you were playing basket, right?"

I sighed. It was so freaking ridiculous -- and embarrassing. I nodded as I shrugged, trying not to make a big deal out of it. "Yeah, we were playing and I bumped into somebody else and fell. I think I tried to break the fall with my hand."

The doctor shrugged just as Nick intervened. "I didn't mean to hit him. I really didn't. It was an accident."

Dr. Stockhard turned around and gave Nick a forgiving smile.

Kevin turned around, his eyes shooting daggers at Nick. "Nick," Kevin said, warningly.

Nick stared at him, I'm sure he wanted to say something, but stay quiet and looked down at the floor.

The doctor nodded again and, after saying he'd be back with the lab results, he left.

*****

We didn't have to wait a full hour. The doctor came in, smiled at us and looked straight at me. Something in the back of my mind told me what the doctor already new.

I looked at the guys. "Do you mind waiting outside for a minute? I'm sure it won't take long."

Kevin stared at me for a moment, wanting to say something, but decided against it. I had an idea of what he would have said if we had been among friends. He would have complained. Loudly. He was, after all, my boyfriend, but I was also entitled to some privacy.

After a second, Kevin nodded, motioning for Nick to walk before him. When they reached the door, I turned to look at Kate. Her usual calm brown eyes widened, filled with surprise and astonishment. I knew that in another given situation, I would have asked her to stay, but right now, I didn't want to take sides.

Sighing, finally giving in, she smiled softly and followed the guys, closing the door after her.

"Now," Doctor Stockhard said calmly, "I want to talk with you."

This time, I sighed. "The lab results didn't come back normal, did they?"

He shook his head. "You knew this would happen, didn't you?"

I shrugged. "Not really. I had a feeling. I'm in med. school, so I know when something isn't exactly normal."

"If you felt that way, you should have checked it out."

"I didn't have time. You should know how much time studying takes."

The doctor sighed, giving me that one. I would always have the excuse of not having time on my side. "Your calcium is rather low. That's one of the reasons you tend to break your bones so easily." I just nodded at this, I had feared that much. "I'm not sure why is that, we'll have to look further into it. Have you been taking medication for long? Sometimes steroids therapy interferes with calcium absorption."

I nodded. "I was on a couple of things, but I only remember prednisone a while ago. I was around... twelve I guess. I took it until I was fifteen I think. I had Malta fever and I was given that with some other medicaments. I would have to check. Kate probably knows."

The doctor nodded. "That would explain. Brittleness of bones is one side effect. It also hinders healing, which means your arm will take longer to heal."

"It's a good anti-inflammatory. Or at least that's what the doctor told my grandmother."

"It is. It just happens to relent calcium." He wrote something down in my chard. "You'd have to take supplements, 1000mg per day. Once in the morning and once in the evening."

I sighed, nodding as I did so. I hated taking pills, but I knew I'd have to. And the fact that the body could only absorb 500mg of calcium at a time didn't help.

"Oh," the doctor said, looking right at me and something told me this wasn't finished, "your iron is deficient. Have you been feeling weakness, fatigue?"

I thought about it carefully. So what if the last couple of days I've been sleeping until ten or eleven, or yawning every now and again? I sighed again. "Yeah, some."

He nodded again. "Your red blood cell count is low as is your pressure, and your hemoglobin," he said, showing me the lab results. I went through it and sighed once again. "You have anemia."

I looked down at my hands. I pressed my thumb and index finger's fingertips together. When I pulled them apart, it was pale. That wasn't good. That was never good. "How do I have to control it?"

"I'm sure you have an idea, so you know you shouldn't worry." I raised my eyes and he gave me a small smile. I nodded at his statement. I did remember that, but I wanted to know still. "It's just nutritional anemia, so as long as you watch what you eat and be constant on your supplements, it shouldn't bother you anymore."

I remembered when I just entered, among the different questions he asked me, he asked about my diet. Kate answered that question and both her and I knew something wasn't right. We had probably known for quite a while, just didn't want to acknowledge it.

He stared at me for a moment before handing me a piece of paper. My diet for what I believe would have to be the rest of my life was written there. There were so many things to eat and so little not to. It was breakfast what surprised me the most.

"Milk, bread, eggs and fruit?" I looked up at him. "I can't eat that much. I can barely handle a cup of tea."

"That's gotta change. You're studying and med. school takes a lot of a person. You have to eat properly and a cup of tea to start the day isn't what one should recommend." He looked at me pointedly. "Maybe we should call in your friends and girlfriend? They should know about this, make sure you follow it."

I didn't say anything at his assumption of Kate's status. "Sure."

He walked over to the door, opening he called them in. The three of them walked in, Kate's brown eyes were hard as they met my own.

"What's wrong?" She beat Kevin to the question.

"Well, there are some things that need to be looked into, but nothing to worry. Your boyfriend just needs to take care of his diet."

Kevin's eyes darken for a moment and a frown made its was towards his forehead. He turned, eyes locking with mine and relaxed slightly. I knew it wasn't pleasant for him and I was used to Kate being called my girlfriend, so I didn't take it as a surprise.

"What do you mean?" Kevin asked, his drawl thick whenever he was either concern or slightly angered, and he was both at the time.

"Matt has low calcium, which is one of the reasons he has had so many fractures in the past."

"How? Why?"

"Because of a medicament he used to take." Kate turned around, her eyebrows frowning as she looked at me. I nodded at her. And before Kevin could ask something else, the doctor continued. "You shouldn't worry about it. It can be fixed with supplements. I already gave Matt the prescription. And his lab test showed he has anemia, but that too can be controlled."

"Does it have to do with the diet?"

Dr. Stockhard turned around and nodded at Kate. "Yeah. He hasn't been eating properly and it's showing now. A diet has been given to him."

"You don't have to worry," Kevin said, green eyes clearing slowly, "I'll make sure he follows it."

"He will," Nick added as an after thought, probably still feeling guilty of the cast in my hand. "We'll be with him like... 24/7 for the next three months or so."

The doctor gathered my chard, wrote some more on it and finally looked up at me. "Then I guess that's it. It would be recommendable for you to go to your own family doctor when you..." He looked at both Kevin and Nick, "go back home. You should check your hemoglobin count."

"I will." I realized where the doctor's eyes had fallen. I had told him I was on a summer trip, but not much. I didn't think he had to know too much about my summer. If he recognized them, good, if not, good.

I thanked the doctor, as did the guys, and we left before something else was said about my physical health.

We had barely reached the safety of the van when I heard Kevin.

"Anemia? Calcium?" He was looking right at me and he didn't seem pleased.

"It's nothing much."

"How can you say it's nothing much? Anemia? That's nothing?"

I sighed slowly. I knew this was going to happen, I was just hoping Kevin would give me a couple more minutes to gather my excuse. I heard the engine starting and lifting my eyes to see the front seats, I realized there were two bodyguards. Alan and Eric, if I'm not mistaken.

"It's both our faults," Kate said, popping her knuckles as she does when she doesn't know what else to do. "We should have seen this coming." At least she was smart enough to leave out the fact that we had, we just hadn't said it. "We were never much for nutrition or healthy breakfast. But that's gotta change," she said, her eyes locked with mine. "I'm gonna change it. We're both gonna eat better. Do you hear?"

I didn't even dare to complain. Knowing Kate, and with Kevin in there too, I wouldn't have stood a chance if I was to say a word against it. Besides, now I even had the lab results to back them up. "Sure. It won't hurt to eat healthy, right?"

"And we'll start for breakfast," Kevin said. "Don't think I don't remember you and Kate would only have tea. And I was stupid enough to let you."

"Hey, don't say that." I cut off, my voice hard. "This didn't take a day or two. It's been years since I last had a glass of milk. This is my fault alone."

"And mine."

I turned around to look at Kate. "This is both our faults, I can give you that. We both let it happen. Not you."

"I'm sorry."

My eyes looking for the source of the voice, I found Nick, eyes glued to his clasped hands, a pout on his lips. I would have laughed at the picture of Nicky pouting, but I feared he would take offense on that. "You didn't do this Nick."

He lifted his eyes, and I could see sorrow in them. He was older than me but so much boyishly. He was a kid at heart. I think I had lost that a long time ago. "I did," he said sadly. "I bumped onto you and you broke your arm."

I slid over so I could squeeze his shoulder with my good hand. "It wasn't your fault. You should be a little bit more careful, but it wasn't entirely you. I break easily." I chuckled at my own statement and Nick couldn't stop the giggles that left him. "See? I'm fine. Actually, it was good."

Nick frowned. "Good? How can it be good that you gotta wear that for three week?"

I didn't want to tell him that it might be more ought to my calcium deficiency. "Because I found out I wasn't fine. I wouldn't have gone to the doctor unless I broke something."

Nick looked at me funny. "You're weird."

I smiled proudly, from ear to ear. "Yep. I am."