“Koa!” Kaia came racing into my hospital room, her boyfriend Triss right behind her and I smiled, “Oh my god!”

“Hi.”

Caelan adjusted the bed so I could sit up, making me growl from the pain of it as my road rash was intense and spread along most of my back, “sorry.”

“It’s fine. Kaia, stop crying.”

Kaia came closer, her eyes filled with tears and I reached over, pushing her hair gently away from her face, the red waves matching both Caelan and Beau. Kaia immediately tossed her arms around my neck and I wrapped my fingers in her hair, crying quietly as she continued. We shared a birthday, effectively twins even if my fathers had both donated and used separate surrogates for us. Kaia was technically my older sister by 14 hours and I adored her. There was a time I wouldn’t have been able to hold her, my panic too much, but now, all I wanted was the comfort of my older sister.

“I am so fucking glad you’re okay,” she hiccuped, “Dad called me and we raced down here. It’s been two weeks, you lazy ass. Made me wait for you to wake up.”

“I didn’t mean to,” I laughed softly, “trust me, I wouldn’t have picked sleeping for two weeks.”

“Hey man,” Triss came over, pulling his straight blonde hair up and I let go of Kaia to grab his hand, making Triss gasp loudly, “Dude what the fuck?”

“I hit my head so hard that it scrambled my brain chemistry a bit. I can handle the sound now. I can touch you guys. I wonder how food will be. Just… thanks, Triss. For taking care of Kaia I guess. I always wanted to tell you that but couldn’t.”

“Oh well… you’re welcome. I love your sister, you know that. Glad you’re okay. My parents sent a few things for you when you get home.”

“And Erica is slowly sewing the sleeves of your pajamas shut so you don’t get caught in them at night,” Alexander laughed softly, “we’ve got you bud. Don’t worry.”

“I know,” I smiled as Kaia moved away, cleaning her face.

We sat there for a long time, spending time together and the only person to stay was Beau who refused to leave me alone for the night. It turned out that my entire family along with Beau’s had been taking turns spending the night in the hospital with me, watching to make sure I was okay, and he took the most shifts once he was allowed to leave the hospital, drawing for hours or working on schoolwork as he graduated in a few weeks.

“Beau?” I sighed and he nodded, “I am so fucking hungry.”

“They’ll bring you dinner soon. I don’t know how much of it you’ll want to eat though… I ordered the chicken strips when I was getting my own since the cafeteria is happy to bring it up to me since the elevator is hard alone right now.”

“I might as well try all of it. If I can handle sound and touch now, I bet taste will be fine.”

“I want you to come home already,” he whispered, staring out of the window, “I hate seeing you here. I want to be in your parent's garden with Ranger, talking and enjoying the sun together.”

“I want it too. I want to go to the beach as I was planning. I… wonder if my uncles will sell me the olive orchard. They don’t have kids or anyone to leave it to when they retire and start traveling in a few years. I wonder if they’ll sell it to me. I can manage it with one arm and I’m good at finances and stuff. I could get a degree that makes it easier on me too.”

“Can I come with you?”

“Mhm,” I smiled, admiring how the setting sun made his hair glow as brightly as a newly started fire, “god…”

“Are you okay? Does something hurt?” Beau started to panic, grabbing his crutches to get up and I shook my head.

“Stop. Calm down. I’m just… lost in thought. Got distracted. I have to ask for your patience. I’m not exactly in a place to share my thoughts right now.”

“It’s okay,” he relaxed and I patted the bed.

Beau came over slowly, struggling and I pulled until he was cradled in my arm, his cast heavy on my leg but he didn’t fight it. Instead, Beau cuddled around me, his arm light on my stomach.

“I wish I could truly hold you. It’s weird to have one arm,” I looked down at the wrapped stump I had left, “makes me more mysterious I guess. Ya know, I have a lot of family that used prosthetics. Great grandpas and stuff. My uncle Cassian.”

“Isn’t Cassian a dentist? How can he be a dentist with a prosthetic hand but you can’t be a pediatrician with one?”

“Because I don’t want to be anymore. You’ve seen the olive orchard. It’s so beautiful there. Isolated. Makes good money.”

“Hm,” Beau hummed softly and I continued to rub his back, grateful I could now without the fear, “right. We’ll go together. If they want to sell it to us. Or we can figure something out. I told you last year. Wherever you go, I do. We’re best friends after all. Been side by side for nearly twenty years.”

“Right,” I smiled and swallowed slowly before pressing a light kiss to his hair, giggling when the curls tickled my nose, the smell of oranges coming from it, “I like your shampoo.”

“You smell like medicine. So sterile. I hate it.”

“When I get back home, the first thing I’m doing is showering.”

“Good,” he smiled up at me and I returned it, “You kissed my hair.”

“I did.”

“Does it make you feel weird?”

“Well. No, it doesn’t. It is weird that it took me years to feel that I could, but uh… maybe this accident was a blessing for me. It stole away what I felt was holding me back. My issues are gone. The struggle to maintain a specific body type to vault. The fear of going to university and failing, not able to care for myself in the future. I can do… what I want now without the pressure.”

“Your parents would love and respect you even if you never went to university, decided what was best was being a ranch hand for your uncle Zeke or something.”

“Mhm. I know. But I have Kaia as a sister and felt like I had to compete with that. To be better. To do better than her. It was a stupid notion and I see that now. I just want to be happy. Is that enough?”

“Duh,” Beau laughed softly as a nurse brought our food in, “oh! Thank you so much.”

“Of course,” she smiled gently as Beau climbed off of the bed and moved to a chair nearby, a small table next to it, “alright, Koa. It’s great to see you awake. My name is Krista. I’ve been taking care of you for a bit now. I brought you the food your boyfriend ordered as well as a few different drinks.”

“Thank you,” I nodded as Beau floundered, trying to cut in and say he wasn’t my boyfriend but I ignored him, “oh,” my eyes grew wide when I moved the lid away, “Beau you lied to me.”

“Sorry,” he cleared his throat, “I thought if I told you it was chicken strips you’d at least be willing to let them bring the food up.”

“But what the hell is this?”

“Baked fish in a lemon sauce,” Krista smiled before adjusting the clips that held back her deep brown waves, “a baked potato with chives, sour cream, cheese, and bacon. Finally, a mixed berry mousse for dessert. All of it is calorie-balanced for you since you’ve slept long only getting nutrients through an IV. I wouldn’t be surprised if you barely ate any but please try.”

“Okay,” I whispered as she left and picked up my fork, breaking up the fish, “I wonder what kind of fish this is. I like a lot of it, not sure how I feel about lemon though.”

“It’s salmon,” Beau smiled, his cheeks full, “I got the same thing. It’s very fresh.”

Grumbling, I took the smallest bite I could before I started shoving it into my mouth, “holy crap! Why didn’t you tell me lemons tasted like this?”

“Only when it’s cooked. Jesus, slow down,” Beau snorted, “lemons are tart if you eat them raw. Try the potato. I wonder if you’ll like it soft now.”

I did as he said and smiled before dropping my fork, “ah. Shit. I’m left-handed now. I’m pretty much ambidextrous but this will be a struggle.”

“Here,” he tossed me another fork wrapped in plastic from his tray, “I had them bring extras just in case.”

“Thanks. You always take such good care of me.”

“I always will.”

“But why?”

Beau froze, his fork halfway to his mouth before he set it down and looked at the tray, “Koa…”

“Yes?”

“Are you… gay?”

“I am. Have we never talked about it?”

“Not really. I gathered you might be based on what happened with Mateo but I wasn’t sure.”

“I’m gay and I knew I was at 8. Why are you asking?”

“Just curious, I guess. I’m bi after all, the same as your dad. I just like guys more.”

“Ah,” I nodded.

I already knew that Beau was bisexual, Caelan had told me a while ago, but it was nice to hear it come from him, to know that the accident hadn’t damaged our friendship.

“Do you… plan to date?”

“Well I can’t really do that right now but I’d like to eventually. I like the idea of getting married, having one child, and living happily with my husband. I've always wanted to come home to someone; and find them smiling and waiting for me. That would have been easier if I was a doctor but I don't think that'll work now. I don't know. I need time to heal before I make any true choices for the future. You don't need to hold back on my account. I know we were going to university together, even if it's a year apart. But I have to learn to use a new arm first. Learn how to put it on by myself. Care for myself and drive with one arm. I'll be a year behind you now if not more. Maybe I'll switch to online school for my beginning classes and go from there.”

“Well,” Beau smiled, “why don't we both do that? I have at least a year of physical therapy as well before your dad feels I'll be stable enough to walk around without a cane. He looked over all my charts after all. Which means I have to stay with my moms. I can't go after I finish secondary anyway. I'm finishing it at home. I can't walk through school easily and my moms want me to stay home to keep an eye on me. I'm not even in my bedroom anymore, I can't climb stairs. I'm in the den.”

“No privacy?”

“I can't unfortunately but I don't mind it too much.”

“It's too bad we aren't in Taupaki. Uncle Zeke and Auntie Belle have that house at the… hang on. Do I have my phone?”

“Um,” he looked around before shaking his head, “I forgot both our phones broke in the accident.”

“Ah. Well, I'm being irrational. I bet it's my medications. I'll start planning when I get out of here and I'm mentally stable again. Will you help me? It'll affect you too if you truly mean to stay at my side.”

“Absolutely,” Beau smiled gently, “I can't wait.”