The secret

credit to Skylar Astor

Who would have thought he will end up in hospital wing?

It all started with the broom.

After practice, he stayed long after most of the students went back to the castle. Using the Comet 180 felt good, it was fast, responsive, and lighter than the school brooms. He liked testing its speed, the wind was louder in his ears, and his thoughts had no space in his mind as he fly on it. He reasoned he was just testing it, to see how far it would go and how fast before it would start to shake and to lose control. That should’ve been his warning but he pushed harder anyway.

The broom picked up speed fast that the ground started blurring under him. He tried to pull up, but the broom jerked instead of responding smoothly like it used to in previous practices. In a state of panic, he could have only imagined it, but it felt like the broom fought him. After that, everything went wrong at once.

The broom steered sharply to the side causing him to lose his balance. Although he managed not to fall completely, but the broom hit the edge of a goalpost and spun round and round. He hit the ground hard and then rolled a few meters away before stopping. It knocked the air right out of his lungs. He was breathing painfully, in short gasps.

He just laid there, on the ground, staring at the sky, lungs burning as he tried to breathe. His entire body was in pain when he tried to move it. He could still move, which is good, and nothing was broken (hopefully), but the pain spread fast once the shock wore off. He was found by another student and was brought to the hospital wing.

That was as far as he could remember before he woke up and felt his shoulders were very stiff and his wrist swollen. A slight move made him aware of the pain shooting along his side. When he looked down, there was a bandage around his stomach. To cut the story short, the verdict was simple: badly bruised shoulder, sprained wrist, and moving around would be uncomfortable for a day or two. It's nothing serious but it was enough to keep him there overnight for observation. His sleep was on and off that night, feeling restless and sore due to his injuries.

The next day, he was feeling more embarrassed than ever. He kept replaying what happened in his head and blamed himself for not stopping. He knew better. Sighing, he stared at the ceiling, feeling bored when he heard something...that's when he turned to the side with a wince.

A girl was lying a few beds away who looked pale and tired. It took a while for his brain to catch up as he stared at the girl. Lily...? It's her right? It was her voice he heard. The hospital was very silent for him to miss her voice calling his name. What happened to her?

He turned his head fully toward her, eyes going wide and completely forgetting his own pain. She turned away from him, if that was to avoid him, he couldn't tell. “Hey,” another wince came out as his body protested with every move he made. "Lili..." He groaned in annoyance at how useless he felt. "What... happened to you?"

In the infirmary around 10 a.m. with @Zephyr Deakin

Zephyr turned towards me. I spun around quickly, as quickly as the bandages and my injuries would allow. Even with one ear on the pillow, I could hear him speaking to me. I wanted to sit up and tell him to conserve what little energy he had and to be careful with his injuries. But if I did that, he would see the bandages on my arm, the state of my face. Luckily, he wouldn't see the bandage on my leg and stomach, because I hadn't noticed, but I also had a scratch on my stomach. Fortunately, the injury wasn't serious. Even turned around, I knew he was watching me, and probably with concern. I couldn't look him in the face. I didn't have the strength. Zephyr and Julia were my two best friends, but I had hidden the fact that I was a werewolf from them. I was afraid they would be disgusted by me and abandon me. But part of me wanted to confess to them. It was complicated to explain why I'd been absent during the full moon. What would happen if I told them?
I didn't know what to choose. But out of kindness, I turned to Zephyr and said in a soft voice:

“Don’t worry about me. My injuries don’t deserve attention or even compassion. What happened to you?”

I tried to dodge his question and hoped it would work. I didn’t say anything, but I turned around to talk to him anyway. He didn’t look well; he grimaced with every movement.

credit to Skylar Astor

Zephyr noticed everything, even though he wished he didn’t. Lili was hiding something from him, she couldn't even look at him directly. There was stiffness in her movement and how she almost hugged herself as if on defence was suspicious. People don't move like that unless they are hurt inside.

She told him not to worry and asked what had happened to him instead. It's possible it's her bid to shift the attention away from her. He turned on her side so he was facing her, and winced when pain shot through his side. He couldn't hide the hiss and forced himself to lie still. “Don’t do that. Don’t tell me you don’t deserve concern.” It bothered him, not just the lies but also because she felt like she had to in his presence.

He looked at her face again, the bandages on her arm, the tired look in her eyes, none of that matched her words. He felt a sense of guilt inside and had to wonder if he hadn't been paying enough attention, if he should have noticed sooner, and if he failed her in some way. Just the thought that she suffered alone while he was in the same school made him feel useless and frustrated with himself. “I crashed.” He answered her question anyway, because she asked for it. “Pushed my broom too hard, as you can see, it was a bad idea.” He truly deserves this one, but his eyes stayed on her.

“Lili... don't change the subject and pretend you’re fine.” Because she was not, far from it. "You don't have to tell me everything. I’m not asking for details if you’re not ready, but it was obvious to me that something bad happened to you.” Did someone hurt her, or did something go wrong? He would respect her choice if she didn't want to talk about it, but part of him was restless knowing she was dealing with it on her own. He stayed still to give her some time and space. They're friends, aren't they? If she's got a problem, she can turn to him. Hiding her pain wouldn’t make her weak, she should know that.