A painful predicament Finished

Rowan was actually looking a bit better, surprisingly.  He looked like he had been actually eating, and his back looked surprisingly better than before, from what he could see on his neck and shoulders.

“Did you just say ‘Happy Christmas? It’s Merry Christmas, mon amour. Merry. Not happy.”

He said this in a completely loving way, but he was an idiot sometimes. 

“Your enthusiasm and energy makes me exhausted just watching you.”

A joke of course.
Rowan noticed the necklace around Miko’s neck near instantly, being the little observant child he was. He also spotted the gift at the side of the bed. 
He pulled the crown from the bedside table into his lap, smiling softly. 

“So... it’s not much... It doesn’t have a fancy box or wrapping... and I don’t expect you to wear it if you don’t like it but... well... Merry Christmas, dork.” 

He handed it to him, blushing slightly. It wasn’t the worst gift, he guessed. A crown of woven roses, all in different colors, covering the full span of the rainbow.
Why?
Because gay, and he couldn’t decide which Miko would like best. The red rose, was of course the one Miko had given to him himself. 

“The jumper is adorable, by the way. Let me guess, my turn now, for presents?”

Miko was practically vibrating, waiting for Rowan to open his own present. He placed the rainbow flower crown on his head and jumped up and down. "I looooooovvvvveeeee iiiiiiitttttttt!" The Hufflepuff squealed, ignoring the wrong accusation the other made. 'Merry Christmas' what kind of stupid sentence is that? Well for him at least, he was always raised that the phrase used happy and not merry. A true Scot at it's finest, even though the boy seemed like a bit of an idiot at times that's how he wanted it to be. If it seemed as if he wasn't the brightest, his standards would be set low for him even though he could achieve way more. 

The Hufflepuff had the dumbest grin on, putting the Santa hat inside the flower crown. It made him look adorable but slightly strange, as he always was. "Well, don't leave me waiting! Open yer present too!" Miko told him and looked from the present to Rowan several times, urging him to open the package. He knew the boy's favorite color was green so he got a green box and had made the red ribbon himself, very clearly. The poor ribbon looked more mangled than Rowan's nose before it was fixed.

Rowan frowned and blinked a few times. Miko was very loud, and he still had a migraine. He reached out to grab the other’s hand, wincing slightly. It’s not that he wasn’t happy to see the other excited but... 

“Patience mon amour. Please calm down a bit. It’s fabulous to see you excited but- Just a little quieter. Please.”

Rowan then set to work on opening the box, being not-so-careful with the ribbon. 
As soon as Rowan saw the necklace he connected the dots. A matching pair. Rowan had stopped wearing jewellery a few days ago for the sake of the creatures he had been visiting out in the snow, however... he could make an acception. It wouldn’t be the end of the world. He ran his nail along the side because well... the necklace was simple and it was one of a pair so.... it was most likely a locket. 
His investigation, of course, came out correct. 
He smiled just a bit wider as he saw the picture. 

“We need to get one together once I’m out of here. A better picture, that is.”

He slipped the necklace over his head, not flinching as it touched the back of his neck, right where the remaining cuts were.

The boy nodded understandingly as his wish was for Miko to be a bit more quiet. He wasn't trying to be rather loud, he was just overwhelmed with excitement. It was Christmas after all, the holiday of cheer and family! Also it was known as the best holiday in the world, other than Thanksgiving which was his favorite because of the load of food presented.

"Apologies, mo ghaol, I'm just a bit excited is all. I do hope you like the gift!" 

Opening his own locket, he pointed to the picture of Rowan on the bed. Miko grinned as  he looked at it himself, the other was extremely sick and pale but the picture was the best part of the whole thing! Well to the Hufflepuff anyways, Rowan probably wouldn't like it all too much but it was quite a dear photo of him to the child, anyways. They would probably get the picture retook but it was a cute picture for the while it lasted anyways. 

The Gryffindor boy put the locket on and it was really stunning in Miko's opinion. The gold really complimented the white of the other's hair and all the color of his flower crown. 

Rowan hated it with every fiber of his being when he saw himself in the hospital bed.
His fist clenched around his own locket. 
Though the same smile rested on his face. 

“I love it.”

He said quietly. 
He just wanted to get back to his dorm, the warm, home-like room.
Faking a yawn, he snuggled back into the pillows, looking adorable even though he was faking about half of his current situation. It was his talent...
And Miko currently had no idea.
Sometimes he hated that he was too cowardly to show his true feelings.
Gryffindor indeed. Not.

And the terrible part was he didn’t even know why he hated the lockets so much now. It was just a picture. It should have been nice. Miko got him something sweet. So why did he want to rip it off his neck and chuck it out a window? 

“Mon amour, I believe the nurses are going to gut you if you stay much longer. And I’m sure you have some other friends to go see. Visit later?”

Yes, the nurses were a little peeved, but they more likely wanted to talk to Rowan about the issue with his spine. 
This was just going to be a lovely day.

Miko stared into Rowan's eyes, trying to read his real feelings. He knew something was wrong and it wasn't just the injuries but he couldn't lay his finger on the issue. The boy knew when someone was lying in any situation it was more a curse than a gift. Reading the other's eyes, the conclusion was that he wasn't as happy as he made it seem. Was it something the Hufflepuff had done? Either way it hurt him to see but he showed no emotion on his face, seemingly staring blankly at the Gryffindor. Trust was something very dear to this child and shouldn't ever be broken as his feelings never heal.

Maybe he was just being paranoid, maybe Rowan did trust him enough to show his feelings. That didn't matter to Miko. This isn't a world of 'maybe' or 'what if' it's a world of 'is' as in, it is wrong or it is right. The chances of the boy being incorrect were about twenty percent compared to other's knowledge of feelings or books. He has done enough research to know correct feelings or how to read body language. To fool this boy would be like winning the Olympics, it wasn't impossible but it is harder than hard.

When the Gryffindor spoke it made him shiver.
He was deep in thought already, thinking about trust.
It left him bewildered.

"Yeah. Er, I guess I should be on my way." Miko replied quickly, breaking eye contact with Rowan. The boy didn't want to think the truth but it was true. He was disappointed in the other which was sad. Quickly, he picked up his stuff and exited the doors without another word leaving his mouth. It would probably two days before he came back to visit it might worry Rowan.

Sadly, there was no coming back to visit the next day. Or the next. Or even within the week. 
Rowan was transfered to St M’s the next morning, before Miko would have the chance to come and say goodbye. 
He wrote a short letter on the topic, basically just explaining why he wouldn’t be there. No time when he would be back, as he probably didn’t know himself. No information about whether or not he would fully recover.
The nurses would say the same thing if Miko came to check. 

“Mmm, no sorry. He was transferred awhile ago. Said they had better doctors to work on him there. Better equipment and whatnot.”

They didn’t care really though. One less person to take care of, really. 

Rowan sent another letter, a week or so later, saying they had botched the job. Spine permanently damaged. He’d be paralysed below the waist for life. No work arounds, no fixies, no do overs. Whoever had worked on him had royally screwed it. He’d be in a wheelchair when he returned to school. Which he said would be soon, thankfully. Though still no specifics. Days crawled by. Then a week. Until finally Rowan was back in the Great hall, suffering through a mildly frustrating meal, and an even more frustrating crowd of people he barely knew coming up to him and asking what had happened.