The rest of the week passed by in the same way. Chase sat next to me in history and we worked on our project without speaking, then he joined me at lunch and sat next to me again in English. He always helped me with my bag at the end of each class, and he even started carrying it to my locker for me at the end of the day. I knew everyone was as confused as I was about why he seemed drawn to me, especially since we hadn’t spoken a single word to each other.

            The weekend went by the same as it usually did. Cindy came to hang out with me for a bit on Saturday, but that was the most exciting thing that happened.

            Monday morning rolled around and I got ready for school. I had started wearing Luke’s hoodies every day; they made me feel closer to him in a way. When I got to school I headed straight for my class without stopping at my locker first. I sat down and a few minutes later, Chase sat beside me. I glanced over and I was a little startled when his lips turned up in a brief smile. My lips tried to tug up in response, but the smile didn’t really form before it was gone again.

            Mr. Ross and the rest of the class slowly filed in and then the bell rang. Mr. Ross spoke up. “Okay, you should be making headway on the research aspect of the project by now, so today you can work on presentation. I’ll put some of you in the hall and some of you can go to the library.”

            My eyes widened at his words. We were supposed to do a presentation? How the hell was that supposed to work when neither Chase nor I liked talking? Luckily, Mr. Ross came up to us after he had spread everyone else out. “You two don’t have to do a presentation. I’ll just mark you on your research and the paper you’ll write up.”

            Relief flooded me, and then Chase shocked me by actually speaking. “Thanks,” he said in a voice so quiet that no one other than the teacher and myself would have heard him. His voice was deep and rough and the sound of it sent a shiver down my spine.

            If Mr. Ross was surprised, he didn’t show it. “You’re welcome,” he replied and then walked off to help someone else.

            Chase and I worked on our project quietly once more and then went our separate ways afterwards, meeting up once again in the cafeteria. Sarah and Cindy were absent as they were on the yearbook committee and they had a meeting.

            I opened my container of cookies and held them out to Chase. He looked surprised, but he reached out and took one. He obviously liked it, because he grabbed another one and ate it as well.

            After lunch, he walked with me to my math class, which surprised me. He hadn’t done that before. He stopped with me at the door and handed me my bag, holding my crutches while I got it settled on my back. Then he walked off to his next class. I watched his retreating form for a moment, slightly confused by his change in attitude today, but then I shook it off and went into my classroom.

            That evening, I overheard my parents talking in the kitchen. I had left my room to get a snack when I heard them talking and stopped to listen.

            “I don’t know what to do anymore Paul,” my mom said. “It’s been six months since the accident and she still barely talks.”

            I heard my dad blow out a breath. “I don’t think we can really comprehend what it’s like for her, Sandra. Luke wasn’t just her brother; he was her twin. You know that the two of them couldn’t be apart for more than a couple of days without becoming ill. They were truly part of each other.”

            “What can we do to help her? I hate seeing her suffer so much. She won’t even go out to see the horses. Should we make her see a counselor again?”

            “What will that honestly do? You know she’ll just sit there and not say anything like she did the few times before that we tried. She just needs time dear.”

            “She’s all we have left Paul. I don’t want to lose her too,” my mother said brokenly.

            I went back to my room after that, and I laid on my bed for a long time, thinking about what they’d said. Was my mother really afraid of losing me? I had contemplated suicide briefly after I had woken up from my coma, but I knew Luke would never forgive me for doing that, so I wasn’t going anywhere.

            Suddenly it felt like there was someone else in the room. I sat up and looked around, but I didn’t see anyone. I started to shrug it off, but then an odd sensation came over me. It was as if something was tugging at my soul, and I grabbed a sweater and my crutches and left the room, following the direction it felt like I was supposed to go.

            The feeling took me outside and I soon found myself at the stables for the first time since the accident. I hesitated outside the door for a moment, but the feeling became stronger, so I went into the building. Immediately the familiar scents surrounded me and I felt a sense of homecoming.

            Once more I felt the pulling sensation and it brought me to a stall near the end of the aisle. When I looked into the dim interior, my heart clenched. Inside was Justice, Luke’s horse. Luke had had him since he was a three-year-old and had trained him on his own.

            Justice came to the front of the stall and stuck his head over the door. He dropped his nose onto my shoulder and sighed deeply. I was more than a little shocked. Justice had never been an affectionate horse in the past, but here he was, acting like a little puppy.

            It was then that I understood what the tugging sensation had been. “You want me to look after your horse, don’t you little brother?” A non-existent breeze ruffled my hair like my brother had always done and tears filled my eyes. “I’ll take care of him Luke. I promise.”

            As soon as I said the words, the feeling disappeared and the tears escaped my eyes. For the first time since I woke up, all the pent up sorrow and anger came out in a flood and I wrapped my arms around Justice’s neck and buried my face in his mane. Justice stood completely still while the emotions poured out of me

            When the tears had subsided, I released my hold on Justice and moved back a little. “You miss him too, don’t you boy? I didn’t even think about that when I refused to come down here. But don’t worry; I’ll come down here every night from now on. It’ll be after everyone else has gone to bed, because I don’t want anyone knowing that I’m coming here. They’ll take it as a sign that I’m ready to start talking to them, and I’m not.” I paused for a moment. “That’s the most I’ve spoken in a long time,” I finished softly.

            Justice snorted and nudged my shoulder gently. “I know, I know. I should have brought you some treats. I will tomorrow,” I promised him. “But for now, I’m going to go back up to the house. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

            I left the stables and went back into the house. I forgot to take my sleeping pills, but instead of having nightmares, I dreamt of times my brother and I had gone riding on the trails together. They were happy memories, and when I woke up the next morning, I was surprised to notice that I felt a tiny bit less empty than I had the night before.

            When I went into the kitchen for breakfast, my parents were both up already. I hesitated for a moment and then decided I needed to start making a bit of an effort. “Good morning,” I murmured.

            Both of my parents looked up in surprise, not used to me speaking without prompting. My dad recovered from the shock first. “Good morning Dana. Did you sleep well?”

            I nodded and went about getting myself a bowl of cereal. I could see my mom almost sitting on her hands so that she didn’t offer to help me. She knew I wanted to be able to do everything on my own. It took me a little longer than it used to, but eventually I managed to sit down and eat my breakfast.

            On the way to school, my dad turned to look at me briefly. “How are you doing, Dana? And I want the truth.”

            I sighed and looked out the window. How was I doing? I still felt like there was a huge hole in me, and my weakened leg irritated me constantly. I hated having to rely on the crutches, but I hated my physical therapy even more. I was about to tell my dad that nothing had changed, but then I thought about Chase, and about my encounter with Justice last night. I was silent for another moment as I wondered if nothing really had changed. Finally, I answered him. “Better.”

            He let out a relieved breath. “Good.”

            That was all he said, and I was grateful to him for that. He dropped me off at the front of the school as usual. “See you after school.”

I nodded and hobbled into the school. When I got to my first class, I stopped when I saw Adam sitting near the desk I usually sat at. I stood in the doorway for a moment, not entirely sure what to do. A hand touching my back lightly caused me to turn around, and I saw Chase standing behind me, one hand gently encouraging me to enter the room. I reluctantly went to my seat and sat down, refusing to look at Adam as I settled myself.

I was aware of Chase sitting next to me as usual, but I didn’t look over at him. I wasn’t sure if I was pleased with him encouraging me to come in here when I knew Adam was going to try and talk to me.

I heard Adam shift slightly and then he laid his hand over top of mine. I pulled my hand away from him and he sighed and ducked his head so that I was forced to look at him. “Dana, why won’t you talk to me?”

What was I supposed to say to him? I couldn’t explain that I couldn’t talk to him because he’d sort of been friends with Luke, and the memories of the three of us were too painful to think about. I couldn’t tell him that the fact he gave up on me so easily had hurt me when I hadn’t thought it would. And I couldn’t tell him that the last text he had sent me on that fateful night was the last thing I saw before I had turned to Luke. It was completely irrational, but I now associated Adam’s love for me with the accident.

I shook my head and turned my head away from him. I heard sudden movement and then a curse, which had me turning my head back quickly. My eyes widened when I saw that Chase had a hold of Adam’s wrist and he was glaring at Adam with the same look he’d had on my second day back.

Adam’s jaw was tense as he yanked his hand away from Chase. “This isn’t any of your damn business,” he snapped.

Chase sat back in his chair without saying anything. He regarded Adam with contempt, but the scary look had left his eyes. When his gaze flickered over to me, he gave me a small smile and then he looked down at the binder in front of him.

When I looked back at Adam, he was watching us in confusion. “What’s going on between you two?” When I shrugged, he looked a little hurt. “Have you replaced me with him?”

I was a little startled at his words, and I glanced over at Chase. He was still looking at his binder, but I knew he was also paying attention to what was happening between me and Adam. I knew he wasn’t going to be any help, so I decided to just not answer Adam. Instead, I got my own binder out of my bag and pretended to be looking for a piece of paper in in.

The bell rang and I sighed in relief when Adam finally went back to his own seat and Cindy took her seat in front of me. “What was that about?” she asked.

I shrugged and looked at Chase once more. This time he met my look, but I couldn’t tell what he was thinking. Deciding that my brain had already taken in too much this morning, I laid my head down on my desk and proceeded to not move for the rest of the class.

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So lots happened even though the chapter isn't overly long. You now know why Dana can't handle talking to Adam, and you also see that Luke's horse is going to help her heal herself.

I have a small bone to pick with some of you. I know you all want me to upload often, but from now on, if you comment and it only demands an upload, I will be deleting it. Honestly, telling me to upload more often without saying anything else makes me want to do it less. If you write something about the chapter and then ask me to upload, then that's okay. At least then I know what you thought of the chapter as well.

I will be trying to upload a couple of times a week, but it's not always possible. For those of you who don't know, I am a stay-at-home mom, and my daughter is incredibly active. That means that when she's sleeping, I have to try and fit in all my housework and riding my horse, along with trying to write. Oh, and spend time with my husband. Sometimes I just don't have the time to do it all.

Now that I've gotten that out of my system, I'll let you know that I am loving the overall response to this story so far. I'm probably going to enter it in the Watty Awards, so I actually will need votes from all you wonderful, amazing people :-). Did I flatter you enough to convince you to vote a few times?

Comment as always to let me know what you thought.