The nurse’s office at school was still thankfully open. When I carried Sky inside, there were still three other students who had gotten injured by the flying debris.

“Good Lord!” the nurse, Mrs. Abigail, yelped and hurried to us. “What happened?”

“We found him in the forest,” I said, and with her help, I gently laid Sky down on one of the beds.

I hadn’t had the time to take a good look at Sky, so seeing him lying on the bed made my stomach twist. He was covered in mud, and he was soaking wet. He had tiny scratches all over his face, and his torn clothes had blood on them.

“What’s this…” Mrs. Abigail muttered and poked Sky’s ankle.

There were two sturdy sticks tied around his ankle with something that seemed to be his new T-shirt. When Mrs. Abigail touched it, Sky woke up with a small, painful moan.

“I’m sorry,” Mrs. Abigail muttered and leaned over him. “Do you remember what happened?”

Sky stared at her in confusion for a moment before he turned to look around. Soon, his eyes met mine, and he smiled.

“You found me,” he said in a tiny voice.

“I would’ve come sooner, but we weren’t allowed to leave the school,” I told him. “I should’ve forced them to let me come look for you…”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Mrs. Abigail said sharply. “You’d only gotten yourself injured as well.”

“She’s right,” Sky muttered. “It was really dangerous out there.”

“Why were you out there?” I asked, but Sky only shrugged. “You just vanished,” I tried again, but Mrs. Abigail interrupted us.

“You two can go now,” she said sternly. “I’ll take care of him.”

“But–” I tried to speak, but she shushed me.

“I have now four people to take care of, and they all need to rest,” she said, gesturing for us to the door.

I really didn’t want to leave, but when I didn’t move, Troy grabbed my hand and pulled me away from the bed.

“Come on, bro. There’s nothing we can do here,” he spoke quietly.

After a moment, when Sky didn’t ask us to stay, I reluctantly followed Troy out of the room, and Mrs. Abigail closed the door. I turned around to stare at it.

Troy sighed next to me. “He didn’t seem badly injured. I know you want to stay, but–”

“I am staying,” I told him. “I’m not letting him out of my sight.”

Troy was silent for a moment, but then he tried again. “He’s not your responsibility.”

I turned to glare at him. “He’s my friend.”

He was about to say something, but then sighed again and leaned against the wall.

“You don’t have to stay,” I told him.

“He’s my friend too.”

I glanced at him shortly, but then turned my back on him and continued staring at the door. I could hear Mrs. Abigail’s voice, but she was talking too quietly for me to hear, and I couldn’t hear Sky at all.

“What if he’s badly hurt? Maybe we should’ve taken him to the hospital?” I said, feeling anxious again.

“It’s almost thirty minutes to the hospital. You saw it yourself. Sky isn’t badly hurt,” Troy spoke.

“But–” I tried to continue, but he cut me off.

“He’s going to be just fine,” he said sternly.

“He hurt his leg. Maybe it’s broken,” I said without listening to him.

“Bro, calm down,” Troy sighed. “You worry way too much. Mrs. Abigail will do what she thinks is best for Sky.”

“I hope…” I muttered.

We waited for almost half an hour before something happened. We heard two sets of footsteps coming towards us. I turned around to see an extremely anxious couple storming our way. I recognized Sky’s father, and I assumed the woman was Sky’s mother.

“Is this the nurse’s office?” Mr. Jenkins asked, pointing at the closed door in front of me and Troy.

I nodded, and they stormed in without knocking. I sneaked to the door they had left open and saw the woman hugging Sky.

“Mom! Dad!”

“We were so worried! What happened?” Mrs. Jenkins asked.

“I fell asleep in the forest. I didn’t see the weather changing,” Sky explained.

“Why were you in the forest?” Mr. Jenkins asked breathlessly.  

“I uh… I needed to clear my head…” Sky muttered.

“Why were you in the forest in the first place? During classes!” Mr. Jenkins said with a frown.

“We’ll talk about that later,” Mrs. Jenkins said and hugged her son again. “I’m just so glad you’re all right.”

“I ruined my new clothes,” Sky muttered and looked at his torn jeans.

“Oh, don’t worry about it,” his mom said tenderly.

“I checked his leg, and I don’t think it’s broken, but you should take him to see a doctor,” Mrs. Abigail spoke.

“What happened to your leg?” Mrs. Jenkins asked worriedly.

I listened quietly while Sky told his story. I was feeling uneasy and anxious the entire time, and my self-hate grew worse. I should’ve gone looking for him. I shouldn’t have let him out of my sight. I didn’t know why Sky had decided to leave the school in the middle of the day, but I was sure it was my fault too.

“Can we take him to a hospital now?” Mr. Jenkins asked after Sky was done talking.

“Yes,” Mrs. Abigail nodded.

“Thank you,” Sky said quietly to her while his mom helped him up from the bed.

“Just make sure this doesn’t happen again,” she said kindly. “Listen to the warnings, okay?”

“I will,” Sky promised, turned to look at the door, and noticed me. “Max? Why are you still here?”

“I wanted to make sure you’re all right,” I said, and stepped away from the door so Sky could step out with his parents.

“I’m all right,” Sky said with a sad smile before looking down. “Did you really… come looking for… me?”

“Of course I did!” I told him. “You disappeared into thin air, and then the tornado came, and…” I choked and shook my head. “I was worried.”

“I’m sorry,” Sky muttered. “I’m just causing problems…”

“Don’t say that,” I said quietly. “I’m just glad you’re safe.”

Sky didn’t say anything, but his parents exchanged short looks before turning their attention to me.

“You were looking for our son?” Mrs. Jenkins asked. “That’s so brave of you.”

“The storm was over by the time they let us leave,” I said with a shrug. “I wish I could’ve come for you sooner,” I told Sky, who still wasn’t looking at me.

“It’s still dangerous out there,” Mr. Jenkins said. “Especially in the forest. The trees might be damaged and fall down any second, and the soil might give in, or the wild animals might be looking for cover in the city… It’s still dangerous to be outside.”

“Oh,” I said, not really caring about it. “I just wanted to find Sky.”

“Max can’t rest before he knows everyone is all right,” Troy said, and patted my shoulder. “He’s wired that way; always looking after everyone else, except for himself.”

“Thank you,” Mrs. Jenkins said, placing her hand on my shoulder. “I’m happy to see Sky has friends like you. I don’t want to even think about what could’ve happened if you hadn’t found him.”

“It was actually Troy who found him. I was panicking too much to think straight,” I said quietly.

“Thank you, both of you,” Mrs. Jenkins said, smiling at both of us.

“No problem,” Troy said.

“Come – I’ll take you two home,” Mr. Jenkins said, and gestured for us to follow him. “Have you called your parents yet? They must be worried sick.”

“Yeah,” Troy said. “I texted them.”

“Good. Come. We need to take Sky to see our doctor,” Mr. Jenkins said, and we all followed him out of the building and to his car.

Soon, we were all cramped in his station wagon. Sky was sitting in the front seat, trying to keep his leg straight. He turned to look at me with a sad expression on his face.

“I guess I can’t come to play today,” he said quietly.

“It’s all right,” I said. “We can do that another day.”

“What were you planning on playing?” Mrs. Jenkins asked.

“Video games!” Sky said with a wide smile, but then it vanished. “Now I can’t go…”

“That sounds like fun,” his mom said. “Your friends are right, you can go play with them another day.”

“Tomorrow?” Sky asked carefully, and his parents laughed cheerily.

“Let’s see what your doctor has to say about your ankle first,” his dad spoke.

“If your doctor says it’s OK, you can come play with us tomorrow,” Troy said reassuringly.

“Thanks,” Sky said cheerily.

“Is there anything that can bring you down?” Troy asked with a smile.

“Sky is always happy,” Mrs. Jenkins said, and ruffled her son’s hair. “I guess that’s how he is wired. Not even a broken leg can bring him down.”

“Mom…” Sky muttered in embarrassment, and the rest of us chuckled. “It’s not broken. It doesn’t hurt that much.”

“That’s good,” I said. “It would be difficult for us to go camping if it was broken.”

Sky was silent for a moment before he muttered, “True.”

Too soon Mr. Jenkins stopped his car next to my home, and both me and Troy got out.

“Thank you for the ride,” Troy said.

“This is the least I can do for you two,” Mr. Jenkins said. “Be careful, both of you.”

“Sure thing, Mr. Jenkins,” Troy said, while I turned to talk to Sky, who had opened his window.

“I’ll see you at school tomorrow?”

“If Mom lets me come,” Sky said, trying to smile. “Thank you again for coming to look for me.”

“Just don’t wander off like that again, okay?” I said and patted his shoulder.

“I promise,” he said, and his smile was bigger this time.