“No Liam. Next time you get thrown into the boards or one of your teammates break a bone remember that that is what I feel every second of every day and I do it without complaint. I get up and go to class and do what I have to do while wishing I could scream. Now here you come making me feel worse about something I can’t change.” I am full on sobbing now, my words spoken through hiccups and laboured breaths.

“I’m sorry. I just, I hate seeing you like this.” He has told me that a million times but wishing it away doesn’t work. I know because I have tried.

“And you think I like it? Look if you’re going to judge me for taking painkillers I have been prescribed then there is no point in you staying.”

“I’m sorry, you’re right. Come here.” He slides himself under the covers next to me. Part of me wants to fight him but a bigger part just wants a hug. So I let him in; curling myself into his side I take shallow breaths as he rubs a gentle hand up and down my spine. “Forgive me, Sunshine?”

Safe to say he changed his opinion on medication after that. He did what he could to help me after that but it has been a long time. He might have gone back to his old way of thinking for all I know. It will be better for me if I wait until I feel good before I tell him. That way I won’t feel like a burden.

“Don’t worry Mum, I got it, I can fix it.” Jack grabs my phone from the nightstand, running out of the room with it. His face had a little flash of mischief knowing I can’t chase him.

“Jack, come back!” The sound of his running footfall gets further away despite my yelling.

“JACK!” Some instinct tries to make me move and I throw my body up to a sitting position, but before I can fully make it, the pain flows through me so violently that blackness coats the edges of my vision. I fall back down onto the bed again as darkness clouds my eyes.

Knowing I can’t afford to lose consciousness right now, I try to wiggle myself up again but to no avail. Each inch I move feels like molten knives are puncturing my muscles. Each joint feels fused together, clicking as I shift.

Jack doesn’t come back when I yell for him, but I can hear him chatting on the phone. I don’t know where my boy got his sudden heroism from, but I hope Lyndsey forgives me for letting my child call her so early.