Both men looked to Mary Beth and she seemed to shrink down a little. “I was going back towards my class after lunch. I had seen Clark and his cousins try and pick a fight with Troy, then I watched Peter and Troy yell at each other. I don't know about what, but Peter was mad that Troy was pushing himself.” She didn't mention that she heard what name he called Troy. That was just one more question that Mary Beth had for Troy. “I was gonna walk with Troy to the class, but Bobby Anderson tripped him and kept walking.”

“Looks like Mr. Anderson and I need to have a talk about personal space.” Mr. Harper replied.

The door to the nurses office opened up and she looked at the two men, her face losing color fast, then her gaze fell on the secretary. “Call an ambulance, now.”

The secretary grabbed her phone and began dialing. Mr. Harper walked over and lowered his voice. “Is it bad?”

“He's pulled out all the stitches. I've got him holding his legs together and holding gauze at the incision site, but he's still bleeding and I can't do anything for him here.”

“Crap.” Mr. Harper turned and went around the desk. “I'll try his father as well.” He turned his attention to the teacher and Mary Beth. “You should get to class young lady, I'll talk to you later.”

“Okay, sir.” She looked into the nurse’s office and couldn't see the bed Troy was on, due to the dividing curtain. A part of her really wanted to know what was going on with Troy.

This poor kid will learn at some point.......maybe
A special thanks to Djkauf for the editing again

December 7th 1982
Palermo School

Tracy stood with Peter for a moment, watching Clark go to the office. She shrugged and sighed. “What the hell did I do to that family?” She wasn't sure why both brothers hated her, they just did.

“Who knows. Maybe they just hate you?” Peter replied as they began to walk back to their classrooms.

“That's comforting.” She gave a slight chuckle, followed by a grunt.

“You okay?” Peter asked.

Tracy looked at him for a moment, then back at the ground as they walked. She didn't want to talk about it, but he was a friend. “Just sore. Yesterday I ran into Jerry Rivers and almost fell. I had to step quickly to avoid hitting the ground. I hurt a bit more then usual this morning.”

“Maybe you should take it easy.” Peter stated as he looked to her. “I mean you were with Sage and Rachel all weekend. You didn't lie down much, even when your mother tried to remind you.”

“Yeah.” She didn't want to talk about it, mostly because he was right. She had done her best on Saturday to be with Sage and Rachel as much as she could.

“Plus you've been walking at every recess, and after school yesterday.” As he continued her temper began to flare. She had thought that he'd understand not wanted to be cooped up. It was as though he wanted her locked away and bored. “The doctor said you'd have to take it easy or you'll end up back there.”

“PETER!” She stopped walking and just glowered at him. “I know what she said.” She thought how He was beginning to sound like her mother and father. She was tired of being in a bed and doing nothing.

Peter stopped and looked at her. He cared for her. He cared for Troy as well, but the more he was around her, the less he could see Troy. And good girls like Tracy needed to be protected. “Damn it Tracy, then do what they said.” He hissed at her.

No one seemed to notice his use of the wrong name. Many of them had ignored the two friends. But his use of the name at that school pissed her off. “I don't need a babysitter!” She snapped at him.

He wasn't sure what to do. She was throwing away her health. He knew she needed to take it easy and the last thing he wanted was for her to be in the hospital again. It had torn his heart out to see her there the first time. But he could tell by her attitude that she wouldn't listen. He had seen that defiant look in Vance before.

He didn't care that people were watching. He hated to be yelled at. But a part of him still saw Tracy, so he couldn't strike her, nor would he scream back. “I am just trying to help.”

“I don't need your help.” She growled, then she turned and walked off faster then she should have been moving.

She was still grumbling to herself as she got near her class. She was pissed at Peter for wanting to baby her. She wanted to hang out with him, with her friends, but clearly he didn't get that. Rachel and Sage offered her something he couldn't. The chance to be like a real girl and she didn't want to waste that. He was as bad as her parents. They hadn't wanted her to do more then just sit in bed, too. Everyone was treating her like a baby and it was getting old.

She was so into her thoughts that she didn't notice the foot that got into her way. All she knew was that her right leg snagged on something and she took several stumbling steps forward. Pain erupted in her groin as she attempted to catch her footing, but she couldn't. The pain forced her to scream out and then she fell forward. Throwing her hands out in front of her to stop the fall.

Tracy hit hard, skinning her palms and knees and screaming out again as new pain flared to life in her sprained wrist and ribcage. Her chest met the ground and she grunted and lay there for a second as people began to laugh at her. She went to get up, moving even slower now and it was a struggle, so she dropped back to the ground and lay there. She barely noticed the person dropping to their knees at her side.

“Troy?!? You okay?” Mary Beth said as she knelt there A look of worry was on her face. She turned to face one of the boys who was walking in the other direction. “BOBBY ANDERSON, YOU JERK!” She screamed.

Mr. McCoy came out of his class and did a quick look around for the source of the yelling. When he saw the figure on the ground he rushed over. “Patterson, shit.” He muttered. “What happened?”

“He was just tripped. And he fell hard.” Mary Beth said as she touched Troy's shoulder.

“It's going to be okay.” He said to the child on the ground. Tracy lay there, trying her best not to cry and failing miserably. “Miss. Higgins, go tell the nurse I'm bringing Troy up there, now.”

“Why? What's wrong?” Mary Beth asked.

“GO Now!” He glared at her for a moment, till she got up and ran to the office. “The rest of you GET TO CLASS! NOW”

“Troy?” He snapped his fingers and a pair of tear stained eyes stared at him. “Where does it hurt?”

“D-d-down there.” She sobbed out, and pointed with a finger to her crotch.

“Can you walk?” He asked in a calm tone.

“I don't know.” She tried to roll over and planted her hands. Then she started to stand up, using the Teacher to help. Her face contorted in pain as she stood all the way up. Sweat was beading off her forehead and the blood was rushing from her face. She waited a second, then took a step and froze in place. “No....it hurts.” The crying started to intensify.

Behind him another person came running up, the Librarian, Kelly Kline. “Rodney? What's wrong?”

“Kelly, I got to take Mr. Patterson to the nurses office, can you watch my class for a moment?”

“Yeah, I got it covered.”

“Troy, I'm going to carry you, is that okay?” He watched as the child gave a slight nod. Rodney put an arm behind Troy's back. He slid the other arm behind Troy’s butt, then he stooped on his legs and lifted the child with a grunt.

Peter had gone to the bathroom after his fight with Tracy and was stepping out as Mr. McCoy walked past him with Troy rested in his arms. Peter could hear his friend crying as the teacher headed to the office. “What happened?” He asked, worry in his voice.

“Not now, Mr. Lowery.” Mr. McCoy looked over and his hard gaze softened. He knew the two were close friends. He had heard the rumors that he had been there when Troy had been attacked and that he had spent several of the past few days helping his friend. “Peter, you need to get to class. The nurse will take good care of him, okay?”

The guilt had begun to well up in Peter. He hadn't been there when Tracy needed him and now somehow, she was hurt again. All because he had deiced to baby her. “I...” He reached out to touch Tracy. “Are you sure?” He asked in a quiet voice.

“Yes.” Rodney replied. “Go to class and before the bell rings.”

Every part of Peter screamed to stay by her side, but the teacher had spoken. He didn't need to be in trouble for going against a teacher And maybe Tracy was still pissed at him. So he took a few steps, then stopped and turned around to watch Mr. McCoy walk away with his friend.

Mr. McCoy approached the door as Mr. Harper and the school Nurse, Mrs. Thomas were on their way out. The Principal swung a door open and let the man pass through. “How bad is it?” Behind them a very worried Mary Beth stood at the door to the main offices.

“He said his crotch hurt.” Mr. McCoy said as he took Troy to the open door of the nurses office. “He couldn't walk at all. Took one step and he was in pain.”

“I'll call his parents.” Mr. Harper stated as he jogged off to the main office.

As Rodney sat Troy on one of the two beds in the nurses office, Mary Beth came in a watched from the door. “Is he gonna be okay?” She asked.

“I'll check him out, sweetie.” The older school nurse replied.

As Mr. McCoy pulled his arms out from under Troy, Mary Beth gasped and pointed. “Is that blood?” Her voice quavered with fear. “Is he bleeding?”

Mr. McCoy looked to his arm and then at the nurse. “Clean your arm.” The nurse pointed to a sink. “Then step out, I need to check our young patient.”

Rodney complied and as he was drying off his arm, he gestured to Mary Beth to leave the room. They stopped by secretary's desk as Mr. Harper put the phone down and shook his head. “Mother's on her way now.” He said with a sigh. “Mind telling me what happened?”

“Maybe we should speak in your office?” Mr. McCoy replied.

“Can't , I have Clark Millet in the office right now.” The Principal said with a shake of his head. “So just the cliff notes, what happened?”

Both men looked to Mary Beth and she seemed to shrink down a little. “I was going back towards my class after lunch. I had seen Clark and his cousins try and pick a fight with Troy, then I watched Peter and Troy yell at each other. I don't know about what, but Peter was mad that Troy was pushing himself.” She didn't mention that she heard what name he called Troy. That was just one more question that Mary Beth had for Troy. “I was gonna walk with Troy to the class, but Bobby Anderson tripped him and kept walking.”

“Looks like Mr. Anderson and I need to have a talk about personal space.” Mr. Harper replied.

The door to the nurses office opened up and she looked at the two men, her face losing color fast, then her gaze fell on the secretary. “Call an ambulance, now.”

The secretary grabbed her phone and began dialing. Mr. Harper walked over and lowered his voice. “Is it bad?”

“He's pulled out all the stitches. I've got him holding his legs together and holding gauze at the incision site, but he's still bleeding and I can't do anything for him here.”

“Crap.” Mr. Harper turned and went around the desk. “I'll try his father as well.” He turned his attention to the teacher and Mary Beth. “You should get to class young lady, I'll talk to you later.”

“Okay, sir.” She looked into the nurse’s office and couldn't see the bed Troy was on, due to the dividing curtain. A part of her really wanted to know what was going on with Troy. She had never really hung around him before, or talked to him. But something about him seemed safe. Like she could really get to know him like a friend.

~o~O~o~

Maggie came running into the school's office, almost flinging the door off it's hinges. Her breathing was in quick breaths as she looked at the Principal. “Where is he?”

Mr. Harper was already moving around the desk and pointed to the nurses office. “In there. Maggie....”

She didn't stop to talk, just just bolted inside. “Baby, are you okay?” She stopped at the bedside and she reached for her child’s free hand.

“Mrs. Patterson?” A voice spoke up from behind her.

“Evelyn, right?” Maggie asked as she looked to see the nurse.

“Yes.” She replied.

“What happened?” Maggie turned her attention back to her child that lay still on the bed, crying.

“He was tripped, tore the stitches out. We have an ambulance on the way right now. We've got a hold of your husband and he'll meet you at the hospital.” The nurse said as she held out a thermometer. Tracy opened her mouth as it was placed under her tongue and the nurse looked at a watch.

“He was tripped!” Maggie glared at her. “What type of school is this! This shouldn’t have happened! Not to someone who just had done what he did!”

“Margaret.” Mr. Harper said as he entered the room and shut the door. This got her attention. No one called her by her full name. “We have a school full of kids here. It's hard to watch all seven hundred kids all the time.”

“He just had an Orchiectomy done! This could have hurt or killed him!”

“Maggie, please, I know this. The student who did this will be spoken to with his parents later. If you want I can arrange for you or your husband to be here.”

“Thank you. I'd like to give that little punk a piece of my mind.” She turned her attention back to her child.

“Well Troy isn't innocent either. There was redness around the incision site and a bit of an infection starting. He's admitted to pushing himself a bit more over the weekend to hang out with friends.”

She groaned. “Troy. You promised you'd take it easy.” He didn't reply. He couldn't. But as the thermometer was removed, he turned his head to face the pillow.

There was a knock at the door and it opened an inch. “Sir?” The secretary said. “The ambulance is here.”

~o~O~o~

December 8th 1982

Tracy lay in the hospital bed once more, staring at the ceiling and wondering why they couldn't put posters or something up there. Anything had to be better then just plain white tile. She winced in pain as she felt a finger move across her wound. She had been there overnight again. They had managed to get her in right away to fix the broken stitches problem, then they made her lie still for a day to help with the healing.

“Mind telling me how you ended up here again?” Doctor Angela Davis asked.

“I was tripped. I tried to not fall, but I did and it hurt.” She replied.

“And where were you tripped?” The Doctor continued her exam of her patient.

“School.” She replied.

“Did you take it easy the past few days? I did say light activity for the first week, that's today. The redness around the wound shows me that you've been moving more then you should.” The Doctor pulled the sheet back over Tracy and gave her the best Doctor glare she could.

“No.” Tracy shook her head. “I was going to, but my friends were up and I just wanted to hang out with them.”

“I should have known they would make you push yourself.” Maggie stated.

“Mom, they tried to keep me in bed. But I wanted to hang out with them, before they had to go home. It's not their fault.” Tracy shut her eyes so she wouldn't see the glares from both women.

“So you just decided to ignore my advice and push the pain back.” The doctor sighed.

“Sorry.” Tracy whispered.

“Don't tell me sorry. I'm not the one in pain.” She shot back. “I'm just the Doctor. But this time when you go home, I'm putting you on bed-rest for a week, maybe two.”

“Two weeks?” Tracy thought about it, then her eyes shot open and she looked at the Doctor. “I...I can't”

“Why can't you?” The doctor asked. “Is there something more pressing then your health that will happen in the next two weeks?”

“I'm supposed to go see my friends after school on Friday next week.” Tracy lay her head back. She wanted to hang out with Sage and Rachel more then anything. The chance to be one of the girls was riding on her being in the Bay area.

“Your mother told me about it. But if these are the same girls who let you push yourself, should we let you go and try it again?” The doctor leaned against the bed and took her hand. “Look, I hate being the bad guy, but you keep pushing yourself and we'll have a major problem. There can be infections, pain that wont go away for the rest of your life and problems with going to the bathroom.” this got the child’s attention.

“Tracy lay there, thinking about what she had said. “So I have to lie in bed for two weeks?”

“Well with the damage to your ribs giving you trouble in walking and stairs and now your wrist is sprained again I say yes. But I'd like to see you next week and we can make an evaluation there.” The Doctor stood up straight as her young patient groaned. “I know you had plans and no one wants to spend Christmas vacation in bed, but this is for the best. We'll see on next Wednesday, but for now, no leaving your bed except for the bathroom, to get something to eat or drink and two walks, but till you feel sore, nothing more. So no hour long walks. And we're still on clear liquids.”

“Okay.” Tracy's voice had that defeated tone. She dreaded calling Rachel and Sage. All her plans to go have fun were now dashed. Two weeks in her bed, no TV, no fun at all.

“We'll keep you over night tonight, then you go home tomorrow, if I give the okay. Once there it's to bed for you. Understand me?”

“Yes.” Tracy replied in that same defeated tone.

“Good. Now I'll leave you be. Let the nurse know if you start to hurt again, okay? And we'll skip the walks for today, but let them know with the call button when you need to use the bathroom.” the doctor pulled up the rails on the side of the bed and then clicked them into place. “No climbing down on your own.”

~o~O~o~

Daytime TV sucked. But the news was worse for an eleven year old. Tracy knew that already, but now she had to live it all over again. She knew that it was almost six in the evening, both with the clock on the wall and the fact that the sky was dark. Not that it had been a sunny day. Clouds had covered the sky for most of the morning and afternoon, with drizzle off and on the whole day.

She only had a couple of books to keep her entertained, not including her school books. But she didn't see the fun in relaxing with math. Her parents had gone home for the evening, mostly because she got tired of them telling her that she should have taken it easy. So she lay there all alone. It was late and Peter hadn't stopped by, so the fear that she had run him off for good was there as well, even though she was still angry with him for how he treated her.

She lay back in her bed and had just begun to wonder why her life sucked for the hundredth time that day when there was a knock at the doorway. “Can I come in?” A timid voice called out.

She sat up enough to see over the bed railings and saw Mary Beth. She knew there would be another round of twenty questions, but she was aching for human contact that wasn't a nurse. “Sure.” She said as she lay back down.

“I was so worried about you when I saw that blood.” Mary Beth looked like she was on the edge of tears.

“It's nothing.” She replied.

“But you were hurt. I thought you were going to die.” Mary Beth sat in the seat next to the bed.

“I pulled some stitches when I got tripped.” Tracy replied.

“Oh. So it's from when Bruce hurt you?”

Tracy nodded her head and sighed. There was no stopping Mary Beth, she was slowly learning that. “Yeah.”

“So, what did he do to you?” She asked her usual question once more.

Tracy chuckled and groaned as she held her ribs. “You never stop, do you?”

“I'm just curious.” Mary Beth smiled at her.

“I still don't want to talk about it.” Tracy answered.

“Okay.” Mary Beth nodded and leaned back in the chair. This confused Tracy.

“Okay? Not used to you giving up on something.” She lifted her head and raised an eyebrow.

“Meh, You wont tell me, why ask anymore?” Mary Beth shrugged. “So are you going to be in school tomorrow?”

“No. I'm out of school for a week, maybe till the break.” Tracy replied.

“Do you need your homework?” Mary Beth asked.

“No, Vance is getting that for me. But thank you.” She shook her head. “Not that I really want it anyway.”

Mary Beth chuckled. “Yeah, school does suck.” She leaned forward in her chair, her eyes gleaming with excitement. This worried Tracy. “So, Can I ask a question?”

“I may not answer, but sure, ask away.” Tracy replied. She was waiting for the stream of questions to start again, even though Mary Beth had seemed to give up a minute before, but her fears were quickly laid to rest when they got interrupted, just in time.

“Mary Beth?” A woman's voice called to her from the doorway. “We should get going.”

“Aw, Mom. I wanna talk some more.” Mary Beth replied.

“I know, but we still got to pick up your father. Maybe you can talk to your friend later in the week.”

Mary Beth smiled at Tracy and nodded. “Could I? I can get the address from Vance tomorrow.”

“Sure I guess.” Tracy shrugged. “I won't be doing much anyway.”

“Cool.”

“Hey, Mary Beth?” The other girl stopped halfway in the room. “Could you turn on the TV? Maybe see if they got MTV?”

“Oh, they do!” She went over and grabbed a chair and dragged it to the TV and turned it on.

“Not too loud though.” Tracy said as Mary Beth turned it up. “Thanks.”

“See ya later.” Mary Beth smiled at her and she followed her mother out of the door, leaving Tracy to the sounds of the Go-Go's.

~o~O~o~

It was almost eight in the evening when Peter stuck his head into the room. The sounds of MTV were still playing on the TV and Tracy sat there, watching each video intently. He walked over and stopped just by her bed and turned to watch the videos. After it was done he turned and looked at her. “The Tom-Tom club? I never heard of them.”

“They're kinda cool.” She said as she looked at him. A part of her was still mad at him for saying the wrong name, then there was the fact he babied her, even though her current location proved he was right. “Why are you here?”

He looked to the floor. He was still feeling guilty for not being there for her. It had torn him up to see her carried away again. “I...I wanted to know how you were doing.”

“I was just a little sore.” She replied as she looked back to the TV, trying to stay mad at him for some reason. “Nothing to worry about.”

“You were brought here. It's something to worry about.” He moved to a seat by her bed and he plopped into it. “When I saw you in Mr. McCoy's arms....” He trailed off for a moment, then her attention was pulled from the TV when she heard a sniffle. She could see fresh tears running down his cheeks.

“Peter?” She asked, her anger now rushing away. “Are you okay?”

“No.” He said before he sniffled again. “I screwed up and made you mad, then you got hurt. If I had been there I could have caught you.” He began to cry and she put a hand out to touch his shoulder.

“Hey. If you hadn't been there, Clark would have kicked my ass.” She said.

“But you still got hurt.” He replied.

“Only because someone tripped me.”

“But I could have been there for you.” He cried out. He looked up at her and tears kept falling. “It's my fault you got hurt. The day Bruce got to you, I stayed to watch something on the TV. I was late because of a stupid cartoon. You got hurt because of me!”

“Peter, it's not your fault.” She said.

Neither of them seen Carly walk in with a clipboard in hand. “Is everything okay in here?” She asked.

“Sorry, Carly.” Tracy looked at her, then gestured to Peter. “We'll keep it down.”

“He's not bugging you?” The nurse asked.

“No.” Tracy smiled.

“Well, I do need to break this up. You need to take a walk and visiting hours are over in about two minutes.” Carly said, pointing to the clock.

“Aww.” Tracy said, her anger now a distant memory. “Can't we hang out a bit longer? Maybe watch a couple more videos?”

“Okay, two more videos, then he's got to go and you need a walk.” Carly said. “Gives me time to check up on next door.”

“Thank you, Carly.” Tracy said as the nurse walked out of the room. She gave Peter's shoulder a slight squeeze. “I'm sorry I yelled at you earlier. You were right about me hurting myself.”

“I don't wanna be right. I just want you by me and healthy.” Peter said wiping the tears from his eyes as another video started playing. “I hate seeing you in here.”

“Me too.” Tracy answered.

So much for going to the Bay area and being one of the girls. Next up, Tracy gets bored at home.