The three men continued to play like children, laughing and having more fun than they could remember. Guardian laughed and cheered as they played.

“This is more fun than karaoke,” Duncan said, as the three collapsed on the grass, tired after half an hour of horsing around.

He turned and looked at the rock, which was right behind him. “What do you think?” he said as he stroked the rock. To Guardian he said, “It looks like a person could sit in any of the four cardinal directions and be fairly comfortable. Other than the fact he’d be sitting on rock. Maybe he could even lie down.”

“Try it and see,” she answered.

He got up and sat on the nearest side, the east. “Hmm, not bad.” He got up and tried south. “Oh, that’s better.” He relaxed back until his head rested on the stone. He closed his eyes.

The crowd roared as he flew down the final stretch, bent low, left hand behind his back. He was the fastest skater in the world. In this competition, at least. He was several feet ahead of the man in second place. The race was in the bag. He concentrated on the finish line. No reason not to break a record, even if he was so far in front. It would be so cool if he set a world record. Prestige for him and his school.

He never saw the gouge in the ice that grabbed the blade of his skate. He just knew he was suddenly flying out of control, tumbling, twisting. Oh, the pain. When he came to rest, one leg was bent really wrong. He passed out from the pain. When he came to, he was being carried from the ice.

“Did I win? Did I win?”

No one seemed to hear. They were just shouting things like, “Get out of the way. Let us through.”

He was hustled to an ambulance and whisked away to the hospital where he was admitted to the emergency room.

A doctor with rumpled clothing and tousled hair pulled up a stool and sat by Duncan’s cot.

“I’m Doctor Tracy. Looks like you took a tumble.”

“Duh.”

The doctor lifted an eyebrow and made a note on the chart she was holding.

“Let’s get you to x-ray.”

“I hope it doesn’t take long. My leg hurts!”

“We’ll be as fast as we can.” The doctor got up and moved on.

Duncan waited. After what seemed like forever, but was probably more like ten minutes, a nurse went past.

“Can I get something for pain?” Duncan called. “I’m in a lot of pain.”

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

She stopped and looked at his chart. “I’m sorry,” she said. “There are no orders for pain meds. I can’t give you anything without orders. I’ll check on it for you.”

Several more minutes went by. Two men came and grabbed his cot, one on each end, and started pushing it down the hall.

“I’m on wheels?” Duncan was startled. One of the men chuckled but did not answer.

They pushed him through a doorway and left him just inside the room. Two or three other cots were already there, each containing a patient. One was groaning loudly; another lay still with her arm over her face. The third occasionally shifted position slightly, as if uncomfortable.

A technician appeared and rolled out the groaner.

“Thank goodness,” Duncan said. “Hey, somebody. Can I get something for pain? My leg really hurts!”

There was no response. After several minutes the technician brought the groaner back and took the next cot.

Duncan rolled his eyes and said, “Oh, no.” He was talking to himself now. “I don’t know how much longer I can stand this.” He laughed grimly. “So I suppose I’ll have to sit down.” He groaned. “Oh, I crack myself up— Oh crap! My leg hurts.” He raised his voice. “I NEED something for PAIN.”

Duncan’s eyes suddenly popped open and he leaped off the rock.

“What happened?” he demanded.

“What do you mean?” John asked. “You just laid back on the rock for a second and then you jumped up.

“Are you kidding me? I was there a lot longer than a second.”

“No, really,” Dale said. “You hardly got there before you jumped up again.”

“Well, I fell asleep and had a dream, and it lasted a lot more than a second.”

“Oh, I’ve heard about that,” Dale said. “Your brain works so fast, you can experience, like, hours in just a minute or so when you’re dreaming.”

“You don’t start dreaming the instant you go to sleep, though,” John objected. “It takes at least an hour for dreams to start.”

“If I was only there for a minute, it doesn’t take any hour for dreams to start. I definitely had a dream.”

“Maybe you had vision,” Dale said with a smirk. “You don’t have to be asleep for an hour to have a vision. You don’t have to be asleep at all. Maybe you never fell asleep.”

Guardian stood, startling them. She laughed. “Did you forget I was here?” Then she sobered and turned to Duncan. “What did you remember?”

“It was something that happened when I was in high school. I broke my leg in a race.”

“You were a runner?” John said.

“Not a runner. A skater. I was a speed skater. I was a junior in high school, and it was the finals. I was way ahead of all the other skaters. I had the race in the bag, and then I fell. They said a big gouge in the ice caught my skate. I never saw it. But I twisted my leg really bad and ended up with a spiral fracture. The bones were broken from practically one end of my leg to the other.”

Guardian spoke again. “Breaking your leg meant more than losing just that race, didn’t it?”

“Yes. I also played basketball, and I was really good. I had already been scouted by a big league team. My leg healed really well, but it had enough permanent damage that I couldn’t play basketball anymore. My bones couldn’t handle the constant beating they get when you play basketball.” He fell silent.

“There’s more for you to remember,” said Guardian.

Duncan looked at the rock and sighed. He sat down and laid back again. But before his head touched, he sat back up.

“I don’t think so,” he said. “It’s all in the past. I haven’t forgotten. I’ll never forget. But I’ve moved on. I’m living my life and I don’t see any point in reopening old wounds.”

He stood up.

“I understand,” said Guardian.

“Come on, guys.”

Duncan headed for the north edge of the grove. John and Dale fell in beside him. Guardian watched them walk away. As they disappeared into the trees, she turned to the stone.

“Yes,” she said. “He will be back.”