By the time Cole turned his head, the handlebar had already struck his ribs and the wheel was taking him under. The sky raced over him and the last thing he felt was his skull cracking on the pavement.

That same pain returned when his eyes opened again and the darkness was replaced by his mother’s face. The ache in his head made it hard for him to think straight. From what he could make out, he was in some kind of hospital room.

He tried to move his head but the pain stopped him. Instead, he used his eyes to scan. His heart froze when he saw his legs wrapped in bandages. When he looked back at his mother she had tears in her eyes.

“Mom?”

She caressed his hands. “I’m so sorry sweetie.”

They had small cuts and bruises but that wasn’t his major concern at the moment. Cole didn’t want to hear what she was going to say next. At first, he thought avoiding it would change his situation. But he knew better. He knew the capabilities of his condition and what could happen. So even though he didn’t want to hear it, even though he knew the answer, he hoped a miracle would change that.

“Will I… What did the doctor say?” His eyes stayed on his legs.

His mother spoke between bouts of sobs. “Your ankles are damaged. In a normal case, they would heal after a while. But the Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressive has caused permanent damage. You will never walk again.”

Cole looked at his mother, then his feet, and then through the window. The Ancient Culture Exhibit at school flashed before his eyes. Vivid memories of his visits to dig sites and excavations flooded his mind. He could smell the dirt and feel the stinging sun and dry air.

But the feeling he would miss most is the enthusiasm and wonder as he scanned unearthed artifacts. He pushed the memories back and then burned them where they lay. They lost their color and richness as they turned black.

“Take me home.” His face was like stone.

“But they need to—”

“There’s nothing they can do for me. We both know that. I want to go home.”

“You’re going to need medication for the pain,” she pleaded.

“I’ve been living with the pain all my life.” There was an even worse one welling up within him. “I can deal with it.”

“But—”

His head snapped in her direction, “I want to go home!”

His mother only stared at him. A few minutes later they were driving in the car. For most of the ride, everything was silent. Cole watched the scenery change from buildings to trees as they left the city and entered the suburbs.

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He regretted blowing up on his mother like that and decided he would apologize when he had fully calmed down. For now, he would watch the trees until they pulled up in the driveway. After that, he will rest and no longer worry about his broken dreams.

“That boy won’t get away with this,” His mother glanced at him quickly. At first, Cole wondered who she was talking about and then he remembered the guy who knocked him down. The guy probably ran off after he realized what he did. “He’s not going to get away with taking your future from you. Stupid, reckless kid.”

Cole wanted to beat up the guy as much as his mom but somehow he was blaming himself more than his assailant. If he wasn’t so fragile he wouldn’t be in this position. He would’ve been able to brush it off and keep on moving. Literally.

If he was like everyone else this wouldn’t be a big deal. But he wasn’t like everyone else. He had a curse that kept stealing his body from him. Taking parts of him bit by bit. Caging him from all angles until he eventually ended up in a prison of bone.

According to many doctors, he was supposed to be a normal baby. He was supposed to grow up as a normal boy and live a regular life. They couldn’t explain how he got something so strange and rare. It was a one-in-a-million chance. There was nothing like it in his lineage. His mom was very healthy and fit. His dad… well the only thing his dad suffered from was an accidental death, and Cole didn’t think that was genetic. But he could make it be.

They told him that his condition was just cruel luck. A fate few have to suffer. It was so rare that nothing was developed to treat it yet. So rare it will probably never be cured. He was lying though, or maybe he just forgot. There was a time when he lived a normal life for a while. But it was so brief that those good memories got buried under the bad ones. But, if he searched back hard enough, he would be able to remember.

He did have friends once. A lot of them. They played and laughed and got into trouble as nine-year-olds tend to. Back then, he was living somewhere else. Back then, his father was alive, his mother wasn’t so worried all the time, and he was happy. After his first accident, all of those things got reversed in polarity. He became so fragile that he no longer played outside.

His mother feared the worst and so kept him in the house where they watched documentaries together. That was how he came to love history, archaeology, and ancient cultures. He became so fragile that he lost everything that threatened to break him. And instead of keeping him whole, it shattered who he was.

They finally pulled up into the driveway and his mother popped the trunk and then got out. Cole then heard it slam shut and she came around on his side, opened his door, and helped him into a wheelchair. He could smell the newness of it and figured she had picked it up on her way over to the hospital. So they told her about his situation that quickly? What if the news had gotten her in an accident like dad? Cole couldn’t fathom forgiving himself twice.

After she wheeled him in, she had to switch from the wheelchair to her hands to take him the rest of the way. As she lifted him into her arms he felt a pang of guilt beneath his chest. She carried him up the stairs and into his bedroom.

He requested that she bring his chair up so that he could do some homework. Once she got him into it she said she would get him some bacon-cheese fries to cheer him up. Cole wasn’t sure it would work but encouraged her anyway. His job would be best done if she wasn’t around. Once she left he got started.

Cole scrambled through his desk drawer and pulled out a bottle of pain pills. After getting some water from the bathroom tap, he chugged the entire bottle. He wasn’t sure how much would be enough, but he knew it wouldn’t hurt to take as much as possible before he passed out. It was during his second bottle that his vision began to haze and all feeling left his body. As darkness consumed him he heard a female voice call his name from downstairs.

Shit, he didn’t want his mother to see this.