“Lucy.” I feel my mom's hand stroking my hair. I've been in the hospital for over a week. “The doctor said that you're well enough to go, but you can't walk yet.” I look behind her and I see a wheel chair. Great. A wheelchair is worse than crutches, it means I can't go many places on my own. I'm now limited to flat surfaces.

    Dad comes in and he helps me sit up. My right leg tingles. I groan. My parents slowly help me into my wheelchair. Dad covers my legs with a blanket. Maybe it's for the people outside, but it's probably for me. I haven't seen anything yet. Mom grabs the handles and pushes me out of the room. I already feel light headed. I haven't moved anywhere in a long time. I see three people waiting for me, Alex, Annie, and Jackson.

    “Lucy!” Annie runs up to me. “I'm sorry I didn't go in there, but I didn't like seeing you like that. You just didn't look very good, you still don't.” She wraps her arms around me. Jackson comes up and hugs me from the other side. I hug them back in the best way I can.

    “I told you everything would be fine, Lucy. You're surrounded by people that love you,” Alex smiles at me.

    I look around. Someone is missing. “Where's Danny? Is he okay?” I look up at Alex.

    “Danny's fine. He went home to rest. He said he'd stop by at home today or tomorrow. He is tired, that's all.” Alex tells me. I nod. I can't expect him to always be here. He's injured, too. Alex takes my wheelchair from my mom and starts pushing me out towards the parking lot.

    “How long have you guys been here? Did you ever leave?” I ask my father. I feel bad for making them stay here for so long. I know they didn't leave, but I wish they did. We go through the automatic door. The sun is so bright that I have to keep my eyes down.

    “Annie and Jackson have gone home everyday, as well as your mother, but Alex and I have stayed here the whole time,” Dad answers. That's better than I thought it would be. I knew Alex wouldn't leave me here, he feels too guilty. And Dad cares too much about me. I'm surprised Mom went home. I thought she wouldn't be able to sleep, but she probably didn't sleep at home, either.

    The conversation stops there. None of us have anything more to say to each other. I would ask Alex how school has changed – I'm sure it has, since the questioning – but he's been gone as long as I have. Eventually we reach our white mini-van. How am I supposed to get in there? My question is soon answered when Annie and Jackson each grab one of my arms and they help me stand. They guide me into the car. I sit down and sigh. It shouldn't be a big accomplishment to just sit down, but it is to me. The ride home is bumpy, and therefore very painful. Every jostle, every turn makes pain spike through my leg. Alex keeps his hand on my leg the whole way home, to calm me down. Sadly it doesn't work very well.

    When we get home, the order is reversed – Annie and Jackson help me down and sit me back into my wheelchair, which was in the back of the car. Alex pushes me. Once we get inside, everything looks different. Everything is different. Though everything is physically the same, it's all viewed from a different angle. I can't see over the back of the chair, I can't reach any of the shelves in the bookshelf. If I wasn't before, now I am broken.

    My parents slip past the four of us and they hide themselves in their room. A few minutes later, I hear my mom yelling at my dad. She's blaming him for everything that has happened to me. I would blame him, too, if it wasn't partially my fault. I didn't have to run away. I should have just stayed at the school. “I wish I could go downstairs,” I say. I look down the stairs and I see a light on. “What's that?” No one has been here since this morning, and my mom doesn't like to leave lights on when she leaves.

    Alex gets down to my level and looks down the stairs. “I don't know. I'll be right back. You three stay up here.” He slowly walks down the stairs. “Hello? Is anyone there?” When he reaches the bottom of the stairs, he stands up straight. “What are you doing in here?” They mumble something back at him. “We already did what you wanted.” I hear someone say something along the lines of 'no'. “What do you mean? Yes we did.” They must have told him to bring me downstairs because he says, “She's in a wheelchair. She's not coming down here.” They say something else and he turns around and walks back up the stairs. “They want you to come down here, Lucy. Annie, Jackson, go to your rooms.” My younger siblings do as they’re told, without question.

    “How am I supposed to go down the stairs? I'm kind of handicapped right now.” I fold my arms. “And who is 'they'?” He doesn't answer either of my questions. He just picks me up and goes down the stairs again. “You,” I say when I see who they are. Police officers. Oliver is among them. Alex sets me down on the couch. My leg hurts again. I try to hide my discomfort, although I'm not sure how well that's going.

    “Hello, Lucy,” one of them steps closer to me. “I'm Sheriff Wilson. There has been a misunderstanding. You were meant to come to the police station last week, as you did. Then you were supposed to come to me for the questioning. But you never did.”

    “What are you talking about? We did the questioning,” I say.

    “You may have done some questioning, but it wasn't real. It was faked by one of our cops. He pretended to be sheriff. He pretended to ask you the questions, when it should have been me asking the questions. We're here to ask you the real questions.” Everything makes sense suddenly, we didn't get a punishment, and it was too easy. He goes on, “Your friends, Danny and Emily, are already in custody.” Custody? They have Danny? And Emily? “We're here to finish the job. Now, have either of you faked any illness in the past?”

    “Yes.” I don't want to say anymore, but Sheriff Wilson is staring me down, so I have to. “I pretended to be deaf and mute for most of my life. I've probably faked a few colds to get out of things, like school. That's all I can think of.” I have to be honest, I don't want to make my punishment any more severe than it has to be.

    “I've faked some colds in my life. And I've known Lucy's secret the whole time,” Alex says. He lays his hand on my shoulder.

    “Thanks for being honest,” the sheriff replies. “As for you punishments, they are simple. You are on parole for a year, Lucy. And Alex, you are going to be locked up for a month, then you'll be on parole with everyone else. You'll be with Danny and Emily.”

    “What?! You're taking away my only friends! Why do they get worse than me! I'm the one that has been holding up the lie! They have done no worse than me!” I yell.

    “They helped you escape. They made the plan. They were more involved than you were. That is why. You can visit them once a week, Lucy. Let's go Alex,” Sheriff Wilson puts handcuffs around Alex's wrists.

    “I need to get upstairs first!” I say. The release Alex and he runs over and picks me up. “I'm going to miss you.” I mumble into his shirt as we reach the staircase.

    “I'm going to miss you, too. You need to stay strong for Annie and Jackson. Can you do that for me?” Alex says. I shake my head. “I know you can, Lucy. You won't be able to visit us for the first few weeks because you won't be able to get there. Maybe on the last week you can. It'll be fine.” I shake my head again. “You'll be able to make new friends. Don't worry.” I start to cry.

    “I won't see you, or Danny, or Emily for a whole month! How will it be okay? It's all my fault. If I hadn't been so scared of my secret, you wouldn't have needed to make a plan to get me out. I would still have my leg and you wouldn't be going to jail,” I say. We reach the top of the stairs. “Don't go.” I wrap my arms tighter around his neck and he tightens his grip around me.

    “I have to.” Alex puts me down. “You'll be perfectly fine.”

    “What's going on out there?” I hear my mom ask. She walks around the corner and sees Alex and I in front of a squad of cops. “What's happening?”

    “Your son is being arrested, Mrs. White. For scheming against the government. He'll be back in one month,” Sheriff Wilson says. “Your daughter is on a year long parole. She can't leave the state. Alex will join her when he gets out.”

    “What? That's outrageous. He was just helping his sister. Don't you understand that? He wasn't doing anything worth going to jail,” my mom complains.

    “If it was just helping his sister, then it would be fine. But it isn't. He went against law. That is why he is being taken away. You'll see him again.” Sheriff Wilson puts the handcuffs back on Alex. “Let's go.” I look out the window and I see a cop car pull up. Inside I see two people in the backseat. Danny and Emily.

    “Can I just say goodbye to them?” I ask, pointing out the window. “Please? They're my friends. It'll only take a minute.”

    “Fine. Come on.” the sheriff motions me to follow him. I wheel myself after him.

    Danny must see me coming because he opens the door and says, “Lucy!” I go as fast as I can. I get as close as I can to the car, which is really difficult in a wheelchair. His arms wrap around me and mine wrap around him. "How are you doing?"

    "I'm okay. My life has gotten really complicated lately." I pull back from him. "I lost my leg and all of my friends are going to jail for me. It’s kind of rough right now."

    "You have more friends, I'm sure of it. It's impossible not to love you." He pushes my hair behind my ear. His hand stays there. I place my hand on top of his. Danny moves his thumb over my cheekbone. "You'll be fine. The next month will be over before you know it."

    "You know that's not true. This month will never be over." A tear escapes my eye. He brushes it away.

    "There's no need to cry, Lucy. I'll be back soon. Don't visit me if you aren't healed enough for the trip. Okay?" He hugs me again. "I'll see you soon." I smile and nod.

    I look past Danny and see Emily. "I'll be fine, Lucy. Just have some fun and make new friends. You won't have Danny or Alex to protect you anymore. You'll need as many as you can get," Emily says. She smiles. She's just trying to lighten the mood, but what she said strikes home. I've always had someone to watch out for me, and now I have no one.

    I look back and forth between Danny and Emily for a moment before I hear Sheriff Wilson say, “Okay, time is up. Get away from the car.” I slowly wheel myself backwards without taking my eyes off of Danny. One of the cops shoves Alex into the car and I lose sight of Danny. I stay motionless as I watch the car drive away.

    “Let’s go inside, Lucy. You need to rest now.” I forgot my mother was there. She grabs the wheelchair and takes me inside.

    “I can do it.” I try to free myself from her grip but she holds on tight.

    “You can’t really get yourself onto your bed, can you?” She keeps moving forward. “Besides, I need to get my mind off of things.”

    I know what she means by ‘things’. She’s talking about Alex and me. We have caused so much trouble the past week. “Mom. When will I go back to school?” I don’t wait for a response. “I don’t want to go back until my friends are with me. Is that okay?” No matter what she says, I won’t go back without them. I can’t face everyone like this. I’m a completely different person now. I can’t grow my leg back and I can’t fake deaf and mute anymore, since it’s illegal.

    “I’m not going to let you go back to school until then. You need time to heal.” She pushes me next to my bed. “I’m going to go talk with your father after you’re situated. He must have left the scene when you came upstairs. I’ll go talk with Annie and Jackson as well,” she says as she lifts me onto the bed.

    “What am I going to do without my friends?” I ask as the blankets are pulled over me. The warmth they give off is a little too much, but I don’t say anything. She’s has a lot on her mind right now.

    “You can find new friends,” Mom answers as she pulls the wheelchair away from the bed.

    I sigh. “That’s what Emily said. Now that I don’t have anyone to protect me.” I regret the words as soon as I said them. I have the rest of my family to keep me safe. I turn on my side away from her. “I need to sleep now.”

    “Of course.” I hear her close the door behind her as she walks out. Then I hear a door open. “I need to talk to you two about something.” I hear Mom say. I don’t want to hear their reactions. I fall asleep.