"HOW WAS YOUR DAY?"

That was what it took to break Darren: one question. While he'd managed to keep his emotions to himself for most of that day, he burst out crying when he saw the face of his father on his laptop screen. His father Ryan didn't know about anything that had happened that day, or how everything had changed. To him, it had been an ordinary day, and the question was asked out of curiosity. He didn't know what emotional significance that simple question had to Darren.

"I'll take that as not good." Ryan cleared his throat.

Darren shook his head. "It wasn't," he said. "It– It was–" But the sobs prevented him from talking.

Ryan shifted in his seat and got closer to the screen. "Take a deep breath, son," he said. "Don't rush it, take your time." It pained him to see his child in so much distress while there was an entire ocean between them.

Darren nodded and disappeared off the screen to grab a tissue. Today had taken a bigger toll on him than he had wanted to believe, and the emotions were now breaking free.

"I'm here," he said when he sat down on his chair in front of the laptop screen again.

The reappearance of his son brought a small smile to Ryan's face. "Now, when you're ready, I want to know what happened today," he said calmly.

"I'm not ready yet," Darren protested, but his voice came out weak.

His father chuckled. "I did say, 'when you're ready'."

He cast down his head and dried his cheeks. "Right," he said. He tried to collect himself, and the knowledge that his father was a patient man helped him to take as much time as he needed without feeling pressured. "It's a lot, though," he said.

"I have all the time in the world," Ryan replied. "And that's not just a reference to the time difference between Scotland and America."

Darren chuckled. "America is such a European thing to say," was all he said.

"'America is such a European thing to say?'" Ryan repeated. "Look at my boy, he is a true American!"

Darren bit his lip. He wanted to smile, but for some reason, it didn't feel appropriate. "Okay, I'm ready now," he said instead.

Ryan straightened his posture and looked at Darren expectantly.

"Today, Liam..." Darren breathed in and decided to just let the words out. "He had an accident."

Ryan's eyes widened for a second, but he soon collected himself. However, Darren had already noticed the change in emotion.

"What type of accident?" Ryan asked.

"A football accident," Darren said. "It happened during the game."

"Were you there?"

Darren shook his head. "I was with Aimee, and when we heard the news, we went straight to the hospital."

Ryan's eyes widened at the mention of the hospital. "Liam had to be taken to the hospital? It was that bad?"

Darren nodded. "An ambulance picked him up from the football game. When Aimee and I arrived, he was already there, and the doctors had already examined him."

"Whoa, that was fast," Ryan said. He'd raised his eyebrows in shock. "What did the doctor say?"

Darren took a breath before he started talking. "Liam had a broken rib, or multiple, and his wrist wasn't good. There was something else too... But the worst was his knee. The doctor said it was messed up."

"Messed up how?"

Darren bit his lip. "As in, he wouldn't be able to walk again." He remembered the words of the doctor that had echoed in his mind for the rest of the day. They had scared him, because it was the first time he realized how severe the accident had really been. Liam hadn't just broken his leg or had another injury that would heal within a few weeks. The damage could be permanent.

"Never?" Ryan's eyes widened.

"Well, they did surgery on him," Darren continued. He realized he was talking fast, but he didn't care. These words had been on his mind all this time and it felt good to let them out. "They tried to fix his knee – I'm not sure what they did, but they were out for three hours, which was longer than they said they would be."

"Were there any complications with the surgery?" Hearing that it took the doctors longer than usual worried the father too, even though he didn't know Liam personally. He could imagine this having happened to his own son, and it was a terrifying scenario, especially considering the miles between them.

"There might have been," Darren said, thinking. "I can't remember exactly. Maybe Liam woke up halfway through? I can remember the doctor saying something like that." He held his hand to his forehead, trying to remember exactly what had happened, but the day had had too many events and information in it for it all to be remembered.

"That's not good," Ryan said. For a second, his digital image was distorted, and Darren thought he saw his father's eyes glimmering with a tear, although it might have been his own. "Where is Liam now?" Ryan asked then, not bringing attention to the bad connection between the two of them.

"In the hospital," Darren said. "Visiting hours were over, so we had to go." Adelaide hadn't liked that; she had cried hysterically when Isaiah grabbed her by the shoulders and tried to guide her away from her son. Even after the long drive home, she still hadn't stopped sobbing, and even now, Darren heard a whine coming from the living room every few minutes.

"How long will he have to stay?" Ryan asked.

Darren shrugged. "At least five days, the doctors said." They had added a few days to the original period so they could keep an eye on him. "He was in a lot of pain when we left him," he continued. "He has to take lots of painkillers, too."

"How was it to see him like that?" His father's head tilted to the side and his eyes looked kindly into his.

A whimper escaped Darren's lips. "It was so – so..." He pressed his lips together. "He looked so weak, lying there in that bed. He couldn't do anything, dad."

Ryan bit his lip. "Son, I really wish I could hug you right now." Because at least his son was safe, despite the distress he was in.

"I really wish you could be here." Darren's voice cracked halfway through the sentence.

They sat in silence for a while, not looking at each other but also not able to do anything else off-screen. All they did was sit and wait for the other to say something, but neither of them did.

It was Ryan who eventually broke the ice. "How is the family doing?"

"Bad," Darren managed to get out. Right now, all of them were in the living room, and although he could hear the TV playing enthusiastically in the background, he knew none of them was actually watching. "Especially Ada." That's how everyone in the family called Adelaide. "Isaiah tries to hold himself together for the family, but I know he's shaken up by everything too."

"I would be," Ryan said. "What about Aimee?"

"She's strong. She's mostly concerned about her mother and tries to comfort her where she can." Aimee had also tried to make Liam feel as comfortable as possible when he returned from surgery, much to his irritation. He'd snapped at her and told her he would never be comfortable as long as he still had pain. Quietly, he'd added that he just wanted to be around family.

It was an adjustment for everyone.

"Give them my best wishes, okay?" Ryan asked.

"I will."

It earned Darren a weak smile. "Good," his father said.

"Dad?" The single word pierced through the silence.

"Yeah?"

Darren suppressed a chuckle when he heard the typical Scottish word that he hadn't heard in forever. "I'm glad you're here," he said. "Even when you're not physically here, I am..."

He couldn't find the right words, but Ryan understood. "Same here, son," he said, smiling.

Those words filled Darren with a warm feeling. His family would always be there for him, he knew. It made him think back to Dakota, who didn't have any family.

Ryan pressed his lips together. "So, did anything positive happen this week too?"

Anything positive? He hadn't even had the time to think about anything positive. So, he shrugged.

Ryan raised an eyebrow. "Come on, your week couldn't have been nothing but misery, right?"

Darren shook his head. It hadn't been, but his mind was so full of what happened today that he couldn't even remember what else had occurred in the past week. He also knew that was exactly the reason his dad asked: to get his mind off today.

The only thing that popped to mind was Dakota and the spontaneous date he'd had with her last week. After that, they'd hung out more during school too, and they sat next to each other during English, the only class they had together. However, Darren hadn't told his dad about Dakota yet.

He wondered how Dakota would deal with something like the events of today. Without any family to turn back to, who would she turn to? Maybe Dominic – the two of them lived together and seemed to know each other through and through. He was probably the closest to family she'd ever have.

"You know, there's this person..." Darren began. "A friend of mine," he clarified. "We were talking, and she... She told me she's an orphan." The last phrase came out as a question, as if he wasn't sure. And in all honesty, he still wasn't sure what to think of it.

"She?" his dad repeated.

Darren rolled his eyes. "Yes, it's a girl," he admitted. "But what I was talking about, was that she doesn't have any parents."

Ryan frowned. "That must be difficult for her," he said.

"I thought so too," Darren said. "But when I asked her if she'd want to get to know them, she said no." The conversation had been replaying in his mind since that past Friday. In some way, her answer made sense, but on the other hand, he couldn't understand it at all.

"So, she lives by herself?" his father asked. "While she's only what – seventeen, eighteen?"

"No, she lives with someone else," Darren said absent-mindedly. "Her foster brother, or adoptive. It's complicated, I guess."

"Sounds like it is." Ryan chuckled.

"But..." Darren mumbled, but he realized he'd started speaking before he'd gathered his thoughts. "I just can't imagine what that must be like. No parents – no family at all? Especially after a day like today, I don't know..." Darren shook his head and didn't finish the sentence. "What if this had happened to her?"

"It didn't." The tone in Ryan's voice was warningly.

"But it could," Darren said. "What then? Who would be there for her?"

"You just said she was adopted," Ryan said. "That person can take care of her."

"The guy is just as old as her." Darren shook his head dismissively and noticed his raising voice. "And what about her parents? She might not know them, but they have the right to know their daughter is in the hospital."

Ryan shrugged and carefully chose the words for his answer. "It's different from what you know, Darren. I think that if her parents wanted to know how she was doing, they would have looked for her already. And if she would have wanted to know them, she would have tried to find them. However, neither of them did, and it's a choice we have to respect."

"I just don't get it." His life would be so empty without family in it.

"You don't have to," Ryan said. "But while you've always been surrounded by family, your friend" – here Ryan sent his son a meaningful look, wanting to know if maybe she was more than a friend – "never has, so she doesn't know what she's missing out on."

"She said her life was fine," Darren added. "That she had figured it out. She thought that meeting her parents would only mess things up."

"See?" Ryan's tone changed. "That's another good reason. She's okay with not knowing them, Darren, so don't you worry about her. She seems capable of saving herself."

She was, Darren knew. Behind the outgoing and spontaneous personality was a strong woman.

"She probably has been through a lot, too, since she doesn't have any parents," Ryan added. "Her childhood could not have been easy, but she has come to terms with the situation. Don't try to create an issue where there is none."

"I won't," Darren said, but he was absent-minded. Ryan's words didn't really get through to him. "It's just been something that has been on my mind lately."