Not Mine

~Part 20~

They sat around for a while before Herc realized Laf's arm was in a sling, "Wait, arm?"
"Oh... I- it's nothing..."
"What happened to his arm?"
Alex answered, "C-car..."
"Holy crap... Please tell me everyone else is fine..."
"I think so..."
"Okay. Good. So what's new with you guys?"
"How about you tell us how you survived first?"
"Oh. Right... So umm I wasn't actually dead, I fell into a coma, which tricked the machine into thinking I was dead, and when they unplugged the machine I snapped awake and here I am!"
Laf looked at him, "Wow."
"So what's new with you guys?"
J answered, "Oh, nothing-"
Laf started making kissing faces.
"LAF! Right... that..."
Herc looked at him, confused, "Uh, why? What?"
"Right... Um..." He looked over at Alex.
"OoOoooOoOoo. You two?"
"Well uhh.... y-yeah..."
"Awwwwww," Herc smiled at them, "So where is everyone else?"
     Laf told him James and Maria were out on a trip and would be back soon enough, then asked Alex about John and Philip.
     "I think John went with James and Maria, but I haven't heard from Philip..."
     "Shouldn't you try to get ahold of him?"
     "I have been, he won't answer. I'm giving it another day or so then I'll probably have to call police..."
     "That doesn't sound good..."
      Alex sighed, "No... I'm kindof worried but I know Philip, he can make it back eventually."
     "You sure about that?"
     "I think..."
     "Are you suuuure?" Laf questioned again.
     "No.. Fine... Can you help me look for him? I don't wanna go any further yet..."
     "Sure," they headed out in search of Philip, "PHILIP??? ARE YOU OUT HERE???"
     They searched for about an hour before Laf suggested they go back inside.
     "One more minute, please?" Alex asked, tears forming in his eyes.
     "Okay fine, but that's it."
     They continued searching, now deep in the woods, for a minute, though it felt like longer. When they were just about to give up, they called out "Philip!" one last time, and heard a faint, "What!?" in the distance.
     "Where are you!!?!?" Alex called out, running towards where he heard the voice coming from.
     "I'm stuck under a branch! Help!"
     Alex kept running and saw him in the distance, "PHILIP! YES!!!" He sprinted up to him.
     "I couldn't reach my phone, but I kept hearing it go off, please help?"
     Alex looked over at Philip's backpack, which was laying about 10 feet away, then looked back at Philip and tried to pick up the branch, "Okay I can see how you got stuck, Laf can you help?"
     Laf walked over and helped Alex lift it just enough that Philip could get out from under it. Alex saw that Philip's leg was scratched and bruised pretty bad, "Yo-your leg..."
     "It's not that bad," Philip said, standing up on his other leg.
     Laf looked at him and said, "Mon ami, you can't even stand normally," before nodding at Alex. Alex picked him up and started to carry him back to the house. Laf grabbed Philip's bag and followed them. 
     Philip complained, "I can walkkkk, put me downnnn!"
     Alex continued carrying him and responded, "If you could walk, you would've stood up on both legs back there, just rest and if it doesn't seem to be getting better, we might need to get it checked, that branch was heavy."
     "B-but I can walk!"
     "Alright, prove it then!" Alex set him down.
     Philip almost immediately grabbed his leg and started hopping around, "Okay fine, maybe I can't walk..."
     Alex half-laughed and said, "I told you so..," before picking Philip back up and finishing the walk to the house.
     J looked at them as they walked in, "Hey! You found him! But leg?"
     Alex brought Philip over to the chair and explained the branch situation.
     "Well that doesn't sound good, will he be fine?"
     "I'm hoping so, gonna give it some time."
     Philip shifted around, groaning in pain, "Ughhh... everything hurts...."
     Alex looked over at him, "Maybe if you weren't moving so much, it wouldn't hurt as bad."
     Philip rolled his eyes at Alex, "mAyBE if YoU weRen'T moV-"
     "Y'know what, this will work." Alex went to the supply closet (thing? idk?) and got a piece of duct tape, then brought it out and put it over Philip's mouth. Philip quickly ripped it off then put his hand over his mouth, biting his lip from the pain.
     Alex shook his head, smiling, then remembered Philip's stomach. He slowly lifted Philip's shirt to look at it, and noticed the stitches were gone and all that was left was a scar. "Well nice going, one injury heals, you get another." He put Philip's shirt back down and stepped away.
     "Shut up... It's not my fault the branch fell on me..."
     "Wait it fell?"
     "How else would it have gotten there..."
     "Okay fine, you're right, I'm wrong, always."
     "N-no that's not what I m-meant..!"
     Herc came out of the kitchen, holding a plate with a sandwich on it, "I made this for you, not sure how long you've been stuck there or how long it's been since you've eaten.." He handed the plate to Philip.
     "Oh.. W-wow... Thanks?"
     Herc stepped away and walked over to an empty chair, then looked back and smiled at Philip, "Anytime, just let me know if you need anything else."
     "Th-thanks. Dad, don't I have school tomorrow?"
     Alex answered, "Yeah, but how are you gonna get around?"
     He sighed, "Oh.. Right.. Maybe I should get it checked and see if I can get anything to help me get around.. I'm not missing any more school!" Philip stood up, but fell to the ground.
     Alex walked over and helped him up, "Okay, okay, let's go... again.." He put Philip over his shoulder and brought him out to his car. They headed off in a silent drive.
     When they got to the hospital, they checked in and a few moments passed before one of the doctors called Philip back for an X-Ray. Philip hobbled a little before deciding to just hop on one leg to the back, where the machine was.
     The doctor asked him to sit up on the table and bring his leg up also, so he did. He sat there while the doctor went into a separate room off to the side and pressed a couple buttons to take the X-Ray. He came back in and had Philip turn his leg over. It hurt when he did, but he tried his best to keep it like that while the doctor took more X-Rays.
     The doctor helped Philip back out to the lobby, where Alex was waiting, while they waited for the specialists to view the X-rays. A few minutes passed before someone else came and explained what was going on.
     "Philip's leg is broken in multiple places," he pointed out on the X-Ray, "he'll need a cast and will probably be in a wheelchair for a while, no exact times yet, at least a couple months."
     Philip looked at him, shocked, "But it was only a branch?"
     The new doctor nodded before asking, "So since you need a cast, any color preference?"
     "I can't believe a branch did that... but something dark, like purple or something..."
     "Alright, follow me, you'll be out of here very shortly."
     Alex watched them walk back into the back, and waited around for about 15 minutes, before they came back, Philip with a cast and in a wheelchair.
     The doctor said the wheelchair was foldable, so they could get it around easily, and they could go whenever they were ready.
     Alex pushed Philip outside, helped him get in the car, and folded the wheelchair then shoved it in the back. They started to drive back to J's house.