Why Don't We Sickfics

Passing Out

"Alright, Zach. So you're comfortable on a skateboard, right?" The photoshoot photographer smiled at him. "If not, I'm sure we can get a bit of Photoshop on this picture."

Zach grinned back. "No, I'm perfectly fine on a skateboard. I love doing it. Actually, one of my other band members taught me a few tricks."

"Awesome!" The photographer gave him a high-five. "That's perfect. So our whole shoot is themed around you guys being in a skate park. We'll have you all in various positions on skateboards, it'll be fun. And I think it's the perfect playful, youthful vibe for you guys."

Zach nodded, but he couldn't stop thinking about how bad his hair was going to look after he took off his helmet. Ugh.

The photographer frowned. "Since you're the youngest, let's do something fun with you. Jump up on the skateboard and slide down this railing, would you?"

Zach gulped as he looked at the railing. The type of skating he was used to was more of an... on-the ground thing. Yeah, he could do a couple flips on the skateboard, but that was nothing like jumping onto and sliding down a railing. Jack had only been teaching him for a couple months, and he was still at the point where he was using elbow and knee guards. But for the photoshoot to look 'cooler', they'd omitted any guards except for a helmet.

He glanced over to the side, where the other boys were watching on a bench at the edge of the park, under the shade of a couple trees. Corbyn gave him a thumbs-up, and Jack blew him a kiss, winking. It wasn't just the boys watching, though, the magazine that had organized this photoshoot was filming it so they'd have content for their YouTube channel. A small camera crew was pointed at him.

"You ready?" the photographer asked. He was already kneeling in position, his camera set up.

Zach nodded. I can do this. I've seen it a million times on Youtube. Just try to do what the guys in the videos do.

He skated back a couple feet. "This is it." he mumbled to himself. "All or nothing."

He kicked off powerfully, trying to gain as much momentum as possible. He was speeding along on the skateboard faster than he was used to. When he got close to the railing, he kicked up the front edge of the skateboard, hoping it would get high enough to link over the railing. The skateboard went up-- up-- up--

But just as it was about to get up there, it crashed against the supporting pole, falling backwards away from the boy. The momentum kept pushing Zach forward, though, and he was sent flying over the edge of the stairs, hitting the stairs midway and tumbling the rest of the way down.

The first thing he felt was embarrassment, the shame creeping over him. He'd just taken possibly the biggest fall ever, while he was being filmed and photographed.

The second thing he felt as soon as the adrenaline washed away was pain. Every single part of his body hurt from rolling down the stairs. His cheek felt like it was burning. His arm was sore, and the hip he'd fallen on was throbbing in pain, like electricity shooting down his legs. He clenched his eyes shut, willing himself not to cry. Not in front of everyone.

"Are you okay?" The photographer was the first to run to him. "That looked like a hard fall. Do you need a doctor or something?"

There were pounding footsteps, and the boys were beside him. Jack put a gentle hand on his back. "Zach, oh my god, are you okay?"

Zach tried to blink the tears away, but the pain was pulsing through his body so hard that he couldn't control it. He wiped the tears away with the back of his palm, thoroughly embarrassed.