"Broken back?" Brent managed to say.

"Yes, but it's not like it sounds. Don't worry. Just lie back and enjoy the next month," he said.

"Forget it, Doctor. I'm not staying for any month. I don't have the time."

"You've got it now," Dr.Matthias said. "You've got a compression fracture of lumbar one. With a month of lying flat and a few months in a brace, you'll be as good as new. No complications from what I can see now. Just remember, because you'll be asleep in a minute: When you wake up tomorrow, don't sit up. If you have a lot of pain, don't hesitate to ask the nurse for something. I'll leave orders and see you tomorrow. It won't be bad, Brent. It's a clean fracture and there's no damage to the spinal cord. You're a very lucky boy."

Brent drifted into sleep before he even reached his room.

Brent felt the slant of light across his eyelids. He was awake and the sun was making spots behind his eyes.

He could feel the pain again. It was steady and aching up and down his spine. He felt a sensation of falling and grabbed the criblike sides of the bed. He still felt drugged from the night's sleep, but he thought he would ring for the nurse for more pain relievers anyway. If I've got to be here, I might as well get zonked and enjoy it, he thought.

"Good morning, Supertube," a voice said.

Brent opened his eyes and looked to the right. The other bed in the room was about six feet away. A kid his own age was sitting up, propped against the pillow. He had dark hair and a sharp, angular face. He was smoking a cigarette.

Brent noticed an intravenous tube running from his own arm to a large bottle dangling from a stand. He didn't remember the doctor hooking him up to it.

"The only nice thing about eating through your arm is you don't have to taste the s... they serve here," the boy in the next bed smiled. "I guess we'll be seeing a lot of each other. Heard the doctor tell your folks that you were going to be here about a month. I've got seventy years to go."