This is the last part of this fic! Enjoy!

Chapter 2: Zack's Second Broken Arm

He seemed to be in some sort of muddy ditch. The storm, the flash flood… it was all coming back to him now. The flood had come out of nowhere and landed them high in a tree; the only thing stopping them from plummeting to the ground was a thin branch. Unfortunately, it couldn't hold both of them and it snapped. That was the last thing he remembered.

Wait. Milo! Was he okay?

Zack looked around frantically, but his vision blurred again with tears. Why did broken bones have to hurt so much?

"Zack, are you okay?" The voice that was calling him seemed distant and muffled. Zack figured the possibility he had a concussion was incredibly high right now.

Milo's worried face came into his field of view. He looked tattered and torn, but otherwise, unharmed.

"Y-yeah," Zack croaked out. "Relatively speaking." He held his arm closer to his chest. "I think it's broken."

"Oh no, Zack, I'm so sorry!"

Zack shook his head, which ended up being a terrible idea as the forest spun around him. "N't your fault. You okay?"

"I'll live," Milo said cheerfully. "Hold on, I think I have a sling in my backpack for your arm.

Milo shrugged off his backpack slower than usual and produced a blue sling. He helped fit it around Zack's arm with probably more expertise than most nurses. Immediately, Zack felt the difference as some of the strain was taken off his bone.

"Come on, let's get out of this ditch," Milo said.

Milo grabbed him around the waist and helped him to his feet. Zack wrapped his good arm around Milo's shoulders and tried to keep himself steady as the world spun again.

"Just one foot after the other," Milo said in a chipper tone. He sounded as if they were going for a stroll in a park, not trying to drag themselves out of what could have been an early grave.

They were half way up the ditch when Zack realized there was something wrong with Milo.

Zack had been leaning on Milo for support when the boy had begun shaking underneath him. Alarmed, Zack halted their progress and looked over at his friend. Milo was paler than usual and his eyebrows were knotted together in intense concentration.

"Milo, you don't happen to have an injury from the fall, do you?"

Milo looked over at him, an embarrassed grin spreading across face. "I-I might have broken a rib," he admitted. "But it's nothing I haven't dealt with before."

Zack's eye's widened, and immediately pulled away from his friend for fear of hurting him. Milo stumbled and fell against his side.

"A rib! That's way worse than a broken arm!" Zack cried. "That can be really dangerous!"

Zack's good arm found its way securely around Milo's torso in an attempt to hold him steady. He hoped he wasn't hurting him further, but he couldn't let Milo fall back into the ditch.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Zack chastised.

"It's no big deal," Milo assured him, but Zack could still feel him trembling from exhaustion. "I have a high pain tolerance. I just wanted to get us both out of this ditch."

"And how are you supposed to do that if you collapse?" Zack demanded. As if on cue, he felt Milo's knees buckle underneath him. Zack grunted as he was almost pulled back down into the mud by Milo's body weight. He managed to keep himself and Milo upright until his friend found his legs again.

"O-okay, yeah, I could use a little help," Milo admitted sheepishly.

"You think?" Zack took a step forward and Milo followed his movements. Slowly, they continued to make their way up the ditch.

Panting heavily, both boys made it to the top. Milo collapsed to his knees and Zack followed suit.

"You okay?" Zack asked as Milo clutched at his torso.

"Yeah, don't worry," Milo said with a pained smile. "I'll just call up an ambulance and they can come get us."

Milo pulled out his phone and hit the first number on speed dial. He gave their location to the person on the other end named Nancy, who Milo seemed to have already known fairly well. (Milo even asked her how her granddaughter was doing. Apparently the granddaughter loved her first grade teacher and was excited about her birthday coming up this week.) Nancy assured them that an ambulance would be arriving shortly.

"Hello? Hello? Nancy?" Milo called into the phone.

"What's wrong?"

"She wanted me to stay on the line until the ambulance arrived, but I don't get the best cell coverage this far out." He closed his phone. "At least the ambulance will be here soon."

"Yeah, I hope they hurry," Zack agreed.

"Zack," Milo turned to face him. "I'm sorry about-"

"Stop apologizing for stuff that's not your fault," Zack interrupted with a wave of his good hand. "You know that bugs me."

Milo chuckled. "I know."

Zack let out a long groan. "Man this hurts," he said. "I don't know how you deal with broken bones constantly! We need to keep talking so I can distract myself."

"I'm just used to it, I guess."

"Remember when I broke my arm for the first time not long after we met?" Zack asked, and then let out a chuckle. "You thought I wouldn't want to hang out with you any more after that."

Milo laughed along with him. "That's because no one else would have."

Suddenly, this memory didn't seem as funny anymore as Zack turned to look over at his friend. "That's not true. Melissa-"

"Melissa's different," Milo corrected automatically.

"Yeah," Zack agreed. "She is." No matter how close he and Milo were, there were still years of bonding between Milo and Melissa that Zack never felt completely apart of.

"I just didn't realize that you were different too."

Zack's head snapped up to see Milo looking down at the ground with a far off smile. They were both injured, in pain, and in Zack's case, desperate to keep his mind off his arm. There would never be a better time to ask Milo and get a straight answer.

"Does it ever bother you?" Zack asked.

Milo looked up at him, confused. "What do you mean?"

"That people avoid you. Does it bother you?"

Milo laughed at the question, but Zack wasn't surprised. Typical Milo response.

"Nah, it's okay, I get it, not everyone can handle Murphy's law all the time. Besides, I have you and Melissa."

Zack smiled. "Yeah, you do," he agreed. "But come on, there has to be something that gets you down about Murphy's law."

Milo shrugged, and then winced at his own movement. "Why? What's the point of thinking negatively about it? It's not going to change anything. I might as well enjoy all the fun and excitement."

"Good point. I know you like the Law, but there has to be at least one thing about it that you would change if you could," Zack pressed. His best friend was always optimistic about his curse, but Milo was still human. There had to be one thing that upset him.

Milo's eyes fell onto Zack's injured arm.

Surprised, Zack looked down at his own arm.

"Getting hurt?" he asked.

"Oh, I don't mind getting hurt. I just don't like it when other people get hurt because of me. I worry that someone will… will get really hurt, you know?" Milo hesitated. "More so than usual." Even though Milo didn't seem to want to say it, Zack had a feeling he knew what his friend was hinting at.

"But that wouldn't be your fault, you know that right?" Zack reasoned. "You can't control Murphy's law."

"No, but that doesn't change the fact that it wouldn't have happened if I wasn't there. After all, you wouldn't have that broken arm if it wasn't for me."

"I wouldn't have a best friend either," Zack pointed out without missing a beat.

Milo paused, his gaze falling to the floor.

"I just… if something really bad was to happen to you guys… I don't know. I try not to think about it." Milo said quietly to himself.

Zack racked his brain for something to say. Milo was usually the one with the optimistic reassurance, not him.

"Well, nothing really bad has happened yet, right? And what's a little mortal danger between friends?" Zack said as he nudged Milo with his shoulder. It was meant to be an affectionate gesture, but Milo gasped in pain. At the same time, Zack winced, having unintentionally jostled his own arm.

"Oww!"

"Ouch!"

"S-sorry," Zack apologized through his clenched teeth. "That wasn't the smartest move."

Milo let out a breathy laugh. "It's okay. And I guess you're right. After all, things have worked out so far! We've obviously been doing something right!"

Zack grinned back at his friend. It was nice to see Milo's optimistic attitude returning.

"Yeah, and honestly, if you worry about anyone, it should be yourself," Zack said. "You're the one that nearly dies almost every day."

"True! But everything always works out in the end. I guess I'm just really lucky."

Zack raised an eyebrow at his friend. "Lucky, huh? That's… one way to look at it."

"Probably the luckiest person in the world, actually," Milo continued. "I get to experience Murphy's law, I haven't died yet, and I have the two greatest best friends in the world!"

"We are pretty great," Zack agreed.

The two boys looked up as the sounds of sirens reached their ears. They were a good quarter of a mile from the road, so it would still take a few more minutes for the paramedics to reach them once they parked.

"Thanks, Zack."

Zack scrunched his brow in confusion. "For what?"

"For sticking with me all this time, of course."

Zack scoffed. "Man, you don't have to thank me for that! You thank people for getting the door for you, not for being your friend. You make it sound like it's a chore, which it's not."

Milo seemed to consider Zack's words. "Okay, I guess you're right. Then instead of saying thanks, I'll say I'm sorry about your arm… you know, again."

Zack sighed. "I already told you I hate when you apologize for things like that."

"Then what am I supposed to say?"

"Nothing, man! We're best friends. You don't need to say anything! That's the point!"

"Oh…" Milo seemed to be mulling over something in his head. The ambulance had stopped on the street, and the two boys could hear the paramedics trudging through the woods towards them.

"How about this, then," Milo said, "There is no one else I would rather fall into a ditch and break a rib with?"

Zack laughed. "That's what friends are for, right?"

"Well, at least my friends."

I will probably write more MML stories in the future, but I might not post them here. The place I'll put them for sure is my tumblr maydaygirl-save-our-ships.

Please don't forget to review!