A/N:
I have a fucking outline for this.
This shall be completed.
Logan has been running after his dad for the past four hours, ever since school let out at three, and he's starting to feel the effects of it. All the breaks he's been given have been cut short by something of dire importance, like broken arms and small kids that shoved Legos and other small toes up their noses. It's a typical day at the hospital, a dad like all the others, but Logan can't seem to keep his eyes open, even as he works to calm some of the more high strung mothers down.
"It's ok, I promise." He soothes one distraught woman, hands reaching awkwardly to pat a shoulder here and a grip a hand there, though she quickly backs away so she can continue to wring her hands. Her son, a four year old with dark hair and gray eyes, is currently suffering from a stomach ache caused by some sort of virus and, for all intents and purposes, appears otherwise perfectly healthy. He giggles at some of the nurses and babbles about bears and how much he likes going to the zoo.
"He's going to die, I just know it!" The woman wails, much to the disapproval of the nurses, and Logan goes back into his carefully thought out and carefully recited explanation as to just why this is not, in fact, true. The main reason being that the son, whose name is Grant or something like it, seems to be getting better already. He apparently threw up a few times and ran a fever, which prompted the woman to drag him to the hospital, convinced he was going to get dehydrated and die.
"I want to see a doctor!" The woman complains and Logan winces, shoving a hand in the pocket of his borrowed scrubs. He fumbles for the cell phone he was allowed to get a year ago, in case of an emergency, and steps out into the hallway to call his dad and get him to come deal with the woman. Despite Logan's official dress and mostly official attitude, he just can't pass for a doctor yet. The nurses like to tease him about it, claiming he's got the face of a ten year old, which isn't all together untrue. Logan does look a little young for his age, with big brown eyes and a pale face that, sometimes, appears rounder than he would like. Not that he dwells on it or anything, since he rarely has the notion to look into a mirror for any longer than necessary.
The phone rings and rings and rings until, with a swear, Logan presses the end button and leans against the wall. One of the nurses pokes her head out into the hallway and asks him, with a knowing look in her eye, if he would like her to page or contact his dad in a different way. It seems the nurses know, more than Logan himself, that call phones aren't the best way to get a doctor's attention. Logan sighs and agrees to the plan, thanking her and excusing himself from re-entering the room, making up excuses but really just too tired to deal with it. He can feel his late night study session, which he needed for a test he'd taken in history that day, coming back to him and it isn't pretty. He can feel his eyes drooping as the hustle and bustle of the hospital goes on around him, the sound of scrubs swishing and footsteps running or jogging or walking at a faster pace making up the brunt of the noise. It's all so familiar to him, because he's been listening to it for most of his life. Ever since he was old enough to understand life, death, and the careful balance between the two.
Sleep has always been tricky to come by for Logan, especially since his mom passed away, so it's almost laughable how easy it comes now. He must be snoring, because his dad is laughing when he finally shakes Logan awake, and Logan manages to be discomposed for a fraction of a second before he remembers where he is and just what he's been caught doing. He isn't ashamed, but he is a little embarrassed, though his dad is quick to reassure him that it's happened to the best of them all.
"Yeah, well." Logan leans his head against the wall as his dad smiles and folds his arms. He looks a lot like Logan, though his eyes are blue. A clear blue that Logan has always been secretly envious of, though he would never give up the brown eyes he inherited from his mom.
"Nurse says we have a hysterical mother?"
Logan rubs his eyes and yawns, nodding in the direction of the door. His dad chuckles and reaches for the handle, quirking a brow at his son's state. It's clear he's worried about Logan, though it's also clear he understands there's no need to be. If there's a problem, he trusts Logan to tell him and Logan, with all the love and respect he has for his dad, knows that this trust is completely logical.
"What's she been saying?"
"Now she says she wants to see 'a doctor', so you." Logan answers slowly, still sleepy from his very short nap, "Before she was saying her son is going to die, even though we've all been giving her plenty of reasons why he's not."
"This is the kid with the stomach bug, right?"
"Right."
"Figures." Logan's dad, shaking his head, puts on his game face and winks at Logan one last time before pushing the door open and stepping inside. Logan can hear him as he quickly reassures the woman, probably before she had a chance to argue, that her son is going to be "just fine." Logan can remember hearing those words loads of times before, mostly in this kind of situation. Hysterical mothers are the worst and they get far too many of them in the hospital, since it's located in a small town and the injuries never rise above a certain level of fatality.
The voices inside the hospital room are muted and it's hard to make out what's happening, but Logan figures the woman is being reassured and placated while her son is given prescriptions for lots of rest and relaxation. He knows, when the kid gets home, he'll be coddled and caressed by his obviously overbearing mother until he can't stand it any longer and decides being sick is no fun. But, at least then the woman won't be the hospital's problem any longer. It will be fantastic to see the back of her.
The woman must be angry again, because her voice rises and Logan can feel the heat all the way out in the hallway. He wonders what his dad, or one of the nurses, said and moves closer to the door, propping himself against the wall and listening for any other sounds to reach him. Nothing else seems to be happening, though, because the woman's voice drops off again and the same muted mumbling resumes.
Despite his best attempts to remain awake via eavesdropping, Logan can feel that same heaviness clawing at him and dragging him back into the blissful world of sleep. He would like nothing more to be in bed, curled under his blankets and possibly reviewing all his answers to the test (which turned out to be way easier than he'd expected), with his dad home in time to tell him goodnight (he might wait up for him). Since he can't have everything, he settles for letting his eyes slide closed as he thinks about the test and what he said and how confident he is that he aced it. There was one question that was a bit tricky, but after a lot of thinking, he thinks he might have gotten it right due to a bit of extra reading he did on the subject.
"Logan?"
Logan's eyes fly open as, once again, he's caught sleeping. The nurse who woke him smiles fondly and reaches out a hand, ruffling his hair in a familiar way. He doesn't object to the motion, mostly because he's still too tired to care.
"Yeah?" He mutters, not exactly grumpily, but with enough attitude to make the nurse smile at his "teenage antics." She shakes her head and lets her hand move from his hair to his face, where she cups her cheek and grins at him.
"When did you get so grown up?"
The question is pretty irrelevant, but it's nice that people care. Logan grins back and shrugs, mumbling something about growth patterns in teens and how she should know that by now.
"Humor just like your dad's, "She feigns disapproval, but quickly turns serious, "Who wants me to tell to you that you're needed in room 2A."
"What's in 2A?" Logan perks up, suspicious of just what might be waiting for him. He guesses another child and another hysterical mother, since that's all he ever gets, really. He's not complaining, a chance to work in a hospital is something any sixteen year old, aspiring doctor would kill for, but he does really want to see something besides the usual.
"A guy about your age who has some pretty serious bruises and maybe a broken nose."
"Woah, what happened?" The exhaustion leaches from Logan's bones at the thought of something new.
"He was jumped on his way home. Apparently he was leaving that diner a few blocks away and some guys got him."
"Nothing serious, right?" Logan feels nerves building in his stomach at the thought of something new, because he's not really a doctor, and he really doesn't feel like making a mistake and making things complicated. He's sure, if nothing else, his dad would stick him back on the easy jobs for the rest of his high school career. He doesn't want to be stuck on the easy jobs; he's better than the easy jobs.
"It's your job to figure that out." The nurse winks and disappears back into the room, leaving Logan to walk to 2A alone. Part of his is grateful that he'll have the time to think, but another part is freaking out and really needs someone to distract him. Or, better yet, double check everything he says and does.
Needless to say, Logan spends several minutes hanging around the outside of the room before he actually slips inside and, when he does slip inside, he almost slips right back out, because sitting on the hospital bed is the most gorgeous guy he's ever seen. Even with a possibly broken nose and a bloody lip he looks perfect, like all that Logan would want to be if he honestly cared how he looked. He's frowning, well grimacing, but it doesn't make him any less attractive. Logan has to admit, he would look attractive no matter what face he was making.
"Aren't you a little old to be playing doctor?"
Logan shakes his head fiercely at the guy's cheeky, but not malicious, words and tries to calm down. He smiles as best he can and holds out a hand, noting the callouses on the guy's hands and wondering if he maybe plays sports or something of the sort. He doesn't ask, though, because he can barely manage to breathe properly with how close he's gotten to the guy.
"I'm a student."
"A med school student?"
"Not exactly."
"I'm Kendall."
"Logan."
"Dr. Logan?" Kendall teases and Logan feels his face heat up at just how sexy he finds the name when it's coming from Kendall's mouth. It's all he can do to laugh (shakily) and press a finger to Kendall's swollen nose, which causes Kendall to yell and jerk back.
"Not a doctor yet." Logan winces at Kendall's expression and closes his eyes, "Sorry about that, but I don't think it's broken."
"Thank god." Even with Kendall's nasally voice Logan can detect the sarcasm.
"However, you might have a concussion." Logan grabs a small flashlight from the pocket of his scrubs and shines the light in Kendall's eyes, relieved to find that Kendall passes the simple tests easily, almost indifferently. It strengthens Logan's suspicion that Kendall plays sports, because sports players are always desensitized to concussions and concussion checkers, especially if their sport involves a lot of collisions. He can't imagine Kendall playing football, but he also really doesn't know Kendall and his sports preferences all that well.
"So, what happened?" The silence bugs Logan enough to get him talking again as Kendall lifts his shirt to reveal a lot of harsh bruises and a distractingly good figure.
"I was walking home from the diner, my mom works there, and these three guys jumped out of the alley. I tried to fight them, but they were huge, and they didn't give me a chance."
"Did they take your money?"
"I didn't have any on me, so no." Kendall seems oddly pleased by this face, his smirk taking Logan back to his previous consideration that Kendall would look good wearing any expression. Thus far, it appears to be very true.
"I guess that's good." Logan allows Kendall to pull his shirt back down and steps back, giving the other teen (and himself) some space. Kendall isn't at all fazed by the repeated reddening of Logan's face throughout the procedure, which Logan is grateful for. He doesn't really want to admit any feelings of attraction towards this guy, especially considering he's new to being attracted to anyone. There have been girls that he thought were kind of pretty, but he's never really been invested in anything. He's too focused on school and the hospital.
"I think it is." Kendall responds, "Though, I'm trying to see the positive side to all this."
"Always a good thing."
"Yeah. So, what about you? Why are you playing doctor when you're clearly not a college student."
"Uh, my dad." Logan fiddles with the flashlight, clicking it on and off, "He's a doctor here and he lets me shadow him. I want to be a doctor when I'm older."
"That's cool." Kendall sounds genuine and Logan smiles, feeling his heart race.
"I guess. Lots of people want to be, though."
"Still, not many get to play doctor." Kendall smiles brightly, "Positive side, remember?"
"Yeah, that's true." Logan agrees and frowns as the flashlight fails to turn on again, "I think I broke it." He laments the loss of his tool and Kendall laughs, holding out a hand and closing it around the flashlight. He shakes it for a second and clicks it on again, the light faint and growing dimmer by the second.
"Just out of batteries."
"I'll have to ask my dad for some more."
"Catch." Kendall tosses the flashlight and Logan, in a random display of actual coordination, manages to catch it. He stuffs it back into his pocket and smiles crookedly at Kendall's praise, noting how comfortable it is being around the teen. There's nothing obnoxious or conceited about him, he's just there to talk to and have a good time with.
"So, your mom works at the diner?"
"Yeah, she's a waitress. She should be getting here soon, since they told me they had to call her. She doesn't really keep her phone on when she works, but she'll be getting off soon."
"Will she be worried?"
"She'll be pissed. I'll have to keep her from hunting those guys down." Kendall slips off the bed and heads into the bathroom, leaving the door open as he leans over the sink and inspects his nose in the mirror, "Pretty, isn't it?"
"I've seen worse." Logan answers with a smile and Kendall flips him off, not even looking away from the mirror, "That's rude."
"Not really." Kendall flashes him another grin, "Not when I don't mean it."
"I don't think that's how that works." Logan, always a skeptic, bites back a smile. Kendall turns the bathroom lights off and sticks his tongue out at Logan, which is way sexier than it should be.
"Have you ever flipped anyone off?"
"Uh, no?"
"Then you wouldn't know, would you?" Kendall says victoriously and flops back on the bed, groaning, "Mom's going to be pissed. And Jo's going to freak out."
"Joe?" Logan repeats the name, wondering if it's a brother or stepfather. Kendall stares at the ceiling, poking his nose and wincing.
"My girlfriend."
Logan can feel his stomach sinking all the way down to his toes at the words, even though he never even had a chance with Kendall in the first place. It was silly of him to think, even subconsciously, that something would happen between them.
"O-oh."
"Yeah, I don't look like a guy with a girlfriend, do I?" Kendall jokes as a fiery woman bursts through the door and heads straight for Kendall, missing Logan by inches. She grabs Kendall's shoulders and shakes, though she's yelling about how worried she was and how much she loves him and how sorry she is that it happened.
"I'll just go." Logan speaks above the woman and she pauses, turning to look at him and smiling.
"Thank you for taking care of my son."
"No problem." Logan heads to the door, pausing with his hand on the knob to listen as the frantic babbling continues and Kendall, cheeky as ever, tells his mom that "Logan is a certified doctor."
Logan can't help but smile.