A/N: Okay so I went through this and edited it quite a bit so it's, in my opinion, much better than the first time I uploaded it. Huzzah.

Warning: Nada.

Disclaimer: I don't own Big Time Rush, it belongs to Scott Fellows.

Heartbeat

"Come on, Logan!"

"Yeah, come on!"

"Please, Logie?"

"Pretty please?"

"Pretty, pretty please?"

"Pretty, pretty, please with a textbook on top?"

"Ugh, okay, okay fine!" Logan Mitchell dropped the book he was reading and stood up in front of his three best friends, who were now smiling and high-fiving each other. The three had been begging him for five minutes straight to run a race—this time outside The Palmwoods—and he had finally agreed. "So, where is it?" He asked, folding his arms. Kendall smiled and pointed at him.

"First one to the mailbox near the dog park wins." He clarified, looking at his band mates. They all exchanged silent agreements.

"We'll need somebody to referee," Logan pointed out, uncrossing his arms, "And what's the point of this race?"

"Well, the winner..." Carlos began, unsure of what the prize should be.

"The winner gets to, uh," James attempted, also thinking of a good reward.

"How about the winner gets a really good solo in our next song?" Kendall suggested, shrugging. Solos were the number one thing the guys fought about when in the studio. Since Kendall was their leader, he always got most of the solos. However, he would gladly give up his next one if one of his friends won it.

"Doesn't Gustavo decide who sings what?" Logan reminded them. The other three sighed.

"Don't worry, Logan. Kendall could just do...whatever it is he does to get to Gustavo, and tell him to give the solo to me!" James announced happily. Carlos frowned.

"Wait, why you?" He asked, giving James a glare. The taller boy scoffed.

"Because, I'm obviously gonna win the race." He said simply.

"Nuh uh, I am!" Carlos defended.

"No way!"

"Yes way!"

"Guys!" Kendall demanded, spreading his arms out, "Stop fighting! Besides, we all know that I'll win, anyway."

"Oh, it is ON!" Logan yelled, pointing to the ground. Suddenly, Katie walked in and saw the boys heated up and ready for their race.

"Did I miss something?" She asked, giving them a weird look. Logan spoke up and filled her in.

"So, can you be our referee?" James asked after Logan had finished. Katie mocked a thinking look for a few seconds before nodding eagerly.

"Tyler's across the street from the dog park, actually. Don't ask—he was ditching his mom who was at the jewellery store right near it." The young girl explained, "So he can tell you guys who the winner is."

The room erupted in cheers as the boys thanked Katie and fist-bumped each other. "So, who's ready?" Katie asked excitedly, receiving four "Yeah!"s in response. She pointed to the couch and the four teens took a few steps back so that at least one of their feet was touching it. Katie ran to the door, opened it and started. "Ready?" The boys fidgeted a bit, "Set..." The band now looked like they needed to pee, "Go!"

Kendall dashed off in first, quickly followed by Carlos, Logan, and then James, who quickly yelled "Woo!" upon leaving 2J.

A few minutes into the race, Carlos was in first with James following him. Kendall and Logan seemed to be fighting over third place, but Kendall seemed to be a few milliseconds in front of the shorter teen.

The four were about twenty seconds away when suddenly Carlos started feeling lightheaded. His vision was as though he had just stared into a light; he was seeing white spots everywhere. With a dizzying tumble, he tripped on what seemed like nothing and fell onto the street. James quickly passed him, thinking Carlos was just being his clumsy self. "Yes! I'm so gonna win now!" He cheered happily.

Carlos weakly got up, blinking a few times to stop his head from spinning. He looked around confusingly, wondering what he had tripped on. By then, both Logan and Kendall had passed him as well and were nearly at the mailbox near the dog park. Carlos exhaled deeply and suddenly, he found himself having difficulty breathing. He leaned against the building behind him and tried regulating his breathing, but he couldn't.

After a few seconds, James seemed to notice that they were missing their friend, because he quickly looked around the dog park. Tyler had told them James had won, Logan was second and Kendall was third. The short ginger then left, claiming that he saw his mother coming out of the jewellery store.

"Guys, shouldn't Carlos have been here by now?" James asked with a hint of worry in his voice.

"You mean, shouldn't he have been here...like, first?" Kendall asked, receiving two nods. The three started looked around when Logan spotted him leaning against a building on the other side of the road.

"Carlos!" He called out, waving his hand. When he didn't get a reply, he let his hand drop to his side, with a confused look on his face. "Was I just ignored?" He asked, more to himself than aloud.

"Come on; let's just go tell him who won." James added with a smirk. The guys started walking as Kendall gave James a friendly punch in the arm. "What?" James asked innocently. Kendall just smiled and shook his head.

Kendall crossed the street, followed by Logan then James. As they came closer to their friend, they noticed two things. One, he was almost paler than Logan, and two, he seemed like he was having trouble breathing. Logan immediately ran up to him and shook his shoulders.

"Carlos, hey, buddy, what happened?" He asked frantically. Kendall and James exchanged worried looks. Their shorter friend looked up at Logan, trying to catch his breath. He swallowed before speaking.

"I-I don't know...I tripped on something...and then I just started feeling...weird," he admitted, putting his head back to lean it against the building. Logan then put his hand to Carlos' chest, wanting to feel his pulse. It was clear his heart rate was a lost faster than it should've been. Nobody needed a doctor to figure it out; one could clearly see that even though he was trying to even out his breathing, the entire front part of his torso was shaking as his heart raced.

"How long have you been standing here?" Logan asked, panicking slightly. James and Kendall needed to lean in to hear the younger boy's reply.

"Not sure—a few minutes." Carlos clarified, trying not to speak much in fear of hyperventilating or losing oxygen—or worse. Logan's features were suddenly encased with worry. If Carlos was just standing there for at least three to four minutes, his heart rate should've gone back to normal. It would make complete sense that it would still beat faster had he been walking—but he was just standing there. Not to mention that he "felt weird" and that he was nearly transparent.

Logan tried to think of something—anything. He needed to help his friend. He knew about health more than his band mates did, and his other two friends were looking at him with the slightest bit of hope in their eyes. They wanted him to figure this out. Logan sighed in defeat, however it was a shaky sigh; he was afraid of the reactions he'd receive to what he was about to say.

"Call 9-1-1."

Kendall was frightened. If Logan told someone to call an ambulance, something was definitely wrong. However, it wasn't just the fact that the three boys were now chasing said ambulance in a taxi that terrified him; nor was it the fact that he himself was the one that dialled the three digit number. No, what worried and scared him was that Logan wasn't telling him nor James what was running through his mind—all the possibilities and scenarios of diseases or illnesses.

If Logan wasn't bragging on about "I told you so." or "I gotta get new friends..." in a hospital situation, then there was obviously something to worry about. Not only was Logan not bragging—he wasn't saying anything. Kendall and James were dying to know what Logan was thinking about, and it was eating the blonde alive not being able to know if Carlos would be okay or not.

James seemed to be reading his thoughts because he suddenly broke the tension. "Logan." The owner of the name turned to face James, not saying a word. James, suddenly uncomfortable, shifted in his seat. "What do you think is wrong with Carlos?" He asked carefully, as if saying the words in the wrong way would break something. Logan inhaled and his lips formed a thin line. He exhaled and shook his head.

"I don't know." He admitted, sitting up properly in his seat from his slouched position. Kendall raised an eyebrow.

"You don't know?" To this, Logan sighed.

"Let me rephrase that; I'm not sure." The teen corrected, unfolding his crossed arms and setting them on his lap, "There could be a number of things that happened. I-I just don't know which it could be." Kendall and James kept quiet, allowing Logan to continue, "Seeing him like that—i-it kinda got me scared, y'know? I mean, a million things were going through my mind. When you know as much about health as I do, any little situation could seem dangerous. Like right now. It could be anything! My mind keeps saying it could be this or that or that or this and I-I have no idea, I-I just..."

James looked at the younger teen with concern. He looked like he was about to burst into tears or something. He put a hand on Logan's shoulder and squeezed. "Dude, don't worry, alright? He's Carlos. If there's anything he's good at, it's getting into messes like this. And if there's anything he's really good at, it's getting out of them." Logan just nodded, afraid that if he'd say one more word he's break down right then and there.

Kendall turned to face Logan properly and leaned over a bit (James was in the middle, blocking his view of Logan) and reassured him as well. "He's right, buddy. Try and calm down; we don't need two of our friends in a hospital, do we, James?" At the last few words, the blonde looked at James who nodded. "I mean, yeah, I'm worried too, but...just...try not to worry, okay? If that...makes any sense." Logan flashed him a quick smile; that was possibly one of the worst Kendall pep-talks out there. But hey, at least he got Logan to smile, right? That had to count for something.

A few minutes into the drive, they pulled up at a red light. There were dozens of cars in front of them, and they could still hear the siren of the ambulance that was transporting their best friend to the hospital. The taxi driver turned in his seat and spoke to them in a care-free tone. "Hey, uh, there's a bit of traffic so—"

"We see that!" Kendall quickly argued, angry. Of all days for L.A to spew its traffic out on the street, it had to be that day? And at that exact time? Unbelievable. "Just...just let us out." He told the driver, who merely nodded his head. He unlocked the doors as the three teens in the back suddenly started rummaging for money in their pockets. Logan took out a five as James and Kendall continued searching.

"You don't have a dollar or anything?" James asked the other two, who shook their heads. James sighed and looked at the driver in the rear-view mirror.

"Considering the situation, boys," he started, taking the five out of Logan's hand, "I'll let you out. Besides, I never did get you all the way to your destination."

Muttering a quick "thanks", the guys tumbled out of the cab as quick as they could and ran to the sidewalk. "We're still about a mile away," Logan told them, frowning.

"Then we run." Kendall said simply. They broke out into a frenzied run and dashed for the hospital. After about five minutes of non-stop running, they stopped for a few seconds to catch their breath, when Logan realized something.

"The sirens," he started, before taking another breath, "They've stopped." He stood up straight and looked at the other two boys in front of him. "That could mean three things." he raised his hand and stuck out his index finger. "One, they made it to the hospital." Using his other hand, he then motioned to the bumper-to-bumper traffic, "Which I don't think is likely." He lowered his hand and stuck out a second finger on the other, "Two, it could mean that it wasn't a complete emergency. As in, a broken arm or something," James quickly interrupted.

"But this is his heart we're talking about, so, that's not the case." It wasn't a question, but there was a tiny hint of inquiry in his voice. Logan simply nodded.

"Or three," he stuck up a third finger and then let his hand drop to his side, "It could mean the patient inside the ambulance..."

"Huh?" Kendall asked, hearing nothing but a mutter after 'ambulance'. Logan spoke a bit louder this time, barely a whisper, but the other two hear him loud and clear.

"Is dead. The patient inside the ambulance is dead."

Kendall's eyes widened as James froze in place. They both felt like they were just punched in the stomach.

"W-well, they could have made it to the hospital..." Kendall suggested, trying to think positively.

"What are you talking about? Do you not see the hundreds of cars piling on top of each other? Do you not see how impossible it would be to get to the hospital in this mess? Unless they drove on a sidewalk, which, by the way, an ambulance is too big for, then they couldn't have possibly made it there!" Logan retorted. He felt like crying, so he allowed his tears to fall.

"Then maybe it's not an emergency!" Kendall fought back, on the verge of tears himself.

"Not an emergency?" James suddenly said, surprising both Logan and Kendall, "Kendall, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that hearts are important!" He yelled, causing Kendall to cringe a bit. He didn't stop, however; he was heated up now—his cheeks a bright red. "That's like stabbing someone in the chest and saying 'hey, it's not an emergency, it's just his heart'!" He grabbed Kendall's shoulders and looked him in the eyes. The pretty boy had a few tears rolling down his cheeks, but he didn't care, "You can't always be so optimistic, Kendall." He said seriously. "We know you feel like you should be holding us together, because you're like our leader," Kendall avoided his glare, "But what if this time, something really bad happens? Something not even our leader could fix?" He pushed Kendall away from him and continued walking up the street, followed by Logan. The shorter of the two looked back at Kendall before walking ahead.

"I wasn't trying to be optimistic," Kendall mumbled before running to catch up with his friends.

The three had finally made it to the front of the hospital, when Logan pointed to where the ambulances were parked; near the emergency entrance. "We could ask that security guard about Carlos' ambulance," he said quietly. James and Kendall nodded and they all walked up to a dark-skinned man dressed in a blue security uniform.

"Uh, sir?" Kendall asked, making the guard turn to face the three teens.

"Yes?" He asked, before realizing how broken up the boys looked. James' cheeks were still a pinkish colour, and his eyes were red. It was obvious he had been crying. Logan was fidgeting and looked anxious, and by the looks of his eyes, one could tell that he had been crying, too. Kendall looked unsure of himself, and he was a bit sweaty here and there. The older man decided not to comment on how they looked.

"Do you mind telling us when the last ambulance arrived?" Logan asked, shoving a hand into his pocket. He ran his other hand through his hair in attempt to calm himself.

"Well, sure." The guard looked at his watch and then took a quick glance at an ambulance that looked like it had been parked quickly in front of the entrance. "That'd be this one right here," he pointed to the vehicle, "It came about ten minutes ago."

Kendall shifted in place as James spoke up, "Was the patient a guy? Like, a teenager?" he asked worriedly. The man nodded.

"Yeah, the poor boy looked terrified. They just brought him into one of the emergency rooms; I don't know any more than that, sorry." Before he could finish his sentence, all three boys sighed with relief; looking terrified was of course not a good thing, but it meant that their younger friend was still alive.

"Were the sirens on?" Logan asked out of curiosity. The guard raised an eyebrow. "Well, see, we ran here, but stopped to rest for a few seconds, but then I noticed the sirens weren't on—" Suddenly, James and Kendall jumped in and completed Logan's story with him.

"So he thought it was option three but I said it could have been option one—"

"Which was highly unlikely because of all the traffic so we were so worried—"

"It could have also been option two but that was also unlikely—"

"So anyway then we walked back here with little hope—"

"But then we asked you, and you indirectly said he was still alive—"

"Boys, boys!" The guard put his hand out in front of him, causing the band to stop talking, "Whoa, there. Calm down a second. Yes, the sirens were on, but once they reached the hospital I heard them go off. Listen, kids," he put a hand on Kendall's shoulder, "An ambulance will do anything to get here on time. Anything. Even if it means driving the opposite way on a one way street. Even if it means going through red lights. Even if it means driving on the sidewalks. Anything, alright? So don't worry about it; I'm sure your friend is okay. Just go through the entrance over there," he pointed to his left, "And go to the front desk. The secretary will guide you to the emergency waiting room, okay?"

The three nodded and said their thanks. They walked away from the guard and to the main entrance of the hospital. When they walked in, the kind secretary asked them if they needed any help. They explained their situation and were guided to the waiting room, where they gave out all the information about Carlos that they knew (since he was in the program as 'undefined'). They even got a new hospital card printed out (did Carlos even know where his old one was?) and then had to sit and wait for any news on their friend. They were told numerous times by different nurses passing by that they'd need to get Carlos' parent/guardian there A.S.A.P.

Every time they were told to call his parent/guardian, Logan and James looked at Kendall who said "I'll call her in a few minutes." Finally, when they were told for the fourth time, Logan sighed.

"Kendall, I know you don't exactly wanna call your mom right now, but—"

It was like Mrs. Knight had super sensitive hearing or something, because suddenly the instrumental version of the Spiderman theme song came blaring through one of Kendall's pockets. He received a few glares from the other people in the waiting room, but he quickly took out his phone and answered, not bothering to check who was calling.

"Hello?"

"Kendall, where are you? Katie told me you boys were having a race, but apparently you left over an hour ago!"

Kendall gave his friends a look that pleaded for help. Logan sadly smiled and James made an 'I-feel-sorry-for-you-bro-but-I'm-not-helping-you' look. Basically, he smirked and turned his head in the opposite direction. Kendall frowned upon seeing this and sighed.

"Well, uh, wanna know who won?" Kendall asked softly; they were in a hospital, after all. He wasn't even supposed to be using his phone.

"Kendall..."

"Nope, wasn't me! It was James! Funny, huh? You expected otherwise?"

"Is everything okay?" Mrs. Knight asked, worried.

"Oh, I'm great. Thanks for asking. Logan's okay, too. Even James is fine!" Kendall said, shrugging when his friends gave him a 'what-are-you-doing' look. Logan even mouthed "What are you doing?" to him, but the taller boy shrugged again. It was silent for a few seconds, and Kendall thought his mother had hung up on him.

"And Carlos?" She asked, not remembering Kendall mention his name.

"And Carlos..." Kendall repeated, even quieter. He glanced at Logan before talking again, "He, uh...he..." Mrs. Knight sighed.

"Did he break something that I or the record company will have to pay for?" She asked. Kendall grinned slightly when she said that.

"No, not exactly." It wasn't a complete lie. She could've had to pay a few medical bills.

"Then where are you? And what happened?"

Kendall couldn't hide it anymore, could he?

"Mom. Please don't freak out." He stole another glance at Logan, then looked over at James. They both gave him a quick thumbs up. "We're at the hospital—but not for a broken bone, o-or a concussion. Not because of a fracture or a twisted ankle or anything like that. But, uh, Carlos..." he trailed off, not knowing how to finish his sentence.

"What happened to Carlos?" Mrs. Knight asked slowly.

"Uh," Kendall knew he'd start crying any second, "I don't know!" He said a bit louder than intended, receiving more glares from the people in the room, yet again. Logan and James exchanged surprised glances, but didn't say anything. "We-we were just racing, then Carlos tripped but we all passed him thinking it was nothing big, but then after a few minutes he hadn't made it to our ending point—the mailbox near the dog park—so we looked for him then Logan found him then he was like, not breathing properly and he was white as a ghost, mom! Then we realized his heart was beating too fast then Logan told us to call 9-1-1 so I-I called then the ambulance came and we took a cab to follow it but halfway to the hospital there was too much traffic so we paid the driver five bucks then ran to the hospital but we didn't hear the sirens so we thought it was option three but it was option one and then we gave info about Carlos and now we're waiting on updates, and, and—" he suddenly broke out in sobs. He looked down and covered his eyes with his free hand.

Logan slung an arm around Kendall's shoulders, as James gave him a sympathetic look. They'd had their fair share of crying, and they weren't going to stop their leader. Kendall heard shuffling noises on the phone, and assumed his mother was doing something in a hurry.

"Kendall, sweetie, try and calm down, okay? I'll be there as fast as I can with Katie. He'll be fine, alright? Do you hear me?"

"Yeah," Kendall himself was surprised at how strained his voice sounded. He looked up again and opened his eyes. "I hear you." He confirmed, trying to stop himself from crying. He probably looked so pathetic at that moment...

"Okay, see you soon, sweetheart. And don't forget—he'll be fine. I promise. I love you."

"Love you too," Kendall muttered, before hanging up. He turned his phone on vibrate and put it on the table in front of him and his friends.

Logan removed his arm from Kendall's shoulders and bit his lip. "So, she's coming?" He asked after a few minutes of awkward silence. Kendall nodded.

"So, um, now what?" James asked.

"Not sure. We wait for any news on Carlos, I guess." Kendall replied.

"Kendall!" The boy looked up to find his mother and Katie looking down at him. Logan and James looked up too, and Katie gave them all hugs. "Have you heard anything?" Mrs. Knight asked. The three shook their heads, but didn't say anything. She sat down next to Logan, and Katie sat down next to her mother. The five waited for nearly an hour before a doctor rounded the corner and entered the room.

"Family of Carlos Garcia," The broken-up band looked at the doctor and stood quickly.

"That's us," Mrs. Knight confirmed, standing up, too, copied by Katie.

"Hi there, I'm Doctor Gordon. If you'll follow me, you'll be able to see Carlos. I'll explain everything on the way to room 306A." He told them, and led the way. They started walking down the busy hallways of the hospital, and the doctor began explaining everything. "First off, he's awake. I say this because I'm sure one of you would end up asking. Second, he's fine." He received multiple sighs of relief, and a muffled "Thank God" from Mrs. Knight and Logan. "What happened with Carlos is something we get all the time. It could happen to anyone—from ages four to seventy four, male or female, it happens to a lot of people." He started off, "We don't know the specific cause, but we know what happened. See, around the heart there are many, let's call them, 'wires'." To this, the doctor made air quotes, "And when one of them shorts out for whatever reason, the electrical current going through it has nowhere else to go. Seems logical, right?" He didn't wait for an answer, however, and he kept talking.

"So since it has nowhere to go, it circles around the heart. It just keeps going around and around, not stopping, because it simply can't. This makes the heart beat faster. For Carlos, his heart rate was about two thirty—" Logan nearly passed out hearing this, "And what we did was 'reset' his heart with a medication that we injected into him. It didn't work the first time, so we had to double the dose. Finally, it worked and his heart rate went back to normal. We took him up to cardiology and got a few ultrasounds done, just to see if there was a specific cause for what happened. Since everything seemed to check out—meaning there was no specific cause—we were able to diagnose Carlos with Ventricular Tachycardia, or, in his case, Supraventricular Tachycardia because of the location of this 'wire' or 'node' as we sometimes name it. Around the hospital, we call this 'SVTAC'."

They had by now made it to the observation room, but they stopped in front of it, allowing the doctor to continue his little speech. "This may be the only time it happens, it may happen again tomorrow. However, I'd like him to come back in six months for a follow-up with the cardiologist. For now he's just in observation; he'll be free to go once we're done labelling his blood test. I'll be back in a few minutes." The doctor then left, and Mrs. Knight, Katie, and the boys entered the door-less room.

"Carlos?" Kendall called, not seeing him right away.

"I'm behind this curtain!" They heard a response. The boys had to control themselves; they tried not to jump for joy upon hearing his voice. They walked further into the room which had numerous other beds with curtains drawn, hiding them from view. Somewhere in the back, they could hear a little kid watching a show and laughing. They pulled the curtains and saw Carlos sitting in the bed with an IV and heart monitor connected to him. "Oh my God, guys, I was kinda scared for a second," the five noticed that he had been crying, "I honestly thought I was gonna die." Immediately, they all just wanted to hug him; to tell him it was alright, that he was going home and everything would be okay. James leaned in first and gave Carlos a hug, followed by Kendall, Logan, Katie and then Mrs. Knight.

"How are you feeling?"

"Are you okay?"

"Oh my God we were so worried!"

Carlos was quickly overwhelmed as his band mates flooded him with questions and comments. "Guys, I'm fine. My chest hurts a bit and I'm like really tired," only when he said this did they notice he truly did look exhausted, "But the doctor said that it was normal." They gave him sympathetic looks, right when the doctor walked back in.

"How's it going over here?" He asked Carlos, who plastered on a fake smile.

"Doing great," he replied with a nod. The doctor quickly checked a few things, then threw his hands up.

"Well, everything looks great! You can leave now, if you want." He started unhooking all of the stickers on Carlos' chest that connected him to the heart monitor.

"Yeah, that'd be nice," Carlos replied, somewhat zoning out. The doctor proceeded to unwrap the sticker around the little sensor on Carlos' finger that also connected to the heart monitor. The screen flat lined and all stats started blinking random numbers. Apparently, Carlos' heart rate was 342, then 769, and it kept changing.

"Okay, hold on a sec, this won't hurt, I promise." The doctor warned as he went for the IV in Carlos' arm. The boy looked over at his friends and suddenly felt a little sting. He winced and closed his eyes for a second as the doctor took out the needle.

"Your sweater is on the chair," the doctor reminded, "and remember what I told you." Carlos nodded and the doctor smiled and waved, receiving "Bye"s, "Thanks"s and multiple waves from the family. Carlos sighed and rested his head on the pillow.

"I swear that guy came in like every five seconds," He complained, which caused the others to laugh a bit. He took off his hospital gown and slipped on his blue zipper-less hoodie. He swung his legs over the edge of the bed when suddenly Logan put a hand to his chest, stopping him.

"Can you walk?" he asked seriously. Carlos looked him in the eyes for a few seconds before nodding slowly.

The six started walking out of the hospital after checking out and retrieving Carlos' new hospital card from the secretary (they needed to give it to her after they had it made). Mrs. Knight suddenly remembered what the doctor had told the boy.

"What did the doctor mean by 'remember what I told you'?" She asked, looking at Carlos. He sighed and folded his arms as they entered Mrs. Knight's rental car.

"He said no caffeine—no candies, chocolate, coffee or soda—and no physical activity for the next week," he announced, imitating the doctor in a high pitched voice. Yet again, he caused the others to laugh. "Seriously, guys!" He whined, "It's not fair. I won't be able to swim in the pool, play hockey or have anything tasty for a week!"

"It'll be the toughest week of your life, buddy." Kendall warned.

"It'll also be the most boring," James pointed out.

"Good luck with that." Katie told him, smiling innocently.

Carlos groaned; they were right. Well, he better prepare for the most un-fun week in his life—he fell asleep.