Flashback:
It had, for a while, seemed as if the boys weren't going to make it. Kendall and James in one room, Carlos and Logan in another, all on life support. All three sets of parents wondering whether or not to pull the plug. It had been weeks, and the doctor was encouraging it. Mrs. Knight, the Mitchells and the Garcias had steadfastly refused.
But then the Mitchells had started thinking. And eventually, all the parents agreed. Give their kids a week, and pull the plug. And at least they would die together. The car crash that had made them heroes also taking their lives.
The only person opposed to the idea was Katie. Katie had argued and argued with her mom about the James and Kendall's fate, but her mom had made up her mind. She remembered their last big fight…
Katie and Mrs. Knight both stood outside Kendall and James's room, crying hysterically. They had not allowed themselves to cry in front of the boys, in case they could hear and it upset them. Katie looked up, a look of contempt evident on her face.
"How could you do this to them, Mom? They have their whole lives, their dreams ahead of them. You're going to give up on them?" She began to sob too hard to speak.
"Do you really think Kendall and James want to live the rest of their lives like this? Neither of your brothers could sit still for two minutes, and they haven't moved in two months!"
Katie couldn't hide the anger in voice any longer, or the guilt. It hurt her to see her mother like this, but it would hurt her more to see any of the boys die.
"Mom, if the boys hadn't thrown themselves over me, I might have died, and they might have been perfectly fine! You're just going to let them die after saving me?"
Her mom turned away with hurt in her eyes. "You don't understand, Katie. You really don't understand."
Katie gave her mother one last look of hatred before awkwardly rolling her wheelchair into her brothers' room. "You're right mom. I don't understand."
She rolled herself next to Kendall's bed, no longer caring about the doctor's "don't upset them" mantra. She grabbed his hand and began to plead.
"Wake up Kendall! Mom's only giving you a week, and I need you. I need you and James to be too protective of me and I need you to sing to me when I can't sleep. I haven't had a decent night's sleep since the accident. I need you to walk me down the aisle on my wedding day. Please Kendall, please."
A tear slipped down her cheek and onto Kendall's face as she confessed her deepest, darkest secret – that she needed her brother to make her the confident, cunning girl she was – to her brother's lifeless body.
Somewhere in the world in Kendall's head, he heard her. Katie needed him. He needed her.
And he began to wake up.
And he had woken up. Within an hour, all the boys had woken up. The doctors couldn't understand it.
(end of flashback)
And now, here they were. All four boys in the same room, courtesy of a doctor who had thought it would be therapeutic. They had woken up yesterday, and the doctors had let them spend the day together and with their families. Now it was time for the doctors to talk to them. On Katie's request, the parents had momentarily left the room. She owed the boys a thank you.
"Guys, do you remember the accident?" As she said this, her own memories flashed through her head.
All five people in the convertible saw it at the same time, and Kendall knew he could not avoid it. She felt Carlos slam his helmet onto her head as all four boys dove to shield her. Kendall hadn't quite made it when the car hit.
And the car began to flip. She felt her head hit pavement, and everything went black.
She looked back at the guys, and it was clear that they all remembered. She pulled something from a bag on the side of her wheelchair, and rolled over to Carlos. She held the now battered helmet out of the bag, a large crack across the top.
Carlos winced, glad that that had not been Katie's head.
"The doctors said that it saved my life. Thank you."
Carlos enveloped Katie in an awkward hug. "I wish it had done more."
They all knew what he was thinking. Katie's legs, useless in her wheelchair. Kendall hadn't even been able to speak of them, and now was looking nauseas and upset across the room. James's expression was similar.
The doctor entered the room, followed by all three sets of parents.
"I'm so glad you've all woken up, even if I don't understand why. However, there are some things you need to know. "
The boys waited for him to continue.
"As you all have not walked in two months, you may not be able to regain your ability to walk for a very long time." Kendall's grimace was evident from across the room. "I think, given your ages, that you won't struggle as much as some, but it is unlikely that you will ever regain your ability to dance or play hockey, as your parents have informed me that you do. However, I'm going to send you to physical therapy, and, well, we'll see."
James's worry was evident. "When can we get back to work?"
Kelly and Gustavo had not visited them yet, but had called and assured them that Big Time Rush would continue if the doctors okayed it.
"You will probably be released from the hospital in about a month. In probably a month and a half you can start recording songs. Dancing, well, like I said, we'll just have to wait and see."
Doctors, parents, and Katie left the room to give the guys some time to think.
There was a long silence before Logan finally spoke. "This is bad."
Kendall looked as if, had the circumstances been different, he would be doing his normal, pacing back and forth pep talk. He settled for an in the bed, slightly less energetic version.
"We'll do it guys. You know we will. We'll do it together."
Even though there was no way he could possibly know this, it gave the guys some confidence.
Therapy, however, was a different story. All of the boys were taken to therapy the next morning, and they looked with fear at the various contraptions. Only one was being used, on a guy who looked only a few years older than them. Even though he was only walking very slowly and supported by about a million braces, he had tears slipping down his face that did not encourage any of them.
Finally, a nurse showed up. She looked at the boys and smiled.
"I'm going to guess that you four are my patients."
They nodded timidly.
"You look scared. What's wrong?"
Logan quietly motioned to the crying man.
"Oh, that machine is for paraplegics. Compared to him, you have it easy."
Kendall and James exchanged glances. Katie was getting a giant hug when they got out of that place. The therapist evaluated all of them before beginning.
"We're just going to do basic strength building exercises for today." The boys nodded, unaware that when they got back to their rooms later they would all be absolutely exhausted.
A week later the boys were making amazing progress. Their therapist said that she had never seen anyone so dedicated to getting back on their feet.
She told them the news in that morning's therapy session. James, who had been too busy combing his hair to hear her, had to ask her to repeat it.
She looked rather aggravated as James's lack of attention, as that was the seventh time that morning she had had to repeat herself.
"I said, that you can stand up today."
James cheered.
Logan looked fearful. "This might hurt guys."
Carlos looked like he might jump up and down, if his muscles would let him. "I don't care! Just think, being able to walk again!"
The therapist put each of them at something that looked like the parallel bars one might do flips off of in elementary school, with the instructions to grab the bars and push themselves up. This was completed, with much grumbling and groaning, in about five minutes. The next stage was what made them nervous.
Take a step.
Kendall, always the first to try something, lifted a leg and almost fell, steadying himself on the bars. He looked at the guys and wrapped an arm around Carlos's shoulder. They each followed suit, with one arm tightly gripping the bar and one arm tightly gripping the guy next to him.
James looked at Kendall questioningly. "On the count of three?"
Kendall nodded.
Logan began to count. "One… two… three!"
The boys stepped as one. And stepped again. And again. Until they found themselves at the end of the bars, a clapping therapist and wheelchairs waiting for them.
The therapist gave them an admiring look. "No one has ever taken a step on their first day before. Then again, I've never had such good friends in therapy together. You're walking.
You're halfway there."
The next three weeks were difficult, nearly excruciating, but they did it, finally getting home. And two months later, Logan regained his ability to back flip. They had made it.
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