Since I'm about to have a busy few days, I thought I'd update while I had the chance. I should also note as a disclaimer that I'm doing only minimal research for the medical stuff, so if you're looking for realism, you're in the wrong place. I hope you enjoy this chapter.
- Two -
Pulled out of sleep by the constant vibration of something on his bedside table, Logan searched blindly for the obtrusive device. At first, he believed it to be his pager, and immediately thought of the boy who was still in serious condition, before realizing that it was actually his cell phone. Opening one eye to read the number, he saw that it was the number for the hospital, but he chose not to worry just yet.
Sitting up, he answered the phone call, before curiously looking over at his alarm clock, which showed that he'd slept almost ten hours after the exhausting shift the night before. It was nearly dinner time, and he was still wearing his scrubs from the night before, after passing out without a second thought when he got home.
He put the phone on speaker as he began to strip off his clothes, which smelled of sweat and disinfectant. Thankfully, the call wasn't critical, and obviously came from the nurses' station, where they were prone to gossip.
A distinctively male voice spoke, and he rolled his eyes as one of his few male friends teased him, "Did you order a stripper and accidently have him sent here? I knew you were in a dry spell, but this is ridiculous."
"James, don't you have bedpans to take care of?" he asked, easily sparring with his favorite nurse. He had a hard time following the man's introduction, but he didn't want to make himself an easy target. "You know I don't pay for my entertainment. I'm just picky."
"Oh is that what you call your abstinent lifestyle?" James mocked, before finally explaining. "There's a guy here asking for you. Says his name is Kendall, but I'm sure you knew that."
"I'm not exactly surprised. Did he ask about Charlie?" he asked, realizing that by using the kid's first name he was confirming his attachment.
"Kinky," James added, still showing his maturity level in every jest. "I'm kidding. He did mention that there was a burn victim he wanted to know the condition of. But you know I can't just give him that information Logan."
"He's the firefighter that brought him in," Logan explained, turning on his shower before removing the last of his clothing. "Couldn't you make an exception?"
"I could," the man started, and Logan was about to thank him, before he finished, "but I haven't gotten to see you embarrass yourself in a while. So instead, I'll tell him you'll be here in half an hour. Make sure to wear something nice."
Before he could argue, the other man hung up, and Logan could only hope he was going to do something productive. Instead, he had a suspicion that sneaky pictures with rude comments would be sent to his phone any moment now. That was just the way James showed affection.
The hot water of the shower worked out some of the knots he'd given himself the night before, both by worrying about the boy, and also collapsing onto his bed into a position that wasn't really suitable for sleeping. Though he thought to put on a clean set of scrubs, he decided that his shift didn't start for a few hours still, and he'd be better off in street clothes.
Packing the scrubs into his backpack, he donned a pair of jeans and his Stanford Medical School t shirt, worn from years of being his favorite shirt. Checking to make sure he was prepared for the long night ahead, he drove to the hospital.
Upon entering the emergency room, he was greeted by James, who towered over the nurses' station, an obvious smirk on his face. Logan greeted him, and the other man shoved a patient's file into his hands. Looking down, he saw that it was Charlie's, and he asked quickly if anything had changed.
"Dr. Patel is with him right now," James answered, still smirking as he referred to the burn specialist, one of the best in the country. "He's still stable. We're doing all we can, but right now it's still a waiting game. Speaking of waiting…"
James glanced past his shoulder, and Logan turned to see a familiar figure flipping through a magazine in the waiting room. Gone was the soot from the night before, and if at all possible Kendall was more attractive, dressed in street clothes and freshly showered. James realized he was blushing before he did, and as he turned back to face the nurse, he was greeted with a smug grin.
"The cafeteria is serving lasagna," he added, before shoving Logan toward the waiting room. Shifting his backpack to his other shoulder, Logan approached the clueless man, who was immersed in what looked like Rolling Stone.
Standing directly in front of him, Logan paused a moment before prompting, "Kendall?"
The man looked up, piercing green eyes catching his before a smile crossed his face. Kendall stood, a head taller than the doctor, and he pulled him into one of those manly bro hugs that Logan had never subscribed to, but with Kendall had no problem accepting.
"Sorry, I didn't recognize you out of uniform," he said, looking Logan over distractedly before taking a step backward.
Logan shrugged, "I could put my coat on if it'd make you more comfortable, but every time I do that when I'm not on the clock, I end up getting caught up by some sort of crises."
"I like you better like this anyway," Kendall added, before realizing how it sounded. "I mean, you're less intimidating like this."
Logan chuckled, and they both saw the humor in finding a white coat and scrubs intimidating when the night before Kendall had been wearing his protective gear from the waist down.
"So, how's Charlie doing?" Kendall finally asked as their laughter died down. "I asked the guy at the nurses' station, but he said it fell under patient confidentiality. Is that true?"
"Technically," Logan answered honestly, stopping to glare at the nurses' station where James was watching them as he pretended to look through patient files. "But in this case it was just James being difficult. Personally, I see no problem with telling you what's up."
He made sure to enunciate the word difficult, and James ducked down, still smirking. Turning back to Kendall, he realized that he still held the file James had handed him minutes earlier. Glancing at it, he saw that everything looked good, at least under the circumstances.
"He's still getting a constant flow of morphine to dull the pain, and it looks like his bandages were changed within the last hour. According to James, the burn specialist is in with him as we speak," Logan said, closing the file to see Kendall deep in thought. He shook his head, and opened his mouth to say something, but changed his mind.
But his body language said it for him, and Logan asked, "Do you want to see him?"
"Could I?" the man asked hopefully, and he was glad he'd offered. Technically, only family members were allowed in the ICU, but it was unlikely that anyone would question Kendall if he stayed with him.
The doctor quickly searched his backpack for his white lab coat, which would give him clearance in the crowded halls, and donned it quickly, before leading the taller man to another wing, where they were forced to scrub up to their elbows to prevent infection. Entering the sterile room, he was met by a few nurses, as well as he colleague, who looked from him to Kendall.
"Dr. Patel, I just wanted to see how he was doing," the short Indian man nodded, but looked suspiciously at Kendall, and Logan quickly provided, "Intern."
They both knew that Kendall looked too old to be an intern, but he didn't argue, knowing that the less he knew the better. Immediately he began rattling off medical terms to Logan, who nodded thoughtfully, his expression changing quickly between hope and distress. After being caught up, Logan turned to Kendall and explained quickly, "He's afraid that his legs will be prone to infection, considering that's where the epicenter of his burns are. And if he gets infected…"
Logan trailed off, but Kendall knew what he was saying. Not only could an infection send him into shock, but if it was in his legs there was a chance they'd be forced to amputate. The kid's legs, blistered and swollen, were exposed during the examination, but his shoulders were still bandaged, and when Kendall took a step toward the head of the cot, Logan nodded to give him permission.
Stepping up to the bed, Kendall hesitated before placing his hand on the boy's forehead, tracing down his bandaged cheek before letting his hand rest on a bandaged shoulder, his thumb moving back and forth soothingly. Logan wondered how someone so prone to lifting rafters and debris could be so gentle, and was curious as to how those calloused fingers would feel on his own skin. Looking at the concern in the firefighter's eyes, he compartmentalized his yearning, turning back to the situation at hand.
After discussing Dr. Patel's recommendations, they decided it was time to let the boy rest, and Logan walked over to the blond bent over his patient, gently touching his shoulder blade to pull him from his reverie. Looking up, Logan was caught by the intensity in the man's green eyes, which slowly withdrew into his normal cheerful countenance, and the doctor felt like he'd witnessed a transformation.
Tilting his head toward the door, he led Kendall out into the hallway, leaving the nurses to reapply the boy's bandages. Stalling outside the door, he felt his stomach stir, and realized that he hadn't eaten since before his shift last night. For someone that took such good care of others, he was prone to forgetting about his own needs, and remembered James mentioning lasagna.
"Do you want to get some dinner?" he asked, his stomach speaking for him before his brain could do anything for his wording. Kendall paused, obviously trying to translate his meaning, and Logan added nervously, "Not a date or anything. Just the cafeteria. The special today is lasagna, so…yum!"
As words burst from his mouth, he became aware of the way his recovery was only worsening his circumstances, and finally shut up, waiting nervously for an answer that didn't involve running in the opposite direction. Thankfully, Kendall broke into a grin, and confirmed, "I'm starving."
On the way to the cafeteria, they once again passed the nurses' station, where James was still doing anything but work. He caught Logan's eyes, and called out, "Go get some of that lasagna," before mouthing suggestively, "By lasagna I mean ass."
He let Kendall get ahead of him to hide his blush, holding the door for the larger man, who smiled convincingly as they took their places in line. He was easily recognized by the staff, who were used to seeing him due to his inability to feed himself. Sometimes he would come in for dinner just because it was free and didn't come out of a microwave.
Logan led them to a table in the corner, next to the expansive windows that reminded him of an expensive restaurant, though the only view was the campus of the hospital. Between bites, they tried to make conversation, and though Logan felt he was pestering the other man, Kendall showed no signs of annoyance, instead asking personal questions that Logan was all too willing to answer.
"So, do you always work nights?" he asked, chewing on the lasagna that wasn't awful for hospital food.
Logan nodded, "Eleven to five usually. The way I look at it, if I do it, some guy can put his kids to bed at night. I go home to an empty apartment no matter what time I stumble in."
"That's admirable. No girlfriend then?" Kendall asked, and Logan wondered if it was an observation or something more.
After concluding that it was the least flirtatious way to answer the question, he answered, "No boyfriend either."
He was met with a warm smile, as Kendall provided, "Me neither. No boyfriend. Well, no girlfriend either, but…yeah."
So in this facet at least, they were compatible, and Logan willed himself not to blush again, wondering if there was anything in his library of medical literature that would stop his cheeks from getting rosy every time Kendall's eyes were on him.
They spoke until their plates were clean, and nearly an hour afterward. Logan realized the discussion was more personal than he'd gotten with just about anyone since moving to LA for school almost a decade ago. Through their conversation, he found that Kendall was originally from Minnesota, like he was. The similarities were almost eerie, especially considering that they'd lived just as close to each other in Minnesota as they did in Los Angeles. In fact, had Logan's family not moved two towns over in the third grade, they would have attended the same high school.
Soon, the large windows became dark, and Kendall realized that he'd been at the hospital for nearly five hours already, and that he had just enough time to make it to the fire station before his shift started. Logan walked him to the doors of the hospital, before hesitating just inside the doorway.
"Listen, next time you want to visit…just call me or text me. I mean, not that you're not welcome, but if I'm here it will be easier," he said, trying his best not to sound rude.
He caught a glint in those green eyes, as Kendall confirmed, "I'm beginning to see that."
Logan could only wave halfheartedly as the blond figure walked out the sliding doors, and he walked dazedly back to the nurses' station, where James was waiting, a grin on his face. He looked like he'd been sitting on something, and Logan finally asked him impatiently, "Well, what did you think?"
James leaned over the desk, his lips so close to Logan's ear that he could feel the man's warm breath on his cheek, and he would consider it flirtatious if it wasn't James and this wasn't his normal behavior, but he couldn't help but blush when James finally whispered the three words he'd been dying to say, "Logan, I say this as your friend. Get. It. In."