Hey everyone :) I hope you guys had a good week… Thank God it's Friday!
Thanks so much for all the reviews! I'm so blown away by the amazing response that this story has gotten :) Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter: Baxxie, vikwhis13, witnessgreatness21, coolchick275, MyHeroRaven, happygirl57, CandySmile, MSUbtrfan, Glee Club Rock 1251, Anonymous Skrtle, cookielover101, PizzaTop21, SweetPeaKiller, I C a big world, FreakierThanFreaks, Wingedgymnast21, pinkranger888, HonoraryLoser, Twisted Illusions, BTR'slovesong, freakycutiecarlos… :D Thanks so much guys!
Disclaimer: I don't own Big Time Rush. Sorry for any mistakes!
O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o
James leapt out of his chair when the doctor knocked once on the door before barging into Logan's room. Oh God, no.
"What's wrong?" He gasped, feeling that sick feeling in his stomach come slamming back. "What happened?" Visions of blood and tears and panic and arguing and that crushed car and the flashing lights and sirens and just about everything about that morning flash into his mind. James' mind is racing.
"What? Oh, don't worry, James, nothing is wrong. I was just coming in to tell you both that visiting times are over, Logan needs to rest, and to see if you both wanted a short visit with Carlos and Kendall? Carlos seems to be regaining consciousness, so it might be good for him to see some familiar faces."
Katie seemed to freeze for a second when James turned back to check that she was still okay, but she snaps out of it. Leaning down, Katie gives Logan another small hug, saying, "We'll come back to see you later, Logan, okay? Right now though we're gonna go and check on Carlos and Kendall…" Logan only looks confused, and asks her what happened.
James tries to crack a smile for his friend, saying his goodbyes, before turning to the doctor. "Let's go." He and Katie join hands.
Katie has once again sandwiched herself against James as they approach the ICU. James has to force himself not to look in all the rooms that they pass, the large windows outside too morbidly tempting. But then he's reminded that Carlos and Kendall are somewhere in these rooms, and he's afraid of seeing his friends, for fear of what they'll look like.
He keeps his eyes glued to the floor after that.
When the doctor stops in front of one of the doors, and gestures for James and Katie to go in before him, James pales. He's not ready for this, isn't prepared to see his broken best friend, doesn't want to accept the fact that Carlos is in pain and hurt.
But he's nudged into the room by the doctor, and James catches a glimpse of Carlos before he can stop himself. His mind races into overdrive immediately – This is way worse than seeing Logan, 'cause at least Logan had looked like himself – and only Katie's small hand squeezing his can stop him in what was becoming a panic attack.
The Latino is flat on his back, whimpering. A cast had already been put on his leg, the plaster stretching from Carlos' hip all the way down to his toes. His chest is securely wrapped, for the broken ribs James realises with a start, and there are deep, ugly bruises all the way up his left arm.
Then James looks at his friend's face, and thinks that there is a very good chance that he might throw up.
Carlos' tanned face is clean of blood, but the deep cuts have been stitched, making him look even worse. Because now James can see clearly all of the damage, could trace his finger over all of the lacerations if he wanted to, can see perfectly where the glass sliced into Carlos. It's horrific.
To the left of the bed, James can see some sort of metal contraption that makes him shiver, and he suddenly realises that the doctor is in the middle of explaining everything, "… used for traction. It looks bad, but Carlos wasn't conscious for it, so it didn't hurt him. As for his face, those cuts should hopefully heal completely, and we're hoping that the scarring will be minimal.
"He had surgery for his broken femur, where the surgeons realigned the bone, and casted him under anaesthetic. While it is normal procedure to fit younger children with a spica cast, we decided to just give Carlos a full length cast, to give him better mobility. Provided that he does nothing too strenuous, the bone should heal perfectly with time."
Katie manages to unstick herself from James' side when he moves towards the bed, and into Carlos' line of vision. "Hey, buddy…" He chokes out, because Carlos just looks so broken. He also has his big puppy dog eyes turned on full, making him seem even more vulnerable, and his face is scrunched up between two different expressions: guilt, and pain.
The teenager shifts slightly in the bed, letting out a gasp of pain when agony flares. "Hey, don't try to move, okay? Everything's okay, I promise. Just—Try and stay still."
Carlos obeys and stops moving, tears spilling down his cheeks, "W-What… Happened…." The words are hoarse, cracked, and full of pain, but James is just relieved that Carlos is lucid, unlike Logan that's off in a complete other world.
It's obvious that it's hurting the teenager to speak, his breaths coming out hard and strained, but there's a familiar stubborn glint in Carlos' eyes that James knows well.
"There was, um, we got into a car crash, man. You—you broke your leg, and some ribs, but the doctors said that you're going to be fine."
"Hurts…" James winces, and gently picks up Carlos' hand, a tear escaping from his own eyes, "T-the… others?"
James blanks, not knowing what to say, "I-I… We just saw Logan, and um, well he's got a concussion. Doesn't really know what's going on, but he's fine. It's actually pretty funny, you'd like it. Oh, and he broke his arm, but it's not serious. And Kendall… Well, we haven't seen him yet, he still has to wake up, but he's okay too." The last part is a lie, James has no idea if Kendall is okay or not, but he figures that the last thing that Carlos needs is to be upset.
Carlos frowns, hissing in pain when he pulls some of his stitches in his forehead, "Y-you okay?" Then James completely forgets how to breathe, and almost chokes. Of all the people he knew, only Carlos would be concerned for him, a total jerk, when he's lying in a hospital bed, practically crying in pain. Oh Jeez…
Katie quickly steps in, catching James' desperate glance backwards, and is suddenly beside him. She slips her hand in his, and squeezes it tight for support, "He's fine, Carlos, don't worry."
The Latino smiles painfully at the sight of Katie, "Heya… Katie." He croaks, clearly trying to hide some of his pain and sound normal. It didn't work.
"Hey, Carlos," Tears shine in her eyes, but she refuses to let them fall. "You feeling okay?" Carlos winks cheerfully in response, talking too painful on his broken ribs, but his eyes lack the normally ever present sparkle that makes Carlos Carlos. Katie has to swallow hard before she can continue speaking, "You want me to bring your helmet in when I go home next?" It's a weak attempt at conversation, but it has Carlos looking overjoyed in a second.
"That w-would… be awe—awesome…" His words are becoming more and more slurred, and harder to get out, so it's then that the doctor steps in.
"I think that it's time for Carlos to get some stronger pain meds. They will make him very drowsy, so you'll probably drift off to sleep, Carlos…" Before the Latino can object, a syringe is being placed in his IV stand, and a second later his face starts to relax.
"W-wait… J-Jamzzz…" Carlos looks like he's concentrating hard to keep his eyes open, let alone talk, so James leans down to listen, "You… don't sssstill…. H-hate… me, do… youuu…? 'mm sorry…" Then he trails off, eyes slightly glazed over.
"What? No! No, Carlos, I didn't mean it when I said that, no! Oh God, man, I'm so sorry, I swear that I didn't mean it at all… Please don't think that because it's not true at all, and I—" But then James is nudged slightly, and he realises that Carlos has fallen asleep already. James is shaking, trying to hold it together for Katie, but it's nearly impossible.
Somehow he manages to stop the tears.
The doctor checks a few reading on the machines, does some weird doctor stuff with the IVs, before straightening from where he had been bent over Carlos, "Do you both want to see Kendall now?"
But James realises that he really doesn't want to see Kendall. As bad as it sounds, he's terrified of the unknown after seeing two of his friends injured and broken, and he's not sure that he can face a third. Especially since it's Kendall, the leader and the one who holds everything together.
James is trying his best, but he really doesn't think that he can do this.
O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.
So, I hope that this chapter is okay! The future of this story holds angst and whumpage for all :) If there's anything that you want to see in this, drop me a line, and I'll try my very best to fit it in :D
The next chapter should be up by Monday, I'm thinking…? I'd love to hear what you thought about this chapter :) Review…?
Thanks so much for reading,
ArmedWithMyComputer xx