James looked up when the blond stirred and murmured a bit in his sleep. He eyed the blond carefully and watched as Kendall frowned in his sleep and how his eyebrows knitted together and his lips were pressed together in a pout. James reached over and poked him on the shoulder and the blond flinched and his eyes shot open.
"Calm down. It was just a nightmare." James said calming and went back to reading. Kendall panted slightly and gulped.
"W-Wha-... J-James?" He whined and looked confused. The brunet nodded slowly and kept reading, not really paying Kendall too much attention. The blond curled up a bit and sat up. "H-How long was I asleep?" He asked.
"An hour or so." James mumbled.
"D-Did you stay here the entire time?" Kendall asked and blushed a bit. James nodded and flipped the page. "Why?"
"Well, it was either hang out and do nothing in my own room or hang out and do nothing in here." James said. "And you said that it was alright that I stayed, didn't you?" Kendall nodded slowly and sat up. "Are you okay?"
The blond gulped again and nodded. "I'm fine." he said and sighed. "I-Is that my book?" He then asked, seeing the brunet reading. James nodded again and flipped the page again. Kendall stayed quiet for a while and James took a break and looked up from the white pages.
"I hope it was alright that I borrowed it." he said. "I've got a few books in my room but I've already read them... several times." He said and shrugged. "I haven't read this one." he said and held up the book he had in his hand. Kendall shook his head.
"It's fine. I've already finished it. You can have it." he said. James lit up.
"Really?" he asked. Kendall – slightly taken aback by the brunet's excitement – nodded. "Wow, you're the best! It's not even my birthday!" James cheered. Kendall chuckled a little and shrugged. "Man, I should totally give you something in return." James said and seemed to think.
"I-It's fine, really." Kendall said. "You don't have to give me anything." he said and shook his head but before he could further react James shot up from his seat and hugged him. Kendall closed his mouth and just tried to process the fact that he was receiving a hug.
"Thank you, Kendall." James said. Kendall gently patted James' shoulder and nodded.
"Well, well, well!" Carlos chirped and came into the room. "What's going on in here?" He asked and giggled a bit. James let go of Kendall and smiled at the blond before turning to the nurse and holding up the book.
"I got this book from Kendall!" He chirped. Kendall blushed and shifted awkwardly.
"I-It's nothing really. I've already read it s-so... he can have it." He said and smiled shyly. James smiled and sank back down in the chair and continued reading. Carlos chuckled a bit and walked up to the bed and felt Kendall's forehead.
"I noticed that you took a nap." He said and the blond nodded. "How are you feeling?" Carlos asked and smiled at him while picking up a stethoscope and hanging it around his neck and then looking around in his pockets for something.
"I feel better." Kendall said.
Carlos smiled at him. "That's wonderful, Kendall." He said. "Can you sit up properly for a second? I just want to listen to your heart for a minute." He said and helped Kendall sit up and then listened to his heartbeats with the stethoscope.
Kendall avoided to sigh too much and patiently sat and waited for Carlos to be done. He took longer than he usually would and Kendall had a slight back ache. James – that was pretty much lost in his happiness – looked up at the blond that looked bored and a little uncomfortable. Kendall didn't seem to notice the look so James turned his gaze to the nurse examining Kendall. The latino had a puzzled look on his face and his dark eyebrows were quickly forming a frown on his face. Something that made James worry.
"Is everything alright?" James asked. Carlos' eyes snapped to look at the brunet eying him and he quickly removed the stethoscope from Kendall's chest and smiled.
"Of course." he said. "Kendall." He then said and the blond turned to look at him. "Your heart rate is a bit faster than usual." He noted.
"O-Oh?" Kendall asked and looked nervous. "I-Is that bad?" He asked. Carlos sighed a bit and looked puzzled.
"I'm not so sure yet." He said. "I'll listen one more time, try to relax." He said. Kendall frowned and shot James a worried look but did as he was told. "Breathe in, Kendall. Deep breath." Carlos told him and Kendall did as instructed. "Now breathe out." Again, Kendall followed the instructions.
"I-Is everything alright?" Kendall asked worriedly.
"Yes, Kendall. Calm down." Carlos said – noticing that Kendall's heart beat faster by the second – and mentally scolded himself for making the poor blond nervous and scared. "Just relax, it's nothing serious. You don't have to be nervous."
Kendall that was beginning to panic gulped and tried to get some air down into his lungs frantically looked around in the room for something to focus on and he only briefly heard Carlos tell him to calm down and relax.
Then a warm hand gripped his and Kendall's head turned and he looked down at James that was giving him a calming smile and shook his head. Immediately everything that even resembled stress or nervousness slipped away and Kendall relaxed. James smiled at him and nodded approvingly and Carlos let out a quiet sigh in relief.
"There, there, Kendall." He said softly. "I told you that there was nothing to be afraid of." He said and gently rubbed Kendall's shoulder. "You're going to be just fine." he said and smiled at the blond that just nodded back and leaned back in the bed.
"Y-Yeah." Kendall said and sighed. "T-Thanks." He mumbled and felt James' hand let go of his. Honestly, Kendall was a little disappointed. James' hand was quite warm and comforting and he didn't really want the brunet to let go.
Carlos smiled at him and patted him on the head. "Good. I'll leave for now and I'll be back in a few hours." He said. "And James, please don't tire him out too much. I'd like you back in your room no later than nine. Alright?"
"Okay." James said and nodded. Carlos smiled once more before leaving the two alone and heading over to Doctor Mitchell's office and knocking on the door.
"Doctor Mitchell?" He asked and opened the door. "May I have a word with you?"
- page break -
"Hey... James?" Kendall mumbled and looked up from his guitar. He had been playing for a while and James had sat on the other side of his bed and listened while writing in a small notebook.
The brunet looked up and emerald eyes met hazel ones. "Yeah?" James asked and looked back down at his notebook and resumed writing. Kendall hesitated a bit and kept mindlessly strumming on his guitar for a minute or so before he spoke up.
"Thanks..." he mumbled. "About that thing before." He said. "I guess I got really scared." He said and looked a little embarrassed. James looked up from the notebook again and arched an eyebrow. "I'm such a wimp, I know." Kendall chuckled stiffly and gulped. "I just... panicked."
"It's fine." James said. "Friends help other friends out." he said simply and shifted a little. "Maybe when I'm scared of something you can hold my hand?" he suggested and winked at the blond that quickly turned red and pouted a bit.
"W-Whatever." Kendall mumbled and looked away. James chuckled a bit but they were both interrupted by someone clearing their throat and tapping their foot. James and Kendall both turned to look at the door.
A nurse was standing there with her arms crossed over her chest and cocked an eyebrow. "James." She said. "I do believe that you were supposed to be in bed by nine." She said and walked closer. James frowned.
"But-"
"No buts." The nurse interrupted. "Come on now. You need your rest too." She said and grabbed a gentle hold of James' arm when he climbed out of bed. "And you, young man." She said and turned to Kendall. "You are supposed to be asleep already." She said.
Kendall glanced at James that looked a bit annoyed with the nurse. "S-Sorry." Kendall mumbled and put his guitar away. "I-I'll sleep now." He said before turning to James. "I-I'll see you around." he said.
"Come on now, James." The nurse said and dragged James towards the door. The handsome brunet frowned and looked at Kendall who could only shoot him a helpless look. There was nothing he could do since he couldn't get out of bed anyways and he could only watch as James was lead out of the room.
Once James was gone and the nurse too, Kendall crawled down under the covers and sighed. He wasn't that tired but he knew that the nurses kept him under strict surveillance and expected him to get a lot of sleep and rest. Sometimes the blond wondered if it really was healthy to sleep as much as he did. He didn't want to ponder that and pushed the thoughts aside and went to sleep.
James on the other hand was not tired at all. He complained thoroughly that he was not tired and that he had no intention of sleeping anytime soon. The nurse was beyond annoyed with him and tried to scold him into sleeping.
"If you don't get your rest you won't get healthy!" She said and gave James a stern look. "It's very important for the body to rest."
James pouted and crossed his arms over his chest. "But I don't want to sleep. I do nothing but sleep, eat and rest. I wanna do something else." He said. "I can't leave the section and I can't go outside. Hell! I haven't seen the outside for almost nine months!" He said.
"James, you know you can't go outside. It's not good for your health." The nurse said softly and gently caressed James' cheek. "You're finally making some progress. Don't ruin it by disobeying." She almost pleaded. The brunet scoffed and resorted to sulking. Giving the nurse the silent treatment. The woman sighed and placed a kiss on James' head. "Good night, sweetie." She said and left the room and closing the lights before she left.
James was not happy. He didn't want to be locked up in the stupid hospital anymore. He wanted to go... somewhere. Anywhere but the hospital. But he had nowhere to go. With his dad missing since his birth and his mother pushing up daisies there was nowhere for him to go. He had no friends outside the hospital and none of his family was alive. No cousins or uncles or aunts. He was all alone and that made James really sad. He just wanted to belong somewhere. Anywhere. As long as it wasn't on this damn hospital.
Aw, man. I feel so bad for James. Poor Jamie..
I've got a question for y'all. If you don't mind... I'd just like to know what you think about James right about now. Would it be something you'd be able to answer? You guys are smart, I wanna hear what you think :)
Thank you for reading and I really hope that you enjoy it. Please tell me if you do. Thank you.
Love, Hannah
