A/N Wow it has been a while! Thanks for all the reviews and just for reading, I'll make this extra whumpy and fluffy for all of your patience!
Kendall watched Logan sleep in his arms like a hawk, studying his sweaty, flushed face. He felt like all of his nerves and senses were sharpened. With every sound or move Logan would make, Kendall would fuss over it immediately, checking his temperature and making sure his ice packs were situated in the right places. Every 15 minutes, he would trade off places where the ice would rest on Logan's small body, and sometimes he would move the ice completely.
It had been an hour since Logan collapsed, and all the ice packs were melted from the intensity of his fever. Kendall removed the sloshy, towel-wrapped packs and set them aside before taking Logan's temperature. He was at 104.7 degrees now. For the amount of medication and cool down that Kendall had given him, his fever hadn't really budged much.
"Come on Logie, get better," Kendall urged, hugging Logan to his chest. For some reason, he was finding it hard to let Logan go. He felt he had to have his best friend in his arms at all times, where the small boy was safe and comforted. Despite how tired he was, he refused to close his eyes and fall asleep. What if Logan needed him? What if something happened and he slept right through it?
"I wish you could just tell me what to do," Kendall whispered. "You're the doctor, not me. Why'd ya have to get sick, buddy?"
Logan groaned against Kendall's chest and shuddered. Even in his sleep Kendall could see a great deal of pain etched in his features. His clothes were soaked all the way through with sweat, and Kendall carefully eased out from under him and grabbed a dry pair of flannel pajamas from the drawer. He then carefully undressed him and gasped in shock.
"Oh my God, Logie… What is going on with you, buddy?" Kendall whispered, ghosting his fingers over Logan's skin. The sick boy was marred with a red rash, spread out over his chest, stomach, and legs. Some of the rash was raised, some parts were flat discolorations. As Kendall studied the rash, he felt panic settling into the pit of his stomach. It almost hurt, and when he suddenly felt a bit dizzy, he blamed it on being tired and worried.
Kendall ignored the weird feeling inside of his stomach and rushed down to James, who was sound asleep on the couch with Carlos sprawled out on top of him. Kendall removed Carlos and laid him down on the other end of the sectional, than shook James awake.
"James, I am sorry to wake you but you gotta see this!" Kendall said, dragging James to his feet. James stumbled tiredly.
"What's 'appening?" James slurred. Kendall didn't say anything, just dragged his best friend up to Logan and pointed at his stomach.
"Look at Logan! What the hell is that?" Kendall exclaimed.
"Whoa!" James yelled in surprise, making Logan stir in his sleep. That might have been a good thing. Kendall wanted Logan to be awake so he could question him. James must have thought the same thing, because he went over to the sickly boy and gently shook him out of oblivion.
"Logan, buddy, wake up. Something's wrong," James said urgently. Logan whimpered and wrapped his arms around his shivering body.
"James, I'm so cold," Logan said with a cough.
"I know, little guy. Just hold on." James quickly dressed Logan in the clothes Kendall laid out and lifted his tiny body up easily, letting Logan's legs wrap around his waist as if he were a 3 year old. Logan's head lulled against James' shoulder, already asleep. James could feel the intense fever radiating from Logan's head onto his shoulder.
"Kendall, can you stay with Carlos? I'm taking Logan to the hospital, this can't be good," James said. Kendall nodded, surprised by his take charge attitude. James was never this assertive, but Kendall was silently thankful for it because the blonde's mind was drawing blanks in the midst of his panic.
"Yeah, just call me when you find out what's going on," Kendall said nervously. He didn't really like the idea of being separated from Logan, but somebody had to stay with Carlos.
James nodded and carried Logan out to the car. He buckled the sleeping boy in and drove off to the hospital. Being that it was nearly 5 am, there wasn't much traffic on the road and they arrived sooner than he thought they would. James parked his car and went around to the passenger side so he could unbuckle Logan and lift him up.
"Where are we?" Logan wondered groggily, wrapping his legs around James' waist and his arms around his neck. James choked and loosened Logan's death grip from his neck.
"We're going to the emergency room, buddy. You're really sick," James explained, which turned out to be a very bad idea. For being so weak and sick, Logan was feisty. He struggled against James' arms, whimpering in fear.
"Logan! Stop it, buddy! What's the matter?" James asked, perplexed.
"No!" Logan cried, and then James remembered Logan's odd little quirk. Even though he was an aspiring doctor, Logan was terrified of hospitals. He hated being the patient with a fiery passion.
"Awe, jeez Logie, it's going to be ok! I'll be right with you, I'm not gonna leave your side, not for a minute! Just calm down, Logan!" With difficulty, James made it across the parking with a struggling Logan but as soon as they reached the sidewalk, Logan lost it. The small boy wailed, slipping from James' arms and falling onto the concrete. A couple passersby's stopped and stared in shock.
"Is he ok?" One woman asked, watching the teenager on the sidewalk throw a huge fit.
"No, he's not ok!" James said, grabbing his hair in panic. "He's really sick and he's delirious with a fever and I don't know what to do!" James reached down and lifted Logan bridal style this time, marching through the double doors. Logan's fit had ceased as quickly as it started, the sick boy feeling too weak to carry it on any further. He now just cried against James' chest pitifully.
"Excuse me," James said, approaching the front desk. "My friend is really sick. He's had a high fever for quite some time now, please help him."
The nurse looked up at James and smiled, amused. "Weren't you 2 just here a couple nights ago, for the other little one? Carlos? How's he doing?"
"Sick," James replied. "You'll probably be seeing him again soon. But this time, it's Logan. I don't know what's wrong with him."
"What are his symptoms, sweetie? Besides the fever?" The nurse asked. James lifted Logan's shirt slightly, and the nurse gasped when she saw the horrible rash spread out across his skin.
"Oh, poor little boy! Oh my goodness!" She exclaimed. She quickly called for a doctor and ordered a solitary room, claiming she had an extremely contagious teenaged boy that needed to be put in quarantine. James almost burst into tears in fear. What was wrong with his best friend?
Suddenly, Logan was whisked from James' arms and put into a wheelchair and a doctor wheeled him off down the hall. Logan cried out in protest, but was too weak to do anything else after he over-exerted himself with his earlier tantrum. James stared at the doctor that took his friend away and decided to run after them. He followed them into the small hospital room and watched the white-coated man place a teary-eyed Logan onto the skinny white bed.
"James," he whimpered, reaching his hand out towards the taller boy. James rushed forward and grabbed Logan's hand.
"Hey, you aren't supposed to be back here," The doctor said in annoyance.
"Bullshit, he's my little brother and I'm staying in here," James growled, than turned back to Logan. "You gotta let the doctor take care of you now, Logie. I don't know what to do to make you better. But I'll be right over here, ok?" James squeezed Logan's hand and stepped back so that the doctor could do his job. James watched the doctor work on Logan protectively, ready to attack at every whimper or cry that escaped Logan's lips.
"Why does he have that rash?" James asked, annoyed at being kept in the dark. The doctor glanced at James, waiting for the thermometer in Logan's mouth to beep.
"He has measles," the doctor said. "A bad case of it, too. I'm thinking he has the flu and the measles, poor kid." He removed the thermometer and read the numbers aloud. "One-oh-five even," he said, clicking his tongue in worry.
James blinked. The measles? What the hell were measles? Was that some kind of horrible disease? What was going to happen? Was Logan going to die? James suddenly burst into tears and the doctor looked at him, taken aback.
"Young man, what's wrong?" The doctor asked, flabbergasted.
"I don't want him to die!" James sobbed, and surprisingly, it was Logan who spoke next.
"I'm not going to die, you idiot," Logan croaked weakly, followed by a cough. The doctor laughed and James blushed wildly.
"The measles aren't life threatening," the doctor explained. "It used to be very common but most people are immunized against it. I will check Logan's vaccination records to see why he ended up catching it, because the vaccine is highly effective. It's his fever I am worried about. I'll put him on a heavy fever reducer and see if that does the trick. Keep Logan company for a moment, I'm going to go look up his records and find him some medicine."
James nodded and watched the doctor leave, than sat on the edge of the bed next to Logan. "You ok, Logie?"
"I don't feel so good, James," Logan said, rubbing his stomach. His rash was making him uncomfortable. He felt a larger hand against his stomach, rubbing gently, and opened his eyes to see James' hand was making small circles on his stomach and chest absent mindedly. Logan relaxed and coughed. His mind felt blurry from the fever and skin was burning, and all he wanted to do was go home.
"You'll feel better in a little bit, the doctor is going to find you some medicine and then we can go home."
Logan yawned and rubbed at his tired eyes. He could feel himself drifting in and out of confused consciousness. "Oh. Where are we, Jamie?"
James smiled and swiped his thumb against Logan's warm cheek. "We are at the doctors, Logie. Remember?"
"Oh. Well just don't leave me when we get there, ok? I don't like the doctor," Logan mumbled. James chuckled.
"I'm not gonna leave you, bro. I'm right here." James watched Logan fall asleep. The doctor came in, reading a slip of paper.
"It says here that Logan's measles vaccination was never completed when he was a baby. That would explain why he caught it. He'll have a rash for a few days, if it gets itchy put some calamine lotion on it. The most important thing is to keep him hydrated, as he'll most likely have diarrhea for a couple days. He'll be pretty sick for a bit but like I said, it's nothing life threatening. Measles can cause a vitamin A deficiency so make sure he takes a multi vitamin every day. I'm going to give him some fever reducer and I want to keep him here for a few hours, just so I know his body is responding to it because a fever this high is not normal and can be very dangerous. I'm going to put him on an IV because he's showing early signs of dehydration."
James cringed. Logan hated needles, but luckily he was in a deep sleep and didn't even notice when the doctor inserted the IV into his arm. The doctor woke him up briefly to swallow the pills, but he fell right back to sleep.
"I'll leave you 2 alone, call me if you need anything," the doctor said. James nodded and thanked him, then dragged a chair to Logan's bedside and sat next to him. He was so exhausted. The past couple days were a whirlwind of stress, and he wanted nothing more than to just fall asleep, even in such an uncomfortable chair. But before he could drift off, he texted Kendall and let him know the situation. Kendall freaked out at first, but James reassured him that Logan was fast asleep and just fine. When Kendall finally calmed down, James leaned forward and rested his head on Logan's bed, falling asleep immediately.
A/N Ahh, I keep promising Carlos whump and then I don't do it! I promise, next chap will have the Carlos whump! We'll see what is going on back at the apartment with Kendall and Carlos, it's not gonna be good! Please review? Thanketh you!
Oh, and if you think the doctors were over reacting, they were aha. Measles are super contagious and doctors like to freak out and over react. One time I walked into an emergency room with croup and the doctors did the same thing to me as Logan, they took me into a trauma unit and quarantined me and all the doctors wore masks. I was like wtf? And they were like "It's contagious!" Hahaha.