A/N Hi all you awesome readers! So thankful for all of the reviews last chapter! And guess what? I'm 4 away from my 200th favorite! And the 200th author who favorites me gets a one-shot of their choice written for them! Wheeee. Lot's to be revealed this chapter… I'm excited! On with it then!
"What's happening?" Logan rasped out, barely able to even hear his soft voice over the roar of panic in his ears and the rush of rain pouring from the stormy sky. After Kendall hadn't returned his and Carlos' frantic calls over their in-ears, the two smallest boys had made the decision to leave the stage and search for Kendall and James, fearing the worst. Those fears had come true when they found the blonde cradling James in his arms.
One look at James and Logan knew something was terribly wrong. He was almost lifeless in Kendall's arms and his skin was a sickening shade of gray. He was mumbling under his breath, staring off at something only he could see. Logan could tell that James wasn't with them right now.
"Call 911," Kendall replied, running his long fingers through James' soaked hair, trying to comfort him.
"We have to get him out of this rain," Logan said, barely registering Kendall's demand.
Kendall's head snapped up to make eye contact with Logan. He raised his voice slightly. "I said call 911!"
"I will! But we need to get him out of this rain right now!" Logan shot back. Normally, he became timid when anybody raised their voices at him, but now he was going into doctor mode. "I will grab this side of him, you take the other." Logan snaked his arms around James' left, holding tightly to his arm and leg. It took Kendall a second to regain composure, but he blinked and followed suit, slowly lifting James off the wet, muddy ground.
Carlos, who grew quiet with fear this entire time, held open the doors as Kendall and Logan struggled to carry James in a half-run back into the venue. While they got him situated on the couch, Carlos ran to find some towels and brought them back, patting him the sick, wet boy down. Logan was on the phone, talking in a low, stressed voice, obviously calling for help for James. Kendall still had a tight grip on James with no plans on letting go anytime soon.
"He's burning up," Carlos observed as he dried James off. Kendall chewed on his bottom lip until he was close to drawing blood. Carlos was right. James' skin was scorching, as if he had just sat in an oven for a while rather than being drenched in a rain storm.
"What on earth were you doing out there buddy?" Kendall asked. He didn't expect an answer, but to their surprise, James let out a tiny sob.
"I'm looking for him. I can't find him…" James whispered in a broken voice.
"Who can't you find, buddy?" Carlos asked. He had never heard James sound like this before.
"Kendall," James whispered, and more tears flowed down his pale cheeks until he was sobbing, choking out random words as he cried. "I can't… I can't… He's not there…"
Kendall brought James into a huge embrace, pressing him against his chest. "James, what are you talking about, I'm right here!" Kendall assured James in a pleading voice.
"He's delirious," Logan said, having hung up the phone and joining his friends on the couch while they waited for an ambulance. Kendall looked at him, confused. He didn't quite know what delusional meant.
"He's having hallucinations. He's not in his right mind," Logan explained. "It's the fever. It's dangerously high."
"Will he be okay?" Carlos asked. "Wh-what's wrong with him? You're a doctor, you know, right Logan?"
Logan shook his head sadly. "I-I don't know what is wrong, 'Litos. He's really sick. None of his symptoms are adding up to me. I-I can't diagnose him this time. If I could have, he wouldn't be this sick. I would have gotten him help but…" Logan trailed off, hanging his head in shame, a tuft of brown hair falling into his eyes.
"Don't, Logie," Kendall whispered, touching Logan's head softly. Logan looked up to see Kendall's sincere green eyes staring into his guilty ones. "It's not your fault."
Logan nodded, leaning into Kendall's touch. Even when things were at their worst, Kendall always had the power to be able to comfort everyone involved, despite his own fears and panic.
Suddenly, James stopped muttering and sobbing and went limp against Kendall's chest.
"Oh no, James no, open your eyes buddy! You can't sleep yet," Kendall urged, lifting James' heavy head from his chest and patting his hot cheek. James' feverish eyes opened into tiny slits, giving them false hope and staring past Kendall, before shutting them closed one last time.
"Is he breathing though?" Logan asked, pressing his fingers against James' neck. His pulse was too slow for his liking, but still there, and Kendall could feel his weak breath against his neck.
"Yes, but the medics need to get here now. I don't know how much longer…" Kendall swallowed his words down, knowing that this high of a fever was extremely dangerous and that he needed help right away.
Moments later, the anxiety in the air was cut like a knife when several medics with a stretcher came bursting into the room. They crowded around James, and Logan had to coax Kendall away from James. The blonde refused to release James' hand, and Logan finally had to force them apart. Kendall leaned against Logan heavily, watching his best friend and brother be poked and prodded by worried medics and then whisked away on the gurney.
"James!" Kendall cried out, lunging forward to follow him. Logan and Carlos held him, their hands firmly against his chest.
"We'll follow them to the hospital," Logan assured him.
Gustavo and Kelly drove the 3 solemn boys to the hospital. They had been hoping to see James, at least catch one more glimpse of him, but he was already in the emergency room when they arrived. The wait was horrendously long, and all they could picture in their minds was images of James' ill, pained face. They had let James' sickness go too far, and now they had to deal with the guilt eating away at their emotions until finally a doctor appeared before them, clipboard in hand and frown on his aged features.
"James Diamond?" He asked in a gruff voice, though he already knew who they were there for. He recognized the bunch as Big Time Rush, being that his granddaughter loved the band.
Logan, Kendall and Carlos jumped to their feet in unison, standing so close to each other for support that they were nearly leaning on one another. They held their breaths and nodded, waiting for the news. The doctor took a second to glance at his clipboard.
"When James was brought in, we noticed immediately that his spleen was enlarged and his skin was showing signs of jaundice. That coupled with the high fever, which was 106.3, as well as the list of other symptoms you presented to us led us to perform several tests. In his bloodwork, we found a parasite called Plasmodium Vivax."
"What's that?" Kendall asked, completely lost. He glanced at Logan, who had gone completely pale, tears edging at the corners of his brown eyes. Kendall's heart sped up. Logan knew exactly what was wrong with James.
"M-malaria?" Logan choked out. It wasn't really a question, he said it in pure disbelief, because how could James have the second deadliest form of malaria in the world?
A/N BAM now we know what's wrong with James… Yay! Haha. Please review it would make me so happy :') Once again sorry for typos, no time to read over this as I have to get back to work, but I know you are all forgiving! Love you guys! Xo!
