Chapter twenty! Yay! And thanks for getting me to 400 reviews! I love y'all!
Who's ready for a cute Logan moment? Well...I hope you are :D
Enjoy!
It was dark. It was late. And it was starting to rain.
I'll talk to you in the morning, Logan texted Camille. Get some rest. Love you.
Logan smiled when Camille replied a few minutes later.
I love you too :D
Logan could see his friends making funny faces as if they were mocking him, but he didn't care. He was talking to Camille. When he thought of Camille, nothing else mattered.
"Can you believe the chocolate fountain Dak had?" Carlos asked in amazement. His eyes lit up."I didn't think they came that big! It was like Niger Falls!"
Logan could only roll his eyes. "Niagara Falls," he corrected. They'd been through this several times.
"Oh yeah," Carlos carelessly said.
"Don't forget the hot girls!" James chimed in.
Logan once again rolled his eyes, scoffing a bit.
"Did any of you guys see WayneWayne?" Kendall asked. "Even he was being nice to us."
"That's because you've beat him once, and you can beat him again," Carlos said with a smile. "I think that's something he'll remember for a long time the next time he wants to mess with us."
The car was silent for a few minutes. The excitement and adrenaline from the party had begun to wear off. James released a huge sigh.
Logan looked out his window, seeing what caused the sudden look of worry coming from Kendall. He noticed a car maneuvering horribly. "Kendall-"
"I see it," Kendall quickly said.
Logan felt the car speed up as Kendall tried to escape the vicinity of the swerving car.
But Logan realized that Kendall's efforts were in vain.
Logan was the first to scream when he saw the car come towards his side and-
Logan woke up with a start. He gasped awake, his body jolted upwards as Logan tried to catch his breath.
"Logie!" Carlos called out. He felt scared as Logan panicked. As promised, after dropping Kendall off at the apartment and getting him settled, James and Carlos returned to the hospital to stay with Logan.
And they were glad they did.
The beeping of the heart monitor increased as Logan tried catching his breath.
"We need to get him to breathe!" James yelled, taking action. He got close to Logan and held him, gently stroking the scared boy's hair. "Shh. It's okay, Logan," James said in a soft voice. "It's okay. We're here for ya."
A nurse burst in. "Is everything alright in here?" she asked, feeling that it would be necessary to sedate the patient.
James held Logan tighter. "He just had a bad dream," he answered, feeling bad for responding in such a rude way. But he felt Logan starting to relax a little and he didn't want his friend being sedated.
The nurse nodded before leaving the room.
"Is he okay?" Carlos asked James, even though his eyes were glued to Logan's trembling form.
"He will be," James answered hopefully. He turned his attention back to Logan. "What's wrong, buddy?" he asked. "What did you see?"
Logan tightened his grip on James. His crying had begun to die down a bit, but he was still frightened.
"You wanna talk about it?" Carlos asked.
Logan turned his gaze to Carlos. Logan's tear-filled eyes had become red. He finally nodded.
James reluctantly released him, knowing that Logan would need to write on his whiteboard if he wanted to talk about anything. He grabbed it and a marker off the table and handed it to Logan.
With shaky, sweaty hands, Logan accepted James' offering and began writing. I saw it, he simply wrote down, his brain unable to form real sentences.
"S-saw what?" Carlos asked, fearing the answer.
I saw the car coming, Logan wrote down. I saw the accident.
James sighed. "I'm so sorry, Logan," he said. "I'm sorry you had to see all that."
Logan wiped the tears from his eyes. There's nothing to be sorry about, he wrote down. I'm glad I can remember it now.
James and Carlos looked to him in shock. "Why?" Carlos asked, seeing as how Logan was an emotional mess due to the sudden memory.
Because all of you have suffered alone, Logan explained. I was totally oblivious to everything and I felt so bad about it. I didn't think it was fair to you guys.
"But we didn't want you suffering with us, Logan," James replied. "Don't you get that?"
Logan looked down, knowing that James had a point.
James sighed. "We can't protect you from everything, Logan," James continued. "But if we could, we would. So when you said you couldn't remember the accident, we were happy about that. You couldn't remember that night so we thought we had nothing to worry about. We never wanted to tell you what happened because we finally thought that there was something we could protect you from...We would have kept that secret down to our grave."
Carlos nodded in agreement.
Logan sighed. All of you guys have just been so great about helping me through all of this. I understand that you guys didn't want to tell me about it. I probably would have done the same thing if anyone of you were in my place right now. I wish there was a way I could pay you back for all of this.
"Are you kidding me, Logie?" Carlos asked in disbelief. "You don't need to pay us back. We're paying you back. You've done everything for us and you've shown so much patience towards us. You don't owe us anything!"
This time, it was James' turn to nod.
But you guys have sacrificed so much for me, Logan argued. Especially now. I don't know if I would have made it without your help.
"You're strong, Logan," James said. "Stronger than you think."
I only feel it when I'm around you guys
James and Carlos looked at each other before turning their attention back to Logan. They smiled.
"We feel the same way when we're around you, Logan," James said. He chuckled. "But I must say. You're really putting all of us down with your whole pessimistic talk."
Logan smiled. Can't help it, he wrote. It's my forte.
"Get a new one," Carlos jokingly demanded. "Because we will all be speaking of only the positive." Carlos smiled. "I just know it, Logan," he said optimistically. "Everything's gonna turn out better for us. Nothing but positive things will happen to us. It has to."
Logan sure hoped that was true. he wanted everyone to forget about this whole ordeal. He wanted Kendall to be himself again. He wanted his mother and Mrs. Knight to be friends again, despite all the trouble Joanna had caused. He wanted to see Carlos smile again. And not the sad smiles had been showing, but the real smiles. The ones where his face lit up and his eyes glowed. And James. Logan wanted James to return to his old care-free self. The James who joked around, ate pie, sang, and chased girls. Not the James that suddenly felt like he needed to support the weight of Katie, Mama Knight, Kendall, Logan, and Carlos on top of all his concerns.
I have six days, Logan wrote with a smile. If I can go six days without something going wrong, I can go home.
James laughed. "With all the trouble we seem to attract, those six days will be a huge feat!"
"Can I push you on your wheelchair?" Carlos asked excitedly.
James and Logan looked at Carlos wide-eyed, hoping Carlos was joking.
He wasn't.
Getting injured while LEAVING the hospital is not cool, Logan simply wrote. He smiled when he saw Carlos pout.
James laughed. Logan let a huge smile appear on his face.
You can tuck me in, Carlitos, Logan wrote to the pouting Latino.
Carlos shrugged. "Okay," he said. "I guess that's cool."
James slung his arm around Carlos' shoulders. "And you can pick out the movie we're gonna watch in celebration of Logan returning to us." He said before turning his gaze to Logan. "And I'll be the one to carry you to bed when you pass out the fifteen minutes of the movie."
Logan could feel his face heating up and turning red. He smiled sheepishly.
"Aww," James mocked. "Are we embarrassing our little Logie?"
Logan remained silent, trying to hide the smile that seemed to have permanently engraved itself onto his face.
"I'll take that as a yes," Carlos said. "It's so funny! Logie you're so pale and when you blush your cheeks turn EXTREMELY red!"
Stop it! Logan demanded once he was able to get his fingers to function.
Logan was trying to be serious, but James and Carlos knew they couldn't take Logan seriously. James and Carlos looked at each other, an evil smirk on their faces, and Logan wasn't oblivious as to what was going on.
No, he quickly scribbled. Don't even think about it.
Carlos teased him, poking Logan's side and watching the pale boy jump.
"Tickle war!" James called out. He and Carlos began tickling Logan.
Defenseless Logan tried escaping, but James and Carlos continued tickling him, and the only thing he could do was laugh. If he could, he'd at least be begging them to stop.
Suddenly, the door opened. An irritated-looking nurse walked in, crossing her arms over her chest and staring at them angrily. "What are you boys doing?"
Logan, who was still laughing a bit, tried catching her breath. He hadn't realized that his heart monitor had started to beep faster in result of the tickle war that had erupted.
"Sorry, ma'am," Carlos said, looking down in shame. "We were trying to cheer up Logie and it kinda got outta hand."
"Well be careful next time," the nurse warned. "Logan should be resting and a doctor will NOT hesitate to kick you out if need be."
James' and Carlos' eyes widened at that statement. They hadn't even thought about that.
"Okay," James finally said before the nurse walked out again. He and Carlos turned their attention back to Logan. "Sorry, Logan," James said to him.
Are you kidding? Logan asked with a shocked expression etched on his face. I don't think I've laughed that much in forever!
"Well then," Carlos began. "We'll continue this war later...back at the apartment." He stuck his finger out and pointed to Logan. "And that's a promise."
Logan just sighed, shaking his head. He stopped when he saw the time on the clock on the wall.
James and Carlos noticed their friend's sudden change in demeanor. "Logan," James said. "Everything okay?"
Logan nodded. I just realized that Dr Wilson is coming in two hours to check my throat. She'll be doing that everyday before I leave. They're all hoping to see improvement before then.
"And if they don't?" James asked. He wasn't trying to sound pessimistic. He just wanted to know the outcome of every possibility that could occur.
Logan shook his head. Nothing. They'll still send me home, he wrote, earning a large sigh of relief from his friends. But I WILL have to be making regular visits until my voice returns. It'll be a hassle and quite annoying, but Dr Wilson said it's required.
"It's no hassle," Carlos said quickly. "It's for you. Besides, those doctor's appointments won't last very long because you'll get your voice back in a flash. You'll see."
Logan shrugged. I know, he replied with a sigh. I just hate doctor's appointments.
"Be sure to rest up, Kendall," Jennifer recommended to her son who was glumly watching TV on the orange couch in the living room. "Your first doctor's appointment is tomorrow morning." She tried to sound as cheerful as possible, but the shakiness in her voice gave away her true feelings.
Kendall didn't respond, raising the volume of the television a little more. He knew that "doctor's appointment" was a nicer way of saying "time at the shrink".
Jennifer sighed, trying to hide the hurt she felt when he son blatantly ignored her. She slowly approached her son. "Kendall?" she asked. "Did you hear me?" Of course he heard her.
He just didn't want to talk.
Kendall just sighed.
"We leave at 9:30 in the morning," she announced. She patted his knee. "James and Carlos said they were going to spend the night with Logan so don't wait up for them, okay?"
More silence. This time, it was Jennifer's turn to sigh. "Kendall...Kendall please-"
That seemed to spark something within Kendall. "Please what?" he asked, standing up angrily. When his mother didn't say anything, he repeated himself, this time angrier. Louder. More aggressive. "PLEASE WHAT? PLEASE STOP MESSING UP? STOP PUTTING YOU TO SHAME? BE A GOOD EXAMPLE FOR MY SISTER THAT DOESN'T EVEN LOOK AT ME ANYMORE? What do you want from me, huh?"
"I want you to talk to someone!" Jennifer yelled back, tears stinging her eyes. "No one ever knows what you're thinking. You never let anyone in. You need to talk to someone, and since you didn't choose any of us I got you help!" Jennifer sobbed a bit. "I just don't want you to try it again and...and we find you too late..."
Kendall exhaled, feeling himself relax considerably at the sight of his mother. "Mom," he breathed out, feeling extremely guilty at the sight of his mother's tears. "I-I-I'm so-"
She rose up a hand, cutting him off. "It's fine," she quickly said. "I should go," she said, departing to her bedroom.
Kendall watched helplessly as his mother exited the living room. He felt terrible. He couldn't believe he had just yelled at his mother like that. He never talked to her like that. He had never raised his voice to someone he loved. Yet here he was, pushing away his mother and verbally abusing her when she just wanted to help.
Just like Joanna did.
Kendall gasped as that thought crossed his mind.
"Mom," he weakly called out to her as he started leaving the living room and made his way to her bedroom. He felt like he was messing up. Everything he did ended as a disaster.
He stood in front of her door. "Mom," he called as he knocked on the door. When he got no response, he let himself. He sighed as he made his way to her bed where she sat, hugging a pillow and letting tears fall down her face.
"I'm so sorry, Mom," he said as he took a seat next to her. "I sorry. I'm sorry." He wrapped his arms around her, putting his forehead on her shoulder. "Please forgive me. I'm such a screw up. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled at you. It was stupid. I'm so sorry." He just cried onto her shoulder, feeling that the silent treatment he was getting was something he deserved.
Kendall felt her pat his back in a loving way. "Shh, sweetie," she whispered. "It's okay, honey."
"No it's not," Kendall said, his head still on her shoulder. "I shouldn't have treated you like that. I made you cry. That's not right, Mom!"
"It's been stressful for you, Kendall," Jennifer replied. "I don't want you being hard on yourself, okay?"
Kendall sniffled. He lifted his head and wiped the tears off his face. "What's happened to me?"
"You're broken Kendall, and I understand," Jennifer replied. "It's okay to be the way you are right now. You blamed yourself for Logan's injuries. Then Joanna...I'm sorry I couldn't protect you from her. I'm sorry."
"Don't blame yourself for Joanna," Kendall pleaded. "You had no idea because I refused to tell you and the guys anything. I'm sorry. Mom. I want to get better. I need to get better. For Logan. For you and Katie. For James and Carlos. I have to..."
"Then let me help you, okay?" Jennifer replied in a gentle voice.
Kendall nodded. "Okay," he breathed out.
Jennifer swallowed. "Doctor Bennington has been a therapist for twelve years," she began. "He deals especially with people who...attempt suicide." The phrase felt like acid to her tongue now. "His fiancé committed suicide several years ago."
"How long do I have to be seeing him?" Kendall asked.
"Until you're better," she answered with a smile. She began combing her fingers through Kendall's hair.
"Okay," he said. "Then...I should probably go to bed."
Jennifer nodded. She kissed his forehead. "Good night sweetie."
"Night, Mom," Kendall replied as he stood up and left.
I had so much fun writing the tickle scene because I sit next to my friend in all my classes and she hates when I tickle her. So randomly during class, I stealthy reach over and poke her and watch as she jumps in the air and it's an all out tickle war when the teacher turns around! That's my girl for ya LOL
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