Chapter 21 Answers

"I'm very sorry… we did everything we could.." The doctor tells Mr. Garcia and Mrs. Knight. He wants to go on, but is interrupted by a loud gasp by Mrs. Knight. She grabs hold of Antonio Garcia, whose face drains of color.

"Oh, god.."

"Mr. Garcia.." The doctor starts.

"I can't believe this. You let him die? You let my boy die?" He cries out and gets out of his chair. He almost goes to attack the doctor, but Mrs. Knight pulls him back.

"Mr. Garcia!" the doctor loudly yells, making the two look at him. "What I meant was we tried everything we could, but we couldn't remove all the pieces of wood."

Antonia shares a look with Jennifer Knight. "Wait, he's not.."

The doctor shakes his head. "No, he is alive. But he will need a second surgery so we can remove the last pieces of wood. He is being moved to the ICU right now so we can monitor him and make sure he doesn't develop an infection. The next 48 hours are going to be critical. Your son is a strong fighter, Mr. Garcia. You should be very proud of him."

"Can I see him?"

"He's being moved right now. But once he is ready to receive visitors, I'll have the nurse come and get you."

Antonio smiles and shakes the doctor's hand. "Thank you so much." The doctor just nods and turns around, leaving the two alone again. Immediately they grab each other in a hug.

"I can't believe it. He's going to be okay.."

"Antonio, that's not what the doctor said.." Jennifer sadly reminds him.

"I know. But like he said, my boy is a fighter. He'll get through the next 48 hours. He'll be fine." He tells her, trying to reassure himself as much as her.

An hour later in the ICU…

Antonio Garcia walks through the hallways with lead in his shoes. He has never been so scared in his life. Not even when that one time he came face to face with a robber, who held a gun to his chest. He came close to dying that day, and he had been scared. But this, this was different. Carlos was always accident prone, so he had been hurt before as well. But it never went further than broken bones, which healed in six weeks time or less or a concussion, which past in about a week.

No, he is about to face the worst moment in his life. Opening the door, his breath quickens as he sees his energetic boy lying pale and still in a hospital bed. There are wires everywhere, hooked up to machines that keep a close eye on al his vital signs. The sounds of the heart machine and the respirator, which helps Carlos breath sound deafening to him.

He slowly walks towards the bed and slides into a chair beside his son. His eyes are closed as if he was just sleeping. Innocent, but no life to be noticed, besides his chest rising every so often. A thick bandage covers his abdomen, keeping a large wound hidden from view.

He grabs his son's hand and tries not to break down right then and there. How he wishes his wife was with him right now. He could've used her strength to pull him through it.

"Hey, son.." He quietly says. "I heard the surgery went well.. Well, at least they got most of the wood out. But you probably don't want to hear about that. Everyone's okay now.. Kendall, James and Logan are in one room together. They're doing fine. Well, Kendall and James are. Logan is still getting over his virus. But Mrs. Knight told me he was awake for a moment. They asked about you. I guess you'll have to get better soon. Then you can move into that room with them. You boys had quite the adventure, huh?" He puts his head into his hands. Why can't he figure out what to say? He is just not good at this.

"We all need you, Carlos. Life just isn't as much fun as it should be without you. Just keep fighting, okay? I am right here for you. I…" His voice cracks and he can't go on. "I love you, mijo… just be alright…" He whispers before he starts to sob.

24 hours later…

Kendall is sitting up in his bed watching TV when his mom walks in with cards and balloons. He smiles.

"Hey mom."

"Hi, sweetie." She smiles back and kisses his cheek. She then goes to hang up the cards and balloons with the large pile of other get well gifts in the room.

"More gifts?"

"Yep. Your fans really miss you." He smiles at the thought of them caring so much. Suddenly a scream is heard on his right. He turns his head to see James freaking out in his sleep. He moves to get out of bed, but one look from his mother makes him stop. She quickly moves to his bed.

"James, honey? Wake up. It's just a nightmare."

"No…. Carlos!" He yells out, before jumping upright in bed. He is gasping and sweat and tears roll down his face. Mrs. Knight carefully grabs his shoulder.

"Calm down, shh. It was just a dream." He looks at her, before starting to sob. She pulls him into a hug, gently rubbing his back.

"He died… Carlos died.." He whimpers. Kendall looks down at his hands dejectedly, very vividly remembering the moment James is referring to. He too has been dreaming of it, but is much better at hiding it.

"Mom?" He quietly asks. She looks up from James, who is no longer sobbing, just sniffing now. "How is Carlos doing?"

She sighs. "No improvement yet. He hasn't woken up yet."

"But that doesn't mean bad news, right? He still has 24 hours."

"Technically speaking, not waking up could mean someone is still healing. So it could be considered a good thing." Kendall and James look to their left in surprise, but grin widely very soon.

"Logie!" They yell in unison. Both want to hurry out of their beds, but another look from Mrs. Knight makes them stay put.

"Hey guys.." Logan sleepily smiles back from his bed.

"We owe you a hug. But we're so happy you're awake!" Kendall smiles.

"How do you feel?"

"Okay, I guess. A little dizzy though. How did we get here?" He suddenly asks, looking around in confusion.

"You mean, you don't remember?" Kendall asks in concern, his smile now completely vanished. He looks back at James, who supports the same look.

"No.. I remember feeling bad in the cabin and…" His eyes go wide. "Oh god, Carlos.. Where's Carlos?" He asks, now starting to panic. Mrs. Knight quickly rushes to his side.

"Calm down, sweetie. You're still recovering."

"Where's Carlos? Why isn't he in here with us? Is he okay?" He asks, looking everyone in the eye. Kendall looks down at his hands, while James grabs a button next to him on the bed, frantically pushing it until a vague smile appears on his face.

"Carlos is in the Intensive Care. They removed the wooden beam and right now he's recovering."

"So he's alive?"

"Yes, honey, he's alive." Logan smiles, visibly relaxing a little.

"Yeah, but he could still die." Kendall quietly mutters.

"Kendall!" Mrs. Knight sternly hisses.

"What? It's true, isn't it? He is fighting for his life right now. The doctor said the next 48 hours were critical. It's been 24 and he hasn't woken up yet." He says with a scowl. Logan's eyes go wide again. Mrs. Knight glares at her son.

"He is going to be fine. You know Carlos, he's strong. He'll pull through this." She says with a smile for Logan, trying to get him to relax again. He smiles back, but this time it's not a convincing smile anymore. Mrs. Knight gives Kendall another glare, but he is looking at the TV again.

"Hey Logan!" James suddenly yells. "You should push that button on your right. It makes you feel amazing.." He says with a loud sigh in content.

Logan raises an eyebrow and sends a questioning look towards Kendall. Without looking at him, Kendall answers.

"He's been getting high on his pain meds."

Logan eyes the button on his right, but quickly shoves it out of his mind as James now loudly starts to hum "Big Night". He lets himself fall back into his pillow, closing his eyes fro a moment. But he shoot back up as James suddenly starts to yell the words out loud, before humming quietly again. Logan quickly pushes the button as far away from himself as possible.

Hi ya! Sorry I scared everyone! I just had to do that.

So, Logan is awake but can't remember a lot, James is hooked on drugs, Kendall is starting to feel multiple emotions at once and Carlos is fighting to stay alive. What will happen?

I bet you all wonder what is going on with the other parents. They will be making an appearance soon though. Hope you liked the chapter, let me know.

Thank you all for the great reviews and story alerts and stuff, I'm really grateful!

On to the next chapter…

Love, Baxxie