A/N: Hey guys! First thing I wanna say is CONGRATS TO CARLOS AND ALEXA ON THEIR WEDDING! AHH I'm so happy for them! Anyways, that's not what I'm posting for; I actually was gonna write another bromance oneshot, but that didn't happen, so after 2 disgustingly choppy chapters, I now have a relatively normal one, so... voila! Enjoy my lovely readers!
Chapter 12: Learning
Shortly after, Mrs Knight returned, a doctor at her side.
"Hi James," the man in the white coat said kindly "I'm your doctor,"
"What's your name?" the pretty boy asked.
"That's not important," the man replied with a smile "what's important is that I'm here to tell you that you've been discharged from the hospital; I've told Mrs Knight here to take things slowly with this whole process, we don't want you to work yourself up over not being able to remember, but I think it's important that you're back in your familiar environment, so you can slowly paint a picture of what your life is like, does that sound good James?"
"Yeah," he nodded uncertainly.
"Good," the doctor smiled "I'm going to have a quick chat with your friends while the nurses help you get dressed," James nodded again, and Logan, Carlos and Mrs Knight followed the doctor out of the room.
"The most important part about helping James recover," the older man told the three others "is to do it slowly, you mustn't force him into remembering anything, and it'd better if you answered his questions rather than explaining things to him-"
"Huh?" Carlos interrupted.
"He means that we shouldn't just dump information on James, and wait till he asks who someone is, or where we are, otherwise it might freak him out," Logan explained.
"Exactly," the doctor smiled fondly "it would also help if you used the names of people and places a lot where possible, it's just like teaching a child new vocabulary; although James is eighteen, and is quite capable of learning new things, his ability to recall information has been damaged by the accident, so if you all call each other by your names, and constantly remind him of where you are, then he'll quickly associate those names with you all, and hopefully, with memories-"
"What about nicknames?" Carlos interrupted again, and the doctor gave him a condescending smile, much like one you would give a small child.
"It would be ideal for you not to confuse him with nicknames for now, but once he starts knowing you all by name, you could start trying out nicknames and see how he copes." he told the teen "The most important thing to remember with James' recovery, is not to make him feel like he's dumb for not knowing, or to let him feel that way, constant assurance of his progress is key, the last thing James needs is to lose confidence in himself, otherwise he'll begin to think he'll never remember again."
"What about Kendall?" Logan asked, unable to contain himself.
"Kendall's little outburst has told us that he's not quite where we'd like him to be in regards to his progress with Dr Johnston, and as such, we'd like to keep him here at the hospital, in our psych ward, as a precaution, the last thing we need is for him to panic like that again when he sees James, that would just scare James, and upset Kendall even more. Once James is comfortably settled at home again, and Kendall's making more progress in opening up, then we'll reunite them,"
"So he's just gonna stay here?" Carlos asked incredulously "What if he doesn't get better? What if James doesn't remember who he is?"
"We're going to do all we can to help Kendall, but you've got to do your part to make sure James does remember; include him in conversation, make sure James knows what a big influence he is in James' life."
"What if he asks where Kendall is?" Logan asked.
"Tell him Kendall's sick, but don't mention the accident just yet, that will only scare him," the doctor explained.
"Everything will be OK, boys," Mrs Knight assured them "we just have to do as the doctor says and take it slow with James,"
"She's right," the man said "now, I think James should be ready to head home now,"
The boys and Mrs Knight followed the doctor back to James' room, and soon the party of four was in the car, heading back to the Palm Woods.
"Um, excuse me?" James asked timidly, looking to Mrs Knight, who sat beside him in the driver's seat, and the older woman's heart ached at how uncertain James was around her, and that the reality had truly set in; James had really forgotten everything - one of the boys who she considered to be her second sons, was talking to her as if she was a stranger.
"Yeah James?" she gave him a quick glance and a smile, keeping her eyes on the road.
"I don't mean to be rude but if you aren't my mom, then who are you?"
"Sweetie, it's fine," Mrs Knight said gently "I'm Mrs Knight, the guys call me Mama Knight, and I'm Kendall's mom,"
"Mama Knight," James mused, and the red headed woman sighed, turning her eyes back to the road.
"We're here James!" Carlos said excitedly, practically throwing himself out the car door and flinging James' door open, bouncing on the balls of his feet.
"He's really excited about this, isn't he?" James said to Logan.
"That's Carlos, man," Logan smiled "he's always excited about something!" James nodded wordlessly, giving a small smile to the Latino before allowing him to drag him into the lobby.
"Welcome to the Palm Woods!" Carlos said, gesturing wildly around the room "is the lobby!"
"Wow!" James said, looking around at all the people back and forth through the lobby, wondering if he knew any of them "We live in this place?"
"Yep!" Carlos said enthusiastically "Check out the pool!"
"Boys? I'm going to head upstairs and check on Katie and James' parents, you two continue the tour, and take it slow, OK?"
"Got it, Mama Knight!" Carlos and Logan said in unison, and James smiled, bidding the woman goodbye. Logan and Carlos led James out into the pool area, where the brunette gazed around at the beautiful area, sky blue pool, the girls beside the pool, until-
"How dare you?!" James felt a heat spread in his cheek where he was slapped, and he looked down at a brunette girl, her eyes wide as her nostrils flared in apparent rage, and her unruly brown curls sticking out at all angles as she ranted about something he couldn't make sense of.
"Hey!" James protested over her, grasping his cheek "Watch it! What did I ever do you to you?"
"Camille stop!" Logan and Carlos both yelled at her, and she looked up to meet James' eyes, seeing the indignation and fear flick across them, and she looked between his two friends, seeing the identical mix between shock and concern on both their faces.
"Guys," she said slowly "what's going on with James?"
"There-" Logan took a deep breath "there was an accident, and now, James has amnesia, he barely remembers anything," the girl's eyes widened, and James felt a pang of guilt in his chest.
"I'm sorry," he said in a small voice "I wish I could remember,"
"It's not your fault," Camille said gently "I'm Camille, I'm an actress, and I was practicing for a role, I don't usually slap my friends unless I'm rehearsing," she said, and Logan scoffed, earning a confused look from James.
"She and Logan have a love/hate relationship," Carlos whispered in his ear.
"Well, I'll see you guys later," Camille smiled, waving goodbye and heading into the lobby.
"Will all the girls slap me like her?" James asked nervously.
"Nah, bud," Logan smiled "just Camille,"
"We should take him to meet Katie!" Carlos said excitedly, grabbing James' arm and dragging him inside, into the elevator, bouncing on his feet again as they rode up to the second floor, and practically sprinting to apartment 2J.
"This is where we live," Logan puffed after finally catching up to them "Carlos, do you have to run everywhere?"
"Yes!" Carlos smirked.
"Who's we?" James asked, looking between the other two.
"You, me, Carlos, Kendall, his mom and sister Katie, who you're about to meet," Logan explained, and he opened the door to reveal a short haired woman and a tired looking man, both sitting at either ends of the room. A young girl came sauntering out of a nearby corridor before James could make a move and, upon spotting James, ran and threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around his middle.
"Hey sleeping beauty," she joked "took you long enough to come out of that coma!"
"I assume this is Katie," James said, but it came out as more of a question.
"What?" Katie said in a small voice, stepping back from James and letting go of him.
"Katie," Logan said gently "in the accident, James must have hit his head really hard, because he doesn't remember anything," there was a gasp from the other end of the room, and all eyes fell upon the short haired woman, who had her hands over her mouth, her eyes wide with shock.
A/N: Hopefully this wasn't too long, I think it was, but I didn't wanna end it in a weird place. Anyway, I know I've dragged this story out, but I have the ending all planned out, so hopefully it won't be more than 20 chapters :) that'll be all, but pretty please go give that review button a tickle, it loves it!
