Hello again! Posted in just under a week, not too bad eh? Thanks again to all of the reviews, alerts and favourites, they all mean so much to me! I know I say that every time but its true! This story probably wouldn't have got this far if no-one liked it and encouraged me to write!
I keep bringing this up, but me and swagUPwindowsDOWN have been writing a BTR Collab together! It's called Heaven Help Me and I honestly love it so much! We have worked so hard on it so after reading this if you could please check it out it would mean a lot to both of us! Enjoy the chapter!
James cried out in shock as he approached Logan's still body, frantically dropping to his knees beside Kendall and allowing the horrible liquid to soak into the fabric of his jeans. Reaching out a shaking hand, the tall brunette gently rested it on Logan's shoulder, shaking it gently.
"L-Logan? Logan can you hear me? Move if you can hear me?" The three boys held their breath in anticipation, completely unaware of the storm that raged around them, soaking the poor friends to the bone. But, all that mattered was the hurt boy in front of them.
"Logan, please? Can you hear us..?" Kendall pleaded, reaching over and clutching Logan's pale, frozen hand in desperation, squeezing lightly to try and wake him.
After what felt like an eternity, Logan flinched lightly, his lips parting to take in a small gasp of air, shuddering slightly as the chilled, damp air hit the back of his throat. His cocoa eyes opened slowly, but they were unfocused and clouded, slowly tracing over the three worried boys that leaned over him.
"Logie?" Carlos asked softly. "Are you alright?" He finally kneeled down in the puddles beside Kendall and James, reaching out to touch Logan's cold face, just for the slight reassurance that they were there to help. The confused brown eyes flickered to Carlos's olive face, slowly taking in the features. Carlos could almost see the gears turning in his mind, trying to conjure up a name to go with the face he was seeing.
Then, before any of them had a chance to try and get clearer reactions from the soaked and hurt teenager lying on the gravel, Logan's beautiful eyes began to slide shut once more. Fear leapt into the throat of the blonde member of the group, who quickly leant down and grabbed Logan's shoulders, shaking them roughly.
"No, Logan! Stay awake!" Kendall begged, giving Logan's small shoulders one last harsh shake as the drooping lids refused to co-operate, closing completely within milliseconds.
"K-Kendall," James began, pulling out his cell phone from his soaked pocket. "We gotta call an ambulance, he's bleeding! A-and stop shaking him, you'll aggravate the wound!" James ordered, although his words were stuttered through the rain and the chilled fear that settled deep in his heart. Secretly, James was glad for his mother having dug all of the first aid knowledge to his brain only a few years into his life, if she hadn't after all, James probably wouldn't know what to do and would be panicking just as much as Kendall was.
Kendall nodded weakly, a broken expression showing on his paled face. How long had Logan been lying out there, alone and cold in the pouring rain while they were warm and snug inside? Minutes? Hours? Kendall didn't know, but he felt absolutely horrible inside. Of course, there was no way to know that Logan had been out there, even if he had been so close to Kendall's own home, but the blonde couldn't help but allow guilt to fill his soul. What if James hadn't gone and looked out of the window? What would have happened to Logan? Distantly, Kendall heard his tall brunette friend talking on the phone to the emergency services, listing off their location and explaining Logan's condition. But his mind was in too much of a twist to really register what was happening.
Kendall reached forward with shaking fingers, gently stroking the faint blue-white skin that covered Logan's face, trying to create some warmth on the frozen skin that lay ahead of him.
"Logan," he whispered gently, moving the fingers from the small stroke into a gentle tap on his cheek, leaning over slightly to shield him from the rain that pounded from above. "Loges, please, wake up again? You're scaring me."
But Logan's face remained still and passive, unbeknown to the worry and panic his slumber was causing the three friends. Oh Logan, Kendall thought to himself. What's happened to you?
-
It was only 5 short minutes later than the ambulance arrived for Logan, the paramedics running over and shooing the three best friends away from Logan as the kneeled beside him to begin the assessment and first aid.
"Boys, do you know what happened?" The male paramedic questioned as he and his female colleague gently lifted Logan up onto a stretcher.
James shook his head lightly, holding onto Carlos's trembling form. "No, sorry, I just looked out of Kendall's bedroom window and saw him. He woke for a few seconds but didn't seem to be completely aware of us. Will he be alright?"
The paramedic nodded lightly, turning to smile at the three terrified boys. "I believe he'll be fine, don't worry. We won't know for sure until he's completely checked over at the hospital, but they'll look after him."
Kendall piped up, having been silent since Logan had passed out again and hadn't woken to his pleas. "Where's the blood come from? Are you sure he's alright?" His face was still pastel white with worry and fear, they hadn't known Logan long, but a friend was a friend, and they were all meant to look out for each other no matter the consequences.
The man sighed a little, rubbing his forehead to ward off the oncoming headache. "Like I said, I believe he'll be fine. The blood was from when Logan fell, it appears he landed on a shard of glass that embedded itself deep in his back. He's a lucky boy that it didn't hit his spine, only skin and flesh. The doctors will get it out when we get to the hospital, alright?"
Kendall nodded, getting the feeling that he and the others needed to stop asking questions for a while and allow the ambulance to take their unconscious friend away for help. The two paramedics pulled Logan into the back via the stretcher he'd been placed on, the doors closing behind them. Seconds later, the sirens started flashing as the ambulance began driving away, speeding off to get Logan to the hospital and leaving Carlos, James and Kendall stood, worried and scared in the pounding rain, Logan's diluted blood still soaking slowly into their shoes.
-
It took a full hour for Kendall and his two friends to race back home and get in contact with his mother, ask her to come home, wait and get a lift from her to the hospital. The three were still soaking wet, Kendall's yellowish hair plastered thickly down to his scalp and forehead, whereas James had tried to dry his while they were waiting for Mrs Knight and had now completely frizzed up, and Carlos had just left his short hair to dry itself, the small drips and drops of water not bothering him too badly at all.
Right now, however, the boys were in the waiting room, doing exactly what the name suggested, waiting for news on their newest friend.
James sat on the hard plastic chairs, staring blankly forward at the white wall and seemingly lost in his thoughts. Every now and again, he'd raise his hand and roughly pull the long tan fingers through his fizzy hair, messing it up more and sighing deeply, before going back to his staring. His pants were stained a pink-red on the normal blue denim, having not yet gotten around to getting changed from the clothes that were stained with Logan's blood.
Kendall's trousers were the same, slightly stained with blood as he paced back and forth constantly, arms crossed over his chest and his brow furrowed with worry. He'd had several angry outbursts already, snapping at everyone he passed. All the poor people had to do was look at him and he'd bite their heads off, Kendall had even snapped at Katie, his mother, James and Carlos for various things such as his mother driving too slow, Katie talking too much and James and Carlos "not caring" for Logan, when they very obviously did. But they all forgave him, when one of the friends were hurt, Kendall always took it the hardest, and snapping was just one of the ways he dealt with his feelings of worry.
Carlos had begun dozing and falling asleep not long after they had all arrived in the hospital waiting room, his head resting gently on James's strong shoulder as his heavy eyelids drooped and reopened constantly. The stress and fear of the previous events had exhausted his innocent mind, but Carlos refused to let himself fall sleep just for the pure fact that he didn't want to miss any news on Logan.
It felt like decades to the boys before the brunette Doctor came out to greet them, calling out Logan's name to grab their attention. Kendall rushed over to the white-coated man, bouncing lightly from foot to foot in anticipation, whereas James had to shake Carlos a little and help the sleepy teenager walk over.
"Are you three boys here for Logan Mitchell? Is there a parent with you?"
Kendall shook his head. "No, it's late and my mother took my little sister home. We can't get hold of Logan's mother either. Can you please just take us to him? He's our friend."
The doctor looked slightly taken back at the harshness of Kendall's tone, nodding a little. "Sure, but I'll need to talk to an adult at some point before Mr Mitchell is released."
"Yes yes that's fine, just take us to him." Kendall's tone was once again bitter and harsh, his emerald eyes sending shooting glares to the poor doctor who nodded and began walking, looking down at his wooden clipboard as he did so.
"Logan is suffering from a moderate severity of hypothermia as well as a deep cut in his back, we would definitely like to keep him in for the rest of tonight and possibly tomorrow night as well. Either way, we cannot release him without a parental figure here, I hope you understand."
The Doctor's words got ignored by the three boys, the smallest struggling not to fall asleep while walking, James too worried about what they'd be walking in to see and Kendall simply not caring what the doctor had to say when he should already be in with his new friend.
Soon, they found themselves being lead through a door into a small hospital room, everything seemed so bright due to the white walls, floor, ceiling and bed covers. However, it was the figure lying in the bed that was in the main focus.
Logan looked incredibly small and frail in the bed, his skin pale yet slightly flushed over the cheeks and nose and eyes half open, sleepy and disorientated.
"Logan? How are you feeling?" Kendall asked gently, the venom that had previously been in his tone seeming to have vanished while approaching the injured boy ahead of them. It was then that Logan's eyes snapped open, his head turning quickly to face them while a look of pure shock spread over his features. "Loges? Are you alright?" Kendall asked again, concern creeping into the words.
Logan nodded numbly, still watching the three boys in a state of shock. What were they doing there? Why would they care what happened to him? Logan vaguely remembered Kendall talking to him while he was swimming out of consciousness out in the rain, but before the group had walked in, Logan had believed it simply to be a dream, a lovely dream where he had friends that cared for him, no matter his physical disabilities.
Carlos, although still half asleep and feeling a little out of it, could clearly see the torment and confusion in Logan's intense expression, the brown eyes that were just a few shades lighter his own scanning the group, almost trying to find a hint that they were there to hurt him or were going to turn their back on his state of need. He began to approach the injured boy, taking a deep breath before beginning to move his hands in the familiar motion of Sign Language to him. Logan's eyes widened even further as he watched Carlos communicating with him in such a familiar, yet unfamiliar manner. He wasn't used to people talking to him like this, no-one tended to care enough.
'Logan? We won't hurt you, you know. We're here to help. We're friends. You know that right?' Carlos asked silently, his dark eyes pleading with Logan to trust him, to trust all of them enough to open up.
Logan quickly began to push himself up into a sitting position, face twisting in pain as his deep wound pulled and wrenched with his movements. The doctor hurried over, speaking slowly to Logan as he pushed the boy back down into a lying position. He continued to talk to Logan in a slow, dull tone as if the boy was stupid, this fact enraging Kendall.
"Excuse me, Doctor," Kendall began sarcastically. "If you don't mind, Logan is Mute, not deaf or stupid, so I'd appreciate it if you'd talk to my friend like he was normal, not like he was 6 years old."
Logan stared up at Kendall with amazement. The blonde boy had stood up for him against a doctor? He wasn't used to that sort of treatment; even his mother sometimes treated him like he was stupid and unable to do anything. Kendall noticed Logan's gaze on him and smiled gently in reassurance. Maybe these boys were going to help him a lot.
The doctor huffed slightly at being spoken to in such a manner. "Fine then, I'll leave you guys alone to talk things over." Then he left, closing the door behind him.
There was an awkward silence for a few minutes, the four boys looking at each other, waiting for someone to make a move. Then, slowly and with caution, Logan raised his hands and began to speak.
'You know sign language, Carlos?' He asked, almost apprehensively with the way his hands were quivering. Carlos smiled a little and nodded.
'Yeah, my youngest sister was born deaf so my family learnt it to communicate with her.'
Logan nodded and stared at the floor for a few seconds, before continuing the silent conversation. 'What about the other two?'
'James and Kendall don't know it very well, but I'm teaching them and they're willing to learn. We all want to be your friend, Logan; you just need to trust us.'
Logan blushed, hiding his red cheeks behind his hands as he replied. 'Tell them thank you for me.'
Carlos grinned, turning to the two, tall boys that stood a little behind them. "Logan says thank you, for being willing to learn."
Kendall and James adopted Carlos's grin, directing it friendly at Logan. But Kendall's quickly dropped.
"Logan, you need to tell us why you were out in the rain so late? Why was no-one with you?" The blonde asked, walking over to the boy's bed and sitting on the edge.
Logan blanched a pale white, staring at his blankets for a second as crystal tears gathered in the chocolate eyes. Without even needing to look at the exact location, Logan reached over and grabbed a small notebook and pen, put it on his lap, and began to write.
EDIT: Had to change a little bit in the beginning of the story! Thank you so much to CelestialSonata7 for pointing it out! I got two timelines crossed in my head from this story and the Collaboration I've been doing! I'm so sorry for the mess up!