Chapter 18
"Logan! Logie!" Logan blinked his eyes open as he was jolted out of his sleep. Carlos stood above him, tears streaming down his pale face.
"Woah, buddy, what's wrong?" Logan asked, feeling a bit dizzy from sitting up so quickly.
"J-James... he-he-he's…" Carlos was interrupted by an impatient Logan.
"He's what, Carlos? Spit it out!" Carlos just buried his face into Logan's shoulder. Logan, feeling guilty for snapping, rubbed his back until Carlos calmed down.
"He's dead." He whispered, so softly Logan almost didn't catch it.
Then he froze. "Wh-what?"
"I heard a crash and then… th-then I went outside my room and James was… he was l-lying on the floor." Logan felt his breathing quicken. He didn't like where this was going.
"What else, Carlos?" Logan urged. Carlos looked scared out of his mind.
"He was holding that… that b-bottle of Ritalin I used to take." Carlos looked down, his face red and his eyes scared. Logan felt like his heart would burst out of his chest. James. Ritalin. On the floor. It didn't sound like a fairytale.
"Aw, man, let's go check him out, alright?" Carlos nodded and followed Logan into the kitchen, where James was indeed lying down on the floor. Logan kneeled down beside the taller boy, who did indeed look like he was… well, dead.
"James? James, buddy, wake up." Logan shook James gently, hoping that James would at least crack open his hazel eyes. But James didn't even stir. He was completely still, but as Logan looked closer, he was relieved to find that James was still breathing.
"Carlos, you stay here with James and I'll go call 911. Tell me if he wakes up or moves." Carlos nodded, and Logan ran over to the phone, dialing 911 and stating their emergency.
When Logan returned, nothing had changed. James was still as could be, and suddenly, Logan noticed the blood. The red substance was all over James's head and was dripping down onto his neck. Logan froze. How had he not seen that before? He must have been so worried, so scared, that he hadn't noticed this significant detail.
"Carlos, did you see anything else?" Logan asked quickly, his breathing quickening.
Carlos shook his head. "I just saw that bottle." He said quietly.
Logan nodded. Eating pills wouldn't have resulted in bleeding, could it? At least not that much bleeding. Something else had happened, and Logan was afraid to find out what it was.
"M-maybe he fell of that chair." Logan turned, startled, forgetting for a moment that Carlos was still there behind him. He widened his eyes.
"Yeah, that's probably it. Good job, Carlos." Logan patted Carlos on the head, and the Latino boy looked proud and worried all at once. Logan quickly turned and left to deliver the news to Mrs. Knight and Katie.
He knocked softly on the door, not wanting to startle them but wanting to at least wake them up. He heard someone moving around, then the door opening.
"It-it's James. He's in trouble. " Logan went on the explain the situation James was in. Mrs. Knight looked like she was going to cry. Then she thanked Logan softly and closed the door shut in Logan's face.
Logan stood there, sighing. Everything was spinning out of control… he needed Kendall again. He couldn't handle all of this.
He shook his head, walking towards the door when he heard a knock. The paramedics were here. The men quickly rushed in, put a breathing mask on James, and scurried out. It all happened so quickly Logan almost didn't process it.
The two men who stayed behind turned to ask Logan and Carlos some questions. Logan answered the best he could, and Carlos tried to contribute, but neither boy provided any remotely useful information. At last they left.
Logan sighed, running his hand through his black hair. "Carlos, go get Mama Knight and Katie, alright? I just need to grab the keys and we'll go, alright?" Carlos nodded nervously, walking slowly towards his destination.
"Mama Knight? K-Katie? We have to, uh, go to the hospital and see James." Carlos said nervously. No one responded. Carlos took a shaky breath and pushed the door open. He wasn't ready for what he saw.
Mrs. Knight was in her bed crying, while Katie sat up, staring at the wall with a distracted and distant look on her face. Carlos had never seen Mrs. Knight cry other than that time at the hospital, and he'd never, never seen that look on Katie's face before. And he hoped that this was the last time he did.
Carlos stood nervously at the door, not knowing what he should do next. He was about to call Logan, but he decided that he could handle this by himself. He wanted to be helpful for once. He hesitantly stepped into the room, putting a shaky hand on Mrs. Knight's shoulder.
Mrs. Knight looked up, her eyes red and swollen. "Are… are you okay, Mrs. Knight?" Carlos asked gently. Mrs. Knight sniffled, wiping her eyes on her sleeves and putting her hand on top of Carlos's. She offered the younger boy a shaky smile. It was weak, but Carlos could tell it was genuine. He could just kinda… tell.
"Oh, my poor baby..." Mrs. Knight whispered, her voice soft and sweet. Carlos didn't know if she was talking about him or Kendall or James or Katie or Logan. So he settled for the simplest answer he could come up with.
"It'll be okay, Mama Knight. Come on, let's go and see James, alright?" It felt so strange, so weird, talking to an adult like this. He wasn't used to it. But he could see that he'd succeeded in some degree, for Mrs. Knight stood up and whispered something into Katie's ear. The little girl nodded sadly, standing up and following her mother out of the room.
Carlos sighed, staring down at the unmade bed. Mrs. Knight and Katie were always so sad and depressed,.. it was all because of what had happened to Kendall. Which he had caused. So basically, this was all his fault.
Carlos bit his lip and looked down, willing the tears out of his eyes. He quickly followed the two women out of the bedroom, and Logan was waiting by the door.
On the car ride there, it was obvious that Logan was trying to strike up conversation, but it wasn't really working. Mrs. Knight and Katie still looked so crushed Carlos just wanted to pull them in and hug them real tight… but he didn't. So after a couple of minutes, Logan stopped trying and just stared at the road in front of him, his face impassive.
Logan couldn't help but feel a little angry. First it was Kendall, who didn't take his advice even when Logan had emphasized it to no end. Don't take it too hard. But Kendall just had to go out there and get himself a major concussion. Did he think Logan wasn't worth listening to? Why did Kendall have to be so stubborn? Why couldn't he just listen to someone else for once instead of just going with his own instinct? Why?
Logan cursed quietly to himself when the car in front of him slowed down for no reason. He pressed down hard on the horn, making Mrs. Knight and Katie jump in their seats and making Carlos flinch.
And then James just had to go and get himself killed, too. What was he thinking, taking out a bottle of pills and then deciding to eat them? Didn't he think they were having enough problems as it was? And James just had to go and add another list of "things to worry about", didn't he? Selfish James just had to cause more trouble, didn't he? Logan had told him that if he needed help, he'd always be there for him. But had James listened? No. Because he obviously thought he could just go off, swallow a bunch of pills, knock himself unconscious, and drag them all to the hospital again.
Logan' couldn't do it. He couldn't take all the pressure. First Kendall, then James. Who would be next? Logan didn't think he could handle anything anymore. This was too much for him. He'd always been bad under pressure… but this… this was just over overwhelming. He sighed angrily to himself.
He had to take care of everything all by himself. He needed help. But the one person he had left that could help him, Carlos, just wouldn't cooperate. Carlos just had to be so emotional and clingy and have nightmares every night and- why couldn't he just suck it up and help Logan deal with… everything? Why did Carlos get to sit back and relax while Logan had to do the heavy lifting, carry the burden, do everything for everyone? Why did Carlos have to be such a darn wimp-
Logan was snapped out of his thought when the light in front of him suddenly turned red. He was so busy being mad at his friends that he hadn't even noticed it turning red. He slammed on the brakes, causing all for people in the car to lurch forward.
Logan stopped so quickly that he was surprised the airbags didn't come flying out. Logan took a deep breath, apologizing softly to no one in particular.
He turned to look at Carlos when the small boy called his name. "Yeah?"
Carlos played with the straps of his helmet, which he still had with him every day and night. "Don't worry, alright Logie? James is fine, he didn't take any of the pills. He'll be fine, and you said that as long as we stuck together, Kendall would be fine too."
Logan just stared back, not knowing what to think or say. It was like Carlos could read his mind or something. Sometimes, the innocent boy knew just what to say.
"Thanks, Carlos. That really means a lot." Carlos blushed, smiling before turning away and looking out the window. Suddenly, everything Logan had been pissed of at before vanished.
It wasn't Kendall's fault. Logan shouldn't be mad at him, he should be worried. Kendall was suffering the most, and he was never going to be the same again. Logan should be trying to take care of Kendall, not blame him for things that had already past. James wasn't selfish, he'd done so much trying to take care of them all, and Logan knew it had to be hard for him. And Carlos wasn't a wimp, he was just a little sensitive and softer. He wasn't useless; he was probably the most supportive person Logan had to rely on nowadays.
Logan finally drove into the parking of the hospital, and soon, him, Carlos, Katie, and Mrs. Knight were asking for James Diamond.
The four were heading towards their destination, Logan heard a crash. Then sirens. Then shouts. "Kendall Knight in room 208! Emergency!" They shouted something else, but Logan couldn't catch it. His head was spinning, there were stars in his vision.
He blinked it away, grabbing Carlos's wrist and running towards Kendall's direction, quickly telling Mrs. Knight and Katie to stay with James awhile. Mrs. Knight protested, but Logan shouted something back that he couldn't even comprehend in his jumbled state of mind.
"Let's go see Kendall, Carlos."
A/N- So you guys asked for Kendall, so next chapter there'll be some of him! And poor James, wonder if he's gonna be alright? Considering what happened to Kendall… his chances aren't so high. Just kidding. Or am I?
Anyways, enough about that… I really have nothing to say except to have an awesome BREAK! At least, I hope you're all on break… cuz, ya know… Thanksgiving and all…
Peace, Love, and Giraffes,
Anonymous Skrtle
