"Kendall? Kendall?" He heard his name indistinctly. The space around him was illuminated with white light, and familiar faces stood in front of his eyes, but as if they had been deliberately knocked out of consciousness. The first question that came to mind was not even what was going on, but why was there such a piercing pain in his temple? Kendall decided to stand up, but he immediately felt his body feel weightless and sat back down in confusion.
"He's awake!" There was a joyful shout. Kendall finally came to his senses and recognized James's voice.
"What happened?" Kendall asked, looking into his friends' frightened eyes. "Wait, I think I remember."
"We were having a tense struggle, and you and Carlos were trying to catch the puck. In a flurry of emotion, you were chasing it closer and closer to the edge, apparently not noticing the field or Daniel. And then, there was a collision. After hitting the opponent's equipment, you crashed right into the board, and we were seriously scared..."
"Yeah, yeah. I think I remember that, Logan, but thanks. I'm completely weak after that long hiatus. We'll get back on track," Kendall said and went to stand up as if nothing had happened, but James grabbed him sharply by the shoulder before he could.
"Are you out of your mind? You were unconscious a minute ago, and now you want to play."
"I'm not a little kid, buddy. I'm fine. My headache will go away, but I don't want to miss out on the fun. The last few days, playing hockey together, has been a blast."
"Look, I may not have gotten a full medical degree, but I'm telling you it could be a fracture or a more serious injury," Logan said in a cold, medical voice that was not intimidating but was firm. "Let's go to the doctor. Even if there's nothing wrong, at least you'll get checked out and have peace of mind."
Kendall was embarrassed as hell. Even though he felt good about being taken care of, he felt guilty for ruining such an important day. Another attempt to convince the others that everything was all right had failed. On the contrary, it only made the others (especially, it seemed to Kendall, James) angrier. Daniel, apparently feeling even more guilty, couldn't stay away and insisted on medical attention as well. Kendall didn't want to cross a man he hardly knew, so he reluctantly agreed.
"Come on, come on..." Carlos whispered nervously and subconsciously gnawed on his fingernail, not noticing how much he'd bitten off until a moment later. James paced the hallway, acting as if Kendall being here was a life-and-death situation, rather than just an X-ray. Logan was the only one who remained relatively, but only outwardly, calm. It seemed like an eternity since Kendall had gone to the doctor's office.
"Well, young man, you have a concussion. It's probably mild, but it's best to stay in the hospital for a while. We need to make sure there's no other injuries, so you'll have an MRI in a few hours.
"All right," Kendall replied grudgingly, shrugging his shoulders. Despite his difficult nature, he didn't want to argue with the doctor. "How long do I have to stay here?"
"If the MRI doesn't show anything serious, two or three days will be enough. What you need most of all is a good night's sleep and bed rest. Also remember that it is forbidden to look at the screen of the TV, smartphone, laptop, or any other device."
I'm going to die of boredom, he thought, but he answered with a nod. Then he walked out of the office, and as he did so, he began to think of words that would soften the situation in his friends' eyes.
"Anyway, I have a slight concussion, but it's nothing serious. I'll be under medical care for a couple of days and it'll go away."
"What a horror!" Carlos was the first to react. "We'll spend this time with you, don't worry."
"Actually, we were planning on looking for a job. Our accounts are still frozen, but we have to live off something!" Logan began indignantly, but he seemed to remember Kendall's condition and looked at him regretfully. "We'll be sure to check in on you regularly, really. Sorry."
"Don't apologize. You're already overprotective of me..."
"Not overprotective!" James interrupted. "You take care of your issues, and I'll stay with Kendall."
"Once again, I remind you that I'm not a little boy!" Not that Kendall wasn't glad to have someone to relieve his boredom with, but on the awkwardness scale, by his standards, he was at the maximum right now. "And don't you also need to look for a job?"
"You do remember my mom owns a cosmetics company in Minnesota? She once wanted me to be the face of her perfume line, and I don't think she's gonna say no to me now. Did you guys let our parents know about the band breaking up?"
"Not yet," Logan said.
"Then get your mom on the phone today and let Carlos look for openings," James said, glaring at the boys with a determination that made them uncomfortable. "I'll stay with Kendall."
"James—"
"That's out of the question."
Kendall was startled, but at the same time admired James's confidence and focus. He'd been a wreck not long ago and was probably still reeling from the loss of his life's career, but now he was finding the strength to act. Kendall didn't think he deserved such attention, though he had no intention of being bored in the ward for at least two days.
"Thank you, just thank you," Kendall said with a sincere smile and wanted to put his arm around his friend, but he felt very weak. He sat down on the first chair he could find and grabbed at his temple, and the boys looked at each other worriedly.
"You'll thank me later. Now I need to ask for a room. And please don't make any sudden movements," James said firmly, turning toward Logan. "And you have enough to do. If our parents show up and find out that we're unemployed, living in a mess, and we didn't even tell them, they're not going to be happy."
"Well, we've already cleaned Logan's place, but yeah, we need to get it done," Carlos said, an idea sparking in his eyes. "Why don't we get Katie over to Kendall's? She can take care of him."
"Let's be honest, we've had enough of her. Also, don't forget that Katie needs to think about getting into college. Warn her that Kendall's away from home at night, but don't tell her about the hospital," James said.
Kendall didn't understand where James was getting all this determination, for he'd rarely shown it before. But he certainly liked the behavior, and it even appealed to him. If he could put it that way.