Room 138

Chapter 7

I'd heard James scream. I knew what had happened. He'd found Cameron. Right now, I was concerned in getting Ben and Sam off that bus.

I sighed and leaned down, gently taking Ben's body in my arms as I carried him out the door. I placed him next to Danny. It took all I had not to break down right then and there. Danny and Ben were the perfect couple. They'd been through hell and back to get to where they could finally be happy.

When James told us what happened with Ben, it really hadn't come as much surprise. Had Danny made it, Ben would have fought a little harder. He always joked with us and said if anything ever happened to Danny, they might as well bury him with Danny.

I guess he really meant it.

I took in a shaky breath as I went back inside to get Sam.

It didn't take long for my eyes to fall on the bassist. If I hadn't known better, I would have thought he was simply sleeping.

I swallowed hard and slowly approached my friend. "I'm so sorry, Sam." I said softly as I took him in my arms and carried him outside.

I carefully laid him down next to Ben and the tears started streaming down my cheeks. My body was shaking and I felt like I might collapse at any moment.

Just as I was about to hit the ground I felt a pair of arms wrap around me and help me to my feet.

I turned my head slightly to see Ashley standing behind me.

"How did you get here?" I asked.

"Me and the guys followed you. We didn't want you to go through this alone." He replied.

I nodded and looked over to see CC holding Andy close, the two of them crying in each other's arms. "Where's Jinxx?" I asked softly.

Ashley nodded behind him, "he went to help James. We figured since there was 3 of us we'd all be of good use." He said, laughing nervously.

We'd been friends with these guys for years. Our bands had toured together more times than I could count, and we'd all grown close. We were a family.

"I carried them outside." I began, "all but Cameron. He couldn't find him at first."

Ashley pulled me close, pressing a kiss to the top of my head. "I'm so sorry, Jake." He started "I'm sorry you had to do that alone."

I shrugged, resting my head against Ashley's shoulder. "I knew James and Andy couldn't do it.." my voice trailed off and I wiped away my tears "I wanted to get them out. They deserve a funeral and a proper burial."

Ashley nodded "and that's what they're going to get. So, I think we should all crash at someone's house for awhile. And James is coming with. I don't want any of us alone."

Ashley made a good point. One I hadn't even gave much thought too. "Yeah, I think you're right." I admitted softly.

I sighed and looked up as I heard an ambulance in the background. "Wish we'd known sooner. Maybe they could have done something to save them." I said, shaking my head.

Ashley sighed "that's something we'll never know. And we can't worry about the what if's. It'll make us crazy." He added.

I nodded. Clearing my throat as 4 paramedics jumped out, three of them running over to the bodies of our friends. One slowly made his way toward Ashley and I.

"First off, I'm sorry for your loss." He said, offering a small smile at both of us. "Do you know what happened?" He asked.

I shook my head. "We weren't on the bus." I began, turning to point back at James. "He was. We called to find out why they were late, and James, that's his name, told us there'd been an accident. He said the others didn't make it. We used our find my iPhone to figure out where he was." I said, Ashley keeping his arm wrapped around me right.

The man nodded, sighing softly as he looked at the drummer. "I love my job," he started, "but it's times like this I really hate it." He said, patting my shoulder as he headed toward James and Jinxx.

I took in a deep breath as we watched the man help James up off the ground, Jinxx grabbing his shoulder, to steady him. 

The man started asking James questions and we could all tell this was the last thing James wanted to do now. 

I watched as they carefully loaded Cameron's body on the stretcher and put him in the back of the ambulance. 

It was a hard thing to watch, not to mention heartbreaking. All I wanted was for them to wake up and start picking on us for crying. That would have been the first thing Danny and Ben would have done. 

But, they didn't. 

They weren't waking up this time, and there was nothing we could do about it. 

Soon, Andy, CC, James and Jinxx joined us as we were approached once more by the older man. "Do we need to call anyone for you? Do you need a ride somewhere?" He asked James.

"He's coming with us." I said, swallowing back my emotions. 

The man nodded. "Someone will be in touch soon about making the arrangements. I'm so sorry for your loss. If there's anything we can do, don't hesitate to ask." He said as he headed back to the ambulance. 

He jumped in and we watched as they drove away.

"Come on," Jinxx started after a few moments had passed "Let's get you back to the house." He wrapped his arm around the drummer and helped him to the car. He opened the door and helped the other man inside before shutting the door behind him. 

"So, whose house we headed too?" Ashley asked, looking around. 

"We can head to mine I guess" Andy said, wiping at his eyes with the back of his hand. 

We all nodded and jumped in our cars. I sighed as I shut the door, and headed down the road to the singers house.