Pain. It was the only thing Calum could aknowledge. It came in waves, or maybe he was just floating in and out of consciousness . There were voices, people touching him and moving his limbs, but Calum could barely feel them.
"Can you hear me?" a concerned voice asked, their face finally making its way in Calum's line of view. "What's your name, lil boy?"
Calum desperately tried to grasp as many details as he could. It was a woman, she was petite, not too young and she looked worried. Her hand took a hold of Calum's face, her thumb stroking his wet cheek.
He was in a car, going somewhere, but he couldn't remember where. And there was yelling. Liam. Liam was yelling, as always. Where were they going? Calum's head was too fuzzy and the pain was so bad that he couldn't remember what he was doing. And why was everyone screaming?
"Are you with me? We are moving you now and it's going to hurt, lil boy," the woman said.
Calum tried to nod, but his head didn't move. Someone moved him and next thing he knew, Calum was screaming so loud that his chest hurt.
Then everything went black.
.
Next time Calum woke up everything was numb. He blinked his eyes open, confused by all the white sorrounding him. Where was he? How did he end up there? It took him a while to focus on what was going on, last thing he remembered was being in a car with Liam. And he found himself scared at the thought that he couldn't remember what happened after that.
He was in a car with Liam, but what happened after that?
He tried to look around, but once again he couldn't move his head. The stiffness didn't help calm his nerves, if anything it made it worse. There was a beeping noise piercing through his ears and he wished he could tell where it was coming from.
"You are awake lil boy," a voice said. It felt nice and even if Calum couldn't tell whose voice it was, it felt familiar.
"Hi!" the same voice said and this time the owner of that voice appeared in front of Calum. "I'm Monique, I am the paramedic who got you out of the car. How are you?" she asked.
"Paramedic?" Calum asked. His voice was hoarse and scratchy and his throat was sore. He had so many questions, but he was so confused that he didn't know where to start.
"Yeah. I don't usually visit patients, but I have your phone. Your friend gave it to me, so..." The woman bit her lip awkwardly, trying to explain. "Maybe you don't remember. You were in a car crash, a pretty bad one to be honest. I'm happy you made it out alive. Last time I saw you, you were unresponsive."
Calum blinked confused at her. Car crash? Maybe that could explain why his head was in so much pain, but still didn't explain why he couldn't move. And the noise was still there and it was so annoying. The more he thought about it, the more the beeping came faster. "What this sound?" he asked slurring his words. He wished he could formule a better sentence, but he was too tired for that.
"You mean the beeping? It's a heart monitor," Monique said. At Calum's confused expression, she added, "You know where you are, right? You are in the hospital, lil boy. You are a little banged up."
"Liam?" he asked with tears in his eyes.
In a moment everything came to him. Just a stupid argument because Liam didn't like Calum spending so much time with Michael and the guys, which was funny by the way, since he had had an argument with Michael just before that and that was because Michael couldn't stand Liam. So two people were mad at him just because he couldn't choose between his boyfriend and his best friend.
"Why are you crying?" Monique asked, moving his hair away from his eyes.
"Where is Liam?" Calum asked again, struggling to spit the words out. Liam couldn't be dead, could he?
Monique seemed in distress as she answered, "Uhm, the nurse said nobody came to visit you. Is Liam the boy who was with you in the car?"
Calum tried to nod again. Tears were tickling his cheeks, but when he tried to move his left arm, Monique stopped him.
"The boy is okay, he left the crash site on his feet, so... Don't worry about him. And don't use this arm, you have an IV. Pain meds, mostly. And fluids."
Calum hummed, using his right hand to wipe his face. There were scratches on his fingers and a dull ache in his elbow. He still had so many questions, but his head was pounding terribly. What was he supposed to ask? Maybe if the crash involved someone else. Maybe the priority was him though. He was supposed to ask about his injuries. Or maybe it didn't matter, if it was serious someone would have been with him.
Thankfully Monique had all the answers ready, "So, you have been asleep for two days. Don't be scared, you had surgery, you needed time to recover. I think you can't feel much right now, but the pain will kick in at some point and when it does, just call Daisy. She is my best friend and the best nurse you could have asked for. I brought you my spare charger, because I guess you want your phone back. Tell me if you need anything else."
Calum barely managed to thank her. His head was splitting in two from the pain, his eyes hurt because of the light and he was crushed at the idea that he had been there for two days and nobody had cared enough to visit him. He still didn't know the full extent of his injuries, but for the time being he didn't want to know.
.
Luke had been back to Australia for the past week.
Being with his parents felt nice for once and that's the reason why he hadn't answered any phone call. Just before he went on the plane Ashton told him about the last argument Michael and Calum had had, so Luke ignored every call both from Michael and Calum's sister Mali. For once he wanted to have nothing to do with that mess.
Now that he was back in LA he knew he had to face his friends at some point.
After work, most likely.
So, on Monday morning Luke went back to work with a smile on his face, meeting with some collegues for coffee and then put his uniform on.
"So, what did I miss?" he asked playful, sipping from his coffe cup.
Matt, one of his collegues, handed him the therapies paper. "Nothing much. Except that we have a new favorite patient."
"Yeah, one that costs us a lot of work," Andy added.
Luke furrowed his brows confused. Andy was always so melodramatic. Luke scrolled the first therapies on the list, but nothing caught his attention, there was nothing out of the ordinary.
"Car crash, the boy broke his neck and his knee. We've got to wash him, change his chatether and clean him when he goes the other way. So much fun," Andy said, mentioning something about the boy asking only for male nurses to change him.
Matt rolled his eyes, adding, "This poor boy is all alone, he has been here for five days now and nobody visited him, beside Monique. Remember her? Paramedic with curly hair and nice ass-"
"I'm gay," Luke reminded him, putting the paper aside and looking up at Matt. "Of course I remember Monique. What were you saying about her?"
"Well, Monique came here a couple of times to keep him company, but beside that this boy only talks to us. He is nice, kinda shy. You might like him."
"Cool. Room number?"
"If you are talking about Calum, I'm going to him," Daisy said appearing out of nowhere.
"Calum?" Luke asked, feeling a nasty sensation in the pit of his stomach. It wasn't a common name, there couldn't be many Calum in LA. Still, hopefully it wasn't one of his best friends the one who had had a car crash and hadn't received any visit. Then again, it would expain Mali Koa's callings.
Luke absently followed Daisy, ignoring whatever she was saying and only focusing again when they stopped in front of a room.
Daisy knocked, getting in with the biggest smile Luke had ever seen on her. "Hi there! How is my favorite patient?" she asked.
Luke stood on the doorframe, it took him a moment to take in everything going on.
Calum lied flat on the bed, a bandage on the side of his forehead and an IV in his left arm. Daisy stood over the edge of the bed, so that Calum could see her without having to move. He had a collar and his leg was heavily bandaged, suspended mid air.
Daisy was acting nicer than she usually did and she made way too much phisical contact. It probably had something to do with the fact that Calum had nobody else to talk to and nobody to take care of him beside the workers.
"I'm good," Calum said, giving her a small smile that didn't reach his big brown eyes. He was sad, Luke could tell easily and he couldn't really blame him.
Luke felt like crying. He didn't move until Daisy called his name.
"Luke, come in," she said, "So, Calum, Luke is a lot better than Andy and Matt, I'm sure you'll love him. He is also trained into helping patients like you, he won't leave any bruise on you, I promise. If he does we can always sue him."
"You broke your neck," Luke said out of the blue, finally making his way to the edge of the bed. There were so many emotions all mixed together, he didn't know how to react at the news that his best friend might have died and no one would have known. "Where the hell is Liam?" he yelled to a slightly out of it Calum.
"Luke," Daisy said in a warning tone, standing up and going to him. "The heart monitor. Don't stress him."
"Where the fuck is Liam, Calum? Answer me." Luke insisted, pushing Daisy away when she tried to take him out of the room. "I bet he fucking left and you still worship his fucking ass."
The beeping got faster and faster and Luke knew Calum was getting nervous, but he couldn't care any less. Daisy dug her nails into Luke's flesh, pulling him out of the room and apologising to Calum. She spoke again only when they were in the nurses' room.
First thing she did was ask Matt to go make sure that Calum was okay, then she yelled at luke.
"What the hell was that? We tell you he is a special patient, we tell you he needs more manners and you fucking yell at him?" she said. Luke had never seen Daisy so mad. "I'm telling the chief, I swear, you aren't getting away with this."
Luke ran a hand through his hair, sitting on one of the chairs. Someone just made coffee, he could smell it and it made him nauseous. "He is my best friend. You know, one of the boys I always talk about. I had no idea this had happened."
"Oh," Daisy said, blinking a couple of times. "He never mentioned you, I am sorry."
"It's okay. He probably thought I was mad at him," Luke explained. He really needed to tell Michael and Ashton, he considered, before asking, "Do you know anything about his boyfriend? Liam?"
Daisy shook her head, "Liam was the one driving, but he got out unharmed. Called an ambulance and when paramedics arrived, he gave Calum's phone to Monique and left. No more news from him."
"His sister has called me every day and I ignored her," Luke said out loud, not really talking to Daisy anymore. Tears were running down his cheeks, but he didn't care of her seeing.
"I talk to her almost every day, she tried to come, but couldn't," Daisy said.
"Yeah, she is pregnant," Luke commenter absently. She probably wasn't allowed to fly and Luke knew that was the only reason why she hadn't already come all the way to LA to kick everyone's asses for ignoring her brother.
Daisy nodded, putting her hand on luke's broad shoulder. "You and I both know you should be in that room with your best friend and not here," she said.
Luke could tell she was still mad at him, but he knew she was telling the truth. He had already been a shitty friend, he had to make it up to Calum.
Eventually he wiped his face and gave his phone to daisy. "Ash. Call him and tell him what happened, please," he mumbled, then he went back to Calum's room.
He stood on the doorframe once again, observing how Matt readjusted Calum on the bed, holding his shoulders.
Luke choose that moment to get in. "Matt let me do that, you are hurting him," he said.
He almost expected Calum to say no, the fact that he didn't say anything showed in how much pain he was.
Luke bit his lip, keeping a hand on the back of Calum's head and supporting his torso with his other arm.
"Ready?" Luke asked, pulling him up and lying him down in a more comfortable position.
Calum burst into tears as soon as Luke's hands were off him. Luke knew for a fact that he hadn't hurt Calum, that couldn't be the reason of his tears. "Cal?" he said, gently moving Calum's hair from his face.
"I missed you so much," Calum whimpered.
"I feel so sorry, I swear I had no idea this had happened. Are you in a lot of pain?"
Calum closed his eyes, mumbling a weak, "Nah, pain meds are strong."
"Are you scared?" Luke asked, already cringing before Calum's answer.
This time Calum didn't pretend to be okay. He started to cry harder, covering his face with his hand.
Luke rubbed his shoulder. "I'm here, okay? I'm not leaving you alone, don't be scared. And Mike and Ash. I'm sure they are already on their way."
Calum gave him a weak smile, after he had calmed down enough to listen to luke's words.
When Daisy came back to check on them, Calum was asleep, his face seemed more relaxed than Daisy could remember.
.
LONG TIME NO SEE
I'm sorry, but I'm back.