Chapter 5
Comfort
ALEX.
Jay and Max went to the other boys' rooms. After a few yells and irritated bellows, they were all standing in the living room in 10 seconds flat.
In their jammies.
I would've laughed.
"What has Nathan got himself into again?"Siva remarked, running a hand through his hair, leaving it messier.
Max sighed. "I don't know. The hospital called me, saying we need to get down there immediately. Right, get some pants on, chaps. We can't go there in our boxers."
I fought back a laugh. He had a point.
"Alex, is this okay with you?" Jay asked anxiously.
I nodded. "Of course. My parents aren't home, anyway."
While the boys rushed to get dressed, Jay and I cleaned up.
"Does this happen often?" I ask, putting away our empty ice cream cups.
"Usually it's the cops, but the doctors? He's definitely kicked it up a notch." He replies, shaking his head.
"Well, this is a nice way to end our pretend-date."
I smile at how adorable he's being. I reach up, making him look me in the eyes. "It's okay. You're the sweetest guy ever, I couldn't ask for more."
He blushes. By the way I'm acting, you'd actually think we're dating.
"I appreciate the comment, Alex, but I must say, you are quite the actress."
I chuckle. "I wasn't acting, Jay. I meant it."
He opened his mouth to speak, his cheeks turning even redder, but was cut off when Tom entered the room.
"Okay, lovebirds. Quit it. You can make out later." He says, winking at us.
We both stood there, our mouths hanging open, taken aback by his comment.
"Yes, yes, we get it. Now get your asses outta here, Nathan needs us." Max interrupted, opening the door, snapping his fingers at us, motioning for us to hurry up.
Jay and I brought up the rear.
"Is he always this concerned?" I ask, looking up at him.
He chuckles. "No. Honestly, I have no idea why he's acting like this."
"We're taking the van, people. Double-time!" Max bellowed, making us all jump.
This ought to be an interesting night.
~
I thought seeing Nathan in a hospital bed wouldn't affect me that much.
I was wrong.
When I saw him, worry and panic welled up inside my chest, like a big tumor.
His left arm was in a cast. His cheek had a really bad gash across it. And since the form of a bandage can be seen in his hospital gown, i'm guessing he had a cut (or something) there too. Did I mention the nasty-looking bruise on his forehead?
"Mr. Sykes's car got into an accident, when another vehicle ran the red light, causing it to crash into him. He suffered a broken arm, a few wounds, and two broken ribs-"
Two broken ribs. This is some serious stuff.
"-These things take time to heal, especially his broken ribs, so I'm guessing he has to refrain from singing and other tedious tasks. Here's his medications, and prescriptions. I'll leave you alone with him now."
The doctor left, leaving us all in silence, staring at Nathan in shock.
What ifs ran around my head. What if what hit him was a bigger vehicle? What if he can't sing permanently? What if he actually... died? The last thing I did was fight with him.
The thought was too painful, so I pushed it to the back of my head, trying to think positively.
Siva was the first to recover. "What are we gonna do now? We can't just cancel the show. We've got a lot ahead of us, and we can't disappoint the fans."
"I-I'll talk with the management, see what they're going to say." Max muttered, slipping out of the room.
"He looks.... Damaged." I mumble. Sorry, that was all that my brain could process.
Siva, Jay and Tom finally unfroze and sat down.
After a couple more minutes of standing there and staring at Nathan, Jay ushered me gently onto the sofa.
"Hey," Jay says, rubbing circles on my back. "It's alright. He'll come to soon."
I then realized that I was shaking. "What if... What if.."
"Calm down. He'll be okay."
I settled against Jay's chest, taking in his warmth and listening to the steady sound of his heartbeat. I really have no idea why I'm feeling like this.
"Alright," Max says, rushing in. "Boys, they told us to tell the fans, and they'll cancel the shows until Nathan's okay. We can't do this without him. Send out tweets, and we'll make a video later."
I sat up, allowing Jay to move freely, then I checked my twitter account. It's amazing how the fans find out stuff easily. "Get Well Soon Nathan" was already trending worldwide. Concern for him can be seen all over the world... The internet world, that is.
The boys sent out tweets and made a video. We waited for hours, but still no sign of Nathan stirring.
I was getting more and more anxious by the hour.
"Hey Alex?" Jay says suddenly, nudging me.
"Hm?"
A mischievous twinkle in his eyes told me this isn't gonna end well.
"Come with me, I need to talk to you. IN PRIVATE."
"Um... Okay."
I stood up and followed him. Really, the last thing I wanted to do was leave this room, but I went with my gut instinct.
I followed Jay around the hospital and into a park. Since it was 1 am, we had it all to ourselves.
"So.." He says, rocking back and forth on the swing. "What's up with you? you seem so gloomy."
I pretended to not know what he was talking about. "What do you mean?"
He chuckles. "Don't pretend you don't know. You look like your dog died, and you're getting pretty restless. What's up?"
I sighed, running a hand through my hair. "Just.... I don't know, Jay."
He stared at me, as if he knew exactly what's wrong. "It's Nathan, isn't it?"
A tiny flutter erupted inside my chest. "Like I said, I don't know."
"It's definitely Nathan," he decides. "Don't worry, he'll be okay. It's just a few injuries."
I have no idea how this happened, but I just lost it.
I fell to the ground crying. "What if he isn't gonna be? GOOD LORD JAY, THE LAST THING I DID WAS FIGHT WITH HIM AND TRY TO MAKE HIM JEALOUS!"
He wrapped his arms around me. "Just calm down, please, Nath's gonna be okay, I'm absolutely sure of it."
I buried myself into his chest, sobbing harder. "Jay... I can't do this anymore..."
"Don't say that. It's just the second day. I know you can. Do it for Nath."
"No... This whole fake-dating thing. I can't, please."
"Then how are you-"
"I'll talk to him myself. I'll try my hardest, I'll push him into telling me what's wrong."
"He's... difficult. Please. Tell the guys I don't wanna do the first part of their plan. It's killing me."
He sighed. "Okay, okay. But how are we suppose to convince them that we aren't going out?"
I looked up and cracked a tiny smile. "Easy. Let's fake-fight and call it off. Then let it rest for a week, we'll say we talked it over and we're okay."
He planted a small kiss on my forehead. "You're awesome, you do know that, right?"
Again, I smiled wanly. He wiped away my tears.
We sat there, in silence, not moving a muscle. This moment was perfect on its own.
A loud ring made us both jump.
"Sorry... That was mine." Jay mumbles, reaching for his phone.
The moment his phone touched his ear, his eyes lit up.
"Okay... Okay, we're on our way back." He says finally, grinning at me.
"What?" I say, getting weirded out by the expression on Jay's face.
"WE HAVE TO GET BACK. NATHAN'S AWAKE."
~
I stood at the door, trying to keep my hands from shaking.
"You ready?" Jay says, tossing a smile at my way.
"No." I reply, shaking my head vigorously.
"Good. Let's go."
A/N: Aww. JaLex is over. ))):
And yes, I'm putting Nathan through so much pain. MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
Sorry for the short chapter, I wanted to inject a cliffy. :>