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After a quick and slightly stiff apology to his parents for his behaviour, Carson slowly walked down to the main floor of the hospital with the rest of his group. Theresa helped him check out while Eric and Faith went to bring the car around. Josiah walked with Carson, his arm around the younger boy’s waist every step of the way even though he was doing perfectly fine.

Carson’s parents--mostly his mother--were still worried about leaving their son alone, so instead of just dropping the boys off at the Miriam Hospital and continuing the short drive up to their home in Central Falls, Faith and Eric went with to visit Ayden.

It was a warm and slightly depressing greeting when they met up with Walt and Keri. There were hugs all around and Keri almost started crying when she hugged the boys. Walt just clapped Josiah on the shoulder and gave him a smile that showed how proud he was of Josiah for being so strong on his friends’ behalf.

It was only about noon when the two groups blended, and Ayden’s parents said the blonde was still knocked out from the anaesthesia. Ayden’s nurses were pretty adamant about not wanting so many people in her room even if she was sleeping, so the group of six was banished to the floor’s lounge until further notice.

Carson was visibly irritated about this, but Josiah took the news a little better. He was just as upset, as he was nearly dying with how badly he wanted to see his girlfriend, but he completely understood. If Ayden woke up and she had a large group of people staring at her, she might freak out. So although Josiah didn’t like it, he could deal with it for the time being.

For the better part of an hour they all played catch up with each other while they let the television play on in the background. Deciding he should probably call his parents, Josiah stood up from his seat and stretched out his back.

Carson looked up at the black-haired boy with a question written all over his face. Josiah gave him a smile and put a hand on his friend’s shoulder.

“I’m just gonna go call my mom real quick,” the older boy explained. “I haven’t told my parents anything yet.”

Carson widened his blue eyes. “I thought you did!”

Josiah shook his head. “Nah, I didn’t wanna worry them. I’ll be right back, okay?”

Carson nodded and settled back in his chair. Josiah smiled at the four adults as he walked passed them. They were talking about medical insurance or something, so he didn’t bother interrupting them.

Josiah pulled his phone out of his pocket as he strolled lazily down the hallway. He didn’t want to go too far as he wasn’t familiar with the layout of the hospital. After Josiah dialed his mother’s work number, he listened to it ring a few times before she answered.

“Providence county courthouse, this is Lanai.”

“Mom,” Josiah said. “Hey.”

“Josiah?” Lanai said, surprised. “Is everything okay?”

Josiah plucked at a few of his curls as he slowly zig-zagged down a hall. “Uhm, yeah. I’m doing alright, but--”

“I saw on the news the other day that there were a few accidents at your school. I was a little worried, but thank God you weren’t involved.”

Josiah cringed at the relief he heard in his mother’s voice. He hated that in about two seconds he was going to crush all that. “Mom,” he said quietly. “I was kind of involved.”

Josiah held his breath but he didn’t have to wait long before Lanai exploded.

“You what? Why wasn’t I informed? You were the boy that was attacked?” Lanai practically screamed down the phone. “How have I not been told sooner? The system these days!”

“Mom, mom!” Josiah said loudly in order to get his mother to quiet down. “I wasn’t attacked! I’m perfectly okay.”

Lanai paused and thought for a moment. “Oh. Well then what do you mean?” The woman gasped and suddenly grew angry when she spoke again. “So help me God, Josiah...If you’ve gotten yourself into trouble I will not hesitate to beat your--”

“Ma!” Josiah yelled. He shook his head and almost laughed at his mother’s behaviour. “Jeesh, I didn’t do anything to anybody if that’s the crazy conclusion you’re jumping to.”

Lanai huffed. “Well, then explain yourself because you’re only making me worry.”

“Sorry,” Josiah mumbled. He pulled at a few more of his curls as he kicked aimlessly at the flooring. “Actually, it was Carson who got, uh, messed with.”

Lanai gasped so loudly Josiah had to yank his phone from his ear for a moment. “No! Josiah, he’s such a sweet boy! Why would someone want to hurt him?”

Josiah gritted his teeth. Just having to think about it again was getting his anger and frustrations going. “People are sick,” he spat. “It was his jerk of an ex-boyfriend and one of his friends.”

“Oh, Josiah,” Lanai said, voice full of pain and pity for her son and his friend. “How is he?”

Josiah cleared his throat. “He’s doing good.” He nodded to himself and said, “Yeah, we actually just left the hospital.”

“Are you guys coming home for a while? I can’t imagine his parents letting him just go right back to school after that.”

“Well,” Josiah drawled, pulling on his hair nervously. “There’s more...Ayden was the girl who got in the car accident that night. She got hurt pretty bad and they sent her up to Providence. That’s where we all are right now.”

Lanai let out a strangled sound of horror that made her son wince. “Oh my God, Josiah! Why haven’t you called your father and I sooner?”

Josiah groaned. “Mom, I didn’t want to freak you guys out. It was too early to know how things were going, and it was...it was really hard.”

Lanai’s tone softened when she heard how upset her son was becoming. “Josiah, I can’t even imagine how difficult this is for you. I’m so proud of you for being there for your friends.”

Josiah swallowed the lump in his throat and squeezed his eyes shut. “Thanks, mom. Can you fill dad in? I wanna get back to the waiting room and check on Carson.”

“Sure, sure,” Lanai said. “Are you at Miriam? I’ll stop by after work.”

“Yeah, but you don’t have to...”

“Nonsense, it’s just a quick pop across the river. I’ll text you later, I should be able to visit around four-thirty.”

“Okay, love you.”

“I love you too, baby.”

Josiah hung up the phone and let out a sigh. A nurse walked by him and shot him a smile as he leaned up against the wall. He yawned and the realization that he still hadn’t really slept hit him full force. In all honesty, his resolve was starting to grow pretty thin.

There was way too much crap going on in his life right now. He was desperate for something good to finally happen. Josiah felt like it was a miracle that he and Carson were finally in the same hospital as Ayden. Now he just needed to be patient so he could see her.

As far as he knew, Ayden’s hip surgery had gone well, and her internal bleeding was slowly getting better. That was the part that made Josiah the most nervous. He didn’t know much about bleeding in the brain, and that scared him. Apparently her case was minor and they only needed to keep her under observation as opposed to doing anything further. Walt had told him that most bleeding due to head trauma stopped on its own.

Josiah sighed, feeling drained by the events of the last few days, and started to walk back to the others. He rested his hands on the back of his neck, with his elbows sticking out at the sides. Josiah walked leisurely and it only took him about two minutes to get to the lounge.

The first thing he noticed was that Walt and Keri were missing. Josiah quickly glanced from each of Carson’s parents and then over to the boy himself.

“What’s going on?” he asked, eyes slightly wide.

Carson smiled and Josiah regarded him warily. “They went to go see Ayden.”

“She’s awake?” Josiah asked in surprise.

Carson’s smile faltered a little as his friend stood over him. “Not yet.” Carson tried to ignore the way Josiah’s shoulders slumped in disappointment at the news. “But the nurses said she should be waking up soon. We can’t all go see her at once but we can go in small groups of two or three.”

The sage-eyed boy nodded and slumped back down into the chair next to Carson. “Not what I was hoping for, but it’ll do I guess.”

Carson quirked a smile at his friend and put a hand on the other boy’s elbow. Josiah looked over at him and met his eyes. After a moment, he returned the smile and put an arm around the brunette’s shoulder. Carson relaxed against him and gently rested his head on his friend.

“Are you doing okay?” Josiah asked, letting his eyes slide closed. He could hear Carson’s parents talking quietly across the room but he didn’t bother trying to listen to them. He yawned silently as he settled further down into his chair. “Are you hungry? We can go to the cafeteria to get you something.”

Carson shook his head and closed his own eyes. “No, I’m good. Maybe later.” Josiah nodded but didn’t say anything. The silence between the two stretched on for another couple of minutes. Then Carson said, “How are you doing?”

Carson waited a moment but didn’t get a response from his friend. Curiously, he pulled back an inch or so and tilted his head to look at the older boy. Carson smiled fondly when he saw that Josiah’s lips had parted, his eyes were closed, and he was breathing a little more deeply.

Feeling like a bit of a creeper for watching Josiah sleep, he gently rested against him once more. Carson was glad Josiah was finally getting some sleep, so he stayed put so he wouldn’t wake him up. The brunette heard a soft snore come from his friend and opened his eyes, a tad startled by the unexpected sound.

Carson instantly made eye contact with his mom, who was watching the boys curiously. Faith smiled and Carson returned the gesture. Eric turned the volume of the television down and sent a grin over to his son. The blue-eyed boy just let himself snuggle into his friend’s side, and closed his eyes.

As he drifted off to sleep himself, Carson pretended that there was nothing selfish about what he was doing. He forced himself to forget for a while just how much he liked the boy whose shoulder he was napping on.

*

When Josiah woke up, he was slumped uncomfortably over two chairs. He popped his eyes open and jumped from the surprise of seeing someone looming over him. He brought his hand up to his rapidly beating chest and blew out a relieved breath.

“Jeez, Walt,” he said, sitting up to stare at his girlfriend’s father. “You scared the life out of me.”

Walt chuckled deeply. “You were sleeping pretty well there before I shook you awake.”

Josiah let out a big yawn and mumbled, “What time is it?”

Walt glanced at the clock on the wall that was above Josiah’s head. As the twenty-one year old rubbed at his face, the man said, “About four o’clock. You got a nice nap in, huh?”

Josiah quirked his lips and shrugged. For getting almost four hours of sleep, he sure felt like he could go for another ten. He knew it was his own fault, though, for not sleeping before. But the thought of missing out on something major happening had terrified him. And the few times he did try to sleep, he found it nearly impossible to accomplish anything beyond closing his eyes.

Josiah rubbed at his eyes and then blinked to clear the blurriness away. “So what did I miss?”

“Not too much,” Walt said with a little frown. Josiah still wondered how the man could be so strong about this. “Ayden did wake up around two, but she was so out of it she fell asleep again about fifteen minutes later. We suspect she might be waking up again soon, though. I figured you and Carson could come see her with me.”

At the mention of the brunette, Josiah snapped his head around, looking for him. He frowned deeply as an instinctive worry set in upon not seeing his friend--or anyone else, for that matter.

“Where is Carson?” Josiah asked firmly.

Walt looked at him reassuringly. “He just wanted to go to the bathroom before I took you guys to see Ayden.”

Josiah didn’t relax just yet. He stood up and uncertainty was laced in his features. “Don’t tell me he went alone. Someone needs to keep an eye on him. What if he gets sick or falls and hits his head?”

Walt leaned forward and placed both his hands firmly on Josiah’s shoulders. Standing face-to-face Walt had to tilt his head back to look up at the taller male. Josiah stood about four inches taller than the older man. Even Carson was an inch or so taller than Walt.

“Don’t stress so much, Josiah,” the man said. “Carson’s doing great. Eric went with him; nothing will happen.”

Josiah hesitated. He wanted to believe this man. Over the last year that he’d been dating his daughter, Josiah felt close enough with Walt that he could consider him a second father of some sorts. The black-haired boy found it oddly easy and comfortable to spend time with the older man. Initially he had been surprised by how well he’d connected with his girlfriend’s father. It almost seemed too good to be true, as you typically only hear horror stories about how poorly fathers react to men who date their daughters.

After another few moments of stressful silence, Josiah reluctantly nodded. He tried to force himself to relax. Satisfied with his response, Walt released the boy and stepped away a bit. Josiah turned to watch the doorway intently, waiting for his friend to come walking through it. If he didn’t soon, Josiah didn’t know what he was going to. He’d just seen him safely out of the hospital, if he ended up back in the ER, Josiah thought for sure he wouldn’t be able to handle it. He would probably freak out and make a fool of himself.

Walt could sense the tension and dread coming from Josiah, so he stayed quiet as they waited for Eric and Carson to return. When they finally did, Josiah’s shoulders immediately released the tautness, and Walt swore he heard the younger man breathe out in alleviation.

“Jesus,” Josiah said the second Carson strolled back into the lounge. He narrowed his eyes, but the brunette could see through the tough act. He knew Josiah had been stressing unnecessarily. “If you’re just going to run off every time I go to sleep, then I’m staying awake forever.”

Carson rolled his eyes. Playfully, he said, “Don’t be so dramatic, Joe. I just had to pee.” Josiah huffed quietly under his breath. Carson smirked. “And I’m the gay one...”

Josiah shot his friend a look, but any further argument that might have unfolded was cut off by Walt clapping his hands. Both boys turned to look at him, waiting to see what he was going to say.

“You boys done bickering?” They both nodded. “Good, I’ll take you to Ayden’s room, then.”

A few minutes later, Carson and a fussy Josiah were waiting outside of the room Ayden was staying in. Eric had stayed behind in the lounge, letting the rest of them go. Walt knocked quietly on the door and a moment later, Faith and Keri exited the room.

After a quick exchange of words, the three men slipped into the medium-sized hospital room. Josiah immediately compared it to the one Carson had been in, in South County. There were cabinets, a television, a few chairs, and an attached bathroom that looked bigger than Carson’s was.

When Walt stepped out of the way and stopped blocking the boys’ view of the bed, they both stopped walking and froze. Ayden was laying there, sleeping so peacefully. Josiah thought she looked not unlike a blonde angel. Only this angel had been through hell. Her face was bruised in various places, bandages were scattered over her body to cover the worst cuts and wounds, and her body looked so limp and pale laying atop the light-blue bedclothes.

Carson’s hand flew to his mouth and Josiah grabbed his free one in an attempt to comfort him. Walt turned to them and waved them in with a warm smile. “It’s okay, boys. Come sit down.”

Josiah walked numbly over to the other side of the bed where Walt pushed two chairs next to each other. The sage-eyed boy couldn’t take his eyes off of his girlfriend. He could honestly say he had never seen Ayden look so defeated. And all she was doing was sleeping.

Carson’s eyes were wide as he stumbled after Josiah towards their designated seats. He felt tears trying to claw their way out of his eyes, but he did his best to keep them in check. He felt devastated by how mangled his best friend looked. An all-consuming pang of guilt wracked him as he studied the blonde. Carson was finding it nearly impossible to forget that she was only in this situation because he made her leave the apartment Saturday night.

Josiah slowly dragged his eyes away from his girlfriend’s body and looked at Walt. He was leaning against the wall directly across from the bed. His arms were crossed over his chest and his brows were furrowed deeply as he looked at his little girl. Josiah blinked a few times, feeling unmistakable sorrow bleed into him as he took everything in.

When the sage-eyed boy glanced at Carson who was now sitting close to him on his left, he saw the few tracks of tears fall down his pallid cheeks. Josiah bit his lip and squeezed his friend’s hand. Carson couldn’t take his eyes off of the blonde.

It didn’t take Josiah long to decipher what the horrified look on Carson’s face meant. The black-haired boy knew Carson was having those contrite thoughts again. Without taking longer than a millisecond to think about it, Josiah tugged the younger boy’s hand until they were leaning into each other.

Josiah dropped Carson’s hand and wrapped his arms protectively around his friend. He carefully put his hand on the back of Carson’s neck and the younger boy finally gave in, pressing his face into the crook of Josiah’s neck. Carson let his tears fall as he sobbed quietly against his friend’s skin and t-shirt.

Looking past Carson, Josiah’s vacant, sage-green eyes landed on Walt. The older man was struck speechless as he watched the two young adults--two of the strongest boys he had ever known before all of this--clung onto each other for dear life.

Walt felt a deep concern for the mental health of both boys sitting a handful of feet away from him. Josiah let his empty eyes slide passed Walt and fixed at some random spot. Pain tore at the older man’s chest. He knew that what these two had been going through the last few days was something they could never fully come back from.

No matter what happened, everybody involved knew that their lives were going to be changed forever. They only needed to figure out some way to turn it from the current negative that it was, into a somewhat positive transformation.

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