Chapter 14 Hospital Confessions
Kacey looked out the window and felt helpless. It had been an hour since he had come in for lunch. He had told Arian to lie down and as soon as the boy's head hit the pillow he was asleep. He then went from checking on his cousin to staring out the window. He wanted to be back outside again doing something. He knew that it was a futile endeavor. That if he even did manage to do dig the thing out that he would never be able to get it on the snow. He heard movement come from his cousin's bed so he went to go check on him. When he reached the bed he saw that Lucas was looking around his brown eyes dull with fever.
"You're awake," Kacey said as he sat down in the chair. "How do you feel?"
"Terrible," Lucas said his voice cracking, "it's really hot and my hand hurts."
"Can I get you anything?" Kacey asked as he placed a hand on his cousin's forehead and frowned. Lucas really was too warm.
"You can turn down the heat," Lucas mumbled.
"I would if I could," he told him knowing that the only reason that Lucas was so warm was because of the fever. He took the cloth off of Lucas' forehead, put in the water, and then placed it back on his head. "Better?"
"A little," Lucas answered as he looked around. "Where's Arian? Is he okay?"
"He's fine. He's taking a nap," Kacey said.
"Are you okay?" Lucas asked him.
"I'm fine," Kacey told him trying to give him a smile. It must have failed because Lucas frowned.
"I can't lie to you and you can't lie to me," Lucas said.
"I'm worried," Kacey sighed knowing that Lucas would keep asking until he told the truth.
"Well don't be. Zack and Davyn will come back with help, you'll see," Lucas said reassuringly making Kacey laugh.
"I'm suppose to be the one making you feel better not the other way around," Kacey said wishing that he could be stronger.
"We're family we take care of each other," Lucas told him.
"You're right we do. Are you sure that I can't get you anything?" Kacey asked again. He wanted to do something, anything to make his cousin feel better.
"You could make the pain stop," Lucas said and then he frowned. "Sorry I didn't mean to say that."
"It's alright Lucas," Kacey said soothingly. "You can have some more pain pills in a few hours."
"Doesn't matter," Lucas said looking close to tears. "They don't help anyway."
"I'm sorry," Kacey said feeling more helpless by the moment. "Why don't you try and sleep then."
"I can try but I don't know if I'll be able to," Lucas told him. Kacey was so involved talking to Lucas that he didn't notice Arian until the boy until he was right next to him.
"What is it Arian?" Kacey asked turning his attention to the other boy who was once again wrapped up in a blanket.
"I hear something," Arian said looking excited. Kacey strained his ears and sure enough he heard it to.
"Stay with Lucas," Kacey told him and hurried to the window. He looked outside and saw a big vehicle. Not wanting it to pass them Kacey quickly threw on his boots, jumped out the window, and started waving his arms. It came to a stop and his relief increased when he saw Davyn and Zack get out.
"You guys actually found help," Kacey said.
"Actually he found us," Zack explained as they all walked quickly to the cabin.
"I'm Bill by the way," an older man carrying a first aid kit said introducing himself. "Are you one of the injured?"
"No they're both inside," Kacey said as he stepped in through the window and the others followed. He looked over to the beds to see that Arian had helped Lucas sit up.
"Davyn! Zack!" Arian said with a smile.
Bill didn't miss a beat and hurried over to the other two. He quickly looked them over before he spoke to Lucas. "I take you're the one with the burn?"
"Yeah," Lucas said looking slightly nervous.
"Do you mind if I see it?" Bill asked as he opened his kit. Lucas nodded and Bill carefully unwrapped his cousin's hand. The man's face showed none of his thoughts as he examined Lucas' hand and then wrapped it back up. "From a one to ten how's the pain?"
"Off the scale," Lucas told him looking ready to collapse.
"I'm going to take your temperature and then give you something for the pain," Bill said as he dug in his kit, grabbed out a thermometer, and placed it in Lucas' mouth. When the thermometer beeped he pulled it out. Once again his face showed nothing as he read it.
"Now I'm going to give you a little shot to help with the pain," Bill explained as he dug in his kit and pulled out a needle. Lucas didn't even flinch when he stuck the needle in his arm.
"That feels better already," Lucas said his voice sounding dreamy.
"Someone is going to have to help him get dressed and warmly. We don't want him to get a chill," Bill explained as he turned his attention to Arian.
"I can," Zack said as he went over to Lucas.
"My hand doesn't hurt at all anymore," Lucas told Zack.
"I'm glad," Zack told him with a smile. Kacey watched at the gentle way that Zack treated his cousin and knew that he was taken care of even if he wasn't the one doing it.
"And you have hypothermia, right?" Bill asked Arian as he disinfected the thermometer.
"Yeah but I feel better," Arian said but anyone could tell by looking at him that he wasn't feeling well.
"I'm just going to take your temperature to be safe," Bill told him. The thermometer was in Arian's mouth for over five minutes and it never went off.
"Is it broken?" Davyn asked after he took from Arian and handed it back to Bill.
"No," Bill said packing up his bag. "It means that his temperature is still a little low. Now you need to get dressed up nice and warm too. Then we'll head on out. There's not much room in the vehicle so just bring what you need with you."
"I can do that," Kacey offered. He had nothing else to do since Arian and Lucas were being looked after by Davyn and Zack. In less than ten minutes Kacey had their necessities packed and Arian and Lucas were dressed.
"Guess what Kacey?" Lucas asked him. Kacey looked at his cousin and saw that his injured arm was against his chest and not in his sleeve.
"What is it?" Kacey asked.
"My hand doesn't hurt anymore," Lucas told him with a smile.
"That's good," Kacey told him glad that whatever Bill gave him worked.
"But it's still really hot and it's even hotter since Zack made me wear all of this clothes," Lucas complained.
"I'm sorry, but you need to wear all of that because you're going to have to go outside," Kacey told him. "Then we'll get you some place that will make you feel better."
"Do you think you can walk?" Zack asked Lucas.
"I think so," Lucas said tilting his head to the side.
"That's my boy," Zack told him and then gave Lucas a kiss. Kacey just rolled his eyes at the goofy grin on his cousin's face.
It took some tricky maneuvering but eventually they were all crammed in the weird vehicle that Bill had. Davyn, Zack, Arian, and Lucas were all crammed in the back and Kacey was riding up front with Jake. They had barely started off and everyone in the back had fallen asleep.
"Is it okay for Lucas and Arian to be sleeping like that?" Kacey asked with a yawn. He was tired himself but he needed to ask a few questions first.
"Its fine," Bill told him with a smile. "You boys did a good job all things considered."
"So how did you find us?" Kacey asked curiously. That one had been really bothering him.
"A Thomas Wilson called and reported you all missing," Bill explained. Kacey smiled. It looked like Tommy had come through for them. After they found him again he felt terrible never realizing that they had been looking for him. He had been trying to make it up to them ever since. "You know you can sleep too." Kacey tried to answer that he was fine but his eyes were already closing.
***
"Boys the ambulances are here," Bill said his gruff voice waking them up or most of them anyway. Davyn, Zack, and Kacey all woke up instantly. Arian half woke up looking slightly confused and Lucas didn't move at all from where his head was resting on Zack's shoulder.
"I'll help you get him down," Kacey told Zack as he jumped out of the vehicle and between the two of them they managed to get Lucas resting on Kacey's back. Seeing that they didn't need any help Davyn got out and then helped Arian. The smaller boy was shaking terrible by this time. Kacey walked over to one ambulance and Davyn took Arian to the other. Zack stood in the middle of them looking torn.
"Go with Lucas," Arian spoke.
"Thank you," Zack said giving him a grateful smile and then hurried over to join Lucas and Kacey. They then quickly loaded Arian into the ambulance and Davyn followed. They immediately started asking Davyn all types of questions as they hooked up Arian to an IV.
***
Zack watched at they hooked up his boyfriend to monitors and an IV; Lucas hadn't even stirred. That panicky feeling he had been trying to suppress all day was starting to come to the surface. Then he remembered what Davyn told him earlier. Lucas was counting on him. Plus it also looked as if Kacey was nearing his breaking point. He kept looking at his cousin with this lost look on his face.
"Don't worry," one of the EMTs told them. "You boys did good and you're friend's going to be fine."
Almost forty-five minutes later they pulled into the hospital just behind Davyn and Arian. The two stretchers raced into the hospital. Zack, Davyn, and Kacey followed closely behind. When they walked through the doors Zack saw his best friend and his boy friend being rolled into examining rooms. They once again went to follow but were stopped by a woman in a white coat.
"I'm Dr. Clarkson," she said giving them all a smile. "Jake radioed in your situation and I want you to know that your friends are in good hands. It's you boys that I'm worried about."
"But we're fine," Kacey protested.
"Right," Dr. Clarkson said crossing her arms in front of her chest. The woman wasn't very big but she was someone that Zack wouldn't want to cross. "And when was the last time that any of you got a descent amount of sleep." They looked at each other. It seemed like ages since any of them had gotten a good night's sleep and the scary thing was that it hadn't been even forty-eight hours since Arian had gone missing yet it seemed like days.
"I thought as much," the woman said with a sigh. "Come let's get you boys checked out."
***
Kacey stood at the coffee machine waiting for his cup of coffee to finish. It had been two hours since they arrived at the hospital. Both Arian and Lucas were going to make a full recovery. Arian was still suffering from hypothermia; more than they had realized so they had him on some warm saline. Lucas had got a nasty infection and they had gotten him to the hospital just in time before it got real serious. They had him on antibiotics for that. They also said that he would get back full movement in his hand but they were going to call in a plastic surgeon to help with the scaring.
They had placed Arian and Lucas in the same room and after him, Davyn, and Zack got the okay from Dr. Clarkson that's where they headed and that's where they stayed. The other four were asleep at the moment. Kacey needing a break from everything decided to go on a search for some coffee.
"Kacey," the boy heard someone call his name. He turned around to see a man that looked similar to him except shorter. Behind him stood another man that was taller than him with short auburn hair.
"Tommy! Rick!" Kacey said abandoning his cup of coffee as he hurried over to his older cousin and hugged him. It felt so good to have someone else in charge.
"You don't know how worried we were," Tommy said as he returned the hug. "Is everyone alright?"
"Mostly," Kacey said pulling out of his cousin's embrace.
"Well you look terrible," Rick told him.
"Thanks," Kacey said with a dry chuckle used to Rick's weird sense of humor. "You sure know how to make a person feel better."
"So where's Lucas and the others?" Tommy asked.
"They're all sleeping," Kacey told them.
"Then let's not wake them," Rick said wrapping an arm around his shoulders. "Why don't we all go down to the cafeteria and get something to eat. You can tell us what exactly happened." Kacey nodded and let them lead him away.
The cafeteria had quite a few people in it, but it wasn't so crowded that they couldn't find a private corner. Kacey had told his older cousin that he wasn't really hungry; which he wasn't. But they insisted that he ate anyway so he got a sandwich.
"Now why don't you tell us what happened?" Tommy asked him once they were all sitting down. So Kacey did. He told them how they arrived and how they had fun on their first day. How they all went snowmobiling except for Arian and how he went looking for them when he heard about the storm. How Lucas how found him in the snow. How the next day Arian slowly started to get better and then how Lucas burned his hand and how he got worse through the night. And the decision they made that morning. How Bill had rescued them and they ended up at the hospital.
"Wow," Rick said rubbing the back of his neck. "You guys had a pretty hard couple of days."
"I honestly don't know what would have happened if you hadn't called us in missing," Kacey said looking at Tommy.
"I wish I would have done it sooner," Tommy sighed.
"In all honesty you didn't wait that long. It wasn't even two days," Kacey told him even though it felt like weeks. "And it's nice that you came. Lucas will be real happy to see you."
"So besides the obvious did the other thing go well?" Tommy asked. Kacey knew that he was referring to Arian and Davyn. They told him what had been going on with the other boy.
"Better than expected actually," Kacey said with a smile. "Apparently the only reason Davyn said the things he said was because he liked Arian back and just wasn't ready to deal. Lucas helped him sort out his feelings and now they're together."
"I'm glad it worked out for them," Tommy said with a smile.
"Now we need to find someone for you and Lucas," Rick chuckled.
"Lucas already found someone," Kacey told them. He figured he better tell them. Zack had been glued to Lucas since he got in the room.
"So Lucas found himself a nice girl, huh?" Rick asked with a smirk.
"Actually more like the captain of the hockey," Kacey said with a shrug and then laughed at the looks on their faces.
"Seriously?" Tommy asked looking surprised.
"Yeah," Kacey said nodding. "Zack's a good guy and I already threatened him."
"As long as Lucas is happy. That's all that really matters," Tommy said with a smile.
***
Davyn sat there and watched Arian sleep. The smaller boy was finally starting to get some color back. He ran his hand down Arian's cheek and actually felt some warmth there. Davyn was happier than words could express that the one he loved was finally getting the help that he needed. To make it even better Arian's eyes fluttered and opened.
"Hello sleepy," Davyn said as he gave Arian a kiss.
"Davyn?" Arian asked curiously. "Where's everyone else?" Davyn moved slightly so Arian could look over at the next bed where Lucas was laying. Zack was sleeping in a chair next to the bed using Lucas' good hand as a pillow.
"They said that Lucas would make a full recovery and that it's just a small infection. Kacey left a note saying that he went for a cup of coffee," Davyn explained.
"I'm glad that everyone's okay," Arian said with a smile.
"So am I," Davyn said returning it.
"But I've come to a decision," Arian said with a frown. "Regarding the future."
"Oh," Davyn said getting a bad feeling. He hoped that Arian hadn't changed his mind about going out with him but if he did he would respect the other boy's decision. Arian nodded and Davyn held his breath.
"If the rest of the team wants to go on the retreat that's fine but I am through with camping," Arian seriously.
"You had me scared there," Davyn said letting out a sigh of relief.
"Sorry I couldn't resist," Arian said with a giggle.
"I think you owe me for that," Davyn said with a pout. Then pointed to his lips.
"Alright," Arian said and Davyn leaned down and gave him another kiss.
"Well if you don't want to go on the retreat we can go on our first date," Davyn said as he pulled out of the kiss. "Your choice. We can do anything you want."
"I'll have to think about that one," Arian said with a smirk. Davyn smiled back. Glad that he had this second chance. A second chance that he wasn't going to waste.
***
Lucas noticed many things upon waking up. He's hand no longer hurt; in fact he couldn't feel it at all. Another thing was that it wasn't as hot as it was. It also looked as if they weren't in the cabin anymore but a hospital. The last thing was a little odd. For some reason he couldn't seem to move his good hand. It was like something was holding it down.
He looked and saw that Zack was practically using it as a pillow. It took some effort but he managed to get his hand free without waking the other boy. Lucas then ran his fingers through Zack's soft blonde hair. The last several hours were a little foggy but he had a feeling that he had kissed Zack or Zack had kissed him at some point. He continued to run his fingers through the other boy's hair until Zack began to stir.
"Lucas you're awake!" Zack said with a big smile and then leaned down and gave him a kiss on his forehead making Lucas blush.
"Yeah," Lucas said looking around the room and then frowned. He saw that Arian was sitting in the next bed and Davyn was sitting next to him. The two were talking quietly about something but he didn't see any signs of his cousin. "Where's Kacey?"
"He was here before I fell asleep," Zack told him. "But I'm not sure where he went. Do you want me to go and look for him?" Lucas wasn't sure what he wanted. He didn't want Zack to leave but he was also worried about his cousin.
"Don't worry," Davyn said breaking into their conversation. "He left a note saying that he went to get a cup of coffee. I'm sure he'll be back soon." Lucas nodded and let out a sigh of relief missing the whispered thank you that Zack sent Davyn.
"See everyone's fine," Zack said as he grabbed his good hand. Once again Lucas felt warm although for an entirely different reason and he knew that he better learn the truth before he got his hopes up.
"Say Zack," Lucas said trying to get up his courage to ask his question. "Did we…kiss?"
"You don't remember," Zack said with a frown. Lucas shook his head. "Yeah we kissed. Would you like me to remind you?" Lucas nodded unable to find his voice.
"Well first," Zack said moving closer. "I kissed you like this." Zack leaned in and gave him a quick kiss, "Then you kissed me." So Lucas leaned in and gave Zack a kiss although he made his longer.
"Do you remember now?" Zack asked him with a smile.
"No," Lucas said with returning the smile. "We might have to do that a few more times."
"We'll do it as many times as you need," Zack said leaning in for another kiss.
***
"First loves can be so cute," Rick said with a dramatic sigh. They had come back from the cafeteria a few minutes ago to visit but they stopped when they saw what was going on inside.
"They look so happy together. Come on," Tommy said moving away from the door. "Let's leave them alone for a bit longer." Albeit reluctantly Rick and Kacey followed.
"Well they're all taken care of and you're taken care of," Rick said as he smiled at Tommy making his older cousin blush. "Now we just need to find someone for Kacey."
"I am quiet happy being a bachelor," Kacey said and meaning it. He never pictured himself with anyone really and now that someone was looking after Lucas he wasn't sure what to do. It was a strange feeling. Almost like a double edged sword. Until he sorted his feelings out he would just enjoy being alone.
AN: Thanks for the review YoMommaBiatch I'm glad you're that happy Lucas and Zack are together. Well this is the last chapter. Yay! I have a spin-off story planned for Kacey but I only have like two chapters written plus this story didn't get a lot of reviews so I'm not sure how interested anyone would be in it. Anyway even though this story is done I would like to hear what you thought.