The Loner's Journey

Chapter 30

Grayson's POV
I woke up in the middle of the night to some kind of noise. I rubbed my eyes and let them adjust to the darkness of the room. When they adjust, I looked around and noticed archer was the source of the noise. I moved closer to see what was wrong. His face was scrunched up and he looked like he was in pain. He was sweating a lot and winced in his sleep. I turned around and tried to wake Danny but he was too far gone, so I went to wake his dad up. Even though I felt bad about waking him, I was worried about archer and knew he had the knowledge of what to do to help him. When I got to his room I saw there was a light on. I peeked around the door to find Danny's dad propped up in his bed reading a book or something. I knock to let him know I'm there. When he looks up, he gives me a questioning look. "I woke up. Archer was groaning and wincing in his sleep. When I checked on him, I noticed he's covered in sweat and looks like he's in pain." I say. He nods and gets up quickly. I lead him back to archer and we both notice he's gotten a little worse. He's sweating even more and moving around a little. Danny's dad walks over to archer and checks him over, but when he goes to touch archers ribs, archer jolts up with a cry of pain. I rush over and get him to lay back down but he and Danny are definitely awake now. "Dad, what's wrong?" Danny asks urgently. "It seems like archer won't be able to wait until the morning to go to the hospital. We need to get him loaded up and to the ER as quickly as we can." He says. I watch as Danny and his dad start rushing around to get stuff ready to take archer to the hospital. As I stand to help, I feel a tug in my arm. I look down and notice archers eyes are just barely open and staring at me. I stop in my tracks and bend back down to him. He seems to relax for a minute after I settle back beside him, before he's wincing again in pain. "I know it hurts. We're working on getting you to somewhere that can help." I tell him, trying to sooth him a bit. He just blinks at me. I rub his hand and wait for Danny to give me the signal to take him to the car. I stare at archers face for a few minutes before deciding to look around for Danny. Once I spot him, I notice he's packing a bag. Almost like an over night bag. He's putting, clothes, chargers, shoes, etc., in the bag as quickly as he can. I look back over ti archer and notice his breathing is getting a little shallow. "Danny!" I say urgently. He drops what he was doing and comes over. "His breathing just got a little quicker and more shallow." I report. Danny gets a worried look and then rushes off to get his dad. A few minutes later his dad runs in and over to archer to check his breathing. "Shit. We need to go. Now." His dad says. I try to pick archer up as gently as I can but he still cries out in pain as I lift him off the couch. I rush out the door and to the car where I see the back door of the car already open and waiting for me. I adjust archer in my arms as carefully as I can and sit in the seat with him laid across the rest of the seat and his head in my lap. Once I'm settle I look over to find Danny getting in, and a few seconds later his dad gets in the driver seat. Danny's dad starts the car and we quickly start heading towards the closest hospital. Archer grips my arm tightly and groans when we go over a pothole in the road. "I'm sorry, archer. I know it hurts. We're getting help as quickly as we can." I say. I begin stroking his hair to try and relax him and it seems to be working for now. "How much longer till we get there?" I ask. "About 10 minutes as long as we don't hit a traffic jam." Danny's dad says. I nod and try to calm down a little myself. I take a few deep breathes and start humming one of my favorite songs. I look back down to keep an eye on archer and notice the slightest bit of a tilt of his lips as I start humming. I smile, glad to be able to put him even a little bit at ease until we can get him where he can get the help he desperately needs right now.