A Midnight Walk

Chapter 3

"Should we wake them?" A nurse whispers, looking at the poets with empathy as their shoulders sit stiffly in their sleep. Charlie and Knox are pressed up against each other even in different seats, Charlie resting his head on Knox's shoulder and his arms wrapped around one of Knox's arms, his legs pulled up to his chest while Knox has his splayed out in front.

Beside them on the floor Meeks and Pitts have their backs pressed to the wall, both leaning their heads on one another with their fingers intertwined. A crumpled bottle of water held loosely in Pitt's other hand and Meeks glasses hanging off the bridge of his nose.

On the other end of their row of chairs sits Cameron, his legs hanging off the arm of one chair and backing moulding to the print of the other arm. His head thrown back in quiet snores and arms crossed, fingers twitching every now and again.

In the middle of it all is Neil, his chin folded down to his chest and arms crossed too, head laying back against the wall while his feet are splayed out, narrowly avoiding knocking over the small stack of hospital paper coffee cups by the side of his chair. Each boy sharing red cheeks and tear tracks.

"Better wake one up and let them wake the rest." The other mutters, shooting a look to the other nurse before walking up to Pitt's, her heels clicking loudly, the sound bouncing off the walls and causing the boys to stir in their sleep.

Coming to stop in front of Pitt's she reaches down and gently shakes his shoulder, waiting a moment before doing it again when he makes no move. A harsher nudge draws a small snort from him before he jolts awake, head sharply turning to Meeks to make sure he hadn't woken before looking up at the woman who shook him awake. His shoulders slump at the sight of her, a yawn escaping his mouth before he speaks.

"Is everything ok? To-Todd's fine right?" He stammers before sitting up even further, back ramrod straight and eyes wide once his surroundings settle in. Smiling softly, the nurse rubs his shoulder with a mother's touch.

"I think you might want to wake your friends; the doctor will be coming in a few minutes and he can tell you all at once, alright?" Nodding along to her calm words, Pitt's gives a small smile in thanks before shifting his gaze back to Meeks. He soaks in the sight of his dishevelled boyfriend and pushes up said boys glasses, squeezing Meeks' hand and shaking his arm.

"Come on Steven, time to wake up. The doc wants to see us." Pitt's whispers into his ear before planting a small kiss on it. Meeks turns his head and opens his eyes, squinting at the bright hospital lights and rolling his neck at the slight ache from its stretched position. Nodding slightly, he leans forward to stretch out his arms while a yawn follows with a grimace.

"Not exactly how I wanted to spend my night," He murmurs, still half asleep and blindly gripping for the arm of the closest chair to help him up. Shaking his head, Pitt's hauls himself up too before reaching an arm out for Meeks, pulling him into his body once he's standing.

The two stand there for a moment, arms holding each other tightly with faces buried into shoulders and necks, the nurse long gone.

"Part of me doesn't want to know how Todd's surgery went, the other half is dying to break into his room and hug the daylights out of him," Meeks muttered into Pitt's shirt, glasses pressing into his face uncomfortably, but Meeks couldn't care less, too worried about his friend. His brother.

"Same here, but we might as well rip the band-aid off now." Pitt's sighed, letting go of Meeks and turning to the rest of the boys, stepping towards Knox and Charlie first while Meeks walked past to Neil and Cameron.

Knox and Charlie were still asleep, yet both looked ready to wake within seconds, too on edge to sleep properly. Grabbing Knox's shoulder, Pitt's shakes it roughly, hoping to wake his friends up quickly before the doctor arrives.