" should I call him?" Luke spoke up, pulling his phone from his pocket. " go for it. " Michael nudged Luke towards the door so he could talk to Ashton in private. " is she okay? Where did you go?" Ashton knew these questions were coming and he was willing to talk about it with Michael because they were going through this together. " they had to do surgery on her lungs but, they say she's okay now. Speaking of her" Ashton moved aside so they could put Madys bed into its original place. "She looks so much better now" he touched her face, it was warm, soft, slightly pink in her cheeks. Just the way she always was. " I guess everything's going to be okay now. " Ashton pulled at the curtain which separated the room. " we can all only hope" Michael nodded.
" where did calum go for real do you know?" Ashton spoke softly.
"i mean, i dont where else he'd go then where he said, he's been friends with the girls since grade school and i don’t think he'd just up and leave them like that"
Michael scratched his head, and Luke joined them, shaking his head at his phone as he approached. "hes not picking up, it won’t even ring" Luke tapped his foot impatiently, looking around the hospital for Calum. "he always picks up, always" Luke bit his nails worriedly. Ashton typed a text message to Calum on his phone, and Michael did the same. Michael almost hit send before deleting the message, and remembered something security had made them do ages ago. "wait! what about that tracker thingy we all have on each other that security made us get?" "i forgot about that" Luke exclaimed, finding the app in his phone and tapping on Calums device swiftly. Ashton pulled the doctor aside, reassuring that both Mady and Stephanie would be stable from now on, so they could look for calum. "yes, and i'll have nurses checking in on them every 15 minutes" the doctor send him a smile before Ashton retreated back to the room, grabbed his keys, and left to the car with michael and luke on his heels.
" I found him!" Luke exclaimed nearly jumping in the back seat. " he's on the corner of Bayside Rd." the boys all looked at each other, " what the hells over there?" Ashton typed the address into the GPS and began to drive in the direction. " yeah what is over there?" Michael turned towards Luke in the back seat. " don't look at me I don't know what the hells over there lets just go find calum" luke said in an angry tone, he was never one to be serious. Something had to be up. Ashton sped around corners and barely stopped at intersections. The boys kept their eyes glued to their phone in case calum were to move, the tracker would beep and relocate him.
They finally pulled up to the road, right alongside the port, the waves crashing heavily against the rocks beneath them. Luke jumped out of the car before Ash had even stopped, rushing toward Calum sprawled out on the concrete in front of the car. He was unconscious, and Luke pulled him over his shoulder in a heap, Michael underneath Calums other arm to hold him up. Ashton jumped out of the car and yanked open the back door, guiding the boys toward is as they carried the dead weight of Calum. They lay him gently across the backseat, Luke sitting on the small space of the floor in the back with Calum, and Michael and Ashton in the front seat. Lukes hand brushed over calums cheek, over a dark bruise set deep in his skin. A large gash opened his lip, dried blood making it glimmer from the passing cars headlights. his knuckles were beaten, purple and red, like he was fighting. Luke observed his body, keeping his hand on Cal at all times. Calum groaned at the contact, and moved on his side, aching from his wounds. "what did they do to you?" luke whispered, as they sped down the road towards the hospital, yet again.
