Do More Good (5sos ot4)

Chapter 13

Calum sighed, leaning against the wall in the hallway.

    This was the first time he'd gotten a break all day from running around, and it was almost 3:00. It had been crazy all day, they'd floated one of the nurses, there were only two aides on the floor, and they had a full house; all 36 beds was filled. It was chaos.

    Calum decided to take a minute to go downstairs to pharmacy, needing meds for one of his patients, as well as some for the med room.

    "Hey Calum! How are you?" a voice echoed down the hall, causing the curly haired man to lift his head. He'd shut his eyes for the moment, knowing he should rest while he could.

    His boss stood in front of him, wearing his usual suit and tie. The man had been a nurse for years, but when he moved up to management, he decided to dress as such.

    "Hello, Mr Duley, I'm well, how are you?"

    "Just great, Calum. I told you to call me Jack, yeah?"

    Calum blushed. He always used peoples last names out of respect, it's how his parents raised him, a habit he couldn't break.

    "Sorry, I'll remember next time," he said, but both of them knew he wouldn't. He'd been saying that for months.

    "No problem. Hey, I wanted to talk to you about your contract; it seems your 6 months is almost up, you've gotta think about if you wanna stay another 6 or not. I'd be lucky to have you,"

    "Oh, yes. I-I don't know what I'm going to do yet..." he frowned. He was thinking for a while that he'd leave, then he met the three and thought he might stay, but Ashton gave him such a weird vibe the other night, now he wasn't sure what the right decision was. "I think I'm l-leaning towards leaving, but I'll give you my final decision s-soon,"

    "Sure, by the end of the week if you don't mind?" Jack asked, tilting his head. "Since you've only got about 3 weeks left. And if there's anything I can do to keep you here, please let me know, Calum? I'm not joking when I say we'll do anything to keep you. You're a fantastic nurse, and the patients all love you. Maureen loves you, and the other nurses have wonderful things to say about you,"

    If Calum's face could combust it would have. He felt his cheeks heat up at the mans kind and supportive words.

    "Th-thank you. I'll think on it,"

    "Please do," Jack patted his arm. "We'll talk soon,"

    He walked down the hall, and Calum watched him go, not realising it was his turn at the counter. He didn't know that someone had overheard his entire conversation.

    "Hey, Cal, how's it going?" Luke asked, smiling on the outside, but inside he was fuming. Calum was thinking of leaving? He was theirs, he couldn't just leave! They had to do something.

    "I'm f-fine, thanks for asking," he wouldn't meet Luke's eyes, which the young boy wanted to change.

    "Cal, are you okay? You ran out of the house real fast the other day, I hope we didn't do anything to offend you," he asked kindly with a small frown.

    "Yeah, I'm f-fine,"

    Luke scoffed.

    "No one's ever fine when they say they're fine, Cally. What happened," Luke held up his finger when Calum bit the inside of his cheek and cast a glance around the hall. He went to the door that allowed him out of the pharmacy office and into the hall with his friend. Calum was shocked when Luke gently took his arm and led him down the hall to a small bench. "Seriously, we were having a good time, did we say or do something? Is Ash being mean to you again? We left the two of you alone, did he hurt you?"

    Calum's eyes went wide at the rapid fire questioning, his soft brown eyes growing concerned.

    "N-no, no, nothing l-like that, Ashton didn't hurt me, he w-would never,"

    Luke sighed in relief, dropping his shoulders a bit.

    "I'm so glad, I was going to have a serious chat with him."

    "No, really, everything is okay."

    "Then can you meet my eyes and say that?"

    Biting his lip, the tanned boy brought his gaze to Luke's, staring into the crystal depths that was Luke Hemmings. His breath caught in his throat, and he couldn't say anything, let alone lie to this man.

    "I—"

    "Cal, we just want what's best for all of us, what happened?"

    Calum closed his eyes when Luke started comfortingly rubbing his arm.

    "Really, I just needed to go. Th-there was no issue."

    "Okay, if you insist," Luke almost seemed like he was going to push it, but he stopped himself. "If that's the case then, you'd be cool coming over on Thursday for dinner? Everything's good, right?"

    Calum was trapped. If he said no, he'd have to explain why, but if he said yes, he'd be uncomfortable again.

    "What's your favorite food? Mikey can probably make it, he's such a good cook, you've gotta come over again," he smiled brightly, dimple popping on his left side. "We miss you,"

    "You do?" Calum tilted his head. He couldn't imagine why the three of them liked him so much; he was just him, and they were them. They were perfect, the trio. They didn't need to let Calum hang out and ruin their time together.

    Calum became a travel nurse because he liked the thought of being able to leave when things weren't going right. If someone was rude, if he messed up, or if he got close to someone and things fell apart, it didn't matter. It didn't matter, because in a few weeks he'd be leaving that place and all the memories behind. He didn't have to worry too much about making relationships with others because they wouldn't keep up once he was gone, he just wasn't that kind of person.

    Maybe he was better off leaving Luke, Ashton, and Michael behind, and accepting the new assignment. Maybe it would be easier if he shut them out, stopped being close to them before things got too out of hand.

    Though, by the way Calum's heart was beating so quickly at the way Luke touched him and the way his heart fluttered at the look in his eyes, he knew it was already too late.

    But what was going to come from it? They had each other, they had everything they needed, did he really think they'd want him? His whole life no one had wanted him, he knew he wasn't perfect, he was just all right. No one appreciate him until he became a nurse and realized his true calling. But they only liked him in that regard, and only when he was doing good things. 

    "Cal?" Luke watched all the thoughts float across his friends face. He knew he was growing upset and wanted to pull him out of it before it got too bad. "You okay?"

    "Yes, good. I just need a few meds,"

    "Okay, I'll get your order for you. But just think about Thursday, okay? Don't worry about feeling like a burden or anything. Trust me, we all want you and I think you want us too." Luke winked.

    Calum stood up in a trance, following Luke back to the window, wondering all day what the man could have possibly meant by all that.

***

Don't worry, the next chapter is INTENSE AS HECK. I don't think you're ready for it quite yet 😈

~ashtonfortherwin