How To Cuddle in a Leather Jacket

Step Eight - Give Them Strength

Mark's hand shook as he watched doctors enter and exit Jack's room. The phone finally stopped ringing, and Tyler picked up.

"Mark! Where have you been?" He asked.

"I-Is Ethan there?" He asked.

"Yeah. Do you want me to put you on speaker phone?" Tyler asked.

"Yeah, I need to talk to both of you." Mark looked at the closed door of Jack's room like a lost puppy.

"Okay. You're on speaker." Tyler told Mark.

"Hey, what happened?" Ethan asked.

"Guys, I'm at the hospital." Mark finally told them.

"What happened?!" Tyler asked.

"Are you okay?!" Ethan added on.

"I'm fine." Mark told them. "But..." He paused. "Man, I feel horrible for pulling you guys into this mess."

"Whatever happened, it's fine. Just please tell us." Tyler waited for Mark's response.

"It's about Jack." Mark told them. "I found him in his apartment. He was tied up, and beaten pretty bad. He can't even speak right now."

"That sounds horrible." Ethan said quietly.

"We'll be over there as soon as we can." Tyler said, right before hanging up. Mark opened his mouth to speak, but he heard a beep as the call ended. He leaned up against the wall, painfully waiting for the doctors to let him into the room.

-----

Tyler and Ethan quietly walked into the room. They saw Mark sitting next to Jack's bed, gently holding his hand and softly running his thumb over Jack's fingers.

Jack looked horrible. He was bruised and cut all over, and he lay there in bed, blankly staring at the ceiling.

"Mark, you said you were fine!" Ethan ran over. He bent down, looking at the bandages wrapped around his head.

"I am fine. Don't worry about me." Mark shook his head. He looked back to Jack, watching his chest just barely rise and fall with each breath.

"Is he asleep? His eyes are open." Tyler walked up to the edge of the bed.

"He's awake." Mark told them. "He hasn't spoken to anyone since he came here, though." Mark stared at Jack, watching every small, painful movement with agony. Tyler and Ethan went to sit down, leaving Mark alone next to the bed. "Tyler and Ethan are here." He spoke softly to Jack. "They came to-"

Mark was interrupted by Jack coughing. He was fine at first, but when Jack took a deep breath, he panicked and shot up. He clutched his chest, coughing into his other hand. He began gasping for breath, and the machines started beeping wildly.

"Are you okay?!" Mark asked, laying his hand on Jack's back. "Jack, what happened?!"

Jack slammed his hand on the emergency button, smearing it with blood. Nurses rushed into the room and ushered the boys out, tending to Jack.

Tyler and Ethan looked at each other in confusion as Mark leaned breathlessly against the wall. More doctors rushed down the hall and into Jack's room. Every time the door opened, the boys could hear the panicked voices of the doctors and the frenzied beeping of the machines.

Another doctor came rushing down the hall, talking into a walkie talkie. "We can't perform surgery in a crowded hallway!"

"We can't move him anywhere else! He has a punctured lung!" A nurse responded. The doctor ran into the room, swinging open the door. Mark saw people performing CPR, trying to keep Jack breathing. Surgeons rushed down the hall minutes later, pushing along a cart of surgical equipment.