The Scariest Days of Our Lives (Big Time Rush Fanfic)

Chapter Nine

We'd battled a lot with Carlos. He wasn't the same. The bouncing around happy-go-lucky Carlos that we knew before the accident was not present. Instead, we got this subdued sitting around watching the world go by Carlos. He was afraid, I knew, of causing any more damage. He wore his helmet almost 24 hours a day only taking it off when he went to bed, but even then, I knew, he would sneak it on after his mom tucked him in.

"Guess what?" Kendall appeared inside Carlos's house an hour after James and I had arrived after school. We were sitting at the kitchen table where I was trying to tutor Carlos on what we had learned in school that week. He so desperately did not want to fall behind and have to repeat the fifth grade without us. It was tough since I also had to get him up to date on the month he missed while being in the hospital. Kendall and James tried to help, but the bulk of the job fell on me. I didn't mind. Much.

"Cursive! Cursive! She wants us to write it in cursive!" I shouted.

"Sorry!" Carlos furiously scrubbed his paper with the eraser of his pencil creating a hole.

"Just get a fresh sheet," I said exasperated.

"I said," Kendall raised his voice, "guess what?"

I looked up noticing he held his left arm behind his back.

"You're holding two corndogs behind your back," Carlos guessed.

Kendall shook his head.

"You know we're not going to guess so just tell us!" James whined.

Kendall raised his left arm showing off its pale whiteness.

"I got my cast off!" He jumped into the empty chair next to James. "Now, we can play hockey again."

"Yea!" Carlos shouted.

I nodded my head at Carlos hoping Kendall understood what I meant.

"What? Oh! Right, but I don't feel like playing hockey at the moment."

"What?" James asked surprised.

"Why?" Carlos whined. "You love hockey." He looked down at the table dropping his pencil. "It's because of me. I'm ruining everything."

Well, that just broke my heart.

"No, Carlos," Kendall tried to assure him. "I just don't feel like it right now. I don't want to break my arm again anytime soon."

That seemed to satisfy Carlos who went back to writing in cursive.

"Cursive is stupid," he announced.

"You remember how to do it, don't you?" I asked.

"Yes," he mumbled.

Carlos's handwriting had improved since the block lettering of his name on Kendall's cast. It was beginning to take the shape of what it used to look like, that of a ten year old boy. But, the cursive part? That left a lot to be desired.

"I gotta doctor's appointment tomorrow," Carlos said absent-mindedly after writing the last answer. "Gonna check on my brain." He looked up at Kendall, James, and me. "I still don't remember the accident. Was it bad?"

"Well, it landed you in the hospital," I replied. "But, let's forget about that."

"Already forgotten." Carlos smiled. "Do I have to do the rest of my homework? My head hurts."

"How bad? Do you need some medicine? Do you think you need to go to the hospital?" I asked.

"Just bad enough that I think I need a break."