lovely // analogical ✔

☆ 41 - bad news ☆

(a/n: i know nothing about how hospitals work lol all my knowledge is from 7th grade health)

Logan woke up.

The room was white and the brightness made his eyes sting.

"Oh! Logan Decker, you're awake!" someone said.

He pushed up his glasses and saw a nurse standing next to his... hospital bed.

"What is... happening?" Logan asked.

"Your voice isn't gone anymore!" a familiar cheery voice -- Patton -- said. He was really trying to be positive, but nothing could really turn it around.

"Well, long story short," the nurse explained, "you hurt yourself very badly and you blacked out for two days. It's Saturday now. And... we are sorry to say this but you're going to be hospitalized for a little while."

Logan's eyes widened. "WHAT?!"

The nurse nodded, her face grim. "I am truly sorry."

"Like... I can't leave?"

"You have a very bad history of self harm and it's the doctor's order to keep you here."

"But I- I have to go to this- this party thing today a-and I can come back in like, two weeks! I need to study for a math test which is in a few days, and then after that -- after I get an A+, you can keep me here! I swear!"

"Oh, Logan. You aren't weird or anything for this. Many people with depression and have issues with self harm need to be hospitalized to avoid danger, and that's just how it is. I'm sorry, but my job is to tell you, not to fix things. But if you would like, I can call the doctor up here and you two can chat. Maybe you can convince her to let you leave sooner."

Logan bit his lip anxiously.

"I wish I had the power. You're a great kid, Logan. You get such good grades and you have a lot of friends."

A D+ isn't exactly a good grade...

"There is absolutely nothing wrong with you. We just want you to be safe."

He nodded eagerly. "Please call the doctor."

The nurse grabbed the wall phone dialled the doctor's number. "This is Mary Maloney. Yes, Logan Decker would like to speak with you... Okay. Yes. Alright. See you...... Oh, really? Okay, 1 pm."

Logan looked at her expectantly.

"She needs a few minutes and she'll be here. She was actually planning to have to leave at 1 pm since your friends over here didn't want you to be in the hospital for a birthday party of sorts. You will be back tomorrow, though."

He opened his mouth to protest but she was faster.

"You can bring any of your materials you need to study or contact your friends, but we'll be confiscating anything dangerous."

He sighed and nodded.

The door creaked open. "Hi? Logan's room?"

Logan smiled wide as soon as he heard the voice. "Virgil?"

"Logan!" Virgil exclaimed. He ran, his combat boots loud on the linoleum floor, to Logan's bed. Without warning, he kissed him roughly. "Oh fucking shit, I thought you died!"

"Why?"

"You're kidding me. I sent you a billion texts and called you twenty times and then you weren't at school for a day, so I broke into your house-"

"What?!"

"Yeah, sorry. I broke into your house and I saw you on the floor in your room and the blood was dried! So I knew it wasn't from that day and I realized that it was from the day when I thought you were just ignoring me! And like, I don't know why nobody called 911 any earlier! And you didn't wake up and I thought you died!"

With each word, Virgil's chest rose and fell quicker and he was on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

Mr. Greyson helped his son calm down. It took some time, though.

Virgil had to step out.

Logan felt... insanely guilty.

When he studied for hours on end and ignored everybody and skipped lunch and dinner, he thought he was in control.

And now he was going to be hospitalized.

The doctor finally came and Logan said hello.

"Hello, Logan," the doctor said. "You're looking a quite a bit better." She gestured to the bandages on his legs and arm. "Anyway, you wanted to speak with me?"

"Yes, I would. I just wanted to know if you could release me any earlier... I- I won't do it again."

She gave him a sympathetic look. "We aren't so sure how long you're going to be hospitalized for, so maybe, maybe not. And... Here's the thing. You say you won't do it again, but you have done this in the past. We just want to take care of you."

"But I have so many projects and tests in school that I need to do and I cannot just leave them unfinished. That's what a failure would do!"

"Logan... What happened right before you blacked out?"

"Oh. Well, I was studying for a few hours after finishing my homework."

"When did you start your homework?"

"While I was walking home and I didn't stop when I went into my house."

"When did you finish?"

"Um, an hour and a half later?"

"How much did you eat that day?"

"A muffin for breakfast."

"And?"

"I... I didn't eat after that."

She put her hand on top of his. "How often do you skip meals?"

"I-I swear I only did it then! And... And some other days but those were from forever ago, and two days ago was the first time I did it in a very long time. I was just stressed an- and I didn't want to fail a test again..."

"School's really important to you, huh?"

Logan nodded.

"Well. Life is harder for most smart kids like you, but the good thing is, it'll be easier in the future."

"Yeah."

"So, we'll still need to have you here. We aren't sure for how long, but if everything goes well, you'll be released earlier. But it all depends. Don't worry about it. We'll make sure you can finish everything school related."

Virgil and Mr. Greyson came back again. Virgil's makeup was smudged but he didn't seem to care for once.

He sat next to Logan on the hospital bed and everybody else but Patton left them alone. The three sat together.

There was a knock on the door and Patton opened it to see Elliott waving and holding two boxes of chocolate -- one as a romantic gesture for Patton, and one as a friendly "get well soon" gift for Logan.

Logan laid his head on Virgil's shoulder, but he looked at Patton.

"Happy 15th birthday."