Change My Mind, Change My Heart (Jalex)

Kiss The Pain Away - Chapter 26

Jack's P.O.V.

I collapsed into a dingy red waiting room chair, head instantly dropping to my hands. After waking up less than ten minutes ago, tangled in Alex, I'd decided that it was time to speak to our friends. My guess was they were as worried as me.

Extracting myself from the hospital bed had been a laborious challenge, as every move had to be made carefully and precisely in order to not harm Alex. Why I'd even let myself touch him in the first place, knowing it would most likely only add to his excruciating pain, I wasn't sure. The reason could probably be traced back to not having slept, well, at all. And with Alex safely wrapped up in my arms, my mind was finally somewhat at peace, allowing me to relish in a rejuvenating sleep.

I'd managed to escape the bed, and slowly make my way out of the ward after softly pressing a kiss to my boy's forehead. Thankfully, he was still sleeping soundly. Apparently sleeping together had helped banish Alex's recent nightmares, too.

Rubbing the heels of my heads against my eyes in a futile attempt to scrub away the grogginess, I lifted my gaze to the four anxious boys seated beside me.

Zack was sitting silently, hands tightly clenched in his lap and teeth gritted.

Matt was curled up into Alex G.'s side, head resting on the other boy's shoulder, t-shirt held in a vice grip while Alex G. gazed on with loving eyes. They'd always had a strange relationship.

Rian was the most worrisome, rigidly sat cross legged in his chair, eyes trained on the opposite wall, void of emotion. He seemed to still be in a state of shock, which was surprising, considering that their initial visit had been over ten hours ago.

Zack looked up at me, shifting slightly in his seat as his hands moved to the stiff armrest.

"We have a plan," the muscular boy stated.

I quirked an eyebrow in response, posture slumped as I replied, "A plan?"

With that, Alec G. removed his gaze from Matt, instead focusing on intently on me as he answered, "Yes. Well, kind of. Obviously there's nothing to be done that can help Alex, but Smith... Well, that we can do something about."

I simply nodded, urging him to continue. It was Matt, though, that picked up his train of thought as he snuggled farther to his side.

"Yeah, Zack thought that we should get some of those flyer thingies - you know, like those ones for when your puppy runs away? - and put them up around the city. Like, 'This is Andrew Smith, he sucks, call the police if you see him.' with his picture. Except, you know, with words that are more smarter... So then if people see him, they can call the fuzz and he can go to jail for the rest of forever!" Matt said excitedly, eyes bright with hope.

Although Matt's description may have been lacking in some areas, the idea was solid. That way, Smith would be a recognized criminal, and we'd have better chances of getting him locked up, behind bars, where he deserved to be. Well, there might be a few less desirable places where I'd prefer to see him, but...

Shaking my head to dislodge those thoughts from my mind, I focused on the present, reality. I nodded vigorously, Zack visibly relaxing. I guessed that he was relieved to just be able to do something. I knew how fucking terrible feeling useless was.

"Yeah, put 'em all over Baltimore. That's a great idea. Thanks guys. I'd stick around and help, but I don't want Alex to wake up alone, so-" I began, feeling bad about basically ordering them to get started on making flyers, before Rian cut me off.

"Don't worry about it, man, we're happy to help." Rian spoke, snapping out of his trance. His eyes still looked blank, voice nearly indifferent. What was wrong with him, I'd have to figure out later.