Finding The Write Words

Chapter 28

"What do you mean he's gone?" Patton all but shrieked at the doctor in front of him as she checked on Roman. "He was just in a car a-- he was just hurt."

He couldn't say the word.

He didn't think he would ever be able to say the word.

He was barely managing to hold himself together after having taken a few minutes upon first getting there to cry, and he didn't want to fall apart again.

He didn't want to feel again.

Every inch of his body was numb.

Logan's eyes had been puffy when they'd come back into the room, and Patton knew that he had to pull himself together. For them, if for nothing else.

"Well, I could be mistaken, but I am nearly certain that Mr Sinclair has already left the hospital. I am the one who signed his discharge papers, after all."

"But he's hurt. How could you let him go?"

Logan rested their hand on Patton's arm. "I think what Patton is trying to say is that Virgil was in a car accident, and it seems strange that he was permitted to leave so soon."

She smiled kindly at them. "I can't tell you anything about Mr Sinclair's medical information. But he has indeed been discharged from the hospital."

Patton was about to say more, to argue more, when Logan brushed his curls back from his face, calming him a small amount. The doctor finished checking Roman's vitals and turned to the two of them more fully.

"Have either of you been in contact with Mr Montague's family?" Seeing the panic on their faces, she continued, "Not for the reasons you're thinking. Mr Montague is going to be fine, I just think it would be important for his family to be here."

"They, uh, they live in Florida."

"Besides," Patton interjected. "We don't have any way to contact them."

The doctor nodded her head in understanding before leaving the room. Logan chewed their lip in thought for a moment before taking their phone out of their pocket.

"I have a way to get ahold of them." They dialled Damien's number and as they were waiting for it to ring, they explained to Patton. "My brother, Damien, is Roman's brother's soulmate. He can write to him and tell him to get out here, if he can."

He picked up eventually, whispering, "Logan, what do you need? I'm at school."

"I'm sorry, Dee, but it's an emergency."

"It better be. I had to duck out of Mulaney's class to answer your call. You know how he--"

"Roman's in the hospital," they interrupted, knowing that Damien would continue rambling forever if they didn't.

"Shit. What happened?"

"He and Virgil were in a... in a car accident. Virgil's fine, apparently - he was discharged. But Roman's..." They looked over to Roman, small and fragile in the bed, and took a shaky breath. "The doctor says he's going to be fine, but he's looking pretty bad right now. Roman's phone is still back at the crash site, and Pat and I don't have his brother's number. Do you think you can get ahold of him?"

"Yeah, of course." There was a pause in which Logan assumed he was writing. "Where is he? Remus wants to know."

"Hopewell Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. I just... I know Roman would want his family here."

"I'll tell Remus to bring their parents. And Lo? It's gonna be okay."

They closed their eyes, taking a deep breath, and nodded. "Thank you, Damien."

And he was gone, the line clicking.

Virgil stood in the parking lot, staring at the car. Well, "stood" is a bit of a stretch. He was more leaning against the outside of the hospital, gripping the edges of his hoodie with an iron grip as he fought against the spinning of the world around him.

His gran pulled the car up to the front, and she got out, opening the passenger side door for Virgil.

And he stared.

He couldn't move.

Couldn't breathe.

He shut his eyes tightly, taking a deep breath.

It was going to be okay. Gran was a safe driver. Gran didn't get distracted at the wheel.

Roman had been a safe driver.

Virgil had distracted him.

"Virgil, sweetheart," gran cooed, stepping up to him and taking hold of his arm in her gentle grasp.

He felt his worry ebbing away slowly, and eventually, he opened his eyes. He nodded, taking gran's hand and letting her lead him to the car.

"Everything's going to be okay. We're gonna take you home, and we're going to set up an appointment for you to see Dr Picani, okay?"

Patton couldn't sleep.

Big shocker there.

He sat beside Roman's bed, staring down at his arm. Logan had long since fallen asleep, curled up on the other chair, but there was no way Patton was going to be able to get a wink of sleep.

Not with Roman still asleep.

Not with Virgil gone.

Not with every bit of writing gone from his arms.

Logan had insisted on him washing it off. They claimed that if Virgil wanted them to stay away, if he wanted space, then they had to give it to him. But it wasn't fair! Virgil could be hurt, he could be afraid and traumatized and nervous, and he was supposed to... what? Just ignore that? Ignore the sinking dread in his stomach when he looked at the bare skin?

He looked up from his arm, glancing towards Roman, at the tubes and wires connected to him, at the steady beat of his heart on the monitor beside him. He glanced towards Logan, making sure they were still asleep. Once he was sure they were, he grabbed the pen off the vitals clipboard.

With one last glimpse at Logan, he uncapped the pen and brought it to his arm. As he was about to write, there was a knock at the door, jolting Logan from their sleep.

Patton panicked, throwing the pen across the room, and turned towards the door. Logan looked in the direction he had thrown the pen, their brows pulling together as they rubbed the sleep from their eyes.

The door opened after a moment and a man who looked surprisingly like Roman walked in. He turned on the light, making Patton and Logan wince at the sudden brightness.

He was nearly identical to Roman, with the same brown wavy hair, though his wasn't shaved on the sides - rather, left longer, in a similar style to Patton's - and his bangs were dyed an ashy blond color. The only other distinctions between the two were the mustache that sprouted on his upper lip and the red birthmark that took up much of the left side of his face - something Logan recognized from Damien's face.

He approached the bed, hurt surprise on his face, and Patton eventually cleared his throat.

"You must be Roman's brother."

He nodded, glancing towards them. "I'm Remus." He held out his hand with a flourish and Logan took it after only a moment's hesitation. He shook their hand and then Patton's. "Mom and dad couldn't make it. Um." He turned his attention back to Roman. "What happened?"

Patton looked absolutely broken, staring at Remus. His shoulders slumped, and he clenched his jaw, reminding himself that this man in front of them wasn't Roman. He looked like him, and he sounded like him, but he wasn't.

"He was in a car accident," Logan answered, knowing that Patton wouldn't be able to. "We don't know all the details, because the only other passenger - our fourth, Virgil - was discharged about an hour after getting here, and he won't speak with us."

"Have you tried writing to him?"