the half of it

chapter eight

it was weigh in day today, grayson needed to be at 75 pounds if he wanted to be on track.

cameron had come by early in the morning, his mom had work and aaron was at school. he was nervous to come alone no matter how stupid it was, he didn't want to let grayson down.

when he walked into the room gray was still sleeping, splayed onto his back with four pillows placed around him.

"hey, good morning" cameron shook graysons shoulder to wake him up, feeling how skinny his shoulder was.

"hey man" graysons eyes opened, when he lifted his hands to rub his eyes like he always has since he was a kid cameron noticed that they were bowed inwards.

"what's that?" cameron grabbed graysons elbow and lifted up his hand, his fingers were curled inwards in a half-fist and his wrist was at a 45° angle.

"no biggie, i'm fine" grayson shrugged off his brother and picked up his phone, there was three messages from owen. they had been texting a lot lately, nearly two hours every day.

"they weren't like that two days ago" cameron pressed on, if something was wrong and he let it slide he would never forgive himself.

"cammy, it's no big deal" grayson sounded desperate, his voice monotone as he could make it.

grayson knew it wasn't normal, but if there was something seriously wrong he wouldn't be able to go home and that was all he wanted.

"fuck that i'm calling the nurse" cameron whisper shouted as he reached for the call button.

"stop cam, i want to go home" grayson pleaded with his brother, begging him to not hit the call button. it could ruin everything.

"i'm sorry grayson" cameron sighed as he pressed the button, seconds later a nurse came walking in.

"this isn't normal is it?" cameron grabbed graysons wrist and held it up, grayson went numb. he was mad, mad at cameron and may at himself.

"no that isn't, call stacy get him booked for an emergency MRI" the nurse said into her pager, writing furiously on her clipboard.

two minutes later three more nurses came walking in, lifting him out of bed and into a wheelchair.

"hey, i can take him" cameron pushed past a nurse, grabbing the handles of his brothers wheelchair as grayson sat there trying not to panic.

cameron walked with grayson down the hallway, following the nurses lead until they got to a large set of doors.

"this is as far as you can go" the nurse said, taking over the wheelchair and shutting the doors behind her.

cameron knew he had to call his mom, he searched his pockets for his phone but it wasn't there. he rolled his head back in frustration, knowing he probably left it back in graysons room.

he ran up three flights of stairs, finding his phone as fast as he could and calling his mom.

"come to the hospital now, somethings wrong with gray" cameron practically shouted into the phone, his mom quickly agreed and hung up. she only worked a couple minutes drive away from the hospital.

as soon as their mom got there cameron left, hopping in his pickup truck and driving to aaron's school.

he walked to the office and spoke to the secretary, who made an announcement for aaron roth to come to the office.

aaron knew instantly it was because of grayson, he left his backpack and ran as fast as he could to the office.

"it's gray isn't it?" aaron said as he approached a concerned cameron, who nodded and led the way out of the school.

when they got back to the hospital their mom was in tears, hugging graysons sweater as she muttered a prayer under her breath.

"mom, what's wrong where's gray?" aaron asked loudly, looking around the room frantically as if grayson was going to pop out of the closet.

"there was a re-bleed, something about it putting pressure on his brain" their mom muttered, barely loud enough for them to hear.

"fuck, fuck fuck fuck" aaron shouted as he sat down in one of the chairs, pressing his hands into his head.

four hours later they returned grayson in his bed, he didn't have a breathing tube like last time but he did have a mask on his face.

he was wearing a thin hospital gown, shirt sleeves that displayed his bony arms and hundreds of cuts up and down his arms.

"shit grayson" cameron muttered, aaron and his mom just treated it like nothing. they had seen it before, they knew and didn't tell him.

it was three in the morning when grayson woke up, groggy from the anesthesia and a throbbing headache in the back of his head.

"good morning" grayson muttered as loud as he could, getting the attention of his mom who woke up the two boys by shaking their shoulders.

"hey, look who's finally up" cameron sighed, ruffling graysons hair in relief.

"i'm still mad at you" grayson retorted, his speech slurred from the anesthesia.

"you can be mad all you want, i'm glad you're alive" cameron joked as he let his mom lean in to hug grayson tight.

"this better not mean extra days in the hospital" grayson tried to laugh but it came out more as a cough.

"you hit 85 pounds we will bring you home" his mom answered firmly, it may not be true but grayson needed good news.

"go home, go sleep in your own beds" grayson shooed them away, he knew they had been sleeping in those chairs for days.

"are you sure?" aaron asked him, grayson really just wanted some time alone.

"leave, so i can throw a banging party" grayson laughed, his sense of humour perfectly intact through survey.

"i love you gray" all three of them said in unison as they shut the door behind them.