Shelter

Just as Jack was about to grab his phone and call the ambulance himself, Alex suddenly groaned, beginning to wake up. Jack sighed in relief. “Alex, you scared the shit out of me!”

“What happened?” Alex groaned, rubbing his head.

“You fell and hit your head on an amp. You’ve been out cold for over five minutes,” Jack explained.

“That must be why my head feels like it’s splitting in two,” Alex mumbled. “I’m dizzy. Everything’s spinning.”

Flyzik pulled out his phone, dialing a three-digit number. “We better take you to the hospital. It sounds like you have a concussion, and you were passed out for way too long.”

“What about the show?” Alex whined.

“There’s no way in hell that I’m letting you go back onstage in this condition,” Flyzik said, turning away when he got an answer on the phone. Alex scowled at him.

An hour later, Jack and Flyzik were in the hospital waiting room, waiting to hear about Alex. They had ridden to the hospital in the ambulance with Alex. Only two people had been allowed into the ambulance as passengers, so Jack and Flyzik had decided to go with him. Alex was immediately taken back for some tests and had been back there since then.

Flyzik sighed and sat beside Jack after being up at the front desk for twenty minutes. “Alex is lucky he has good medical insurance, because this is the second hospital trip of the tour. He’s racking up a lot of medical bills.”

“That’s a bonus of being a rock star – enough money to pay your medical bills when you fall off stage,” Jack joked weakly, and Flyzik chuckled.

“For Alexander Gaskarth?” a nurse called out, looking around the waiting room. Jack and Flyzik stood up and were led back to a room. Alex was lying in a bed, looking totally exhausted and worn out.

“Well, Alex does have a decent concussion,” the doctor in the room stated, looking up at the two of them. “We’re going to keep him overnight for observation.”

Flyzik frowned, “Why? People usually get sent home right after a concussion. Alex has had a concussion before and he was sent straight home.”

“Yes, usually we do send patients home after diagnosing them with a concussion. But Alex admitted to us that he hasn't slept in three days, and we want him to stay here so we can keep an eye on him while he gets some rest and recovers,” the doctor explained.

Jack narrowed his eyes, looking at Alex. He realized that Alex had lied to him when he told Jack that he had been sleeping well for the past few days. Alex looked away from him.

“Well, I suppose we better head back to the bus. It’s getting late,” Flyzik sighed.

Alex let out a whimper of protest, “No! Jack, please stay.”

“I don’t think I can…” Jack trailed off, looking over at the doctor.

The doctor shook his head, “No, usually we don’t let visitors stay overnight unless there are special circumstances.”

“Alex has terrible anxiety and nightmares, sir. Jack’s the only one who can ever calm him down. You should probably let him stay here, or else Alex might freak out in the middle of the night,” Flyzik explained.

“Well… okay. That seems like a good enough reason for me,” the doctor agreed after a moment of hesitation. Jack thanked him and Flyzik left to go back to the bus. The doctor and nurse left the room, promising to check on him later.

Jack sat down in the chair beside Alex’s bed when they were alone. They were quiet for a minute before Jack said, “You lied to me.”

Alex’s face reddened and he looked down at his hands, one of which had an IV in it for him to get fluids through his body. “I’m really sorry, but I just didn’t want to make you worry about me.”

“I don’t want you to lie to me, Alex. Especially about things like that,” Jack said with a sigh. “Don’t worry about making me upset. Lying to me will just make things worse.”

“Sorry, Jack. I promise I won’t do it again,” Alex promised.

“I accept your apology,” Jack said, smiling at him. He paused before adding, “Not to be mean, but you look terrible.”

Alex groaned, “I feel terrible. My head hurts like hell, even though they gave me some pain medicine to make it better. It hasn’t kicked in yet. I’m still dizzy too. You’re kind of spinning right now.”

“Do I look like a spinning ballerina?” Jack asked with a grin, putting his arms up over his head like a ballerina would. Alex laughed.

“You do now.”

“Am I a pretty ballerina?” Jack asked teasingly, leaning forward against the bed again.

“Yes. And you’re also the only guy I know who’s gay enough to pretend to be a ballerina in public,” Alex said truthfully.

“Only for you,” Jack smiled, leaning forward and kissing Alex on the forehead. Alex blushed slightly before yawning. Jack reached out to pat the top of Alex’s hand. “Get some sleep. You look beyond exhausted. You need to rest up so you’ll feel better.”

Alex nodded in agreement, yawning once again. “Okay. Goodnight, ballerina boy.”

“Night, Lex,” Jack chuckled softly. Alex fell asleep within minutes and Jack watched him sleep peacefully for a few minutes before he realized that he was being creepy. He settled back into the uncomfortable chair, closing his eyes and trying to get some sleep.