I'm on My Knees

They had barely started the last song of their set when it happened.

"I've got you picture, I'm coming with you,"

Jack and Zack glanced at each other, signaling that they were both going to do it.

"Dear Maria, count me in."

Jack and Zack gave a little nod towards one another, signaling that they were both ready.

"There's a story at the bottom of this bottle and I'm the pen."

The two boys jumped up off of the stage floor, bringing their legs up. It didn't quite work as planned though because the second Jack's feet hit the ground, he felt the sickening pop before his knee gave out. He fell to his knees and hissed in pain. He carefully sat back on his butt to remove the pressure from his knee. He yelped in agony. He made a futile attempt to get back up, but his knee buckled under the weight of his body, sending him falling back onto his butt. He wrapped one hand around his leg just above his knee and the other just below. He leaned forward slightly.

"Ow fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, ow, fucking ow!" Jack gasped. He was in utter agony and he knew he just seriously fucked himself up. The other three band members had since stopped playing and Alex and Matt were crouched right there by him, trying to see if he was alright while Zack and Rian stood near with worried expressions.

"Fuck, Jack! Are you alright?" Alex asked in a slight panic.

"No, fuck. It hurts!" Jack still hadn't moved since he'd fallen back down.

"What happened?" Matt questioned.

Jack shrugged. "I jumped up and then when I landed, I felt my knee pop and now it really fucking hurts," the guitarist was nearly in tears.

Matt sighed because fuck, that didn't sound good, not at all.

"Can you stand?" was Matt's next question. He sighed when Jack shook his head no. He needed to get Jack out of here and into better lighting so he could see how bad it was. "Zack, do you think you could carry him back for me?"

Zack nodded. He went to scoop Jack up but quickly let him back down as he yelped in pain again. That wasn't going to work. "Can someone help me?"

Alex moved to help Zack. They moved Jack's arms around their shoulders and slowly stood with him. They supported all of Jack's weight as they helped him back stage. They carefully lowered him down onto the couch. Alex moved his leg as gently as he could, cringing as Jack gasped in pain.

"We need to get him out of his jeans so I can see how bad it is," Matt informed.

"I'll run to the bus real quick and grab him some shorts," Alex spoke up. He quickly found his way out of the venue and nearly sprinted back to the bus. He rushed around looking for a pair of either his or Jack's basketball shorts. He also grabbed on of his favorite hoodies on his way out of the bus. He quickly returned with the articles of clothing, slightly out of breath. Running was really not his thing, but Jack was more important so he dealt with it. He went to help Jack out of his jeans and into the shorts. The process included many swear words and tears from Jack, and apologies from Alex. Alex peeled Jack's sweaty shirt off of him and replaced it with his clean, dry hoodie. Once Jack was changed and back on the couch, everyone could clearly see the excessive swelling in Jack's knee. Matt moved to get a closer look at Jack's knee. He carefully moved his fingers around Jack's swollen knee to check for sensitivity. He quickly moved his hand back when Jack let out a pained cry. This was really not good, not good at all. Why the fuck was there no medic at this venue?

"He needs to go to the hospital. His knee is totally fucked." Matt concluded. He whipped his phone out of his pocket, dialing for a nonemergency ambulance.

It was about 15 minutes later when the paramedics arrived. They carefully lifted Jack onto a stretcher and placed an instant cold pack on his knee. Jack was loaded into the back of the ambulance and they were told that only two people could ride along. It was quickly decided that Matt and Alex would be the one's to ride along.

Once they arrived at the hospital, they were lead back to a room where Jack was checked in. A nurse walked into the room and checked his vitals.

"Hello, I'm Nurse Cameron and I work with Dr. Mathews who will be seeing you tonight. I just have a couple of questions for you real quick and then we can get you checked out and hopefully a bit more comfortable," she smiled politely.

"Alright," was Jack's pained response. The throbbing ache in his knee was nearing unbearable.

"Let's start with what brings you in tonight, shall we?"

"We were playing a show at a local venue and we were on the last song of our set and our bassist and I did this jump and when I landed my knee popped and now I'm in so much pain. I can't stand, walk, our put any kind of pressure on it and it feels really weak and it hurts so much I can hardly stand it. I tried to get up after it happened and it just gave out underneath me." Jack explained.

"Alight." Jack watched her write a few thinks down. "On a scale of one to ten, where would you rate your pain?"

"Um, I'm not really sure. I know I've never been in so much pain, so probably a nine and a half."

The nurse nodded. "Alright, Jack. I'm going to run these papers to Dr. Mathews and I'll be back in a few minutes with something for your pain. I'm also going to send an order to radiology for an x-ray and an MRI. Is there anything else I can get for you?"

"May I have another ice pack, please?"

She nodded and headed out of the room. He shifted slightly and winced as pain shot through his knee.

"Fucking hell, it hurts so much." he complained

Alex scooted his chair as close to the bed as he could. He took Jack's hand in his and ran his fingers through Jack's hair with his free hand.

"I know, baby. I know. They're gonna make it better, though." Alex tried to comfort the pained guitarist.

Within a couple of minutes. Nurse Cameron had returned with painkillers and a small plastic cup of water. She placed a new ice pack on Jack's knee and scanned his bracelet. She then handed him two small pills and a small plastic cup of water.

"I just gave him Motrin, to help a bit with the swelling, and some morphine to help with the pain. That stuff should kick in here shortly and he should begin to feel a bit better. The morphine might make him feel kind of out of it, so he won't be allowed to leave unless there's someone here to accompany him. Then here in a few minutes someone from radiology will be here to take you back for an x-ray and then you'll be prepped for a contrast MRI." Nurse Cameron informed. She smiled politely and left the room.

About five minutes later, a new person walked into Jack's room.

"Hello, Jack. I'm Dr. Chase and I'll be your radiologist today. We're going to take you back for an x-ray now. Then you'll be brought back here and you're going to get a couple of injections. The first one is going to be lidocaine, which will numb your knee so it won't be so painful when we inject the contrast fluid. Any questions?"

"Can Alex come with me?" Jack questioned immediately.

"I don't see any reason why he couldn't. Now, we're going to get you into a wheel chair so you won't have to walk at all, Alright?"

Jack nodded.

About an hour and a half later, Jack was done with with his x-rays and his MRI. Another doctor had entered the room and was looking at some papers on a clipboard.

"Hello, Jack. I'm Dr. Mathews. I looked at your x-rays and MRI results and nothing is broken, but you've completely torn your ACL. The ACL, or the Anterior Cruciate Ligament, is a ligament o the inside of your knee. It's one of the ligaments that control the back and forth motion of the knee. An ACL causes pretty bad instability, which is why your knee gave out. They can also be quite painful for some, for others it may just be a dull ache. Complete ACL tears generally require surgery to repair the tear. Your chart here tells me that you're from Baltimore, so I'm going to refer you to an orthopedist there. You'll need to call tomorrow and schedule an appointment and get this taken care of as soon as possible. I'm going to write you a prescription for some painkillers and I'm also going to brace your knee to help keep it a bit more stable and I'm going to send you out with a pair of crutches. I recommend taking it easy and staying off of your knee as much as possible." With that, he braced Jack's knee, got him set up with a pair of crutches, wrote out a prescription, and signed Jack's release papers.

On their way out, Flyzik called Rian and Zack to let them know that they were canceling the last show tomorrow night, which was hometown. The three got into a cab that had been waiting for them giving the driver the address to the venue where the bus was parked.

When they arrived back at the venue, they helped Jack back to the bus, because he was far too loopy and tired to make it on his own. They got him into his bunk with a pillow under his knee for support and they got a new ice pack on his knee. Alex sat down on the edge of Jack's bunk and ran his fingers through Jack's hair.

"How you doing, Jay?"

"M' tired." Jack slurred

"Sleep then. Matt went to get your medication and as soon as he gets back, we're heading home."

"Will you cuddle with me?" Jack asked with a pout.

"Of course I will, babe." Alex carefully moved to the other side of Jack so he wouldn't accidentally hurt his knee more. He maneuvered Jack so his head was on his chest. Alex wrapped his arms around the younger and held him as close as possible. He pressed a kiss to the top of his head and smiled.

"I'm so sorry this happened to you." Alex spoke.

"It's not your fault."

"I know, but I still feel bad. I hate seeing you in so much pain."

Jack glanced up at the elder holding him. He smiled gratefully. Alex was his everything, and he felt so lucky to have him. "I love you, Lex. I love you so much."

"I love you too, Jay, so, so much. Try and get some sleep though, and just wake me up if you need anything at all, babe."

Jack sighed contently and let his eyes slip shut. He allowed himself to drift off into a light slumber while the love of his life held him in his arms. It didn't matter what was happening, everything was good as long as he had Alex with him.