pay you with love ♡ malum (discontinued)

24 ➵ the same night

"Sir, please take a seat," the nurse said after we entered her work station.

I just looked around, dazed. I stood in the same spot, not trusting my legs to keep me from falling. I was still a little shaken up and I couldn't move.

"Come on, Michael, let's sit down," Ashton said and squeezed my hand, then slowly guided us over to the chairs. We sat down and waited until someone said something.

"Sir, can you tell me what happened?" the nurse asked and looked at me with a soft smile.

"I -- I have n-no idea. He just b-broke down and he was shaking. I don't know what happened, I just don't know. He was fine yesterday and now he isn't and I don't know. I don't know what's going on," I stuttered out, tears were brimming in my eyes. I looked at her desperately, "Is he going to be okay? Please, please tell me he's going to be okay."

"He will be, don't worry about it. What's his name?"

"Calum Hood."

"And what is your relationship with Mr. Hood?" she asked while typing something in her computer.

"I'm his brother," I blurted out immediately.

I knew that only family members were allowed to go into his room the first few days and I was obviously not a family member. Calum had no family. I was the only person in his life, but hospitals didn't seem to care about that.

The nurse, her name was Jane, cocked an eyebrow and looked at me skeptically. "You're his brother? Really?"

I nodded nervously and Ashton just looked at me confused.

"Look, sweetheart, people are always trying to say they are family members so they can go to their loved ones. I know you really want to see him, but lying to me isn't going to work. Please just tell me the truth."

I sighed and bit my lip, "I'm his boyfriend."

Jane smiled a little and looked at me again. "Does Mr. Hood have any family members we could call? Parents, siblings, grandparents?"

"No, his mother is dead and his dad left when Calum was fourteen. He doesn't have any siblings. I don't know about grandparents, aunts or uncles, but I'm pretty sure he doesn't have anyone," I explained and bit my lip. "That's what he always tells me."

"Okay, thank you for the information. We'll try to find someone that is related to him in our register. If we really can't find anyone, we'll see what we can do, but I'm sure there has to be someone," Jane smiles sympathetically and glanced back to her computer.

There was a silence while she typed something and my thoughts were only of Calum. If he was okay. If he was in pain. If he was thinking of me, too.

"Can I have your name, please?" Jane asked, not looking up from her work.

"Michael Clifford."

She stood up and sighed, "Thank you, Mr. Clifford. Now, you will have to wait outside for a little while. There's a waiting room where you can sit down, and you can visit the cafeteria as well, if you want. We have to wait for the doctor to come, examine Mr. Hood, run a few tests, and tell us the results. Don't be concerned or worried, this is standard emergency procedure for a case like his. We will inform you as soon as we know anything."

I nodded numbly and stood up, walking out of the room with Ashton following me.

"What do you want to do now?" he asked and I shrugged slightly.

"I don't know," a small pause, "I really just need a cigarette right now."

Ashton didn't stop me from doing it, he didn't complain about how smoking is unhealthy and he didn't tell me about how I wanted to stop for Calum.