the half of it

chapter twenty

"meningitis" the doctor said as he walked in the room, trying her best to remain calm but walking quickly.

"okay aaron you're safe cause it's not viral, no need to worry" she said as aaron panicked and stood up, his face relaxing as she consoled him.

"as for you grayson, i'm starting an IV" she said as two nurses came into the room pushing a cart, immediately going to graysons side and sticking in a needle.

—

"you know aaron this isn't such a bad thing" grayson smiled weakly, propped up with pillows as he lay on his back.

"and why do you think that?" aaron joked from the chair by his bed, doing homework on his lap.

"cause, my legs are already gone so i don't have to worry about them being gone again" grayson laughed, the morphine taking away his pain and making him extremely chatty.

"very funny gray" aaron chuckled as he put the books away in his bag.

"wait.. aaron" grayson suddenly went serious, his eyes widening.

"my arms are limbs" graysons face tensed, looking over to aaron in a state of panic and grief.

"grayson, your arms are fine" aaron grabbed his brothers hand, squeezing it tightly as grayson drifted in and out of sleep.

"yeah, okay" grayson muttered softly before falling asleep at last, his head dropping to the side and letting out a sigh.

—

cameron's flight got in the next day, he arrived at the hospital at three in the afternoon desperate to see his brother only to be told that he was in surgery.

"aaron!" cameron shouted as he walked into graysons hospital room and saw his mom and brother sitting on the chairs.

"what happened, i don't understand" cameron sat down on the chair across from them but stood right back up, unable to keep still.

"infection from his brain surgery a couple months ago, its in his bloodstream" aaron answered blankly, no emotions on his face as he coloured with a red pencil crayon.

"well why is he in surgery?" cameron asked, no response from aaron so he turned to his mother who had one hand on aaron's shoulder and the other reaching towards cameron.

"his left arm started turning black" graysons mom started crying, tears pouring silently down her cheeks quickly.

"has someone called owen?" cameron sat down and dropped his head in his hands, rubbing the back of his neck to relive tension.

"i got it" aaron pulled his phone out of his back pocket, opening it and scrolling quickly until he found owens number.

—

owen knocked on the door, permission came and he busted in. his hair was messy and his cheeks were flushed, his eyes wide with panic as he looked around the room.

"wheres gray?" owen asked as he noticed that grayson wasn't there, an empty space where the bed used to be.

"he's in surgery" aaron said, cameron walked over to owen and nodded.

"what happened, he texted me five hours ago saying he was fine" owen asked frantically, his heart beating out of his chest as he paced the room reading the chart.

"meningitis, what the fuck is meningitis?" owen read out loud, cameron looked over to aaron to explain who was still scribbling away at a colouring book.

"an infection, from his brain" aaron gestured to owen to the chair across from him.

"an infection, surgery for just an infection?" owen asked as he sat down, his leg bouncing up and down as he took the pencil crayon aaron offered him.

"owen, he might lose his arm" aaron looked up at owen for the first time, his eyes that looked just like graysons watering.

—

grayson groaned in pain, drugs making him groggy and unable to focus on the world around him. the fluorescent lights burned into his eyes so he shut them tightly, causing a searing headache in the back of his head.

"gray, it's cam how are you feeling?" cameron's deep voice startled grayson, alert for only a moment before he drifted away once again.

"gray?" the next voice gave grayson an overwhelming feeling of love and panic, owens hand accompanying it on his right shoulder.

"heyyyy" grayson laughed, a deep giggle that only came out when grayson was high.

"family reunion" grayson laughed again, looking around the room with a huge goofy smile.

—

grayson came to once again, much less groggy and finally understood what was happening to him.

"hi gray, everybody went to get food" owens voice whispered in his ear, his hair tickling his ear and cheek.

"owen, i'm sorry i didn't text you" grayson smiled widely, showcasing his bright white teeth as he stared at owens face and memorized every detail.

"it's fine, you had bigger things going on gray" owen laughed, running his hand through graysons long hair and kissing his cheek.

"you're the most important" grayson whispered as owen pulled away slightly.

—

"who wants to present?" the doctor asked the four interns who huddled around graysons hospital bed all but dropping dead.

"dr. peterson" the doctor called on the tall blonde on the far right, who faced the doctor and started reading graysons chart by memory.

"grayson roth, initially admitted for a suicide attempt resulting in the loss of his lower body and re-admitted two weeks ago for meningitis resulting in the loss of his left arm from the bicep down" she rattled off with ease, her blonde ponytail bouncing.

"great, you can get him ready for discharge" the doctor said and led the other interns out of the room.

"hello grayson, good afternoon how are you feeling today?" she asked grayson as she changed the bandages and colostomy, just finishing as grayson's mom, aaron, cameron and owen came walking through the door.

"grayson, ready for today!" cameron cheered as he walked through the door, giving grayson a squeeze on the shoulder before starting to pack up his clothes.

"yeah" grayson faked a smile, his heart so heavy he felt it would drop out of his chest and shatter into a million pieces.

—