Stuck In The Box: The Final Straw

Chapter 7: There's An Ordinary World

A few days later, Curt is finally released from the hospital but with a PICC line inserted into him and is on oxygen. When he met up with his friends again, including his boyfriend, Roland, he ran up and hugged them. "It's been a while seeing you a bit active again," Bryan commented. "Yeah, it felt like ages," Curt said. "Okay, so I know Curt's legal guardians are in Bath right now, but we managed to contact your school about your illness and they agreed to give you a sick note before you're strong enough to go back to school," Alex said. "What about the rest of us?" Martin asked. "You guys can stay in and look after Curt for a while but you guys must go back to school once Curt's well enough to attend," Dr Hayley said.

Everyone agreed, which means that they could spend some time together without anyone bothering them. "What about Tony?" Curt asked, knowing that there wouldn't be anyone to pick on him or his friends anymore. "Tony died when Curt was having his surgery, he succumbed to AIDS-related pneumonia," Dr Hayley said. Everyone remained silent, the person who had bullied them had already died. "He was in critical condition so we transferred him to the intensive care unit and put him on trach," Alex said. The thought of the trach disgusted George. "George, what's wrong?" Andy asked. "I was on trach a few years ago due to pneumonia, it still makes me uncomfortable mentioning that thing," George said.

"He passed away, we notified the school and now they're gonna arrange a memorial for him," Dr Hayley. "Should we go check it out?" Curt asked. "Yeah, oh and don't forget, Curt needs monitoring 24/7, he needs his oxygen at all times except when he's showering or getting changed and he'll need to take his medicine intravenously which is why we have a PICC line inserted," Alex said. "Now, you guys are free to go home," Dr Hayley said. Everyone thanked her before leaving the hospital. Curt could finally feel the fresh air instead of the hospital air he had lived in for an entire month. "Finally, I'm breathing fresh air," Curt said, sarcastically. "You're breathing through a tank, Curt and I'm carrying it," Roland said while carrying Curt's tank.

"Oh, you don't have to, I'll just carry it myself," Curt said. "Save your strength," Roland simply said. "Roland, he's walking without support now so he can carry his own tank," George said, pointing at Curt. "I almost had to walk with a cane because how drained my strength was for a month," Curt said. Roland just played with his boyfriend's hair for a bit. "Glad you're better, I mean like you can walk now," Roland said. "Yeah, I can walk but I can't breathe so I need this," Curt said, gesturing his nasal cannula. "Why do you need it fastened at the back of your head though? Isn't that for babies?" Bryan asked, looking confused. "I have no idea, maybe they just put it that way because I fidget too much? I dunno," Curt responded.

The group soon reached the bus station heading home. Curt just leaned on Roland's shoulder and Roland smiled and put his hand on his boyfriend's shoulder. "Love you," Roland whispered. "Love you too," Curt said before pecking Roland on the lips. "Please tell me you aren't watching us," Roland said after noticing his friends in front of him. "Oh no, we don't mind, it's actually really cute," Jon said. "Yet I still feel single, all of you are dating," Chris said, feeling a little jealous. "We'll find you a girlfriend someday," Nick said, forgetting that Chris was gay. "I'm gay, Nick," Chris reminded. "Oh, right, sorry," Nick said, after realising. "I'll find someone one day and I bet he'd be one of the most handsome boys in the world," Chris said before the group hopped into the bus.

"Woah, I haven't been on a bus before," Curt said. "How did you get into the hospital though?" Chris asked. "Ambulance," Curt answered, blankly. "Who transports critically ill patients by bus though?" He asked, sarcastically before clinging on to Roland. "He's really adorable, isn't he?" Roland asked while smiling. "I miss my bed though," Curt said. "You'll get your bed back soon, don't worry," George said before patting Curt's head. "God, you need to wash your hair," George commented. "Yeah, I think I do," Curt admitted. "It's only been a month, don't let the poor kid suffer more," Roland said. "Alright, geez, I'm sorry," George apologised. "I forgive you," Curt said, patting George on the shoulder.

The rest of the bus ride is in comfortable silence with the teens whispering to each other occasionally. They soon reached their small town in Essex and walked back to their school. Curt smiled, missing the atmosphere of his school but was sad that everything is plain now. "Seems like everyone is back to their normal lives, huh?" Curt asked after looking at the various teens playing sports, reading books and talking to each other. A few gay couples managed to openly date without anyone bullying them. "Tomorrow is Tony's funeral, they're preparing a memorial for him in the auditorium right now," Alan said. "Let's get ready for tomorrow, okay?" Roland said. "Okay," Curt said before the group headed back to their dorms.

The next day, Curt was receiving his antibiotics treatments before Tony's memorial service while Roland attempted to braid his hair trying to reenact the braided mullet he's been wearing. He had just taken a shower after a month so he felt refreshed. "God Curt, your hair is really hard to do," Roland said, giving up on trying to braid his boyfriend's hair. "Try doing a single braid on Curt's mullet, it'll be much easier," Kate recommended as she passed by Curt and Roland's room. Roland begins making a single braid on Curt's mullet and is finally done. "What do you think, Curt?" Roland asked as Curt looked at the mirror. "It looks awesome, thanks love," Curt said before kissing Roland on the cheek. Roland knew that Curt is no longer the same person he was about a month ago. Being in the hospital had changed him.

Curt met up with his friends in the common room after his antibiotics treatment. He is also carrying his own oxygen tank like a backpack. Everyone looked at him in awe, he looked a lot different than last month. "Wow, didn't know your hospital stay made you a different person," Fletch said, commenting on Curt's new outfit. He is wearing a dress shirt under a denim jacket instead of his usual jumper. He looks more like his age, just with an oxygen tank. "Yeah, what happened to the Curt we knew? Did you kill him?" George joked as Curt chuckled. "I'm still the same person," Curt said. His friends were right, he does look like a different person now. Even with the single-braided mullet instead the more iconic rat tails.

"Alright, ready to go?" Roland asked. Everyone nodded and went out of the dorms. Curt began walking without support and he managed to do so without falling. Roland and his friends were proud of him for being more confident and independent instead of clingy. That hospital stay really changed him. Once the group had reached Tony's memorial services, neither of them grieved after what he had done to them. Especially hurting Curt the most while he was going through his dark times. But he sent his condolences instead of destroying the memorial completely. "I thought you'd destroy the memorial, Curt," Andy said. "It's better to send your condolences to someone who bullied you rather than getting angry and destroying everything," Curt said. "I had already forgiven him."

"I'm glad you did, you shouldn't hold a grudge against him forever," Roland said. "He did bully us, but it's all in the past now and it doesn't matter," Jon said. Everyone agreed and just looked at all the pictures and letters dedicated to Tony. Despite what Tony did, nobody held a grudge against him. They knew how deadly AIDS is and it shouldn't be an excuse to bully homosexuals. But now, this will be an eye-opener for the school to stop homophobia and transphobia between students.