Incurable

Thirty Six

Jake helped Alex stand, Kevin on Alex's other side, as they walked out of the room to head for the dormitory building.

Kirstie went snooping through Mr. Riley's desk in hopes of finding more evidence, and Avi stayed with her to be sure she was safe.

Scott had hugged Mitch tightly, not about to let go, until Mitch convinced him to leave the room.

Jake and Alex had walked into their dorm room, Jake helping Alex lay down on the bed while Kevin ran to get a nurse.

Scott followed them, Mitch under his arm. Mitch sat down on the edge of the second bed in the room, Scott sitting beside him.

Mitch hugged him tightly, and noticed how badly he was trembling. "Scott... It's okay now."

Scott shook his head. "Mitchie... Mitchie..." The repeated word was mumbled, and almost unclear. But he continued to repeat it as though it was the only word he knew.

Mitch held him tighter, never wanting to let go. "It's okay. Stop shaking, please. You're scaring me."

Scott stopped speaking, but couldn't stop his body's trembling. Just then, Kevin ran into the room with the nurse.

She rushed over to Alex, as Kevin had told her the story of what had happened on the way there.

Kevin then stood beside her, as she set a hand on Alex's shoulder and began speaking.

Alex tried to sit up, but dropped back down instantly as he bit his lip in pain.

"Don't do that!" The nurse quickly objected, and then she grabbed his arm again. "My name is Julia, before we get started. Tell me immediately if it starts to hurt, okay? I need you to turn over onto your stomach, can you do that?"

She'd been speaking so quickly, Alex was sure he'd miss something. But he nodded in response. "I can try."

Jake surged forward and tried to help, before Alex was successfully flipped over.

Julia then set a hand on his lower back, so he wouldn't be alarmed. "I'm going to lift your shirt a little. Is that okay?"

"Yeah."

The nurse then carefully pulled the back of his shirt up, having to reach around him to try to lift the front as well so that it would stay in place.

She was sure to be calm when she saw the ugly color of the bruise on his back, but Jake couldn't help himself, and gasped loudly.

Alex looked over at him quickly. "What? What's wrong?"

Julia glanced over at Jake. "Maybe you shouldn't look..."

"No, I'm fine. I'll be quiet." Jake responded quickly, before reaching down to hold Alex's hand in hopes of being comforting and reassuring.

Julia immediately turned back to Alex, not wanting to waste any time. "Is your back numb anywhere?"

"No, Ma'am."

"Good. That's good. That means there is most likely nothing broken."

Jake squeezed Alex's hand once as he continued to stare at his discolored skin, and suddenly he closed his eyes so he wouldn't have to look.

The nurse frowned at Alex's back, and she took a step back. "I think I'm going to need to get you a back brace of some kind... The bruising needs to heal a bit, or the brace will hurt. So you're probably going to be... Stuck here for a day or two. Or they might send you into the medical part of this hospital."

Alex tried to sit up, but yelped instead and dropped right back down onto his face. "Fuck... Listen, I can't go to the medical rooms. Please don't make me go. They don't allow visitors over there."