Incurable

Forty Four

When Scott and Avi finally sat down, Mitch was staring at something off to Scott's left.

Scott turned to see what it was, and saw the same boy from earlier staring back at Mitch. He frowned and turned to Mitch.

Mitch just leaned into his side. "He's being mean. His eyes are mean."

Scott put his arm over Mitch's shoulders, reaching over to grab something off of Mitch's tray and attempting to feed him.

Kevin eyed his arm nervously. "Careful. If the nurses see you..."

Scott shook his head once, and didn't move. What, was Kevin crazy? Mitch needed him. And no 'nurse' was going to stop him from taking care of his boy.

Kirstie glanced over in the direction Mitch was looking earlier, and she subconsciously leaned into Alex a little. "Uh oh."

Scott looked just in time to see the relatively big man approaching them, his eyes wide.

Scott stood quickly, getting in between Mitch and the other person, and he heard Kevin stand up too, though he was on the other side of the table.

The patient reached around Scott to grab Mitch's arm. "You're attractive and I want you to come with me over there."

Scott shook his head once, and Mitch bravely pulled his arm out of the other person's grip.

Alex did his best to stand as well, though he had to lean on the table. "Jimmy, stop it. Go back to your seat."

His head snapped toward Alex. "Make me, fucking insomniac."

Alex didn't seem offended it all, as his only reaction was to blink and then try again. "Jimmy. I think you need to take a step back, and count to ten."

Jimmy shook his head, pushing Scott to the side as well as he could to grab Mitch's arm again and pull him from his seat. "No! I want him!"

Scott pushed himself in the middle again, shaking his head.

Jimmy lost it then, shoving Scott again and causing him to trip over Mitch and take them both to the ground. "Don't get in my way, you fucking mute!"

Kirstie jumped out of her seat with a gasp, as she rushed around the other side of the table to try to help Mitch and Scott stand back up.

Alex reached across the table to grab Jimmy's arm. "James, holy shit!"

As Kirstie helped, Mitch scrambled back up to his feet, and Jimmy continued breathing deeply as he tried to catch his breath. A group of nurses rushed over, grabbing him by the arms to take him to Medical, to put him in Isolation.

Scott hurried to his feet, hands coming up to cover his mouth as he stared down at Mitch, who was in tears.

Scott shook his head a few times. "H-Hurt!"

Kevin showed up beside him, doing his best to rub his back. "What's wrong, Scott? Where are you hurt?"

Scott's eyes filled with tears too, as he stared at Mitch on the ground holding his elbow tightly. He pulled himself away from Kevin, and ran out of the room.

Kevin had to try to ignore it, as he helped Mitch get off of the ground, since Kirstie wasn't quite strong enough to do it.

Kirstie's eyes were wide, staring at Mitch's arm. "Are you okay, Mitch?"

"I'm fine, but ow! That hurt! Scott's gigantic, how dare he squish me like that! Owwie!"

Alex grumbled under his breath. "As if it was his intention."

Kirstie turned a little, but looked to Kevin as her eyebrows drew together. "Where'd Scott go?"

Kevin just shrugged. "He'll come back. He always does. Let's get Mitch to his room, and get one of the nurses."

**********

Avi was the one to find Scott, on top of the small hill. Scott's knees were pulled up to his chest, as he cried into his legs as quietly as he could.

Avi sat himself down slowly, sliding his hand along Scott's back to grab his furthest shoulder, pulling Scott into his side. "Scott... Don't cry, please."

Scott didn't respond, but scooted over a little to lean into him as he continued to cry.

Avi assumed he knew what Scott wanted to hear, so he just tried it out. "Mitch isn't hurt at all. The nurse said he was fine, he'd just have a few bruises. Also... I hope you're not blaming yourself for this. It was nowhere near your fault."

Scott finally lifted his head a little to meet Avi's eyes, and Avi frowned at how messy he looked. The front of his hair messed up from touching his jeans, his eyes slightly red, face swollen, and sniffling every so often. Scott's blue eyes looked absolutely miserable, and Avi could hardly stand it.

Avi had to look away from him. "First of all, Jimmy or James or whatever... He's in the Yellows with Alex. And Alex said he has an anger disorder or something. And... He just gets these episodes of anger, and he can't help it. Second of all, Mitch isn't mad at you."

Scott scoffed, and nodded.

"No he isn't. He's just... He gets confused sometimes. You know that. And... It's kind of a joke to him, y'know? Because that's how his mind works." 

Scott nodded again, listening attentively as always.

"Please don't sulk out here anymore. Will you go back inside with me?"

Scott pulled away from him and frowned.

"I know you want to be alone but... Please? Mitch's arm hurts and he's upset you aren't there to empathize."

Scott crossed his arms over his chest, but nodded. He wouldn't be happy about it, but if it was for Mitch, of course he'd do it.

Avi grinned, standing up and offering a hand to help him stand up. "Come on, then."

Scott took his hand to stand, giving him a nod. "Thanks."

"Hey... Did you get hurt at all? When you fell?"

Scott just shook his head. And even if he did get hurt, he couldn't be bothered right now.

"Scott, I'm serious. Are you okay?"

"Y-Yes."

Avi grinned widely at another verbal answer. "Good. Thank you! Now, come along. Let's see how Mitch is holding up."

*********