Incurable

Forty Five

Upon walking back to the dormitories, Kirstie walked past the other boys, a nurse leading her down the hall.

Avi turned to her as she went by. "Kit?"

Kirstie just shrugged, but her eyes were wide as if she were worried about what was going to happen.

Avi looked up at Scott, who looked just as nervous as he watched Kirstie go by.

Scott turned his focus to his room, which his boyfriend was currently in.

Mitch was holding a bag of ice on his elbow, gasping when he saw Scott. "You hurt my elbow, you giant! Did you see Kitty get taken away? Is she okay?"

Avi spoke for him. "It wasn't Scott's fault, Mitchie... And yeah, we just saw her. We don't know what happened."

Kevin looked up from where he was sitting beside Mitch on his bed. "The nurse said her counselor needed to speak with her."

Avi frowned again, looking back out into the hallway. "I hope she's okay..."

Kevin nodded slowly. "It could be something as minor as a medication change. Don't worry about it."

Avi nodded slowly, and then turned to him again. "Where's Alex?"

Mitch giggled at the question, purely because of his own answer. "He and Jake are hanging out now, because Kirstie found Jake and ripped him a new one."

Scott walked over hesitantly, sitting beside Mitch with wide eyes. "S-Sorry."

"I forgive you! You didn't mean to squish me."

Scott gently held Mitch's upper arm, pulling Mitch's elbow up enough for Scott to press his lips to it once.

Mitch grinned at him. "And now the boo-boo is all better!"

Kevin stood then. "It's almost time for the nurses' final rounds. We'll see you guys in the morning?"

Mitch nodded, waving at him exaggeratedly.

Avi added on. "Unless you hear something about Kirstie."

"Oh of course! If my kitty comes home, I'll tell you."

********

When Mitch woke up the following morning, Scott wasn't beside him like normal.

Scott was, in fact, with Kirstie. He'd gone to check on her as soon as he woke up, and was now standing in her doorway listening to her.

Kirstie kept her voice soft, since it was early. "I don't know how to tell Avi... Do you think he'll be mad?"

Scott shook his head once, but gestured toward Avi's door.

"I know, I know... I have to tell him. But I'm just... I don't want him to be upset."

Scott shook his head again, before making a heart shape with his hands and pointing to Kirstie.

"Yeah... I guess you're right. But it's gonna be different, y'know? After I tell him, it won't be the same."

Scott didn't have an answer for that.

Kirstie took a deep breath, and met his eyes. "Thank you for your advice... I guess I should do it as quickly as possible, to get it over with."

Scott nodded slowly.

"Will you come with me? I'm not afraid of him or anything, but... I just..."

Scott didn't want her to feel like she needed to justify her needs to him, so he just smiled and grabbed her hand. "Friend."

*******

When Mitch stood up to look for the missing boy, he first went to Alex's room.

Alex and Jake were not speaking at all, though Jake was trying to help Alex out of his back brace.

Mitch walked over to see it all up close, smiling down at Alex. "Hi!"

Alex gave him a forced smile, as Jake continued to jostle his injured spine. "Hey, little guy."

Mitch didn't quite understand the situation, and he reached out to push Jake's hands away from Alex. "You're hurting him! Don't do that!"

Jake looked from him, down to Alex's stomach to continue what he was doing. "He asked me to help him. So that's what I'm doing."

Mitch frowned, and reached down to grab Alex's hand. "Here, hold my hand."

Alex did as he was told, not wanting the other two to argue again.

Jake needed to get the brace out from under Alex, which he knew would be the hardest part. "Al... Can you sit up at all?"

Alex tried to, but when he reached a certain angle he cringed and lowered himself back down. "Not really."

"I don't want to do this and make it worse."

Alex nodded, turning to Mitch. "Would you go get Scott, please?"

Mitch didn't inquire why, and turned to walk out of the room.

Kirstie's room was empty, so Mitch knew Scott had to be with Kevin and Avi.

Mitch walked in without knocking, but regretted it when he walked in on complete silence.

Avi was staring at Kirstie with wide eyes, Kirstie practically hiding herself behind Scott, who obviously wasn't contributing to the conversation.

Kevin didn't feel that it was his place to intervene, so he stayed out of it.

Avi finally spoke. "You're..?"

Kirstie nodded once. "My counselor told me yesterday."

"Oh my God..."

Scott turned his head a little to see Mitch, giving him as much of a smile as he could muster.

Mitch waved him over though, and Scott did just that.

Scott tilted his head a little, but gently caressed one side of Mitch's face. "Okay?"

"Yeah. I'm okay. But Alex isn't. And... He needs your help, so I thought I'd come get you."

Scott nodded, holding the door open for Mitch on their way out.

Kevin watched them go, and then stood from the bed. "Would you two like some privacy? I can leave."

Kirstie was still afraid to speak, and Avi was honestly too preoccupied to hear him.

Kevin took their silence as a yes, and hurried out the door. "Please remember the nurses will be by in a few. And if we're all out of our assigned rooms, we'll get in trouble."

Upon the sound of the door closing, Kirstie faced her fears and met Avi's eyes, which were suddenly full of tears.

Avi finally spoke up. "I can't believe you're getting out..."

****