Wounds

Nicholas's shoulder hurt so much that it drained all color from his face. His eyes bulged, and he did all in his power to not appear hurt.

Benjamin, chubby, was not easy to hold onto, especially as he got slipperier by the second.

Nicholas pulled him up and down the stairs and eventually rushed into the hospital wing. He pushed the boy onto an empty bed, watching as Benjamin's swollen eye seemed to bulge out even more by the second. His cheek was fuller, and his brow turned a shade of purple that made Nicholas slightly sympathetic for his friend.

A nurse rushed to the scene, quietly examining Nicholas before she laid eyes on the patient before her. She almost jumped as she saw the drooping cheek of Benjamin, almost the size of a cricket ball.

"How did he get hurt?" she eked.

"He— he fell— down the stairs," Nicholas said through his gritted teeth; his pain was getting unbearable.

"Call—Call Eva—Please," he managed to blurt out. The curtains before him started to change into unusual colors.

The nurse immediately rushed out, her heavy steps reverberating in the small empty room.

"Get up," he ordered the injured boy, who simply stared at him dumbfounded. It wasn't that he had no sympathy for Benjamin; it was just that he could not walk another step without falling onto the floor himself.

"Get up, I said!" he roared, and Benjamin stood immediately out of habit. He sat on the bed, his head so heavy that it plowed into the pillow without hesitation. His eyes opened just enough to see the roof, but all else was just a blur.

"Nicholas?" A soft yet coarse voice hummed in his ears. Eva entered the room and immediately hurried by his bed, summoned by Nicholas in just a few words.

"What happened?" she asked in a haze. Nicholas felt his heart quicken in the silence of the room as she placed her hand on his temple and his heart to check for his pulse. Everything faded from his vision and every word was lost to the ringing in his ears.

Emberline watched from behind. She had been with Eva tending to a patient who had been taken by a cough. Though when Eva heard of Nicholas's arrival, she rushed out, and like a lamb in a herd, Emberline followed the shepherd. She was relieved that she hadn't needed to see to a patient that she knew nothing about tending to.

But she wasn't hoping to come across the boy at such a time. She hoped he would never return again to these quarters, perhaps be taken by the cold or the wind, or something that would not jeopardize her at this stage of her half-baked career. Her hands felt so light, and her head felt as though it would float in the air.

Nicholas opened his eyes, jolted awake by Eva's sudden attack on his pulses. "Nothing, Eva, I'm fine," he said as he swatted away her hand and tried to get up from the bed, but instead, he fell onto its frame.

"I'm fine, Eva—but Benjamin," he told her but stopped as she turned to meet the boy who was really hurt. She recoiled as though she had met a ghost.

"Oh my god!" she exclaimed, her fingers ran past her upper lip in a failed attempt to conceal her gasp as the other hand rested on her hip. Though she was a doctor who had trained in the field of healthcare for what seemed like decades, as evident from her creasing eyes, grayed hair, and twisted back, she seemed to have been taken aback by such brutality.

"He fell down the stairs," he explained but was only met with a look of disdain from Eva. With a single look that could pierce through any eye and into the mind, they bore an exchange that was not elaborated with words.

"Can we discuss how he fell down the stairs in your office, Eva?" Nicholas negotiated in secrecy. Emberline watched on as the old woman stiffened her back, letting the silence simmer until she finally regained her composure. "Sure, Nicholas," Eva said shrilly, gently rearranging her skirt as she turned away from the boy.

It was only then that Emberline realized that she had made the mistake of not immediately running away when she caught the glimpse of Nicholas. She looked onto Eva, and her eyes, unrestrained though they were, met with his, and for that moment, she wondered what she had gotten herself into.

He stood from the bed, unable to maintain his composure and unable to stand without falling onto the injured Benjamin. Benjamin now seemed like he could faint but was so shocked that he decided he couldn't miss the spectacle.

Nicholas stood on both his feet, finally relieved from some pain before he walked on behind Eva. Nicholas, white as a sheet, stared at Emberline. The gaze was a long one, his brows caved as if he had seen a mole rat in his food, and Emberline felt heavily disgusted by the implication. She felt herself reddening, and it was only until he himself realized that he had stared for too long, did he continue his walk. Nicholas thought he had seen Elena, but his vision was so blurry, he knew he must have been mistaken.

Though Eva's office was just a hall down the general ward, it felt as though he had run a marathon and at the end of it, he felt limp and exhausted. Just as he entered the room, Eva pushed the door shut.

"Just exactly what were you thinking, Nicholas?" she began scolding him, but he seemed unbothered. He instead began unbuttoning his shirt.

"That boy could be in the hospital for—god knows how many more days! And you do not have the decency to let him out of his misery for some days," she said in an attempt to whisper, but her anger was coarse.

"He is willing to take the beating, Eva. I don't think you need to feel that bad for him," Nicholas said as he unbuttoned the final button and removed the shirt.

"He doesn't need to consent to a beating because you convinced him to! And just what do you think you are doing—" she asked as he tossed aside his shirt, turning around to reveal the gunshot wound. The wound itself had swelled so much that it unevened his broad shoulders.

"I've been shot, Eva—I know why, but I won't tell you; so you either treat me without asking why, or I'll turn around and bear the pain," Nicholas tried to put it as plainly as possible, but the look on Eva's face suggested that he had made the situation more quizzical than it should be.

She fell silent, her thin hair that had been slicked back into a bun seemed to shine white under the soft glow of her office window, and her thin long brows raised as if she were to keep scolding him. Her pencil-thin lips were pressed together as though she contemplated saying something but nothing was said.

Eva sighed, her doe eyes collapsed, a defeat engraved her face as she looked at the wound. Nicholas didn't like when people pitied him, but something about the way she looked at him reminded him of his mother. She stood close to him, examining the wound through her teary eyes.

She immediately looked disturbed. "Who cleaned up your wound?" She inquired as she picked on the stitches. Nicholas felt the pull and started seething.

"It's not a matter of concern, is it?" he said through his pain. Her hand grazed the wound and examined it further.

"Who would sew up a bullet wound?" she inquired further but he simply looked between her and the wound and said, "It's a secret."

"It's not a secret! This is criminal! No wonder you've lost so much blood!" she felt her voice rise. The anger in her tone was evident, and she was nagging.

"That's a first" he said " But I don't suppose it's that bad," he whispered.

"Who did it?" she demanded.

A single face flashed before his eyes, though he wasn't sure he had a name for it. How could he explain to Eva that he had a coat, but no names. Instead, he saved his breath and told her, "It's a secret," which was enough for her to let the silence take precedence. Nicholas was usually this persistent in his secrecy, and Eva had to learn to make peace with it.

Eva soon began working on the wound, calling in a toolkit that was enough for anyone with her experience to treat a hole that gnarly.

It was only when a knock on the door disturbed their tranquil peace that they stopped working on the wound. Luckily, Eva was already done with cleaning up the wound, and Nicholas quickly wore his shirt despite the debilitating pain he was in, before Professor Charles was allowed to be let in.

Charles stood before the two, his face had turned engine red, and his jaw clenched. Nicholas knew what he was here for, but he waited for him to make his utterance first.

"Eva, you need to tell this boy to tame his tongue," Charles spoke hoarsely, making his eyes a testament to his anger.