Stitches

A thread and a needle can always come in handy with stitching up past mistakes.

"Can I help,” Sam asks innocently.

The nurse smiles, nodding her head in approval as she turns her attention to the old wooden closet resting in the corner of the room. It stands hidden away from the front window because she did not want any young children to see the secrets inside. Her eyes scan from bottle to bottle. Each one covers with several warnings and caution symbols. Sam observes as she picks up several dark brown bottles and a bluish-green one, too. Along with gauze, bandages, tape, scissors, tweezers, and a lollypop. Sam raises an eyebrow at the last object, wondering what candy had to do with health.

"What's the lollypop for?" he questions.

"Cleaning his infected wounds, probably going to be quite painful. So I'll use a lollypop to soothe him on the off chance he wakes up," the nurse explains.

Sam nods, gulping down his rising fear. Gripping the sleeping teen in his arms, he holds him in a way that he can't squirm away if he manages to wake up. James is a light sleeper, which means there is a big possibility that he is going to need the lollypop to calm his nerves. Sam keeps his eye on the nurse as she approaches James's body with a moist cotton ball clasp in between metal forceps.

"Mr. Hitchjack, can you hold Mr. Misluck in a way that will allow me access to his forehead without loosening your grip on his limbs? However, I would advise you to face away, as this can be a little messy. Okay. Are you ready? Hold him as tight as you can manage on... one... two... three," the nurse instructs.

Sam squeezes the teen as hard as his muscles will allow him. Peeking his eyes open a bit, Sam is amazed by how content James looks right now as he watches his chest rising up and down with every breath.

"Mr. Hitchjack, can you please hold Mr. Misluck the way I asked?" she orders in an irritated tone.

Sam sits there, dumbfounded and wonders, I'm supposed to position him how again? He raises an eyebrow with confusion consuming his common senses. He cautiously places the snoring teen on his strain up knees, while trying to keep a good grip on his wrists and feet. He makes sure his grip is nice and tight as he didn't want James's loose limbs to interrupt the nurse's work. Or have any chances of her getting kicked or slapped in his process of him trying to break free. Breathing out a heavy sigh, he turns his vision to the fast asleep teen, but he notices the faint movement of James tossing and turning uncomfortably under his firm grip.

"Ow," James moans, feeling his stiff muscles being bound together with no way of escaping.

Sam can feel his muscles slowly extracting from James's body parts. He fears he is causing him more pain.

"Mr. Hitchjack, do not let go," the nurse warns.

"Let me go. You're hurting me, Sammy," James whines like a child.

"No, James, you need to hold still. None of us wants your wounds to get infected. If that happens, I can guarantee, you're going to..." Sam let out a faint screeching noise with each one of James's fingernails digging deeper into his wounds along his wrist. James frantically scratch layer after layers of damaged flesh off Sam's torn muscle with each attempt he tries to run away. Sam bites down on his bottom lip to deny his screams from escaping.

"Let me go please, Sammy, please," he begs.

Sam feels horrible and desperately wants to give in by letting James go. However, he knows if he lets him go, there might be an off chance that James will get hurt worse. He needs to stay strong by not giving in and letting James free. He just has to, there no other choice. But perhaps he can lessen the pain a bit. He let go of his wrists quickly before leaning down and hugging him tightly with one of his arms. He attempts to comfort him instead of simply binding his limbs together. He hopes his efforts were enough to allow the nurse to clean up his nasty wounds.

"Can you add pressure here?" she asks, instructing Sam.

"Here?" Sam question, pressing hard on the bleeding wound with his only free hand.

James flips out as the nurse applies a massive amount of pressure on his sensitive forehead. Rivers of tears flowing down his black and blue cheeks and splashes onto the tile floor, soaking the nurse's shoes. James whimpers weakly as he tightens his grip, allowing his nail to go further into Sam's injuries, scratching thin layers of muscles and damage flesh away. Sam sustains his grip as the nurse fights with all her willpower to stay calm long enough to be able to stitch him up.

"Please stop, Sammy. It hurts," James begs with his tears soaking through his shirt.

Sam feels incredibly guilty, staring into James's puppy dog eyes, glaze with agonizing pain. James whimpers softly under his breath, begging for them to stop. Sam has to look away; he knows he is doing the right thing. If he hadn't done anything, James could've... would've died or worse. Sam shakes his head vigorously to shake the disturbing images far from his mind. He cannot allow himself to think that way. He has to keep his focus on James being and staying alive. He barely zones out James's screaming along with the several tears falling from his blurry green eyes. Taking a deep breath in, Sam forces his best poker face.

"I know... what the nurse and I are doing... is right. You can't stop us," he coldly hisses, trying his best to frighten James enough to keep him silent for just a couple minutes of peace and quiet.

Gulping down Sam's cold gaze, James loosen his grip, sliding his copper-red stain fingernails out of Sam's wrist. He let his arm fall to his side, along the edge Sam's shoe. Giving one last effort, staring straight into his sapphire blue eyes, he pleads for him to stop, but Sam mouth the word no as he shakes his head. James feels moisture stinging in the back of his eyes as he begs for freedom. The nurse let out a heavy sigh, cutting the loose strings from James's forehead. She hands Sam several packages of gauze along with a weak smile. Then, she instructs him to the wrap the bandage around the freshly made stitches surrounding the base of his scalp.

"Keep adding layers until there is no blood showing," she adds, out of breath.

Sam nods, layering the white cloth carefully around James's head. He smiles with accomplishment as he watches the blood slowly fades into the fluffy white fabric. Snickering silently under his breath, James looks up, feeling hurt for being laughed at for no apparent reason. And to make matters worse, the person laughing at him is his Sammy.

"Sammy, why are you laughing? Do I have something on my face?" James questions, which only makes Sam laugh harder.

"Dude, you look like a mummy," Sam chuckles.

James snickers slightly, groaning minutes later with his head starting to throb with the sudden movement. Yet his smile didn't fade despite being in pain because it is more bearable compared to earlier when his head felt like it was being split open. Sam smile widens with seeing the last of the nasty green liquid medicine sinking in, through his gashes, he unravels the last roll of gauze and place it gently on James's head. After closing off the wound from the public's eye, Sam kisses his forehead gently and allow the healing process to begin. Afterward, Sam lifts his head up, expecting further instructions, but frowns with seeing no sight of the nurse around.

"Here you go," the nurse speaks up, making Sam jump, as her voice came out of nowhere. He turns his head back and forth, searching for any sign of her. "Mr. Hitchjack, please take these bandages. We need to cover the small cuts, which carry some traces of an infection. We especially want to keep an eye on the back of his hand? It looks like someone smashed it on the cement pavement outside," she adds with concern in her voice.

Sam stares down, feeling a wave of guilt crash over the top of him, knocking the air out of his lungs. Sighing, he tries to build up enough courage to look James in his eyes. As he looks at the teen in his arms, he notices his face scrunching up in pain. Sam immediately jerks away with realizing he was stroking his broken palm roughly in his sweaty fingers. Small whimpers escape through his tightly shut mouth as Sam analyze James's black and blue hand one last time. Before handing it over to the nurse, allowing her to begin plucking out the tiny black and gray rocks that are embedded deep in the flesh of his palm, leaving small indentions with each one she pluck out.

She whispers, "Mr. Misluck's hand is dislocated and must be fixed immediately, which means you need to keep him as still as possible while I force the bone to realign. This small procedure is a challenging task, and it is quite painful for the patient to endure. That's why I would advise you to use the lollypop while I realign his bones."

Quickly yanking the red lollipop out of her pocket, she hands it over to Sam, instructing him that he is going to need it. Sam feels fear crawling up and down his arms and the back of his neck. He shudders at the very thought of James's screams of agony filling the room. Maybe, Sam thought, cupping his free hand under James's chin, raising it higher. He locks his eyes with James's sorrow-filled eyes, wishing he can make all the pain go away. Leaning closer, he presses his trembling lip lightly against his lover. Pulling away quickly, his eyes soften as he gazes into James, hoping his kiss will help lessen that pain like earlier today. He notices that the young teen is just lying there, blinking in utter confusion, unaware of what is going to happen soon. James stares into Sam's eyes for answers. James feels the warmth of Sam's breath caresses his burning red cheeks. Moving closer, Sam brushes his nose against James's red pudgy one. Smiling as their eyes lock, Sam tries to prevent James from looking anywhere but his face. He didn't want James to see the pain he will face as the minutes slowly tick down.

"Sam, what's happening?"

James feels his body slowly freezing as he catches a glimpse of the nurse gripping his swollen palm in her beefy hands and squeezing it a bit, trying to get a good grip. James yelps in pain, watching in horror as he realizes what she is planning to do. He wants to scream for her to stop, but he isn't able to utter a single word, as he can't find his voice. He tries to pry his chin away; however, Sam keeps a good grip around his head and forces his eyes to stay lock with his own. Making sure he didn't see anything else other than him. James shortly gives in from exhaustion after his several attempts to escape. He leans in slowly and pecks Sam on his trembling lips, thanking him for the all the help. He senses his pain melting away with a single, but simple little kiss.

“Pop!”

James screams bloody murder as the nurse forces his disjointed bones to reconnect. Crying, with all kinds of pain shooting up the length of his arm, he can hear someone whispering faintly against his ear.

Sensing wet lips against his cheek, he knows Sam is trying to ease the pain a bit. Sam happily let go of his chin and moves his hands along his cheeks, placing another soft and delicate kiss on his wrapped up forehead.

"It is over, James," Sam smiles.

He turns his head as he catches a glimpse of the nurse's face glimmering with beads of sweats trickling from her brow along with faint smile spread across her lips. Cautiously, she rests James's hand on her lap as she prepares a clean bandage and coats the several puncture wounds with the nasty green medicine. Then, she slowly wraps it with several layers of soft gauze. She hands Sam a pink roll of tape without an explanation. Sam stares at it with confusion in his glossy blue eyes.

"What am I supposed to do with this?" he asks, staring at the bright pink roll with a confuse expression on his face.

"You're going to wrap this around his hands as tightly as possible, but not too tightly that it cuts off circulation. I will be holding his arms for you, trying to keep him still. Just make sure you use the whole roll. Do you understand?" she instructs.

Sam stares at the pink tape as he fumbles it around in his trembling fingers, trying to find the start of the roll. He peels away the sticky edge of the mesh fabric, stretching it out a bit. He nods his head at the nurse, notifying her to grab James's hand now. He unravels the pink tape a bit more, pulling rather roughly, trying to pull a long enough strip away from the whole roll. He smooths out the sticky edge on top the bandages protecting James's palm and wrist. He struggles slightly as he tries to pull the tape out further. A soft whimper catches his attention; Sam cautiously looks down at James's face scrunching up with his arms twitching with every new layer of tape. He quickly yanks his hands away, denying himself from touching James's limbs any further. He didn't want to hurt him any more than he already did. He squeezes his eyes shut, not wanting his tears to fall, to show how afraid he is at this moment.

"Sam," a faint voice whisper, causing him to jump out of his skin. "You can do it," James whispers.

"Just stay calm. Okay? Just stay calm," Sam whispers to himself as he tries to steady his trembling fingers. He pulls roughly on the strips of tape and delicately wraps each strip around James's damaged limbs. He tries his best to cover all the white gauze with the bright pink tape. Sighing a heavy sigh, he smiles with accomplishment as he stares at the once white bandage cover with a tight layer of pink.

"Can you wiggle your fingers?" the nurse asks as she analyzes Sam's work, making sure the circulation isn't cut off.

"Yes, it does hurt, but I can manage to move my fingers," James whimpers.

Feeling a strong hand resting on his shoulder, Sam looks up and finds the nurse smiling at him as she gets up from her chair.

"Good job, kid! Now let's take a look at your wounds," the nurse whisper in an exhausted tone.

Sam sits there for a few minutes, trying to figure out what she means.  He stares up at her face for an answer and notice her eyes are looking at something unpleasant. He follows her stare to a bloody mess covering his wrist and part of James's arm.

“Yes, that'd be nice," Sam whispers quietly. James cannot help but laugh his heart out. He didn't care that his head is throbbing at this moment. "It is easy to forget sometimes," Sam tries his best to explain himself in hopes that James will ease up on his laughter. He glances away from the chuckling hyena and stares back at the nurse. He can sense his blood rushing from his face as he glances at the nurse slowly pouring nasty greenish liquid over a soft white cotton ball, drenching it with disinfecting goodness. As he tries to gulp down his fear of the green medicine, the nurse approaches him, ready to disinfect his bleeding wounds. Sam hesitates before presenting his battered arm, he hisses in pain as the liquid slowly invading through his skin, fighting with all their might to keep the cut clean. Sam watches his fingers twitching with each stitch the nurse makes with a brand new suture needle, he feels his tears spilling out of his eyes with each tug of the thread sliding through his blood stained flesh. He smiles weakly when the thread is finally cut because he knows the nurse is finish sewing him back together. Relaxing his muscles, Sam stares at a blurry image of the nurse, carefully wrapping up his arm in white fabric. Then she gently places a Sticker Man bandage on the side of his arm, over the loose edges. The nurse leans in closer, examining Sam's forehead and quickly spread the green liquid across the barely broken skin. After waiting for all the liquid to seep in, she places her last Sticker Man bandage over the scrape.

She let out a sigh and smiles with contentment now that her job is finally over.

"Does that feel better, Mr. Hitchjack? Can you move your wrist?" she asks cautiously, looking for any signs of discoloration along his flesh. She also checks to make sure his circulation isn't being cut off and that the bandages are tight enough. As she tests his sore wrist, Sam let out a faint hiss, with each time the nurse bend it in one direction. Sighing with a sigh of relief as he feels the nurse slowly letting go of my wrist. The nurse accepts his faint, hissing as an appropriate answer to her question. Standing up, she says with a smile, "Let's call Mr. Misluck's dad, so he can come to pick you two up. I want you to promise me, Mr. Hitchjack that you will take good care of him, and I promise I will take care of Mrs. Hungcut for you. Sorry. She was totally out of line in this situation."

Sam understands that people might act weird when they find out, he likes a boy. He is well aware of the fact that some people might not like having him around because he is different. When he used to hang out with his brother and Nick, he saw how people looked down upon them for just being gay. But he never thought anything bad about his big bro being in love. He and his boyfriend are awesome. They honestly care about each other. Isn't that all that matters? he wonders. Sam shakes his head from his thoughts, before taking a deep breath in as he struggles to lift James's heavy body off his numb legs. He is cautiously aware of where he is putting his hands because he did not want to crush or touch any sensitive spots. Delicately, placing James's bandage-covered head upon the red-streaked pillow. He covers the sleeping teen, pulling the thin sheet up to his chin, not wanting him to get a chill. He sits on the edge of the bed, slowly putting a small amount of weight on each of his legs, before forcing them to stand. He wobbles a little bit before jolting his legs awake by running to catch up to the nurse. She guides him through the office doorway and allows him to use the phone to get a hold of James's dad. He feels butterflies in the pit of his stomach, unsure of what he wants to say. But the one thing he is sure about is he needs to take James home from this awful place for one day. He nervously picks up the phone in his trembling fingers. Taking a deep breath of air, filling his lungs with medicated and candy scented contaminated air. Closing his eyes, he slams his index finger hard on the big green button.

“Ring! Ring! Ring!”

"Hello? What happened to James?" Aaron asks without hesitation into Sam's unprepared ringing ear. Aaron has been wondering why James hasn't called yet, especially since he wasn't feeling well in the morning. Feeling his heart racing in his chest Aaron cannot seem to ease his mind from the horrifying images of James being dead or worse from his troubled mind.

"Why would you think James was in danger?" Sam asks, trying his best to sound calm. "Are you okay, Mr. Misluck?"

"Sam, I have caller ID," Aaron laughs, trying to stabilize his nervous breathing.

"Oh, well, can you pick up me and James? I will tell you what happened when you get here," Sam nervously laughs, scratching the back of his head.

"Um, okay, I will be there in ten minutes. Don't either of you guys move, especially James? You got that, Sam? Can I count on you?" Aaron quickly asks before hanging up.