Mcsm Season 3 - Battered and Bruised

Chapter 2 - First Aid

As I walked to the room Romeo was staying in, I became shaky. I adjusted my glasses and tugged at the sleeves on my green hoodie. He was very powerful, and I didn't know if he still acted the way he did as an admin.

I pushed the birch door open as quietly as possible. Romeo laid on the bed in the small guest room. His bright red hair was tangled and dirty from The Underneath, leaving dirt on the white pillowcase. I shivered in disgust.

I went to the side of the bed and prepared myself for whatever came next. I reached out and shook him a bit. I pulled my hand away the second he moved. His eyes fluttered open and he breathed in deeply. He shifted his gaze to me.

"Radar?" He muttered.

"Um hi," I said shakily. He smiled at me.

"Hello," He said rather peacefully, "Why are you here?"

"Well um, Jesse told me you needed medical attention, so he sent me," I mumbled.

"Uhm, okay," Romeo began, sitting up, "So what are you gonna do?"

"Start with disinfecting your cuts and wounds, sheesh!" I said, pulling out a bag of cotton pads and peroxide. Romeo stared at it.

"Are you gonna like, make me take my shirt off?" He said anxiously.

"Unfortunately, yes. You must bare your chest," I said. Romeo stifled a laugh as he pulled off his grey shirt.

His chest was pale aside from the cuts and bruises. He wasn't the fittest person on the planet, but he had a faint six-pack.

I poured some peroxide onto the cotton pad and grabbed his wrist. I pulled him forward a bit, just to see if he was as strong as before. He gasped a bit from shock. He tensed for a moment but became calm once again.

He had a long scrape along his outer forearm up to a bit past his elbow. I rubbed the cotton pad over the scraped skin, watching the solution bubble as it came into contact with Romeo's skin.

"What IS that stuff!? It stings like hell," Romeo hissed.

"Hydrogen peroxide. It's what you use to clean cuts," I said, "It always stings. You never get used to it."

"I bet Jesse is with how often he gets hurt," Romeo said as I wiped down his arm with a damp towel.

"Nope, he still flinches whenever I help him clean out cuts and scraped from his adventures. Petra doesn't though," I said, wetting down another cotton pad.

"Man, that's pretty cute," Romeo said, catching himself on that last word.

I looked up at him and raised an eyebrow. I wasn't paying attention to where I was putting the cotton pad and squeezed out the liquid from the cotton pad right into an open wound.

"Ow! Holy shit, that fucking hurts!" Romeo cried. I pressed the towel against the wound on his neck.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to do that!" I said, "also watch your mouth. If Jesse found out you were swearing like that around me, he would pummel you."

"Well just don't tell him then," Romeo snapped, still seething in pain from what I had done.

I wiped down the area and lightly rubbed a different cotton pad over the gash on Romeo's neck, avoiding the open sores.

"Um, but, about me calling Jesse 'cute'... I didn't mean it like that. I'm not into him," Romeo mumbled.

"Oh really now?" I said mockingly. He let out a small laugh.

"No. He's not really my type anyway, too optimistic. I like my men to be more realistic," Romeo said.

"Wait, are you gay?" I asked. He shook his head.

"I'm bi, actually, but I lean more towards men," He said.

"Oh. I haven't figured out my sexuality yet, heh," I muttered.

"Well, there's nothing wrong with that, you know," Romeo began, "it's not common for people to know their labels at young ages, though some people do. It took me a couple thousand years to figure out mine."

"Woah, woah wait. How old are you?" I asked, rather surprised that he said that so casually.

"I've lost track, but I think maybe around..." Romeo began, trailing off. I continued to clean his cuts while he thought.

He furrowed his dark red brows and squinted. He pursed his lips, trying to remember how old he really was. It took him a good few seconds to narrow down his exact age.

"I'm pretty sure I'm 50,785? I could be a few years off though," Romeo began, "But in my human body, I'm not even 30."

"50 thousand years?? That's like, Jesse times two hundred thousand!" I said.

"How old is Jesse?" Romeo asked.

"He's 25, but he turns 26 next week!" I said.

"Oh?" Romeo said, raising his eyebrows slightly. I nodded.

"Yup. The people of Beacontown don't do much per Jesse's request, though this year I've been working on making sure that his special day is completely stress-free this year!" I began, "I'll be taking care of Beacontown while he goes with Petra, Lukas, Olivia, and Axel."

"Aw, that's really sweet of you Radar, I'll bet he'll really like that," Romeo said sweetly. I beamed up at the red-haired man sitting in front of me.

After about an hour, I was done cleaning up the cuts. I got the parts that needed it bandaged up, including his right eye. I kept making it too tight and it gave Romeo a migraine, which I felt really bad about.

"Well I guess that's it," I said, picking up the first aid kit, "I liked talking with you, really I did! You really know how to keep a conversation going!"

"Well, 50,785 years of being around other people will do that to you," Romeo joked. I chuckled at his joke, waved goodbye, and closed the door.

Jesse came in through the doors of the house as soon as I exited Romeo's room. He smiled at me and jogged over to me.

"How's Romeo? Anything severe?" Jesse asked.

"He's okay, just a bit beat up. I got him all fixed up though, but I kept putting a bandage on too tight over his eye and gave him a migraine, so that's not very good," I rambled. Jesse shook my shoulder.

"Thanks, Radar, I'm really lucky to have you," Jesse said, smiling at me.

"Really? Thanks, Jesse!" I beamed. He pulled me into a hug.

"Radar, you know I mean it," Jesse said, pulling out of the hug, "You're the best intern anyone could ask for. You've been through so much just on your first year with me, and I'm really proud of you for making it this far. I just can't believe that it'll be two years tomorrow since you became my intern! Man, you were only 17 when I hired you, and look at you now! 19 years old, and stronger than ever!"

"Wow, Jesse," I said, near tears, "th-that means a lot to me!"

Jesse smiled at me and walked down the hall to his room. I walked outside and started bawling. Jesse has been there for me, even during my worst moments. I still can't believe I get to work for such a kind, caring, outgoing guy. Oh man, I am so lucky!