𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐬𝐞

𝟏𝟕

"Well, it's not broken, just a contusion," the doctor said as I sat on the table in her small office. I looked at her with a confused expression.

"That means it's just bruised. There will be some bruising for a while until it heals. To help bring the swelling down a little, I'm going to tape your nose. It's only a small piece and you won't even really notice it. I'll also give you an ice pack to help soothe the pain and bring the swelling down," the doctor said as she gave a small smile.

"Thank you so much, Doctor..." I said trailing off.

"Erickson," she told me with a small smile. "And no problem," she said as she began pulling her gloves off, and grabbed a new pair. "Do you mind if I take a look at you now?" Her question was directed at Jayden.

He nodded at her as he stood up to be as good as level with her as he could be. Considering he towered over me, a measly 5'4, it was no surprise that he was taller than Dr. Erickson as well, she was a couple inches taller than me.

"Do you mind me asking how this happened?" She said as she began cleaning Jayden's busted lip with a q-tip.

Jayden and I exchanged a small glance as we debated on telling her the truth.

"If we tell you the truth, will we get in trouble?" I asked her.

"I won't tell anyone what you tell me, Doctor-Patient confidentiality," she told us with a reassuring smile.

"Well, we kind of got into a fight," I told her. "I wasn't in it, but this creepy guy was bothering me and making me uncomfortable. Jayden saw and he came over to shoo the guy away. But the guy kept making gross comments and then Jayden may have tackled him," I paused, looking up at Dr. Erickson. She was nodding her head as she finished cleaning Jayden's lip.

"And then Ellis tried to stop me from punching him but I was so focused on the guy that I didn't realize how close I was to her. I ended up elbowing her really hard in the nose," Jayden said, wincing slightly at the memory. Now that the blood was gone, his lip really didn't look bad at all.

Dr. Erickson applied a dot of ointment to Jayden's lip before examining his bloody and bruised knuckles next.

Jayden and I both watched Dr. Erickson to see her reaction. She had a small frown on her face, and she shook her head quickly. Jayden and I both looked down in disappointment at our actions.

"That guy is a scumbag," she said. Jayden and I both whipped our heads up at the comment. "Good for you for sticking up for her. Not many people would have intervened in a situation like that. I assume the fighting part was only because he kept running his mouth?" She asked genuinely.

Jayden nodded mutely.

"Good for you then. Not that I necessarily condone fighting," she said the next part in a whisper, "but sometimes people deserve it."

I stared at her in awe as she finished cleaning and bandaging Jayden's hands and began cleaning things up.

"Ellis, I want to see you back here tomorrow, just to check how your nose is healing. Same for you Jayden, I want to see if the ointment I put on your lip and knuckles is helping at all. I'm giving you an ice pack too, for that bruise on your jaw. I assume neither of your parents know about this either?" She asked us.

I shook my head no, as did Jayden.

"Okay, I'd like for your mom or dad to come with too, if you don't mind. Since you're both minors, you're supposed to have a parent or guardian with you, but your case was more urgent today so I let it slide. Checkout is at 10:00 tomorrow morning, so please tell your parents about this and come back with at least one of them tomorrow around 8:00 am, okay?" She asked as she began walking us to the door of her office.