The Devil on Kazoo

16: Broken

"Hello darkness, my old friend
I've come to talk with you again
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence"

~"The Sound of Silence" by Simon & Garfunkel

Bash hadn't been within the realm of adults in so long that he'd almost forgotten how difficult they could be.

"Without your guardian here, we can't admit your brother, love," the receptionist at St. Elmer's Clinic was saying.

Bash drug his hand over his face. "I'm his guardian, Miss."

"How old are you?"

"Eighteen," he lied.

The receptionist lifted an eyebrow. "Do you have identification?"

Bash sighed. "I was walking him home from school. I didn't think I'd need it." He glanced over his shoulder, where Smiley was cradling his arm in the empty waiting room, staring forlornly out the window.

Bash turned back to the receptionist. "Please. Just help him."

A torn expression crossed the woman's face. "Let me go check with the doctor."

While he waited, Bash pinched the bridge of his nose tiredly.

As a rule, the Crumbs tried to avoid government-funded spaces. They always asked too many questions and there were only so many answers they could give that didn't incriminate them as orphans without an orphanage.

"Smiley! Oh, you daft idiot, are you alright?!"

Bash turned and saw Kathy and Syl coming through the door. He'd phoned Wolgemoth & Sons from the clinic to tell them that Smiley wouldn't be able to man the radio this afternoon.

He walked over to them with an attempt at a greeting.

"Why'd you tell them to come?" Smiley muttered.

"I didn't," Bash replied evenly. "They're here because they care about you."

Smiley glared at Bash and, for once, Bash glared back.

Kathy and Syl both looked from one brother to the other, too stunned at the tension to ask what had happened.

"Mr. Gibbs?" A nurse stood beside an open door. "The doctor said he'll see you and your brother now." Her eyes narrowed at Syl and Kathy. "Will you two be wanting to join them after the examination?"

"Yes," Syl and Kathy said in unison.

Bash helped Smiley to his feet and they followed the nurse into the examination room, where the doctor gave them suspicious glances as he prepared Smiley for the X-ray.

Bash stood on the other side behind a glass window and watched as Smiley painstakingly placed his arm on a table beside his chair.

Bash took a deep breath to prepare himself for whatever he was about to see. He could tell Smiley was in excruciating pain, but couldn't help but wonder why he had to be so stupid.

The X-ray was taken and Bash was allowed back into the room.

He lowered himself into a chair beside Smiley, whose eyes were bleary. Smiley's cheeks were splotched with red and his hair was a mess.

The image reminded Bash of the day their parents died. When the police had come to tell them of the accident, starting their sentence with the words, "I'm sorry boys..." Smiley had looked similar to how he looked now.