Curse of the Weretroll (rewrite)

Chapter 40

     In the hospital, Branch sat alone in a rather comfortable chair, the young boy looking around the otherwise empty room he was being held in, slight panic reflecting in the poor troll's eyes as a doctor walked over, gently placing a pair of headphones over the village grump's ears...

"Wha... what are these for?" he asked in a shaky voice, looking up at the yellow troll who stood in front of him...

     "To test you're hearing," the doctor informed, looking down at her clipboard. "When and if you hear a beep... just point to the ear you heard it in..."

"O... ok..." Branch stuttered with a quick nod, the young boy waiting for the test to begin...

Pushing a button on a small remote control, the doctor looked to Branch for a reaction...

Nothing...

"Hmm..." she mumbled, writing something down on her clipboard before finally pushing the button again...

     A loud beep rang in Branch's left ear, and he immediately pointed to it, doing as he was told...

Again... the doctor wrote something down, once again pushing the button...

Silence... then another loud beep sounded in the same ear as before...

Branch pointed yet again to his left ear, the doctor sighing before finally taking the headphones off of the village grump's head...

"So?" Branch asked, involuntarily beginning to scratch at his injured ear with his foot, chasing away some of the dried blood that still lingered inside of it. "Can I go now?"

"Not quite yet..." the doctor said, raising an eyebrow at the strange behavior of the gray troll before dismissing it as the village grump just being the freak he is... "You wait here. I'll be back with the results..."

—————

Sitting impatiently in the waiting room of the hospital, Poppy waited anxiously for the doctor to come out with information about her friend's lose of hearing...

"Princess Poppy..." she suddenly heard, the young girl looking up to see the doctor slowly approaching her...

"Dr. Sparkleton..." Poppy gasped at the sight of her, the young princess quickly jumping up to her feet in complete worry. "Is Branch ok? What's wrong with him?"

     "Well... it seems that the bullet that was shot at him a few days ago has permanently damaged his ear drum," the doctor informed, looking to her notes...

"Wha... what does that mean?" Poppy asked, not completely understanding...
"His right ear is deaf..." Dr. Sparkleton simplified bluntly...

     The young princess gasped at the news, her eyes widening in horror...

"There... there's nothing you can do?" she finally asked, tears beginning to form in her eyes as she looked at the doctor in front of her...

"Honestly..." Sparkleton started with a sigh. "He's lucky that the hearing loss is the worst that happened... that bullet was inches away from hitting his brain... if it was shot just a little bit higher... he wouldn't even be here right now..."

Poppy sighed, lowering her head in shame... this was her fault...

No... no it wasn't... Squishy said he didn't do this... but then... who did?

There wasn't time for questions... she needed to see Branch... she needed to comfort him... now more than ever...

—————

Back in the hospital room, Branch was now pacing back and forth, the young boy not even noticing when the door behind him began to open...

Poppy walked into the room, looking at Branch with a small sigh...

He was worried... she could see it in the way he walked, the poor boy pacing anxiously even though his extremely injured hip was clearly yelling at him to sit still...

Branch turned, beginning to pace in the opposite direction, but froze, slightly jumping back in shock when he saw Poppy standing there...

"Oh... Poppy..." he sighed, relaxing slightly when he realized it was just his friend and not a threat.

But his worry quickly returned to his face when he saw the tears in the young princess' eyes...

     "What?" Branch asked in a soft tone, seeing the concern painted clearly on Poppy's face. "What's wrong?"

     With a sigh, Poppy walked over to the little gray troll, placing her hands comfortingly onto his shoulders...

     "I'm so sorry, Branch..." she whispered softly, Branch becoming even more worried...

"About what, exactly?" he asked in concern, the young boy's eyes wide as he worriedly looked to the love of his life in slight panic...

"You... you can't..." She paused, sighing once more before finally continuing, the young princess gazing straight into her best friend's crystal blue eyes. "You're partially deaf, Branch... be... because of your injuries..."

     Completely stunned by those words, Branch looked away from the pink troll in front of him, shocked by what she was saying to him...

     The survivalist had always relied so heavily on his hearing to warn him of approaching danger when he was out gathering supplies... but now... now he would just have to be extra careful. Like the young boy wasn't already paranoid enough...

     "I'm sorry, Branch," Poppy said again, but the little gray troll simply shook his head, looking back up at her with a small comforting smile. "It's not your fault," he assured in a calming tone. "I'll be fine..."

     More tears coming to her eyes, Poppy hugged Branch tight, the young princess crying softly into her best friend's shoulder... and... for the first time ever... the village grump actually hugged her back...

     "It's ok," Branch whispered softly, trying his best to comfort the troll he cared about more than anything else in the world. "Everything will be ok..."