Suffocate

Chapter 23

I haven't seen a doctor in ages. Not since I was twelve. I've been to the nutritionists' every once in a while, but for something as serious as this—that was six years ago.

There's always been something about hospitals that I hated. The tight-lipped, young doctors who've got sticks up their asses for being top-of-the-class in med school. The nurses who are either too nice or too bitchy; depends on the nurse you get to determine if you'll have a nice or shitty experience during examination.

After every examination I've ever gotten, not once were nurses or doctors able to keep their mouths shut. They would gawk and stare at me like a poor, wounded dog at the pound. I'd get needles stuck in me without much warning to how much it will hurt. Trust me, I've gotten used to pain, when I expected it.

I hate hospital gowns the most. With my backside all bare for everyone to see; the front does a poor job of giving me the much-needed warmth from the cold, hospital atmosphere.

There was no way I could deny it anymore. I really, really had to come here. Kade and Kailum insisted on it, with Marissa's pleading being the last straw.

After what happened yesterday, Marissa had called the two of them. I understand I'm still in the process of healing from my wounds—I just really don't want to be here.

"Bryson, just suck it up," Kade tells me once he walks into the room I had been assigned to. One, lone bed is set dead-center of the room and I'm sitting on it.

Just one look at my face exposes how I'm feeling. Kade already knows.

It's not like I can help it. It smells like roasted rubber in here. A mix between the suffocating freshness of a dentist's office compared to the stench of sterilized medical equipment, along with other plastics and rubber. Who wouldn't want a nose-removal surgery after stepping foot in this place?

I take Kade's advice, nearly grabbing for the remote to call for a nurse to hook me up to some drugs that'll instantly knock me out. Kade makes a dash for the remote, snatching it from underneath my clutches. I curse inwardly.

"Just relax," he sighs irately. I resist groaning like an annoyed child. Kade sets the remote down and goes to sit in a metal folding-chair next to the bed. He sits back, proceeding to comb his fingers through his blond hair.

"Where's Kailum?" I ask him. Kade eyes me before shutting them closed.

"Talkin' with the doctor," he mumbles. I hum in acknowledgement. Unfortunately, there is nothing to prevent the current silence among us.

Unconsciously, I begin clawing at a scab on my inner arm with my nails. I try avoiding the actual scab to scratch around the area. By the time there's a knock sounding on the glass window of the hospital room's door, the scratched area becomes all reddened.

Both Kade and I glance up to see Kailum entering with an older man in a long, white doctor's coat. The man has a head of hair that is pepper-colored; same situation states itself for his beard. He's got warm, brown, crinkly eyes. He's probably in his late forties.

"Bryson Hayden, I'm assuming," the man greets gruffly. I nod my head at him.

You assumed correctly, "Doctor".

The man gives himself the time to observe Kade and Kailum. He smiles afterwards. A small shrug comes from me as I react to my own thoughts. Guess he's fond of the twins.

"Handsome bunch, huh?" he asks conversationally. I don't answer, Kailum disregards what he says, and Kade snickers. The doc turns back to me, giving me a welcoming, soft smile. "My name's Doctor Avan," he introduces warmly, sticking out his hand for me to shake. I don't bother raising a hand for him.