Aftermath

A Trip to the Doctor

Cuphead waited in the patient room with Elder Kettle. He could feel his anxiety rise as they waited for the doctor to arrive. If he acted stoic enough, maybe they wouldn't worry about or find anything wrong with him. As long as they didn't-

"I think we should get an x-ray." The doctor claimed, fixing her glasses. "That way we can get a good understanding of the overall image."

"What?!" Cuphead exclaimed, standing up out of his chair, ignoring the pain shooting in his side and arm, though subconsciously pulling his sleeve down some just in case. "No, that's okay, I'm fine- we don't have to do that, I'll be okay, I-" he yelped in pain when the doctor gently touched his chest and side, putting his hands on both places for protection even if the woman wasn't purposely trying to harm him.

"... I mainly want to get an x-ray because I think you may have a broken rib, which is pushing against your lungs."

Elder Kettle had a worried expression, but Cuphead had a frantic one as he pleaded, "C-Come on! You know I'm okay!"

His grandfather could tell he was scared, he knew how he got about medical things. But at the same time, he knew it was in Cuphead's best interest, so in a way, he agreed without hesitation.

Cuphead gave a betrayed expression to Kettle before crossing his arms in a pout, facing away.

Kettle sighed, putting a hand on Cuphead's shoulder, easy so he didn't accidentally hurt him if there was something wrong there too. "Don't be like that. I know you don't like it, but in the long run, this is going to be worth it."

Cuphead responded with a stubborn grunt as he turned to look back at his caretaker. "Fine... But make it quick..."

"Alright then, follow me." the doctor ordered, standing up and leading them to a dimly yellow lit room.

The boy could hear the gentle crackling of electricity going out as he stood there behind the x-ray screen. He did wonder what it looked like, to watch an x-ray move. Was his handle cartilage or bone? He didn't know. That's not the part they were going to be looking at, so it's likely he wouldn't know any time soon either.

He was asked to take his new prosthetic arm off, it being metal and all. So he did, careful to not chip any more of his arm off.

After getting everything situated, the doctor put the stethoscope to Cuphead's chest. "Alright, can you take slow breaths in and out for me?" Cuphead did as he was told for once, he just wanted out of this overstimulating place.

The doctor carefully watched the x-ray as he breathed in and out. She immediately pointed for her patient's grandfather to see. "Yeah, there's definitely a fracture in there. The deeper he breathes, the more it separates. It's touching his lungs just enough to cause breathing issues."

Kettle's brows furrowed with worry. "Is there anything you can do?" He asked.

"For it being so small, it's better to leave it alone. Doing anything to it will be more dangerous than letting it heal on its own. However-" She looked at Cuphead. "There are things you can do, though. Rest, try not to move in ways that twist your spine. Try to keep yourself up straight. Don't sleep on your side."

Cuphead nodded. He was half thankful that nothing was going to be done to him, but he also just wanted the pain to go away.

"We can give you pain medications to ease the pain however." That being said, she had started writing something down on a paper.