From Crutchie To Wheels (And a Little Les Trouble)

Back to Crutchie

Let's all pretend that they had modern medical care in the 1890's for the sake of this story.

On the way up, Jack, Davey, and Specs were joined by some other visitors. They stood silently all the way up. When they got off of the elevator, they walked nervously to the room the doctor told them to go to. They got to the outside of the door. On the door, there was a sign reading "Patients in critical care. Please enter with caution." They all looked at each other.

Specs stepped towards the door to open it, but someone on the other side opened it just before he did. The door smacked into his face, causing his glasses to fall to the floor. When he fell back, he stepped on them, crushing them. A nurse stepped out of the room and apologized before running off to her next patient.

"Ugh guys? You know I'm practically blind without those, right?" Specs asked.

"Just try not to trip over anything," Jack said, obviously not prioritizing this at the moment. Jack walked into the room where Wheels and Les were, followed by Specs running into the door frame, then Davey guiding him in.

Jack walked in on Wheels lying on a bed. His knee was wrapped up in a fluffy thing. His cast had been replaced and had a sling on his shoulder. He had stitches on almost all of his cuts. He also had a wet-looking rag wrapped around his good wrist.

Les was still unconcious in a bed next to Wheels. He had stitches across his entire forehead. His ankle had a cast on it. He had the occasional stitch here or there. His right eye was still swollen, but now he had an eyepatch. He also had a brace down his torso preventing him from bending his back at all.

Davey ran over to Les and started weeping. Jack walked over to Wheels and he stirred.

"How ya feeling?" Jack whispered to Wheels.

"I feel like I could run a marathon," Wheels joked. "My arm hurts real bad, Jack. What if it turns out like my leg and is useless and painful? How will I ever be able to sell papes again? I'll just be a burden on you guys and..."

"Don't you ever say that again. You are not a burden on us. And it's going to be fine in the end."

"I can't even feel my fingers though. And don't lie to me. If I didn't get polio I wouldn't be a crip. If I weren't a crip, I could have gone up those stupid stairs on my own and not broken my arm. If I hadn't broken my arm, I wouldn't have had to be in a wheelchair. If I wasn't in a wheelchair, Les wouldn't have had to have been pushing me. If he wasnt pushing me, the Delanceys never would have chased us and we wouldn't have run into that stupid wall and gotten ourseves locked in an alley. If it weren't for me, Les wouldn't be dying right now! He would be happy at home with Davey and his family!" Wheels choked out, his voice was still hoarse.

"Crutchie! If it weren't for you, we would all starve in the winter! No one can sell papes in 3 feet of snow as well as a crip with a great personality! You help keep us together! Whenever Race gets in a fight, you break it up before someone gives him a reason to need a crutch, too. You're the one who remembered Henry's birthday this year when no one else did. You're like the little brother I never had. We need you, Crutchie!"

Specs stumbled over to Jack. "Yeah," Specs said sympatheticly. "Without you I would be breaking and losing my glasses all the time. And I can't see anything without them." He laughed a little.

"Thanks guys," Wheels said with a smile. "By the way, can you call me Crutchie again? Wheels has just had kind of a bad connection."

"Sure, Crutchie," Jack chuckled.

Small moans were heard from Les's side of the room.

"He's waking up! Les! Can you hear me? It's your brother!" Davey said excitedly. He was holding his brother's hand.

"Davey?" A slurred Les spoke. "My stomach hurts real bad." He opened his eyes and looked around, first at Crutchie, who smiled, then at himself. "Where am I?"

"You're in the hospital, Les. The Delanceys beat you and Crutchie up pretty bad. But you're ok now. You're safe here. These nurses are here to take good care of you."

"Why would the Delanceys hurt me, Davey? We used to be such good friends!"

"What do you mean you used to be friends?" Davey asked worriedly.

"Now he's starting to talk like Crutchie when he first broke his arm!" Jack exclaimed.

"What do you mean, Jack?" asked a confused Crutchie.

"Crutch. When you first woke up, you didn't seem to remember anyone and you thought that the Delanceys were your best friends. That was until Race and Romeo decided to get in a fight next to you and Race punched your arm while trying to hit Romeo. You blacked out from pain. When you woke up, you went back to normal." Jack was nearly crying by the end of the explanation.

"I'm so sorry, Jack. I don't know how I could ever forget my brother." Crutchie resonded with tears in his eyes.

Jack leaned over Crutchie and tried to hug him. He wrapped his arms around Crutchie the best be could without hurting him, but Crutchie winced when Jack touched him. Then Crutchie hugged Jack back as tightly as he could, which wasnt very tight. Jack felt his small fragile friend hug him back very loosely. Then they both broke down crying into each other.

Davey turned back to Les. "Les, where would you get this idea? Crutchie had polio when he was born. He could never run around. Plus, we've only known him and the Delanceys for a year."

"But I remember so clearly us and him and Oscar and Morris running around playing tag," Les croaked back.

"Are you thinking of cousins Morrison and Olivine? We would play with them and you had your imaginary friend." Davey said.

"Oh! Now I remember! It was them!
I guess I just mixed them up. I'm sorry Davey. I've had some memory problems lately."

Specs just awkwardly listened. He couldn't see to let himself out, but if he could, he would have.

Jack and Crutchie were still hugging. Suddenly, Crutchie's twitching returned. Specs ran into the hallway blindy screaming for help. First it was very slow, then it grew rapid until he was having a full seizure.

Jack let go. (Lol titanic moment) "Crutchie? Crutchie! Don't you start dying on me! You've made it this far and you're not about to leave me now!" Jack started sobbing even harder. Crutchie tried to hold out a very shaky hand for Jack to hold. He was starting to lose all control over his body. His eyes were shooting around the room. Tears streamed down his face. He was in obvious pain, though no sounds left his mouth. He was seizuring so hard that even his bad leg, which Crutchie had very little control over due to polio, was shaking. The worst part about polio is that he can still feel his leg, he just can't use it.

Nurses ran into the room. Some were trying to hold him down while others were trying communicate with him. The nurses made Jack, Specs, and Davey leave the room. Davey led Specs out while Jack looked back at his friend. The last thing he saw before the door was closed was a nurse jabbing a very long needle into Crutchie's bad leg.

After a few minutes a nurse came out and told them that it could be a while and that it would be best to go ahead and leave. So they did.
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(There is a major plot twist coming up soon. Some of you are going to want to grab an extra box of tissues because I'm about to open up a nice big can of feels. Also how are you guys liking this story so far?)