One Step From Insanity

Chapter 20

AN: Did antibiotics exist during the time that this story takes place? No they did not. Am I going to pretend that they did because I know nothing about medicine during that time? Yes, yes I am.

It seemed like the longer it had been since Louis woke up, the worse he got, and by the time the doctor knocked on the door, Jack had been sitting by his side for at least five minutes straight as Louis coughed. When the knock came, Jack looked up at Katherine and she got up immediately, answering the door and greeting the doctor.

"Hi Dr. Bennett." Katherine gave him a tight smile, and he nodded in greeting, giving her a reassuring look.

"Hi, Katherine." He followed her inside, and his gaze drifted over to Jack and Louis. "Are these my patients?"

She nodded. "This is Jack Kelly and Louis Anderson. They just got out of Blackwell, and we're fairly certain that Louis has pneumonia."

"I'll take a look."

The doctor walked over towards the couch, and Louis instinctively shrunk away. He'd known the doctor was coming, but he hadn't realized that while he was in the asylum, his subconscious had decided that no doctors could be trusted.

"Jack..." He said hoarsely, looking towards his friends.

Jack tensed, instinctively not wanting this man anywhere near them, but the logical part of him knew that they weren't in any danger.

"It's okay, kid. He's just gonna have a look at you, and I'll be right here the whole time."

Louis took a deep breath and nodded, and Dr. Bennett crouched down in front of them, digging around in his bag for a minute and pulling out a thermometer.

"I'm just going to have you hold this under your tongue for a minute, alright?"

Louis agreed, and once it had been there for a sufficient amount of time, the doctor grimaced, and Jack and Katherine exchanged a worried look.

The doctor checked Louis over with a few more instruments, almost none of which the three of them recognized, and once he was finished, he stood up and sighed.

"I'm afraid you both were right. It looks like pneumonia."

"Is it treatable?" Katherine asked, and everyone subconsciously let out a breath of relief when Dr. Bennett nodded.

"At this point, yes. I can give you some antibiotics, and I would advise that you start using them as soon as possible."

"How much?"

"Around ten dollars."

Louis's eyes practically bulged out of his head, and he stared at the doctor before turning to look at Jack and Katherine.

"You don't have to - "

Katherine held up a hand to stop him. The more time she spent around this boy, the more he reminded her of Jack. "We do and we will."

She turned and left the room, soon returning with the money. She knew that doing this would mean cutting some corners for a few weeks, and Jack did too, but they didn't care.

She handed it to the doctor and he took it with a nod. "I'll have it sent over with instructions by tomorrow at the latest. Call me if you need anything."

"We will. Thank you Dr. Bennett." Katherine shook his hand.

"Yeah, thanks, doc." Jack gave him a warm smile, but didn't get up from his spot next to Louis.

"It's no problem." The man gave them one last smile before picking up his bag and taking his leave.

Katherine sat down next to the two boys with a tired sigh. "There, see? Everything's going to be fine."

Louis still looked a little concerned. "You didn't have to spend so much on me."

"Hey." Jack nudged him lightly. "Yeah we did. We ain't gonna let anything happen to you, remember?"

No sooner had those words come out of his mouth than there was a knock on the door.