Broken fingers //Voltron high school AU

Part 10: Above Snakes

Keith hated hospitals. The smell of bleach and plain white walls all dragged up memories of his father's death. Keith had been young, ten or eleven, he couldn't remember. It had been days blurring together, sitting alone in waiting rooms, the beeping of his Father's heart monitor. Keith took a shaky breath, trying to think of anything but his Father.

Hunk was checking them in, since he was the oldest, while Keith and Lance sat beside each other in waiting room chairs. Pidge was out getting coffee for everyone.

"You know I can't tell them what actually happened," Keith muttered quietly to Lance, who looked at him with an odd expression.

"You have to!" He whisper-yelled "it's kinda hard to lie about breaking your hand and having bruises all over your face," Lance frowned "plus, if you tell them, then maybe they can do something about it."

"No, I was the one who started the fight so the blame would be put on me. Do you know how mad Shiro would be if he found out I'm still getting into fights?" He realized what he said, but tried to ignore it.

Lance raised an eyebrow "still? Keith, have you done this before?" When he didn't answer, Lance continued "if all you care about is how Shiro feels, and not your own well being then tell him. Call him and explain what happened. Maybe coming clean will soften the blow," Lance suggested.

"My well being is fine as long as I'm above snakes. Also-" he started, but Lance held up a hand.

"Above snakes? What in the world does that mean?" He looked utterly confused.

"It means not dead. Above snakes, above ground, alive? C'mon, use context clues," Keith criticized, even though he knew it was southern slang. "Anyways, yes I care about what Shiro thinks because if I do something bad enough he'll kick me out." There were unspoken words that even Lance picked up on. Just like the others did. It was written on Keith's battered face.

Lance opened his mouth to speak, but Hunk came up. "You can go now, Keith. We're lucky it isn't that busy tonight." His hands were in his pockets and he looked sympathetically at Keith.

He stood, going towards the woman in blue scrubs. She introduced herself as Shay, and led him down the hall. Keith glanced over his shoulder to see Lance and Hunk watching him with concerned eyes.

***

Keith sat with his shoulders hunched forward on the hospital bed. His legs dangled over edge, his feet flat against the ground. He thought about the way Lance had looked when he'd seen him, watching him walk down the hallway with Shay.

She had left him there to go consult with someone else about Keith's injuries. She'd taken the clipboard full of information with her, so Keith had no idea what was wrong with him. All he knew was that Shay had looked worried when she'd left.

Keith felt terrible. The pain in his face had been nullified by some drug Shay had give him, and his hand had been numbed so they could set the bones and out a cast on it. But he felt dizzy, a massive headache pounding his thoughts out. He barely even remembered when it had started. His stomach hurt where he'd been hit. When he had showed Shay, he'd seen large spots of purple and black. It hadn't been a shock, but it was disturbing to see.

Keith sighed, standing and pacing back and forth. He hated this. He just wanted to go home. He wanted to fall asleep and never wake up. He wanted to let problems melt away in the ocean of drowsiness that flooded his brain. He wanted the pounding in his head to stop so he could think again. He wanted to get out of the hospital. He wanted everything to be over.