Awsten woke up in a hospital bed. His tired eyelids were filled with bright white lights and his ear drums were about to burst at his loud everything around him was.
It was obvious he was in the children's ward. The front curtain was open and he could see the bright patterns and animals painted onto the walls. Awsten looked around his tiny stall. "Mom," he whispered. "Mom, why am I here?" Awsten was in complete agony, and his stomach kept convulsing. The bruises on his body made him ache, and his bones hurt. As usual, but he felt like it was about a million times worse.
His mother looked up from her magazine. "Oh, sweetheart.." she whispered. "Something went wrong," she paused, and it looked like she was trying not to cry. "You'll be okay. You're a strong boy."
"What's going on? I-I don't understand," he looked down at his hand, frowning at the drip connected to it. "Was I in surgery?"
"No, bubby," she whispered. "The doctors are just trying to figure out what's wrong."
"Okay," Awsten nodded, feeling a little better. He was in good hands, right?
A doctor came in. He had short, jet black hair with a blue streak through it. Was that allowed? "Hello-" he checked his whiteboard. "Awsten. I'm Doctor Barakat, it's nice to meet you."
"Hi," Awsten said quietly. "W-What's wrong? Do you know?"
"I'm sorry, we don't. We'll have to do a few blood tests," Doctor Barakat said. "How are you feeling? You're looking a little better." He smiled and Awsten relaxed a little. He liked the Doctor.
"I feel like shit," Awsten shrugged. "I just wanna sleep but everything hurts too much," he sighed and looked down at his arms. The rash wasn't as red now and he guessed it was from the cream. "Maybe I have chicken pox?"
The doctor went quiet and his mother started to cry. "We don't think it's chicken pox, Awsten," The doctor said carefully. "While you were asleep we did a few blood tests. We're just getting some fluids into you at the moment, you're quite underweight."
Awsten looked down at the tube. He nodded shakily. "I-I just haven't been feeling very hungry," he said. "I've lost a lot of weight, but it wasn't on purpose," He explained. "I'm pretty happy with my body!" That was a lie, but he wasn't kidding about accidental weight loss.
He doctor wrote that all down, a frown on his face. "Awsten, how often are you sick?"
"Oh, all the time. My immune system is shit," he giggled. "I've never had chicken pox before though," he looked over his arms at the rash.
"Mrs. Knight, is it okay if I talk to Awsten in private?" The doctor asked.
She nodded and stood up, wiping away some tears. "Of course." She left the room, fanning her face with her magazine.
"Awsten-" The doctor sighed. "You have a lot of bruises on your body. Answer me honestly, okay? Have you been physically assaulted?"
Awsten shook his head, but his mind when straight to Jawn pushing him at school. "I-I fell over in the bathroom yesterday but that's all."
"Are you sure? You don't get bruising that badly unless you've been assaulted," The doctor said. "I won't tell anyone. Whatever you tell me won't leave this room."
"I haven't been hurt," Awsten assured. "I just bruise easily."
"Okay," he wrote that down. "If you bruise easily is there anything else? Do you get nosebleeds? Scratches that bleed instantly, even if they're tiny?"
"Not the scratches, but I get nosebleeds all the time. S-sometimes I'll sneeze and get them." He giggled.
"Is it okay if you take your shirt off Awsten? I need to do a body check," The doctor frowned. "You can tell me to stop at any time."
Awsten nodded and pulled his shirt off, frowning. "What now?"
"Just a second." The doctor got up, leaving the room.
Awsten lifted the blanket up to his chest, feeling very cold. His normally pale skin was covered in patches of red spots and dry rash, making his body ache.
The doctor came back in with gloves and antiseptic wipes. "Alright. I'm just gonna feel your neck."
Awsten nodded. "Okay," he studied he doctors face. He had pretty eyes, and his hair actually looked pretty cool. "Is your name Jack?" Awsten asked, staring at his silver name badge.
"Yup." Jack smiled, gently prodding at Awstens neck with his thumbs. "Were you bitten by a vampire or something?" He joked, looking at the hickey on the side of Awstens neck. He moved his hands to behind Awstens ears, feeling for anything there.
Awsten went red, the blush blending against the rash on his forehead and cheek. "No, but I was bitten by my boyfriend." He blushed deeper.
Jack laughed, shaking his head. "Can you lift your arms for me?"
Awsten nodded and did as he was told. He sighed, watching as Jack poked at his armpit and over to his pecs, just under his nipples.
Jack frowned. "You can put them down," He said, writing something else on his clipboard. "One more thing, and it's okay if you don't want me to."
"What is it?" Awsten asked.
"Can I see if everything is alright down there?" He pointed to Awstens crotch. "It's okay if you're uncomfortable with that. You can do it if you need to, it just needs to be done."
"I-I can do it," Awsten said. "Can you turn around?"
"Of course," Jack turned. "I'll give you instructions."
Awsten nodded and pulled his boxers down to his thighs. "Ready." He said nervously.
"Alright, can you poke and pinch the skin and tissue around your.. ya know? What you're looking for is hard lumps, soft lumps or places where bleeding has happened," Jack said. "If you have any freckles make sure you check them well. What you're looking for is a swollen lymph node."
Awsten nodded, doing as he was told. It felt weird.
"Make sure you check the part where your thighs meet your genitals, and on your mons pubis." Jack explained.
Awsten had no idea what a mons pubis was. He checked over his thighs. "There's a lump on the part were my legs close?" He said, a little unsure. "If you wanna see I can cover everything and you can poke it?"
"If that's okay, yes please." Jack said.
Awsten covered his dick with the sheet and butterflied one leg out, feeling very self conscious. "Ready." He said.
Jack turned around, sighing. He was used to all this so he didn't mind. He poked at the spot Awsten was talking about, frowning. "Alright, good job." Jack said. He wrote it down.
"Is that all?" Awsten asked, pulling his boxers up when Jack turned back around.
"That's all. When you were asleep we took some blood, so we'll be overlooking your results. Thanks Awsten." Jack got up and left, leaving Awsten cold and confused.
