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Today he felt off.
He hated days like today. They reminded him of the thing, and he for sure didn’t like that. Plus in those days he would be an asshole, making inappropriate jokes about delicate situations, distracting himself from everything that reminded him of the thing.
But he couldn’t help it. Sometimes in those day happened the worst things, like when that little girl that was abused came in and he could see his reflection in her eyes. So he did what he wished they did for him: he read her a story, he reassured her while the nurses ran the tests and he stroked her hair while she cried.
From the second he woke up he knew that it wouldn’t be a good day.
First of all it was fucking freezing. He didn’t like the cold: he spent most of his childhood in Italy and it’s common knowledge that it’s mostly hot there.
Second of all, his landlord shut down his water so he couldn’t even shower the unpleasant feeling he woke up with.
He was irritated as hell by the time he was biking his way to the hospital.
He got inside and immediately started to examine some patients: two common colds and one bronchitis. Ideal to take your mind off….things.
Then the real fun begun: a shooting between gangs brought the beauty of four gunshot wounds patients, two stab wounds (one deep, the other superficial) and some abrasions.
It was about eight hours into his shift when things started to go downhill: a seventeen year old gymnast came in with an ankle injury. He was the only one free so he took him in curtain four to check him out.
Weird. There’s an old bruise near the inner thigh. Hm.
“Okayyyy, we’re all done here: now my friend Malik, will take you to radiology and then you’re back down here. Everything all right?”
The guy just nodded, looking at nothing in particular.
As Malik and the young athlete got going, a man approached him.
“Hey doc! Everything all right with my kid? Nothing too serious I hope.”
“Nah, I just sent him up to do an x-ray to see if he has any bone fracture.”
He didn’t wait for an answer, simply going to admit desk. “Hey Mark, what should I do if I suspect child abuse?”
“Depends on the case: if you see bruising, old or new, you can talk to the victim and then to the social services. If you don’t, talk to the patient. Who are we talking about exactly?”
“Athlete that came with an ankle injury. I saw some bruises. Maybe there are more on the rest of his body.”
Mark looks him in the eyes. “Hm. Ok. When he comes back from radiology I’ll come with you. Continue to visit other patients.”
“Got it chief.”
Two hours later and he saw one patient, he just can’t seem to concentrate. Everything make him think about…
Never mind. He wasn’t thinking about that, that guy is nothing like him. Obviously.
“Hey Dave. The athlete is done, he’s waiting for you in curtain four.”
“Thanks Malik, I’m going.” He grunts slightly when he steps off of the gurney he was charting on.
He taps Mark on the shoulder, the older turns his back to the nurse he was talking to face him. “Yes, Malucci?”
“The patient..the one I talked about this morning. He’s back from radiology.”
Mark nods. “What did the x-ray say?”
“Oh you know…he broke his malleolus. Also I wanted to ask if I could some blood work…”
“You’re his doctor, Malucci. You decide what’s best for the patient and you act accordingly.”
“Yeah I need a complete blood work.” He pauses. “I also want a HIV test. (-) Yes I know. (-) Of course I know that. (-) Thanks.”
“I’m done here.”
Mark looks up from whatever he was reading and abruptly starts to walk. “Room?” “Four.” “Ok then, let’s go.”
When they enter Dave immediately gets a weird feeling, like they interrupted something . Father and son look weird…one looks red, like actually red from anger, and the other looks sad? And rather pale. Maybe the blood work isn’t such a bad idea, after all.
“Very well, champ. We got the results back and it seems that you managed to break your malleolus, nothing too bad, we just put a cast on your leg and leave it resting for a month or so. Also we wanted to do a blood work to check everything out.”
He watches the father, attentively waiting for any reaction that does not come. After two beats of awkward silence he speaks again. “Alright if you don’t mind….” He leaves the sentence hanging, hoping for the father to get the hint.
“Oh..Can-can I stay?”
Dave glances at Mark over his shoulder silently asking for help.
“No, sir, you should leave so we can do our work well. I can accompany you to the waiting room.”
Mark starts to walk outside, the dad following him with a scowl on his face grimacing ever so slightly.
They were alone. Just the two of them. And he couldn’t think of anything else now.
“Okayyy, let’s start to get the cast on.” He gets a stool close to his patient and starts to set his supplies ready. “How did you get that?” He says staring at the bruise on his thigh.
“Sorry, what?” He glances down. “Oh that. I fell.” Dave gives him a sideway glance.
“And how did you fell?” He asks staring right into his eyes. He does not respond. Instead Dave lick his lips deciding how to approach this subject.
“Does your father hit you? Has he ever, even once?”
He can see the hesitation in his eyes. He knows that look very well. “No! Obviously not. I just…tripped over my feet.”
“Sure.”
He continues to put the cast on and eventually he finishes.
“Alright. You’re all done here. Well just wait for the bloodwork and then you’re free to go. Do you- do you want your dad? It’s okay if you don’t.”
He sees it. He sees it.
“Listen. If you want to talk about something that’s been bothering you, you can talk to me, okay?”
After some seconds of awkward silence and nothing from the other, he starts towards the door.
“It happens sometimes. He just does it when he’s mad or drunk. But he’s not- he’s not a bad person, okay? He isn’t.”
“Alright. Thanks for telling me.” He goes out of the door running immediately into the bathroom as he feels bile rising up his throat.
He just has to wait for the tests. He just has to wait. Wait.
“Yo, Dave. We got the bloodwork for your gymnast.” Malik says.
“Thanks.”
He grabs the papers and starts to read them: everything normal and then- what….? What the fuck? What the FUCK? He feel the blood rushing to his cheeks as he starts running towards the waiting room. He starts getting very close to the man.
“YOU FUCKING-“
The other man’s face comes against his hand. Then they’re on the floor. “YOU DIRTY BASTARD-“
Then he can feel someone peeling him off of the motherfucker.
He can hear someone screaming his name, but it’s all very fuzzy. He can’t- he can’t concentrate on anything.
“You want to tell me what was on that blood work to make you freak out this bad?” He groans quietly while Mark irrigates his bloody knuckles “Are you going to talk about it or do I have to watch for myself?”
“He told me he beats him up sometimes. He has bruises near his thighs. He’s HIV-positive. What do you think?” He grits out of his clenched teeth.
“Ok. Ok. Well we could’ve treated the situation differently, maybe jumping onto him like a dog with rabies isn’t a good idea.” Mark watches over his glasses into Dave’s eyes that are staring into nothingness. He never saw him this upset, maybe when that little girl came in, but he doesn’t display his emotions for everyone to see. Weird.
“Did something happen?”
“What?”
“I don’t think I ever saw you this upset ever before, so I’m asking you: did something happen?”
Dave huffs out a breath before responding, looking anywhere but at Mark. “It just….it reminded me of my dad and…I don’t know.”
Mark stops and looks up from the other’s hand. “Did your father abuse you?”
“I mean it was more- he just beat me up when I did something wrong or when he was drunk.” He finally looks Mark. “I don’t really remember well..”
Mark decided to not prey on the little information he had and to just move on. “Ok. Well I can tell you that you don’t have to worry about that now since I’m taking your patient. We’re all done here and I’ll go talk to Weaver.” Mark got up and looked at him. “Listen if you ever want to talk to someone you can come to me all right?”
Dave didn’t even respond, he eventually got up and carried on with his patients, but now he was a little lighter than this morning. Maybe he should talk to Mark more. Maybe it could help..?
Maybe someday.