Not that bad

[Hunter Solomon]

Another trip to the infirmary really wasn't something Hunter had planned in the near furutre. His arm had just been hurting so much since his father had gotten so angry at him for dropping a plate while he'd been doing the dishes the day before. He hadn't been able to move it properly ever since and the pain just didn't seem to go away on it's own this time. It had only been five weeks since Dr. Griffing had treated him for a broken wrist and she'd already asked some uncomfortable questions back then, since it hadn't been the first time he'd needed her to take care of one of his injuries. His dad had gotten wind of her questions and that had resultet into another beating.

Mr. Solomon usually took care not to leave visible marks when he „disciplined“ his son. Sometimes, he just got carried away by his rage and Hunter would be left with a black eye or, in this case, with a broken bone.He'd been in pain for hours now and still considered just trying to let it heal on its own, but he didn't think he could take it much longer. He thought that maybe he could just pretend to have a headache and ask for pain killers. The boy changed his mind about seven times while he was sitting in the waiting room, seeing one patient after another go for treatment, the people who were up before him becoming fewer and fewer.
When it was finally Hunter's turn to get checked out, Dr. Griffin seemed immediately concerned when she saw him. The boy became a bit more nervous when he saw that a young girl was also present in the room and he looked from her to the doctor and back.
He cradled his hurting arm awkwardly but stuck to his story that he just had a bad headache.

Dr. Griffin kept looking at him with an intense expression, but he didn't change his story. Hunter didn't know why, but she took the girl aside for a minute before leaving the room and leaving the two kids by themselves. The boy bit his lip as he looked up at the blonde girl now and then and then back at the tips of his shoes or down at his arm, which he was holding close to his chest.

Tag: Clarke Griffin

[Clarke Griffin]

After school Clarke hung about in the infirmary. She liked watching her mother. Being a doctor was what she wanted to become and her mothers job helped her a lot. She knew it was a privilege. She knew it was hard for others to get in, but it was easy as hell for her. It was because she grew up with it. She had grown up with her fathers profession as well, but at the same time it was not what she was talented in. Sometimes she wondered if if she had a brother or sister they would have their fathers profession. Or they'd be another future doctor.

At the infirmary all forms of things popped up. The kid though was not as new as some may think. She had seen him there before, but hadn't thought  much of it. 

But now it was different. Her mother found it fishy and frankly Clarke did, too. It was too many, too similar injuries too soon and a way too closed up patient. It was mainly that that alarmed her mother. And she thought that maybe Clarke could get through to him as she was a lot closer to her age. Clarke smiled to the kid as her mom left.

"Mom can be pretty intense, can't she?"

Hunter Solomon

[Hunter Solomon]

Hunter was gritting his teeth as the pain in his arm was starting to become unbearable. He could feel the tears burning behind his eyes but he was practiced at holding them back, his father hated to see him cry and would call him a stupid cry-baby whenever he would see tears on his face. The awkward silence that was creeping over the room wasn't much better than Dr.Griffin's uncomfortable questions and he didn't even dare to move too much because he didn't want to make too much noise in this sudden silence. He moved his legs around on the table he was sitting on and even the rustling sound of the paper that covered it made him cringe.

The girl, Dr.Griffin's daughter as he'd concluded by now, moved into his field of vision and smiled at him but he just kept the serious expression he was always sporting. When she spoke to him, he wasn't sure if she was actually interested in talking to her mother's patient or if she was just making polite conversation to pass the time and fill the silence.

„She sure asks a lot of questions.“, he answered and gave her a shrug of his shoulders, but then let out a short yelp as he'd forgotten his broken arm and a sharp pain rushed through it when he moved his shoulder. „My...my headache is just so bad! Can't I just have some pills for the pain?“, he asked, holding his arm awkwardly and biting his lip to ignore the pain.

Tag: Clarke Griffin

[Clarke Griffin]

She understood his desire for pain medication. It was never nice to feel pain, but sadly Clarke couldn’t give him any. She wished she could, though. She didn’t like people being in pain and hoped that one day she’d learn enough that she could learn palliative care, too. To take the pain of those that were slowly passing to make their last moments as dignified and pleasant as one could hope to. “I can’t give you anything. I’m just a student, so I’m not allowed to give out pain medication.” Or any medication – at least not without orders and permissions first. But she had some tricks up her sleeve.

“Give me your good hand.” She said as she reached for it. She held it in both her hands. “I’m going to show you something real cool now. Just trust me.” Slowly she ran her hands to his thumb, moving for a moment before slowly and gently pressing the space between thumb and index finger. “This is a pressure point. You should feel it take away a bit of the edge of the pain. Given how serious your injuries are, I guess it can’t take it all away, but it can take some of it away.” Clarke slowly stopped it and then placed both hands on his temples, once more moving until she found two of the pressure points on his temples and gently pressing down on them, too. “I’m not entirely sure why that works, but it’s connected to nerve endings. And so pressing certain points in your body can relieve pains in other parts. You just have to know where to look for them. But I’m sure my mom will give you pain medication soon.”

Hunter Solomon

[Hunter Solomon]

Hunter felt a surge of frustration and despair when Clarke announced that she was not allowed to give him any medication. He gritted his teeth as his broken bone seemed to be begging for a relief from this pain. He wondered if he should just tell the girl about his broken arm, but that would just raise more questions that he didn't want to answer. His annoyance at not getting what he needed almost made him blurt out bitter words, like asking Clarke what good she was at the infirmary if she couldn't do anything to help him.
The boy was distracted from his frustration when the girl in front of him asked him to give her his uninjured hand and he pulled back a little when she simply reached for it. His mind was stuck on the belief that any touch was bad and meant to do him harm, so he wasn't really keen for anyone to put their hands on him.
„What are you doing?“, he asked with a deep frown just before Clarke explained just that. He did feel the pain of his headache, which wasn't as bad as he made it out to be to get some pain medication, ebb away but couldn'tsense much of a difference, which was probably due to the broken bone he hadn't told Clarke about.
When the girl rached for his face, he jerked his head back with a sharp intake of breath, his good arm rising a little in an instinctive movement to protect his face. Hunter's heartbeat relaxed a little when he felt her fingers on his temples, but he still had that sceptic expression on his face.
„Some pain killers would still work a lot better, you know? I hope she will come back soon!“, he said, closing his eyes for a moment as the tiniest movement of his injured arm made another wave of pain roll over his body.

Tag: Clarke Griffin

[Clarke Griffin]

Clarke saw the way he reacted. It was instinctive in a way that made Clarke think in one direction and one direction only: He was used to defending himself like that. Kids shouldn’t be used to that. She had to tell her mother. But there was more to it. Her mother had asked her to look at him for a reason. She knew that reason was to maybe get the truth out of the boy. She needed to at least try. He was being hurt by someone.

“Why are you flinching?” She asked him then. “Did someone hurt you?” She knew the answer then and there. Someone hurt him. But he was probably scared. Too scared to tell. It would be hard to get all of it out of him. But she would have to try. For him. “Who’s hurting you? I’m not going to tell anyone, I promise.” And she would keep it. She would not tell, but she would hint at it. She could try and protect him. Her mother had a high enough position. 

Hunter Solomon

[Hunter Solomon]

Hunter cursed himself for reacting the way he did and making Clarke suspicious, but he just couldn't help himself. He knew there was no logical reason to shy away frompeople other than his father but it was just the instinctive reaction of his body whenever someone got too close to him. He felt a surge of panic roll over him as Clarke started to question him, asking the sort of questions that he dreaded the most. His defensive barriers rose higher than ever and he started laughing nervously, trying to make her believe that her questions sounded ridiculous to him.

„Of course not! Why should anyone hurt me?“, he said, trying to sound convincingly shocked. His mind raced to find a good explanation for his behavior to get the girl off his back. He was quite trained in finding excuses, so it only took a moment for him to conjure up some sort of story.
„It's just...me and the other kids in my class play this game. You have to punch another kid's arm before he does the same to you, so we're all always on guard, trying to avoid a punch. That's all!“, he said with a shrug and gave the girl a reassuring smile.

Tag: Clarke Griffin