#just a sprain | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

rn-zane · 2 years ago

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LOCATION: The Emergency Room TIMING: Current SUMMARY: Chance has to go to the ER. Again. Zane is not a huge fan of reckless behavior.

It was always a strange sort of solace, clocking in at the ER. It was hectic and definitely heartbreaking at times but here, the pace of his thoughts finally seemed to match the outside world. Zane functioned here whereas back home, with Alma, he felt more like a child. It wasn’t a bad feeling, being protected and cared for but there was purpose to be found at the ER. And tonight was an easy one, assigned to the smaller cuts, bruises and dislocations. No fear of needing to call the crash cart or gnarly wounds that stayed glued to his retinas hours after he saw them.

The last patient had made his heart swell, a young girl with a greenstick fracture in her forearm from being pushed at the playground. He��d taken a bit too long with her, Zane knew that, but placing a ridiculous amount of stickers on her cast after he’d put it on had seemed necessary. She’d had a predisposition for dinosaurs and had insisted on sticking one to his name badge before leaving.

His next patient was older, 21 year old male with a sprained elbow. X-ray had come out fine so Zane just had to fix him up and send him on his way. There wasn’t much in the doctor’s note about the injury, not that it mattered, but an elbow sprain wasn’t too common in patients this age.

“Hi, there. I’m Zane, gonna be fixing up that arm so it doesn’t get messed up further,” he said cheerily, still on a high from his new young friend from before, as he walked into the room.

—--

Chance’s arm hurt like hell, but he was trying to stay positive. He also wasn’t particularly thrilled to be reminded how unfond of hospitals he was. He hadn’t been in an emergency room since he was a little kid, and for obvious reasons had avoided them like the plague ever since. The last few months had ruined that philosophy a bit. Between stitches and more than a few sprained limbs, Chance had spent more than a couple late nights lounging in the chairs of the lobby and waiting to be seen. It never stopped him from rushing from the place as soon as he possibly could.

He wasn’t convinced that his arm wasn’t broken. At least that was how it felt right about now. Chance had never had a particularly high pain tolerance, mostly because he had always avoided anything that could lead to injuries as much as he possibly could. His new lease on life had come with a questionable sense of self preservation. But what did it matter anyways? Once he was a zombie an injury like this would heal in no time. If anything, he should be annoyed that he wasn’t already dead. At least then the pain would be over quickly.

Chance wiped any doubt or emotion from his face as soon as he heard the nurse come in - replacing it with a bright and easy smile. At the beginning, the smiles seemed impossible to fake. Now, Chance had faked it so much that he was pretty sure he had made it. “Howdy Zane. My chart should tell you that I’m Chance. And should hopefully tell you that I’m good to go yeah? It’s not broken right?” He was going to tell himself that until it was true.

—

This guy was peppy and, thankfully, not drunk. Zane didn’t really have a fondness for dealing with drunk people since they made everything twice as hard. “Well, Chance, you are actually correct. Badly sprained though, so you’re going to sporting one of these bad boys for a while.” Zane turned to the man, holding a roll of elastic bandage he’d need to wrap the arm up in. “Got a choice of plain blue or red with hearts. Also, got some painkillers if you want them.”

He brought both rolls and the plastic cup of pain meds over to the metal table situated next to Chance, dragging up a rolling chair to plop down onto. “It’s better than a cast but you’re still going to need to be careful for the next few weeks.” Glancing up at the guy, Zane wondered how he’d gotten the injury. He didn’t look like he’d been in a fight and tripping was uncommon without alcohol or icy sidewalks.

“Doing alright? I’ve heard these can really hurt.” He paused for a second, making a motion for the man to uncover his arm. “How’d you sprain it?”

—--

Hell yeah, not broken! Wearing a sling wasn’t too bad, at least when compared to how bad the injury could have been. Once again, Chance scrapes by without major injury. Must be this positive attitude he keeps. “No contest. Red with hearts, obviously. I have a reputation to uphold.” He wasn’t quite sure what that reputation actually was, but it seemed like the right thing to say in the moment. “I may be an idiot, but I’m not a masochist. I’ll take the pain meds.”

Careful wasn’t exactly Chance’s forte, at least not anymore, but maybe he could manage to minimize his risks of injury at least long enough to get out of the sling. It would certainly keep Ariadne’s blood pressure lower for a few weeks.

“Oh, it hurts like hell. But I’m powering through.” Chance grinned at the man, hoping that was an indicator of his attempt to ignore the pain. “Oh, it was no big deal. I was with a couple of friends at Champlain Falls and one of those dudes dared me that I wouldn’t jump off the falls” Chance said this as incredulously as he felt when the guy had first baited him, “Obviously I had to prove him wrong. And I did obviously. But I missed have hit something on my way down.”

—

Zane snorted out a quiet laugh at the young man’s choice of wrapping, having somehow suspected what the answer would be all along. It was nice to feel almost giddy at work for a change, all warm from the last encounter and the easy joking this one brought. Just as he grabbed the arm to make sure it was ready for wrapping, the cause of the injury made itself clear.

“You what?” His eyes widened, staring incredulously at the younger man. A dare. A sprained elbow that could have ended broken or with him lying comatose somewhere, all for a dare? Like an unexpected slap, it hit Zane where he recognized the name Chance for. “You’re the humblebrag guy from online, aren’t you?” he blurted out, shaking his head at the realization. “No wonder you’re always in the ER if someone can literally tell you to jump off a cliff and you do it.”

A resigned sigh left him, good mood slightly spoiled now because people could be dumb. And what kind of friends would dare someone to jump off a cliff? Bad friends, at least in Zane’s books. He turned the arm in his grasp, gently despite the mild annoyance building up. This guy was reckless but a patient nonetheless. “What, someone else dared a friend to bite you, then?”

The teeth marks on Chance’s arm looked pretty well healed but still visible, clearly just one of the many marks this guy had managed to litter his body with despite only being 21.

—

The mood noticeably shifted once Chance explained the reason that he was there. He wasn’t exactly surprised. The emergency room staff never seemed particularly impressed with any of Chance’s injuries and even less so with the cause of them. Especially the nurses that had dealt with him on more than one occasion. That may have been how he had finally ended up with Zane. All the usual people passed him off.

“Okay, well technically no. They didn’t tell me to jump off a cliff. They told me I wouldn’t jump off a cliff. And I have a thing about proving people wrong.” As if that was any sort of defense. Chance surprised himself with the small twinge of embarrassment he felt in that moment.. Something about being scolded by someone similar in age to him hit harder than when the nurses decades older did it. That feeling was doubled when the man spotted the bite. It wasn’t a big secret or anything, but it wasn’t something that Chance was readily prepared to explain. He could feel his cheeks blushing, but he persevered through them and maintained the same, easygoing composure that he always held, “Couldn’t tell you. I’d like to say it was a night to remember but… well, I don’t remember it.”

Chance sat helplessly while Zane inspected his arm, “Do you make it a habit of judging everyone that comes into the ER?”

—

Shit. Zane had felt the steady pulse heighten slightly as he… well, as he scolded the younger man. It was a bad habit, and unprofessional to boot, but worry tended to come out as annoyance. Chance’s cheeks were turning red and yeah, wasn’t that just a punch to the gut. Way to make sure he never gets any wound checked out ever again, Zane.

Meeting the man’s gaze with earnest regret, he turned it so that the offending bite mark was no longer in view. “Honestly? Sometimes, and I shouldn’t. I scolded an old lady once for mixing up her medication and basically giving herself arrhythmia because she was too stubborn to get a prescription delivery.” She hadn’t deserved it and obviously, this guy didn’t either. People did stupid stuff and at least Chance had the good sense to get his arm checked out. “I’m sorry. Really. You wanna do a dare, that’s literally none of my business.” He offered what he hoped was a comforting smile, finally starting the task of wrapping up the guy’s arm so he could get out of here like he clearly wanted to. Instead, he’d gotten berated for his, admittedly stupid, choices.

“Not like everyone doesn’t do stupid things from time to time,” Zane spoke up after a moment, eyes on the task at hand. “I think I was six or seven when I got dared to swallow a rock. Don’t think I’ve ever seen my mom that mad.” She’d eventually had to take him to the hospital, something their people really didn’t fancy doing (what’s the use for medication when the world will end soon, anyway), when his stomach pains had gotten too severe. “Probably would have cried if some nurse had basically hinted at me being an idiot.” The nurse had been nice, kind, and it was a nice interaction to remember instead of getting focused on his mother at this moment.

“There.” Zane tucked away the end of the bandage, making sure it was all set in place. “No heavy lifting and maybe no cliff jumping for the next few weeks, at least?” A smile, hopefully conveying the message of a joke and not another jab at him. “Oh, and…” As an afterthought, Zane peeled the dinosaur sticker from his name badge, tapping it gently onto the already colorful bandage. “For me being a total dick. And you hopefully not complaining to my supervisor”

—--

Well, shit. Chance had thought the two were just building some rapport here, but apparently the only thing Chance had accomplished was making the man feel like a bad person and worse nurse. All Chance had really wanted to do was deflect from receiving any valid criticisms of his own poor decisions. Chance hated taking anything too seriously, but he also hated the idea of anyone hating him more. So some back peddling would need to be done.

“Hey, dude. Just to be clear I was like one hundred percent joking.” Chance tried, attempting to keep the mood light while also becoming as somber as possible. “I am fully aware that jumping off a cliff wasn’t my brightest moment. I don’t actually care that you think I shouldn’t go cliff diving on a regular basis. We both know who is actually right here. Just like it was totally that lady’s fault for mixing up her medication.”

At least Zane’s anecdote gave Chance a good reason to smile again, “Hell yeah. So what you’re saying is that you’re a daredevil too? Or six year old you was, at least. I dig it.”

As Zane finished up wrapping the bandage, Chance realized that he’d be escorted out. He didn’t love the idea that he may leave with the nurse thinking he was actually offended by anything said. “I’ll try to refrain from cliffs. I’ll stick with steep hills or flights of stairs instead.” Chance studied the dinosaur sticker on his bandages and laughed, “This is adorable and I will cherish it until it inevitably falls off.” He used his unbandaged hand to pat the sticker down for good measure. “How about I consider not sending in a formal complaint if you consider hanging out sometime? Seriously, my cousin would be thrilled if I made a friend that didn’t dare me to dive off cliffs regularly.”

–

It was huge weight lifted, seeing the conversation and mood move back to solid ground. With relief that he’d neither jeopardized his job nor the odds of Chance returning with his inevitable next injury, Zane felt like he could (metaphorically) breathe again. “Oh yeah, totally wild,” he said sarcastically, a small smile playing on his lips again now. It was funny to think that under any other circumstances, this back and forth banter would have felt pretty much impossible. Something about being in the hospital, scrubs on and persona solidified, made it so much easier to talk to people. A confident guy like Chance would have had Zane either fumbling for words or keeping his distance if they’d met anywhere else.

Eyes rolling at the joke, Zane made a decision not to comment on it, part of him feeling like there was maybe a little bit of truth to the words. Best keep away to spare the guy from another one of Zane’s worry scoldings. As he was wondering how many guys he’d met around his own age who would have, A, chosen a heart spattered bandage and B, been this happy with a dinosaur sticker, Chance caught him off guard.

Hang out sometime. Was that something people were able to just casually ask each other without freaking out about the response? Also, he wanted to hang out with Zane minutes after proving just how uncool he was about literally anything exciting? A bit flustered, it took him probably a bit too long to respond, at least longer than anyone sane would have. “Uh… yeah. Sure.” Sounding much less enthusiastic than he actually was, he added, “I mean, if only for your cousin. Obviously.” Tearing a small corner off a nearby paper, he scribbled his details onto it, feeling much too self conscious as he passed it on. “Just… you know, hit me up or whatever. If that’s what people say. I should probably leave the hospital more.” One bandaged arm, one possibility of a new friend.

#justtakingchances #just a sprain #p:chance #writing #chance.001

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