Moving On

Hospital Meetings

            Kurt and Noah sat in the doctor's office, waiting for the results.

            "How was work?" Kurt asked.

            "Alright," Noah shrugged, "It was pretty slow today, but I figure once schools start up again I'll be seeing a lot more people."

            "Music students always need something," Kurt assured him, "Whether it's sheet music or instruments or something. I wouldn't worry too much."

            "Yeah I know," Noah said, "But if sales drop too much I'm the one who gets in trouble."

            "Hey, relax," Kurt said, "Things'll be fine." Noah nodded, but said nothing. Noah had been so stressed about everything lately and Kurt knew a lot of it had to do with money. Noah was the manager at a music store by their house and while he made pretty decent money, if business slowed down for even just a couple days then Noah's boss blamed him. The man was constantly threatening to fire Noah and find someone who would be able to bring in more business.

            "One day you'll own your own store and you won't have to deal with your boss anymore," Kurt said. Noah smiled and nodded again just as the doctor entered the room.

            They stared at her with bated breath and she smiled at them.

            "You're clear," she said, "Completely clean. Blood pressure was a little high, but that's usually a common occurrence in patients getting these tests done."

            Kurt and Noah both breathed a sigh of relief.

            "You're sure?" Noah asked and the woman nodded, still smiling at them.

            "We just have a couple forms for you to sign and then you can go," she told them and they followed her out of the room. The pair stood at the desk as they waited for one of the nurse's to bring them some forms. They had only been there for a couple minutes when Noah noticed a couple boys in one of the rooms.

            "Where are you going?" Kurt asked as Noah walked over.

            "Give it back!" the younger boy said as the two older boys held his video game above his head.

            "Hey!" Noah said and the two boys stopped laughing and turned around. "What are you doing? Give it back to him."

            "Why?" one of the boys asked.

            "Is it his?" Kurt asked and they nodded. "That's why. Now give it to him before we get a nurse in here."

            The boys rolled their eyes and gave the younger boy the game back before fleeing the room.

            "Thank you," the boy murmured.

            "Don't mention it," Noah said, staring at the kid. He was tiny, must have been only been about four years old. Where the hell were his parents? He had two casts on, one on his left leg and the other on his left arm.

            "What happened?" Noah asked.

            "I fell," the boy replied. Noah was about to ask him just how hard he fell when a nurse walked in.

            "Ah, there you two are," she said, "I have your forms here."

            "Thanks," Kurt took them from her.

            "Thanks again," the boy said as they left."

            "You may want to tell his parents he's getting picked on," Noah told her.

            "I wish I could," the nurse replied and they both frowned at her.

            "What do you mean?" Kurt asked.

            "Shane's a foster child, has been for about four years now. He and his sister live in a group home not far from here, though they spend a lot of time here as well."

            "The home is that bad?" Kurt asked, assuming the worst.

            "It's not the home," the nurse shook her head, "Shane and his sister are both sick. Shane has something called Osteogenesis Imperfecta and his sister, Maisie, has Blackfan-Diamond Anemia and severe allergies."

            "How old are they?" Kurt asked in shock.

            "Shane's eight and Maisie's four."

            "You said they've been in the system for four years," Noah said, "Why? Where are their parents?"

            "No sign of the father," the nurse said, "Their mother signed them over after she found Maisie was sick. Just couldn't handle two sick kids I guess."

            "She signed them over... because they were sick?" Kurt said in disbelief, looking at Noah and knowing they were both thinking the same thing.

Alright, so I'm about 99% certain a nurse couldn't disclose this sort of information about a patient, but for the sake of fanfiction, just this once, let's go with it.

Also, I did a lot of research on various diseases and stuff (like, a lot. I literally spent several hours researching these two diseases). OI and BDA are both sort of complex and I'll be explaining exactly what they are and how they affect the kids in chapter 15 (I just finished writing it yesterday). I was so nervous about doing this because when I originally wrote 'Sick' I looked into the disease Kurt had a bit, but looking back now I realize I probably could have done more research which is what I'm doing for this story.

So, there will be moments where it gets kind of medical, I'm trying to keep it close to being real, but also writing it in a way that isn't confusing and actually makes sense for those of who aren't doctors.

Thanks so much for reading and let me know what you think!