A Wall Between

Chapter 27

Sasha's doctor was towards the nicer neighbourhoods. Not quite as snooty as where Cooper had grown up, but safe, comfortable, suburban. No wonder Sasha felt so out of place in their cramped, dirty, loud block of apartments. Could he ever be happy there, or was it just not where he belonged? Maybe it wasn't where anyone belonged. It was just a place people ended up, and some were better at tolerating it than others.

Cooper had never really minded it. Sure, they didn't have a garden, room for pets, or any privacy, but he'd never really let that bother him. He'd made a choice between having all of those things and his own mental health years ago, and he'd never regretted it. You couldn't have everything in life, and what Cooper did have was pretty damn good.

As Cooper had been instructed on the phone, they headed in through the special back emergency entrance when they arrived. A nurse was there ready to meet them, and she directed Sasha towards one of the rooms.

Sasha grabbed hold of Cooper's arm and held on.

"Is it okay if I go in with him?" Cooper asked, more out of politeness than anything. If she said no, well... that was going to be an issue.

The nurse gave Sasha a sympathetic smile. "You a bit nervous, are you? That's fine, love. Of course you can have him with you if that makes you more comfortable. Just lay down on the bed in there and I'll tell the doctor you're here."

Sasha did what he was told and lay down, his hands bunching into fists at his sides. Cooper didn't know what to do, didn't know what to say, so he just stayed close and hoped that was enough.

It only took a couple of minutes for the doctor to enter the room. The smile she gave Sasha when she saw him looked genuine. "Sasha! It's been a while since I've seen you. How have you been?"

Sasha shrugged and gave a tiny nod towards his leg. He said something, but the sounds were jumbled together and the only intelligible words in the whole thing were 'bit me'.

"You had a bit of a run in with a dog, did you?"

Sasha nodded and sat up so that he could roll up the leg of his sweatpants.

"That is a bit nasty, isn't it?" she said as she stepped up beside the bed. She put careful pressure on the sides of the wound with gloved hands and a small amount of pus welled up. "A little bit of an infection there. This happened yesterday afternoon?"

"Yea," Sasha said.

"Okay. Well, I'm glad you came in, because this could have gotten nasty if you'd left it. Infections can be very serious."

Sasha nodded.

"I'm going to clean this out for you, but it might hurt a little bit. Is that okay?"

Sasha nodded and held an arm out towards Cooper.

"Oh, you want your friend?" she asked as Cooper went to Sasha's side. She offered Cooper a smile. "Can you take care of him for me while I do this?"

"Sure," Cooper said. Sasha seemed to just want to cling onto his arms, so Cooper let him do that.

"Are your parents at work right now, Sasha?" the doctor asked as she gathered her wound cleaning supplies.

"Probably," Sasha said. "I don't live with them now, though."

"I'm his neighbour," Cooper explained. "And friend."

"Oh, that's good," the doctor said. "I'm glad he has such a good friend."

"He's been a good friend to me as well."

"Aw, well that's lovely."

Sasha didn't react to the doctor poking into his wound or dabbing things onto it, he just took hold of the hem of Cooper's shirt and fiddled with it, locating and examining a loose thread like that was the most important thing in the world. By the time the doctor had bandaged his leg and told him he could sit up, Sasha looked like he was really struggling. There was something about his gaze, the way it wandered and then locked onto random objects around the room.