I'm going slightly mad // Hardzello

Chapter 24

The door opens seconds after. Rami is the first one to walk in. He is closely followed by Gwil. The latter immediately senses the tense atmosphere in the room. He squints his eyes while looking between Joe and Ben to figure out what is going on.
"Ben, shouldn't you stay in bed?" Rami asks as soon as he sees Ben standing close to Joe's bed. 
"Yeah, I should." Ben shrugs before walking back to the bed. He hisses as soon as his skin comes in contact with the mattress.  Joe never looked at the two boys coming in. Instead, he stares at the window. 
"Everything alright with you guys." Gwil asks while he lets his eyes glide between the two in the beds. 
"Yeah, it's fine." Joe sighs. He turns his head back for the first time. His gaze stays fixated on Rami's face.
"Would you mind handing me that pen and notebook. I can't reach that far." Joe nods towards his bedside table. Rami immediately stands up from his chair to grab the stuff. He looks away from what Joe is writing, but he stays next to the bed so he can immediately place it back when Joe is done. The latter gives Rami a nod and a smile as a thank you. 
"Just so you know, if you want to tell us what happened we will be ears. If you don't want to then it's fine. You should do what feels right."Gwil breaks the uncomfortable silence that has formed. 
"Thanks, guys. But I think we need to discuss which things we do want to tell and which things we don't." Ben says. 
"Sure, I think we should be going. You'll need your sleep for sure. Call us whenever you need anything. Even if it is in the middle of the night. We don't care." Gwil gets up from his chair before placing it back next to the table. 
"Gwil, would you mind asking a nurse to come and check on me really quick? So I can go to bed?" Joe asks. 
"Yeah sure. Do you want us to come back tomorrow?" Gwil asks. Rami has already headed towards the door. His hand rests on the doorknob. His eyes are darting between Joe and Ben. It is obvious that there is something wrong. He tries to figure out whether something new happened or that it is the aftermath of everything that happened earlier. 
"Yes please." Ben answers the question. He turns his head to look at Joe who doesn't look back. Instead, Joe's eyes are still looking in Gwil's direction. 
"Alright. Goodnight boys." Rami gives both of them a smile before heading out. Gwil follows him. RIght before he closes the door he waves at the two. 

The silence stays in the room. Only the sounds of both of them shifting in bed are heard. A nurse walks in without knocking on the door. Joe almost jumps when she starts speaking. 
"I will check on the both of you and then you can go to sleep." She walks over to Joe who points at the notebook on the top of the bedside table. The nurse grabs it to read what Joe has written earlier.

Can you close the curtain while doing the check-ups? I don't want him to see all the bruises. Just say that is the policy or something.

The nurse nods before closing the curtain between the two beds. She doesn't say anything to Ben but instead walks over to Joe.  She helps Joe sit up straight. It is easy for her to check on his chest and back as they didn't give Joe a shirt. He was told that it was better to air out some of the wounds and cuts on his stomach. 
"I will have to touch some of them just tell me if it hurts too much." She carefully unwraps some bandages that are wrapped around Joe's chest. She uses some tools Joe never has seen in his whole life to check on all the wounds and some bruises. After that, she grabs some cooling gel and starts applying it on the bruises. Joe hisses every time her fingers with the cool gel come in contact with his skin. After that, she wraps new bandages around Joe's chest.
"Have you anything that hurts that I didn't check?" Joe looks down at his body to find any spots that still hurt.
"No, I don't think so."

Ben has listened to everything happening on the other side of the curtain. He cringes every time he hears a hiss or moan coming from Joe. It takes a lot of strength to stay in bed instead of running over and hold Joe while everything is going on. The nurse comes walking around the curtain.

The whole time while the nurse is fixing up Ben's bandages and applying the gel all Ben can think of is Joe. Does Joe hate him now? Ben doesn't even notice that the nurse is done until she moves the curtain back. Both of the boys are able to see each other. Joe, however, stares at the ceiling above his bed.
"We need to wake the both of you tonight to check if no wounds are bleeding through the bandages. If you notice blood earlier or you need anything just push the button above your bed. We will be by your side as soon as possible." The nurse smiles at them before walking out of the room. On her way out she turns off the main light. Which leaves them only in the light their own night lights provide them.