Page 86 of Hurt

Willow hovered by the door. She didn’t know what to say or do. She stared at the smudges of blood on her hands and felt like she might pass out. Shivering, she wrapped her arms around herself and tried to will her feet to move.

Sid’s hands stopped when they encountered the open pants. Clenching his jaw, he moved past it and worked on getting the T-shirt up and over Kurt’s head.

A shockingly dark bruise colored the right half of Kurt’s chest and abdomen. Vivid against his skin, it was mottled with different shades of purple, and all three gasped at the sight. Sid even staggered back.

Noah and Willow had seen their fair share of injuries. Injured Mesa gang members filtered in and out of Luther’s home all the time, and they had both treated Kurt when he was fighting in the clubs. But this was something none of them had ever seen.

Molly arrived in a swirl of floral perfume. Looking shockingly well put together, she strode in and looked at her patient.

“Well,” she said as she dropped the heavy medical bag she was carrying. “Fuck.”

Pulling a penlight out of her pocket, she flashed the light over Kurt’s eyes. Tutting at the results, she reached around behind his neck and felt along the back of his neck.

“Ribs?” she asked him.

“Yeah,” he replied dryly. “Collapsed lung, too.”

“Same one?”

“Yeah.”

Poking at his ribs, he winced when she touched certain spots. “Concussion?”

Kurt didn’t say anything, but they both knew he had one.

Willow came up beside Molly and watched their interaction like she was floating above them. She was no longer part of the scene—just an unbiased viewer watching her favorite TV show go up in flames.

“Collapsed lung? This has happened before?”

Molly shared a look with Kurt and inhaled sharply. “You should go.”

“Like hell I am. Have you been lying for him?” Willow demanded.

The doctor began examining the laceration on his head. “This will need stitches.”

“It’s fine,” Kurt dismissed it, looking a little more conscious now.

“You need a hospital. There could be a fracture, and one of those broken ribs could have pierced the lung. Not to mention that bruise. That is right over your liver and kidneys. There could be internal bleeding.”

Kurt ignored her, struggling to sit up for a moment before the pain became too great, and he flopped back.

“Did you just say it’s fine?” Willow asked Kurt. “And did you just give a patient the option to go to a hospital? If he needs to go, he needs to go! Sid, grab him, and let’s go.”

Sid hesitated as he looked between Kurt, Molly, and Willow like a loyal dog, confused as to who he should listen to.

“He doesn’t normally go.”

Willow’s blood froze. “Normally? You knew. You all fucking knew, and not one of you told me?”

She advanced on Sid. “How many times, Sid? How many times have you protected me on stage while you let my brother get hurt?”

“Don’t you dare.” Molly grabbed the back of Willow’s shirt and jerked her away from her brother.

“Don’t you dare blame your family's fuckery on my brother. He didn’t do anything wrong. Kurt told us not to, so we didn’t.” Her round eyes were blazing with anger and hurt.

Willow might feel bad about taking it out on Sid if she wasn’t feeling so blindsided.

“Noah, take her out of here. I need to do what I can for this blockhead.”