Prompt: Jeff gets into a fight and a tooth gets knocked out and has to see Nick (a dentist).
Once again Jeff found himself hiding in a tree on campus. Yes this was a little inconvenient for him, but he had learned how to climb quickly after the fourth incident with the school jocks. It was embarrassing to even think about.
This time, however, Jeff had had enough. The dean of students couldn't help him stop the bullying because there were no witnesses when the fights occurred. He had to give them credit, they knew exactly when to strike.
When the coast was clear Jeff jumped down from his perch and began running to the parking lot. He knew he only had a small window before they reappeared to terrorize him.
When he rounded the corner to building D he slammed into a wall of rock hard muscle.
"Hey guys, look who decided to come out and play" the tall lean football player boasted. He hauled Jeff up by his shirt collar as the group began laughing and hollering slurs at him. Jeff struggled as he tried to break free from the iron grip on him.
The guys took turns shoving Jeff around until one finally got him in a hammer lock. He couldn't break free from the submission hold and soon became a punching bag.
They laid into his ribcage a few times and gave a few kicks to his leg. Then they progressed to his face. Jeff was screaming for help, but no one came. He took a hit to the face and almost blacked out, almost. That would be a black eye tomorrow.
Jeff had the sudden instinct to fight back, and gathered his strength. He raised his legs up as a new man was approaching and kicked out as hard as he could, sending him stumbling back. The group didn't like that act of bravery one bit.
"Tough guy, huh? We'll see how tough you are after I'm through with you."
The man grabbed a fistful of Jeff's shirt with one hand and held him up while the other arm wound up for the swing. When his fist collided with Jeff's face he felt an unimaginable wave of pain and blacked out for a few seconds.
"HEY! What are you doing?!" A man shouted from across the quad.
The group of men looked nervous as the young man approached. But quickly lost interest as they saw who is was.
"Oh it's just nick you guys" they laughed. "Go back and finish studying man; we didn't mean to bother you."
Nick looked down at the poor boy bleeding on the ground. "No, I think I'll stay, and YOU can all leave" he insisted.
"Oh yeah, what are you going to do, make me?" The leaded challenged.
"Need I remind you we share a dorm and I have no problem waiting until you are asleep to practice for my practicals."
The leaders face grew pale at that promise and gestured for the rest to follow him. One of the guys looked confused and angry.
"Why do we have to stop our fun just because this punk ass showed up?" He questioned angrily.
He advanced on Jeff who was regaining consciousness, but before he could continue the torment nick intervened. He grabbed the man's arm and twisted it behind his back in a submission hold. When the guy grunted in pain nick kicked the back of his knees so they buckled and forced him face down onto the ground.
"Now listen here you. My father is a cop, and I know self-defense far more than you seem to. If you are ready to get your ass kicked then keep it up. But you will leave this boy alone, now" Nick threatened dangerously.
The group gathered their startled friend and hurried away. Nick, who was brushing the dust off his jeans, turned to Jeff on the ground again, who was now trying to crawl away.
"Hey, slow down, you need to rest for a bit" Nick smiled gently. Jeff gave him a frightened look, afraid that Nick would be his next tormenter.
"I'm not going to hurt you; I just had to get that guy to stop. I promise I'm a nice guy, really" nick laughed.
Jeff relaxed his shoulders a bit and lay on the ground, breathing heavily. Nick took a minute to assess his injuries. He noticed a few cuts on his face, a pretty deep one on his lip, as well as some bruising. He pulled Jeff's shirt up to see the damage, but his hand was slapped away.
"Calm down, I have some medical training" Nick rolled his eyes. "Where does it hurt the most?"
"Mmm, my head. I blacked out, but he hit me pretty hard twice" Jeff explained. He indicated his left eye and his lower jaw. Nick gently took hold of Jeff's chin and pried his mouth open.
"Oh, it looks like he knocked one of your teeth out" Nick sighed. He carefully looked around on the ground for a minute while Jeff shut his eyes in panic.
"Found it!" Nick exclaimed. "You're lucky, it's in one piece. I will probably take well if we put it back in soon."
"We?" Jeff questioned curiously.
Nick laughed at himself. "Well 'we' meaning me, but you're involved too since it's your face."
"I don't understand, who are you?" Jeff questioned.
"Oh right, names. I'm Nick, and I'm in my fourth year of the dental program. This all probably makes more sense now right?" Nick grinned sheepishly.
Jeff's face paled and he tried to sit up by himself. "I'm fine actually, we don't need to do anything, but if you could help me to the medical center so I can get some ice packs that would be fantastic" Jeff insisted.
"Uh, I don't think that's a good idea at all man. Honestly, there's no reason you can't keep all your pretty teeth. I don't think I caught your name by the way" Nick insisted.
"It's Jeff, and I don't need help, it'll be fine" Jeff spoke distractedly as he looked for a means of escape.
"Mm hmm, and do you just plan on growing more teeth like a shark?" Nick quipped.
"If at all possible, yes. Thank you for stopping those guys from pulverizing me. Now I'm going to head back to my dorm and sleep it off" He tried to pick himself up but nick stopped him and forced him to sit down again. Jeff didn't have the strength to resist his forcefulness.
"Nick, its Nick right? Yeah, I'm not liking where this is going. I kind of have this thing about people who mess around with my face. The thing being, it scares the crap out of me. So, please, let me go?" Jeff stammered and looked Nick deep in the eyes.
Nick wasn't about to give in so easily, and helped Jeff onto his feet. He supported the younger boy by hooking his arm under Jeff and steadying him to walk. "What if I promised to make sure you are in full control and comfortable while I take care of things. We can go at a pace you feel safe with, but I have to insist, no, force my way on this one" Nick reassured.
"n-no, put me down" Jeff was now trembling. "I'd rather those guys come and wail on me some more."
"Well that seems a little melodramatic" Nick chuckled. He then noticed how pale Jeff had become since they started walking. Jeff grew more stubborn the further Nick dragged him, and let his body go limp, refusing to walk any further. Nick smiled deviously, accepting Jeff's challenge and picked his new friend up in his arms.
"NO, NO, PUT ME DOWN" Jeff screamed. As he realized with his bullies earlier, there was no one around to hear his calls. His eyes started to water and his face burned red with embarrassment. "Please…. Please put me down." He was shaking uncontrollably now.
"Hey Jeff, relax. I promise it's not going to hurt when I pop it back in" Nick frowned.
Jeff cringed at that statement and squirmed more in nicks arms. They arrived at the campus medical center after a short while and Nick set Jeff down to open the doors. If Jeff hadn't been injured he probably could have escaped farther than he did. But Nick dragged him back the few short feet he had limped away.
"Come on Jeff, your lip is bleeding too. You look like a mess, at least let me clean you up" Nick tried to reason.
Jeff nodded his head and bit his lip awkwardly, which caused him to yelp in pain. He could taste the blood on his lips and it was making him nauseous. He followed Nick cautiously into the student clinic, looking around anxiously as they walked.
"What's your field of study Jeff?" Nick questioned. He was attempting to make light conversation to distract his distraught patient.
"What?" Jeff turned in confusion, not hearing what Nick had said. He was too busy eyeing everything. It all intimidated him.
"What's your major?" Nick laughed.
"Oh, um….. I'm in the fine arts program, Theater arts to be exact. That's kind of why I get beat up a lot by those guys. That and… well they don't agree with my personal life" Jeff trailed off. He was actually calming down now that he had something to talk about.
"What do you mean personal life?" Nick questioned as he opened the door to a private room and gestured for Jeff to step inside.
"They beat me up because I'm Bi" Jeff admitted.
"Well that's a stupid reason" Nick commented. "" I mean, I'm gay and they don't bother me. But that's also because I can defend myself" Nick laughed under his breath. "That and Connor is afraid of me much the same way you are currently."
"Is that what you meant when you told him to back off?" Jeff grinned slyly. He was happy taking to Nick; it felt like that had been friends for years.
"Yeah, I might have to psych him out later, although I don't like using my degree to cause psychological trauma."
At the mention of that Jeff's smile fell. It reminded him of why they were here again. He looked around and realized they were already in the exam room, which caused him to tense up.
"Don't stress out Jeff, there's nothing to worry about. Just have a seat and we'll be done in twenty minutes."
Jeff shook his head vigorously, and refused to move when Nick began pushing him towards the chair.
"Jeff, come on, work with me" Nick grunted as he forced Jeff to sit down.
"Nick you don't understand, I can't do this. I kick, I scream, I've even bitten people before."
Nick shook his head as he placed Jeff's tooth in a glass of saline. He grabbed a pack of clean tools from the drawers and laid them out. "Well I've already heard the screaming, and seen the kicking. Don't bite me though" Nick warned comically.
Jeff didn't see it as very funny. In fact he was growing more distressed as Nick prepared and adjusted everything around him. Nick reclined the chair and turned on the light, as he grabbed his tools.
"Okay Jeff, time is of the essence here, so we really don't have time to meditate or talk about the weather. I'll tell you what I'm doing when I do it, but you're going to have to trust me."
With a little apprehension Jeff seemed to relax and opened his mouth for Nick.
"Great job Jeff, let me see if we can't just place the tooth back in."
Jeff felt a pinch and some uncomfortable twisting movements. He started to hyperventilate. Nick had him shut his mouth and bite down to keep the tooth in place.
"I need to put a splint on the surrounding teeth to hold it in place for a week or two. After that time you'll have to come back to see if we need to perform any other treatment. But don't worry about that now" Nick explained.
Jeff nodded stiffly as Nick readied the splint. It looked like a section of braces. Thankfully Jeff had had braces as a teenager and was already aware of the sensation. It didn't take long for Nick to apply them to the bottom left half of Jeff's mouth.
Jeff let out a sigh of relief when Nick began cleaning up.
"See, I told you it would be fine. You worry too much."
"Yeah, but you also said I'd have to come back and have something else done" Jeff argued.
"Possibly. Don't get hung up on that though. Just rest for the next couple of week and eat softer foods" Nick advised as he dabbed away the blood from Jeff's cuts.
"You might need a stitch or two for your lip dude. Just my opinion." Nick allowed Jeff to hold a towel to his bottom lip and climb out of the chair.
"Do you want me to walk you to the student clinic" Nick offered.
"Are you offering as my bodyguard, or my friend?" Jeff countered.
"Both I suppose" Nick grinned.
