Chapter 38: Milk and Cookies
"Here, I think I can fix you up with something."
Geoff Mallory was good at taking catnaps. It seemed that, besides medicine, the chief skill learned during the intern years was how to fall into a meaningfully deep sleep even if it was only for minutes at a time. The second skill was to know when to wake up and when to just appear awake while still gaining all the benefits of sleep.
A strange noise caused Geoff to open one eye and then another. He had been napping in the winged armchair he kept in his office for such a purpose. Standing in his doorway, swaying slightly, was his patient. Geoff sat up in his chair.
"Kurt? Are you okay?" He asked.
It was a shock to see Kurt awake, let alone walking around, but surprises from Kurt were fairly common at this point. Kurt brushed his hair away from his face with his good hand; the one that still had his rosary tangled around the fingers. He looked a little lost actually.
"Wo ist Wolfgang? " he asked sleepily.
"Wolfgang? Uh, Wolfgang's sleeping. Are you okay? Do you need something?" Geoff got up.
"Ich habe Durst. "
"I'm sorry. I can't understand you when you speak German." Geoff said. "Can you say it in English."
"Thirsty." Kurt said after a moment's consideration.
Geoff laughed. It had to have been hours since Kurt had last eaten or drunk anything. "Here, I think I can fix you up with something." He put a hand on Kurt's shoulder and guided him down the hall to the staff breakroom. Kurt may have been walking but he was still far from awake. His tail was dragging on the ground like an after thought and several times he tripped over it like he didn't know it was his.
Geoff guided him over to a chair and sat him down. Kurt spent a few seconds looking around before clumsily arranging himself so that he was crouched precariously on the seat's edge.
"Maybe I can convince you to switch chairs." Geoff said, offering Kurt a much sturdier chair with arms. Kurt climbed down and took up the same position in the new chair, but this time he looked a lot safer with the arms to keep him from toppling over the side.
"Do you always sit like that?" he asked.
Kurt's response was a string of German and a nod.
"I'm just going to assume that's a 'yes'." Geoff said. "So, you're thirsty. Let's see."
Geoff rummaged around, but there wasn't much. He pulled out what looked like a clean tea mug and filled it with water. "This is a start." He said setting it down in front of Kurt. Geoff could tell how groggy he still was when Kurt tried to drink it without lifting the mug from the table and spilled most of the water on the floor.
"Let's try that again." He said. This time he helped Kurt hold onto it as he gulped the water greedily.
"Better?"
Kurt nodded his head enthusiastically. "Ja."
"How about something to eat? Are you hungry?" Geoff asked, realizing at that very moment he was starving.
He got up and poured Kurt another glass of water. There was even less chance of finding anything edible in here. Geoff opened the refrigerator and found the remains of a week old birthday cake from one of the staff, and an apple. There were a few unopened cartons of milk though. Up in the cupboard Geoff spotted the tartan wrapper of a box of Scottish shortbread cookies, his favorites, especially with milk.
Geoff collected a second mug and brought it with him to the table. He ripped opened the shortbread and poured the milk. He was on his third piece before he realized he hadn't offered any to Kurt.
"Here. They're really good. They're from Scotland," he said. Kurt reached out, but his rosary was still tangled in his fingers. After a moment spent trying to remove it, he changed his mind and took the cookie from Geoff's hand with his tail.
"Wow. That's quite a trick." Geoff said. "Here, let me help you with this." The rosary wasn't wrapped as tightly as it looked and it took only a moment to free Kurt's hand.
"Danke." Kurt said. He let the rosary sit on the table and transferred the shortbread to his hand before biting into it.
"Like it?" Geoff asked. Kurt nodded. "They're even better like this." Geoff dipped one in milk and held it out to him. Kurt accepted it daintily with fingers that reminded Geoff more of a cartoon character than anything else. He suspected that he had undergone the same transformation that anyone who spent any time with Kurt did. Features that had once been frightening seemed drained of their menace, taking on a cartoonish quality, like someone had tried to draw a monster and gotten it all wrong.
They finished off the cookies and most of the milk. Kurt knew about doctors from books and movies but had never been in a doctor's office so he was curious about everything from the posters on the breakroom walls to the stethoscope that was still draped over Geoff's shoulders. Finally Geoff led him back to the exam room that he had turned into a bedroom for the night.
"I thought casts were white?" Kurt said looking at his arm.
"They were. Now they're made out of fiberglass instead of plaster so they come in colors. I thought the blue was a good match. I usually let patients pick, but you were sleeping." Geoff said.
"I like blue." Kurt said. "How long do I to have it on?"
"A month maybe. Not long."
"And this." Kurt held up his other hand, where Geoff had placed the IV.
"A few days if you don't mind it. In case something happens." Geoff said.
"What could happen?" Kurt asked.
Geoff smiled. "Nothing, I hope." He fixed the blankets and helped Kurt lie down.
"Can I go home then?" Kurt asked, making a face as Dr. Mallory tried to put the tube with the oxygen back around his ears.
"In the morning I'll take you and Wolfgang back," he said.
Kurt smiled. "Good," he said.
"But I might come by and visit if you're not too sick of me."
Kurt shook his head.
"Then get some more sleep. Morning will be here soon enough." Geoff said. He dimmed the room lights and watched Kurt close his eyes.
Geoff passed the breakroom on his way back to his office and saw Kurt's rosary sitting on the table where he'd left it. He scooped it up, looking at it in his hand as he walked back to where Kurt was now sleeping. It seemed odd that someone who looked like Kurt would be so religious. Then again it appeared that Kurt was a perfect paradox; everything on the inside in perfect opposition to what was on the outside. He should have expected it.
Geoff returned to Kurt's room where he returned it to it's usual place on Kurt's left hand, wrapping it around once and then closing Kurt's fingers on it, watching his sleeping features shift into a slight smile as though in a silent acknowledgement of thanks.
