Disclaimer: As if I need to keep mentioning that these are not my characters…

Chapter Three

Abby walked back into Exam One twenty minutes later. That should have been enough time for the morphine to set in, she figured. Chuny was following right behind her. "Alex, this is Chuny," Abby introduced as she walked up to the young boy.

"I know who she is," Alex said irritably. "I know who most of you are," he pointed out. "Can we just get this over with?" he asked.

"Alex," Sam warned again for the umpteenth time. She sighed heavily but decided not to say anything else. She understood her son's impatience. His leg hurt, and he wanted the pain to stop. She had felt the same way when she gave birth to him. The whole staff at that hospital hated her, she recalled. She sighed heavily again as she took her son's hand in hers.

"Ready?" Abby asked as she placed a blanket under Alex's injured knee. She handed the ends to Chuny, who nodded at Abby. "Alex, you ready?" Abby repeated.

"Depends," Alex said as he looked down at what the two females. "What the hell are you going to do?"

"Language," Sam warned again.

"Abby's a big girl," Alex responded. "She's heard the word 'hell' before," he reminded his mother with a roll of his eyes.

Abby chuckled slightly. "I'm not going to get into that, but I can answer your question. We're going to pop your knee back in place. Chuny's going to pull on the blanket, and I'm going to make sure it goes where it has to," Abby explained clearly. "It will hurt a lot, but we gave you some medicine to dull the pain." She knelt down slightly. "Whenever you're ready," she added.

Alex nodded as he looked around the room. Both Abby and Chuny were waiting for his cue. He looked up at his mother who still had that look of fear in her eyes. Alex knew that look would not go away until he was treated. "Ok," he said finally. "I'm ready," he added as he grabbed Sam's hand a little tighter, bracing himself.

Abby did exactly as she said she was. As she did, Alex screamed loudly and increased his grip on his mother's hand, causing a loud shriek of pain to escape from her mouth.

"All done," Abby announced a moment later. She rose from the floor and looked down at Alex. "It'll be sore for a few days. I would not recommend walking on it," she instructed him. "If you have any questions, you can certainly ask your mother or Luka," she added. "Chuny will finish up with you, then you're free to go," she said as she handed the chart to Chuny.

Abby started to walk to the door when Sam elbowed Alex gently. "What do you say?" she whispered as she tilted her head at Abby.

Alex rolled his eyes at her. "Thank you, Abby," Alex said in a monotone voice. "Oh, can you send Luka out when he's done?" he asked a moment later.

"You're welcome, and I'll do my best," Abby promised as she left the exam room.

"You ok?" Chuny asked as she started wrapping up Alex's injured knee.

Alex shrugged. "I guess," he answered.

"I was talking to your mother," Chuny pointed out. "You let out quite a scream," she said as she looked up at Sam. "You ok?" she repeated.

Sam nodded as she rubbed her hand gingerly. "I will be," she said. "I'm just glad that he's ok."

"So when can I play soccer?" Alex asked.