"God today is just not our day, huh?" Damon said as the two of them walked to the car. Stefan was still holding his arm protectively to his chest, and Damon could see the bruising starting to form. He helped Stefan into the car and helped him buckle up. Then they drove to the emergency room, where Damon checked Stefan in and took a seat with Stefan in his lap.
An hour went by and they had still not been met by a doctor and Stefan was beginning to whine about the pain. Damon went to the desk again.
"My son is in a lot of pain. How long till a doctor will see him?" He asked.
"It shouldn't be long now."
And so Damon told Stefan to just hang in for a little longer. It was almost midnight when a doctor finally called out Stefan's name. By then he had fallen asleep and Damon woke him up gently. They followed the doctor to an examination room.
"Can I see your arm, buddy?" The doctor asked and Stefan slowly reached it to him with a wince. The doctor didn't even have to touch it, to know that it was broken, yet he still told one of the nurses to bring Stefan for an x-ray.
"So it will need surgery. We don't perform these kind of surgeries during the night so it's gonna be tomorrow morning, which means that he can't have any breakfast. We can get him a room here, so he'll be ready for the surgery tomorrow and then we will get him some painkillers. For now, I'm gonna put on a temporary cast."
Damon nodded, stroking Stefan's hair while the cast was being put on. Then a nurse brought them to a room and she put Stefan to sleep in the bed which seemed large compared to Stefan's small body. Damon decided to take residency on the couch next to the bed and he soon fell asleep as well.
Stefan woke up around five in the morning due to the throbbing pain in his arm. Damon was still asleep.
"Damon?" Stefan whispered but Damon remained asleep.
"Damon..!" Stefan cried. Damon slowly woke up and asked what what's wrong. Stefan explained his pain but Damon knew that it would take a few hours for Stefan to be able to get into surgery.
"You can watch some videos on my phone if you'd like. It's gonna be a while before the doctor comes." Damon said and reached his phone to Stefan and helped him find a movie online.
Then Damon went back to sleep again. The nurses walked into the room a few hours later. Damon woke up by the sound of it.
"Hi Stefan," one of the nurses smiled. "We're ready to take you to the operating room now. What is going to happen is that we're gonna put you to sleep and then put your arm back in place. We're gonna put some titanium in your arm to keep the bone in place. Your dad will be there when we put you to sleep and when you wake up again."
Stefan nodded but Damon saw his fear, so he took a hold of his uninjured hand and gave it a tiny, affectionate squeeze. Then Stefan was wheeled to the OR and Damon was walking beside the bed the whole time. He took a seat in the OR, while a doctor grabbed Stefans uninjured, left arm. Damon rubbed Stefan's leg soothingly as a nurse turned the younger boy's face to him. But Stefan saw it in her eyes. Something was happening that he wouldn't like and she was trying to distract him.
Stefan starting pulling at his arm, but when the nurses held it down, he cried out in panic. Damon was over his head quickly, looking down at his face and wiping his tears.
"I need you to breathe, Stef." He said but Stefan kept wailing. He ripped his arm away and held it protectively to his chest.
"We were never informed of any phobias." The doctors said.
"I didn't know either." Damon mumbled. "Is there another way?"
"I guess we could just do the mask," a nurse said and the others agreed. A mask was placed over Stefan's tearful face as Damon stroke his hair gently.
"Count with me, hero. I wanna see how long you can get."
Stefan started counting but only reached seven before he went out. Damon kissed Stefan's head and told the doctors to take care of him, before leaving.