Kloppman, Crutchie, and Dollface walked to the doctor in silence. The only sounds that could be heard were the crunching of their feet in the snow. Dollface felt a growing pit in her stomach. She had never been to a doctor before. She had grown to hate them because they refused to help Crutchie without any money. If they had just come across one selfless doctor when they were younger, things could be completely different. She also felt very nervous. She didn't know what to expect in the least and was very grateful that Crutchie had come with them.
They finally reached the doctor's house. Kloppman simply told them that he knew the man well and that he had only called upon him once or twice while working at the boarding house. Had it been a more pleasant day, the doctor would have come to the boarding house but making him walk in the snow to get there would have cost more money. Dollface took a deep breath as Kloppman knocked on the door and they waited for the answer. After a few moments, an elderly man, maybe the same age as Kloppman, opened the door. He said nothing and merely looked from Kloppman to the two battered newsies that stood before him. He then nodded and led them inside.
The house was warm, as there was a large fire in the fireplace. It was small but very cosy. The man gestured for them to all have a seat at the table in the kitchen. He left the room and returned shortly with a large black bag in his hand. He set it on the counter and then turned to face Kloppman.
"I would say its good to see you, Marcus, but the only time you bring the kids to me is when it's bad," he said, looking over to Dollface and Crutchie. "How may I be of assistance?"
"This is Dollface and her brother Crutchie," Kloppman said, introducing them. "And Dollface here is in a bit of a pickle. Tell the man." Dollface looked up at the man, his demeanor very serious, and wished that he would just smile.
"I uh... busted up my arm, sir," she said, her throat suddenly dry. "Hurt my shoulder and wrist." The man nodded and asked her how she hurt it, how long ago the accident happened, and what she had done to try and treat it. Having to recount the story in front of Kloppman again just made Dollface feel worse about the whole thing. She tried to pass her injury off as nothing serious but it had been causing her more pain by the minute. It soon became obvious when the pain distracted her from continuing the story that she did infact need help.
"Ok hop up here," the doctor said, when he saw that Dollface could hardly keep the conversation going. He patted the table that they were sitting around and helped Dollface up on it. He helped to take off her coat and unbutton her shirt. She gripped the edge of the table as her arm was ripped painfully from its sleeve. She hadn't bothered to put the bandages back on after Kloppman made her take them off and now both her shoulder and arm were frighteningly swollen.
The doctor slowly rotated Dollface's wrist in his hands, looking at it from all sides, and then asked her to wiggle different fingers and move her hand around, all of which caused her a great deal of pain. Then he moved onto her shoulder, methodically pressing his hands on either side and then finally trying to rotate it once in its socket. He stopped when he noticed Dollface shaking. He then stood in front of her and extended his hand.
"The name's Dr. Wesley," he said, as Dollface shook his hand, very confused. "Are you alright, Dollface? Other than being in a great deal of pain, I'm sure. Have you ever been to a doctor before?" Dollface simply shook her head so he continued.
"You know, there is nothing to be nervous about," he said in a very soft voice that was almost a whisper. "I'm a very good friend of Mr. Kloppman here and I know he would never take you kids to see a doctor he didn't trust. Now are you gonna be ok with me fixing your arm?" Dollface felt very small, as if he was talking to a five year old. She felt insulted and stupid and needed the man to understand her distrust.
"Doctas didn't exactly do much for me and Crutchie when we was kids," she said, sitting up tall. "Not when pop beat on us til we had bruises all ova our faces. Not when Crutchie hurt his leg. If one docta had been nice to us then, we might be callin Crutchie "Muscles" instead."
"I'm very sorry that happened to you," he said sincerely. "But I'm here to help you now. I'm here to help you so a year from now, you're not called "Sling." I promise that you may leave if you feel uncomfortable with everything but first you have to let me try." Dollface wanted nothing more than to jump off that table and walk out the door but her currently throbbing arm forced her to stay. After a few more seconds of Dr. Wesley looking at Dollface, he smiled and then moved to the counter. He began rummaging in his black bag and pulled out two handkerchiefs.
"Take these and fill them with snow, young man," he said, handing them to Crutchie. "Tie it off in a bundle and bring it back in here." Crutchie nodded and walked outside, letting in a cold breeze as the door opened and closed. He then began pulling out bottles of medicine, actual bandages, not ripped up pieces of cloth, small wooden sticks, and several large needles. Dollface swallowed heavily as she looked at the needles sitting on the counter and then felt a comforting pat on the back from Kloppman, reassuring her even though he should be furious with her right now.
"Ok this is for pain," Dr. Wesley said, pouring liquid from a bottle into a spoon. He handed it to Dollface, who sniffed it and made a disgusted face. She then counted down in her head and swallowed it all in one go. It was very bitter and thick and stuck to the back of her throat. She coughed and then gladly accepted the glass of water Dr. Wesley offered her, gulping down most of it, desperately trying to get rid of the lingering bitterness in her mouth.
Crutchie walked in with the bundles of snow as Dollface was taking her second dose of medicine. He laughed as she gagged on it again and handed the handkerchiefs to Dr. Wesley. He placed one bundle on her wrist and had Dollface hold the other to her shoulder with her good hand.
"Ok now we're relaxing the muscles and numbing everything up," he explained. "In a minute, I'm going to have to give you some shots that should numb your wrist even more. We'll wait a minute for them to take effect and then I'm going to push this bone back into place. Then we'll put it in a splint." Dollface said nothing but just nodded, not looking forward to the shots. They sat mostly in silence for a few minutes except for the occasional conversation between Kloppman and Dr. Wesley. Eventually though, Dr. Wesley moved to the counter and picked up a bottle of medicine. He stuck one of the needles in it, filled the vial with a clear liquid, and then did the same with another.
"Ok you can take the ice off," he instructed, sitting in a chair in front of her. She removed the ice and saw that the swelling had gone down slightly. "It's a good thing we had snow. This would be much worse without it." He picked up one of the needles and took her wrist in his other hand. Dollface felt her heartbeat quicken as the needle drew nearer to her skin and then looked as Crutchie grabbed her free hand, seeing how nervous she was. She squeezed it as Dr. Wesley stuck the needle in her arm and felt a pinch and then a small amount of pressure as he pushed the medicine out of the vial and into her arm.
"Wasn't so bad, now was it?" he asked, pulling the needle out of her arm. "One more and then we'll get going." The second shot didn't hurt as bad, as the medicine was beginning to kick in and she began to lose feeling in her arm.
"This is weird," Dollface said minute later, as she tried and failed to wiggle her fingers. Dr. Wesley laughed.
"Ok now you might still feel this but it shouldn't hurt too bad," he said. He took her wrist in both hands, looked it over again, and then pressed down on the protruding bone. It gave a definite cracking sound and Dollface let out a shout.
"And now it's over," he said, grabbing the wooden sticks and bandages. "Just going to wrap it up and then we'll move onto your shoulder." He places the wooden sticks around her wrist and then wrapped them to stay in place. When he was done, Dollface couldn't move her wrist.
"The use of your wrist is going to be very limited for a while," he said, going to fill three more needles with the same medicine. "But it should keep the bone in place long enough for it to heal correctly. Now your shoulder is a bit more tricky to fix, which is why I'm giving you three shots instead of two. Your shoulder is not being set in the correct place. So we're going to have to pop it back out and then set it correctly." Dollface did not like the sound of this. She winced slightly as the needles entered her shoulder and grabbed Crutchie's hand as she braced herself. Dr. Wesley gave her arm a painful tug that still hurt quite a bit, despite the medicine. He then rotated her shoulder slightly as it began throbbing again. Dollface squeezed Crutchie's hand harder, beginning to think three shots was not enough.
"It's ok, almost over," Crutchie said grabbing her hand now with both of his. Dollface shut her eyes and cried out as Dr. Wesley finally set her shoulder correctly. He grabbed the handkerchief of snow that had been melting slightly and set it on her shoulder. Dollface took slow breaths and focused on the cold drips of water running soothingly down her arm.
"And that's that," Dr. Wesley declared a few minutes later. He had bandaged Dollface's shoulder and helped her to put her clothes on, slowly and carefully over all the bandages. He then showed Crutchie how to properly wrap her arm in a sling so he could help her every morning. He wrapped it snugly and told her to keep it close to her body so small movements wouldn't hurt it. The medicine had not worn off yet and Dollface could hardly feel any part of her right arm. But Dr. Wesley assured her that once the feeling came back, she would most likely still be in pain for a few more days. She listened as he handed her a bottle of medicine.
"Take one spoonful three times a day," he said, tapping the bottle. "Maybe for tomorrow take two spoonfuls twice a day. It would probably be safe to take the bandages off of your shoulder in two or three weeks. As for your wrist, it's going to be six to eight weeks."
"Eight weeks!" Dollface said incredulously. "That's two months."
"Well you messed it up very badly," he said. "Just be patient and it'll heal fine. Make sure to come see me in a month though and I'll check up on everything, alright?" Dollface nodded and then hopped off the table, expecting to leave, but then Dr. Wesley turned to address Crutchie.
"Now let's see what we can do for your leg," he said unexpectedly.
"Oh no sir," Crutchie said, shaking his head. "It's been like this for years. Ain't nothing gonna fix it but that's ok."
"Why don't I just take a look?" he persisted. "You never know, I might be able to do something." Crutchie looked unsure at Dollface, who shrugged, and then to Kloppman, who gestured for him to get on the table that Dollface had been sitting on. Crutchie slowly climbed onto it and propped his leg up, rolling up his pants leg.
Dollface hadn't seen his bare leg in a long time. He never liked anyone to see it so he would change quickly in the boarding house or avoid trips to the docks to swim. It was scarily deformed and bent at a disturbing angle, worse than it was the last time she saw it like this. Dollface could understand why he kept it hidden. Dr. Wesley silently examined it for a few minutes, occasionally asking Crutchie to move it this way or that way.
"Unfortunately, I don't see anything I can do," he finally said. Crutchie nodded though didn't seem disappointed. He knew there wasn't anything to fix it. "If you really wanted to, we could break it and reset the bones, but it would be very painful and most likely require surgery."
"Naw I'm ok, doc," Crutchie said, rolling down his pants leg and climbing off the table. "It ain't worth the trouble. Besides, without the gimp, how would I sell any papes?" Everyone laughed and Dollface smiled, grateful for her brother's always present optimism.
They said goodbye to Dr. Wesley and Kloppman tried to pay him without the twins noticing but Dollface felt a newfound sense of guilt as she watched Kloppman drop several coins into his hand. It should have been her paying, not Kloppman. It was she who had disobeyed him and messed up and now she couldn't even properly own up to her mistake. The walk back to the boarding house was quiet again but Dollface finally broke the silence.
"Thank you, Kloppman," she said sincerely. "For getting me fixed and letting Crutchie come and not being that mad."
"Oh that was only when I thought they'd have to cut your arm off it was so bad," Kloppman said jokingly. "Just wait til I get you and Jack in the same room again. That's when the real anger will come out." They laughed, no one entirely sure if he was serious or not, but walked into the boarding house, glad to be out of the snow. They found Jack waiting for them, sitting in a chair and tapping his foot anxiously. As soon as they passed through the door, he jumped up and began bombarding them with questions.
"Slow down there, Cowboy," Dollface said, silencing him. "I'm fine. The docta fixed me up real good. Hardly felt a thing. Hardly feel a thing right now actually."
"You sure? You're really alright," he repeated, very obviously relieved. "I promise, Doll, whatever you need help with you let me know. I'll help you up into your bed and to eat and to sell papes even and-"
"Jack," Kloppman said, grabbing his shoulder and stopping him. "She's doing just fine. Now please let's all go sit in the dining room. We need to have a bit of a chat." He turned on his heel, his mood very obviously changed, and walked into the dining room. They remained frozen in place.
"I thought he was joking about yelling at us," Dollface said, suddenly very worried.
"Apparently not," Crutchie said, gripping onto his crutch tighter.
"Come on guys, he ain't gonna yell," Jack said, trying to reassure them and himself. "He did that this morning."
"I said get in here!" Kloppman shouted from the other room, making them all jump. They gave each other worried looks before slowly walking into the other room. They took seats next to each other and looked up at Kloppman, preparing for the worst.
"Now I want to know what the hell happened yesterday that led you to Brooklyn instead of back here," he said very sternly.
"It's my fault," Dollface began. "I couldn't stand the thought of being stuck inside on a snow day and I convinced everyone to just goof around and play."
"It was me too," Crutchie jumped in. "Dollface and me both wanted to spend all day outside. Everyone else was real unsure about it though so don't blame them. Jack too. He wanted us all to come back here."
"Yeah but I didn't exactly try hard enough," Jack said. "I knew we wasn't supposed to be outside but didn't do much to stop it."
"So you three are the culprits," Kloppman said, crossing his arms. "Not very shocking but still you three are some of the oldest and I expected better from all of you. Crutchie and Dollface, I told you several times yesterday not to do precisely what you did. You gave me your word that you would come straight home and then completely disobeyed me. Jack, I've already told you that you are the leader but you have to do the right thing, whether or not its a fun decision. I can't stress enough how much you need to be a role model for these kids. All of you have to look out for them and lead by example. And breaking promises and disobeying me is not the right way, do I make myself clear?" They all nodded quietly.
"Now I'm giving everyone a 4 o'clock curfew for two weeks but I just don't think that will do it for you three," he continued. "Crutchie, you can't go with Racetrack to the races anymore. Dollface, hope you remember what Spot looks like because you won't be seeing him for two weeks. Jack, same goes for you and Katherine."
"Are you really grounding us?" Jack asked incredulously. "We's almost adults and you're tellin us when to be home and who we can and can't see?"
"You will abide by my rules or you will leave this boarding house," Kloppman said shortly. "Your choice." Jack responded by quietly sitting back in his chair.
"I'm sorry, sir," Crutchie said. "We won't disobey you again."
"And I promise to pay back every cent I owe you for the doctor," Dollface said quickly.
"No, I'll cova it," Jack said. "I gotta step up and take responsibility for my actions.
"It's my arm. I'll pay for it," Dollface insisted.
"I'm the one who made you get up on the fire escape so I'll pay for the docta," Jack said a bit aggressively.
"I'm the one who wasn't payin attention so I'm paying Kloppman back," Dollface replied, matching Jack's tone. Kloppman rolled his eyes as they continued their stubborn bickering and stood up.
"Come on, Crutchie," he said, handing the young man his crutch. "Let's see if we can't find something to eat and leave these two idiots to their fight." They left the room unnoticed as Dollface and Jack now stood nose to nose, nearly shouting about the subject.
So that's the end! I hope you all enjoyed this little story. I always have random story ideas in my head so I'm sure there will be more.