Ethan searched for a tap inside the kitchen and filled a bucket with water. He walked around mopping the floor as the rest of the inmates walked over the mopped surface intentionally. They would all spit when they came across him, making his work a load to do. When he had done mopping a certain part, one of the guys from the neighboring station went over to him, inserted a cup inside a boiling soup, and poured its contents on the floor as Ethan watched, anger and disgust embedded on his face. He however cleaned it up as he tried to avoid any unnecessary drama. He moped for over one hour repeating some stations over five times. He just wished he would get back to his cell and rest for a while. This seemed like torture and nothing encouraging at all. After a few minutes, he went over to pour the dirty water into a drain in the bathroom of the kitchen. The bathroom was pretty clean though. He rinsed the bucket and the mop and walked back to the kitchen and found Josiah right outside the bathroom, with three other men blocking his way from the bathroom. His eyes picked up two of the guys on the main kitchen's door and the last two cooking at the stations.
"I'm sorry," Josiah told him in his coarse voice. "It was an accident."
"Accident? What accident?" Ethan asked, confused.
"This one!" Josiah said as he grabbed Ethan by the collar and pulled him out of the bathroom, sending him to the floor instantly, and directing a kick into his stomach leaving his mind to unbelievable pain, but that was just the start. Ethan struggled to get up but another man kicked him in the side of his face, just below the chin. He dropped down, losing sense of reality. As he tried to get up again, Josiah's fist landed perfectly on his left eye, and he dropped down again, face up as he closed his eyes from the excruciating pain. His heart skipped a beat when more and more blows followed with kicks added on his body. He could feel his own life leaving his body, as sweat and tears trickled down his damaged face. One of the three men took a rolling pin and skidded over to Ethan in the just mopped slippery floor. He struck Ethan's right leg over and over squeezing out the energy it bared. Three mighty blows to it were all it took. Josiah got on his knees with the knife in his hand. He placed it against Ethan's neck.
"You are not supposed to be here. It was an accident! Repeat after me boy!" Josiah growled. Ethan did not heed. Josiah pressed the knife on Ethan's throat. It rose up and down against his skin as he breathed heavily. "They will ask you what happened and you will say that it was an accident! Or the next time you won't get away with your life! Repeat!"
Ethan struggled to speak, let alone see. "It... was.... an accident."
"Good!" Josiah smirked and turned to the door. "HELP! Emergency here!" He screamed out so loudly that some officers came rushing in. They quickly took Ethan and put his arms over their shoulders and carried him away from the kitchen to the infirmary, as fast as they could.
"Put him in the bed over there." The female doctor told the officers as Ethan was led into her office, his condition thought to be serious. The officers did so and they walked outside leaving the young woman to tender to Ethan's injuries. She closed her door after grabbing some supplies from the medicine room. She went over to him, opened up some syringes and drew in some of the medicine, and stopped before she injected him with whatever she saw fit. His left eye had now developed a black tint, so swollen and ripe with the corner of his lips bleeding. His vision was blurry on that eye and the pain so intense. He could feel the pain in his right leg and he cried out in agony. The doctor looked at him longingly as she tried to cohere to his pain.
"Hey, I'm going to give you painkillers to cool down the pain, okay?"
Ethan nodded slightly, his hands all over his head, and his breathing more intense. She injected him and he calmed down after five minutes.
"What happened?" She asked, worry in her voice.
"It was... an accident!" He groaned out desperately.
"Ethan, this doesn't look like an accident!" Dr. May called out to him, strapping his hurt leg firmly on the bed. Ethan fidgeted as she did so, the pain just too unbearable despite the painkillers. "Ethan, what happened? I need to know so that I know how to approach these injuries!"
Ethan groaned out as sweat trickled down his face to the side of his ears, meeting a shed tear along. "What does it look like?" He mumbled in agony, giving out hissing sounds. "It was a freaking accident. Do your work doc!"
"Fine!" The doctor growled. "If that's what we are going to base this event on, then fine." Ethan kept quiet, as his breathing intensified. "Can you manage to open your eyes?" She asked.
"I... I can manage." Ethan said. He opened both of the eyes but closed them instantly as the pain rushed in again from the hurt eye when it met the light. He groaned out again, tears stroking his face that ultimately landed on the side of his ears. He opened his right eye alone this time, leaving the other to heal its pain.
"Oh, what have they done to you, you sweet boy?" Dr. May hissed. She took a penlight and examined his eyes. "This eye is unscratched, fortunately. However, the other one looks to be in terrible condition." She told him, as she noted something down in her book. She put the book and headed to his limbs and pressed on them, trying to feel if they were hurt after she noticed Ethan was trying to reach for them. "How about your legs, tell me if it's painful here?"
Ethan rose from the sleeping posture and took her hands away from his right leg, "It hurts. It hurts!" He groaned desperately. He threw himself back on the bed and covered his face with his palms as he adjusted to his painful episode. "It hurts so bad..."
"Okay, I'm going to give you an anesthetic for the pain. I'll also have to plaster your right leg."
"Wait! Wait... am I going to walk again?" Ethan blurted out from under his hands, hissing out at the pain.
"Yes, yes. After two weeks perhaps you can start walking without crutches but as of now, they're all you got. You were hurt bad Ethan. A few more minutes and I'd be forced to transfer you to a higher medical facility for a serious case like say an amputation." He sighed, hopeless. "Ethan you need to know where you've come. If you continue living the way you are, you will end up in a pretty bad shape. Worse than this." The doctor continued. "Tell me what happened."
Ethan groaned and released his palms from his face. His face was in a bad shape. The other eye had swollen and was so rich in dark purple, almost black. "It was an accident." He said softly and covered his face again. His chest rose high and low as the heavy breaths continued.
"Okay, take off your jacket and put it under your head. Take your shoes and socks off too."
Ethan rose up again from the resting posture, pain, and agony circling in his veins. He was sweaty and his skin looked greasy. He took off the jacket first and placed it above the pillow to where his head would rest. He struggled in futile efforts and reached for his white sneakers and took them off, hissing and groaning as he arched his body forward as the doctor watched. He however failed to do so, fell back again, and put his arms above his head crying out bitterly. The doctor went over to him, took off the sneakers from his feet and slid down the socks from his right foot. When she had placed them somewhere on the floor, she headed for his waist and put her hands on his trousers, and started to slide it down his legs.
"What do you think you're doing?" Ethan asked sharply, as he caught one of the woman's arms.
"I need to get this off you. You won't be wearing these sizes as long as you have a plaster on this leg. "And I can't put a plaster on your leg while this trouser is still here." Ethan still had his hand well grasped on her arm. "Don't worry. I've seen bigger ones." She added later on. And with that, Ethan let go off of her arm and covered his face as she slid the trousers down his legs, leaving him with his white shirt and boxers. She then hurriedly took a bedsheet and covered him from his laps, way up to his chest.
"Okay. I need you to cooperate, it's going to be a long day, okay?" She asked. Ethan nodded, still hidden under his hands.