#tw refusal of care
Continued from here
CW: Dehydration, refusal of care, questionable Caretaker, kicking, bruises, restraints
“Whumpee? I brought you something to drink.”
“Go to hell.” Whumpee spat, kicking at Caretaker before they even got close.
“Whumpee, let me help you. You need to drink something. You’re dehydrated.”
“I’d rather die. Go fuck yourself.”
Careful to stay out of Whumpee’s reach, Caretaker set the cup on the nightstand. “Aren’t you thirsty?”
Whumpee didn’t answer.
With a sigh, Caretaker braced themself and sat on the edge of the bed again. As they had expected, Whumpee continued kicking them.
Caretaker simply sat quietly, enduring. Again, Whumpee kept at it for about two hours before they finally stopped. Caretaker was sore.
“Whumpee, may I please change your bandages?”
“Go away!”
“Will you at least take a drink before I leave?”
“No!” Whumpee kicked Caretaker one more time.
Caretaker gave a curt nod. “Fine. But I’ll be back later to try again until your answer is yes to one of those requests.” And Caretaker left again.
—
“Whumpee?” Caretaker returned an hour later. “May I change your bandages?”
“Damn you, no!”
“Will you take a drink?”
“I said, no!”
Caretaker sat on the bed once more, biting the inside of their cheek as Whumpee kicked at their already bruised body. “I want to help you— I’m going to help you. I don’t care how many times you kick me, I’m not giving up on you.”
“Why won’t you just leave?? I don’t want your help! I don’t trust you!” Whumpee kicked Caretaker in the head.
Caretaker saw stars. “I know you don’t trust me, but I can’t just let you go. You’re going to get an infection!”
“I don’t care— just stay away from me.”
Caretaker closed their eyes and sat in silence until Whumpee stopped kicking them. Maybe it was all in their head, but they felt like it was a shorter period this time. They allowed the silence to hang in the air for a long moment before speaking.
“May I change your bandages?”
“No.”
“Will you take a drink?”
“You’rereallynot going to leave me alone until I say yes to something, are you?”
“Nope.”
Whumpee was silent.
Well, it wasn’t a no.
When Caretaker held the cup to Whumpee’s lips, they drank, glaring at Caretaker the whole time. Despite Whumpee’s glare, they drank the whole glass of water.
“Thank you.” Caretaker said softly before leaving the room.
