as an old ER tech, if someone came in with a story like that, even though the bruising would not be apparent yet, we'd suspect either he had a syncopal event and did not want to admit it, or is protecting the person who slugged him.

either way, it's not possible a doctor wouldn't know how many sutures - it's required to document in the chart. nor would an ER doc call that a lot, a few in the eyebrows and lip. reattaching a scalp, now that's a lot of sutures.