Part 2
Glancing at Chris, Nathan received a nod indicating he should go ahead and call Family Services now that they had names. Not wanting the boys to over hear his conversation, Nathan stepped out of the alley before pulling out his cell phone to place the call.
Meanwhile, Chris continued talking to the boys, trying to get as much information as possible. “What were you doing here?”
“We live over in the warehouse.” Pointing, Vin indicated the warehouse that the ATF had just raided. “About a week ago, some men came and made us get out. We ain’t found a new place yet.”
Chris felt sick when he thought of these boys living alone in that warehouse. The building was infested with rats and very drafty. It would have afforded them very little protection against the cold, though it would have cut the wind and been a shelter against the snow and rain.
Taking another look at the boys lined up in front of him, Chris noticed Vin holding his left arm close to his body, guarding his ribs. “What’s wrong, Vin? Are you hurt?”
Vin remained silent, but Ezra quickly explained, “The miscreants that summarily evicted us from our domicile were none too gentle about persuading us that it would be advantageous for us to vacate the premises post haste.”
Blinking, Chris took a moment to sort through what the boy had said. “You mean they beat you up?”
“I believe that is what I just said,” the exasperated boy grumbled.
Nathan started talking as soon as he stepped back into the alley. “I got a hold of Judge Travis and Harper at DFS. Family Services should be…” What ever else he had been going to say was cut off by the boys’ outcry.
At the words ‘Family Services,’ Ezra came alive. Throwing himself at Chris, Ezra shouted, “Vin, JD, get out of here!” Startled though the agents were, Buck quickly picked up JD as Josiah grabbed Vin and held him. Seeing his companions subdued, Ezra fought to get away from Chris and help them.
“Whoa! What’s wrong?” Chris said trying to calm the terrified boy in his arms. When Ezra turned his brilliant green eyes up at the hardened agent, they were once again filled with fear and tears.
Finally coming to the end of his strength, Ezra collapsed against Larabee’s chest, sobbing. “Don’t let them take Vin and JD. They’ll split us up, and they’ll hurt them. I promised I wouldn’t let them get hurt. Please?” Ezra’s racking sobs were interrupted by an equally racking cough. A cough that sounded like he was going to bring a lung up.
“Nathan!” Chris called as he put a hand to Ezra’s forehead and felt the building fever.
Hurrying past the now quiet Vin and JD, Nathan reached Chris and the now limp Ezra. Quickly examining the child as best he could, Nathan said, “There’s not much I can do for him here. We need to get them all to doctor.”
“Chris, it would be faster just to take them ourselves. The suburban would fit us all and I have lights and siren onboard,” Josiah offered, keeping a hand on Vin shoulder as he released him.
When Chris nodded, Nathan volunteered, “I’ll call and cancel the DFS pick-up.”
Hoisting the shaking child into a better position, Chris started walking back to where they had left Josiah’s vehicle. Adam would have been about Vin’s age now, and he had been thinking of Adam this entire time. Chris’s anger had not lessened, it had only been shoved down and controlled. Even as he carried the small chestnut hair boy, he struggled to control his expression. He hoped he found the people responsible fore these boys being on the street. He wanted to have a long discussion with them about the proper care of children.
And he could guarantee that he would be the only one enjoying the discussion.
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The ride to the hospital pasted quickly and quietly, aside from Ezra’s coughing and the occasional sneeze from JD. Chris held on to Ezra the entire way there, overriding the boy’s weak protests. The small boy had reached the end of his rope and did have the strength to give more than a token resistance.
After arriving at the hospital, Josiah quickly explained to the duty nurse what was going on, but when the nurse tried to take Ezra and Chris back, JD and Vin absolutely refused to be left behind.
“He’s our brwotherw,” JD insisted, stamping his foot for emphasis.
“Brother’s don’ go alone,” Vin said quietly, his arms folded across his thin chest in finality.
Swallowing, Chris asked the nurse, “Are any of the rooms big enough for all of us?”
Looking from the dirty, ragged little boys to the four ATF agents, the nurse reviewed what rooms she had open before answering. “I have a room that would fit the boys and two of you, but I don’t have one that would fit all of you, I’m sorry.”
“Chris, you and Buck take the boys. Nathan and I’ll be out in the waiting room.” Josiah volunteered as Nathan nodded his agreement.
Chris smiled his thanks as he turned to follow the nurse, still carrying the small form of Ezra Standish. “Thanks, Josiah,” Buck said as he took both of the other two boys by the hand and lead them after Chris.
The nurse led them into a small room off the main Emergency ward. “This room is usually split into two bays, but if we push the curtain back like this, we should be able to fit all of you in here.” The nurse deftly pushed back the curtain, while waving Chris over to sit Ezra down on one of the beds.
“Why don’t you two hop up here?” Buck asked Vin and JD as he patted the side of the other bed. Vin nodded, then turned and wrapped his hands around JD’s waist and helped him up before Buck could say another word. Crawling up on the bed behind JD, he wrapped his arms protectively around the smaller boy and glared and Buck and Chris, daring them to say anything about it.
Buck just shook his head before looking back over the pitiful figure on the other bed. Damn, looks like he might be here for a while. As another coughing fit shook the small body, he winced. That’s got to hurt.
Another nurse bustled in after a few minutes and started taking the boys vital signs. It took some persuading to get Vin to let her take his temperature as he didn’t want to open his mouth, and the automatic blood pressure cuff gave JD a small start, but it went fairly well. Ezra was too weak to object to any of it.
Half an hour later, Buck was getting antsy when the doctor finally arrived. Both Chris and Buck looked up when the door opened to admit a balding man in his late fifties.
“Hello, I’m Dr. Roberts, and who do we have here?” the man said cheerfully.
“This is
Moving around to stand between the beds, the doctor greeted
each of the boys by name, but only JD answered him. Vin wasn’t up to talking to anyone, and Ezra
was coughing too hard to spare the
“Well, sounds to me like you got a good case of bronchitis developing there, young man,” Roberts said as he reached out to examine Ezra.
Ezra pulled away, shaking his head and whispering, “Vin and JD first.”
Roberts flashed a charming smile and said, “I’ll be looking at them too, but I need to check you out first.”
Ezra still continued to pull away, and pointed over the doctor’s shoulder even as he coughed. Chris rubbed his back back trying to calm the coughing, but it took a while before Ezra could control it.
“Doc, it might be easier if you gave these two a fast once over. These guys can be a mite stubborn when they want,” Buck suggested from where he sat rubbing his leg where Vin had kicked him in the struggle.
“Found that out already, have you?” the doctor chuckled as he turned to check the other boys quickly.
“Oh, yeah,” Chris said wryly, keeping one hand on Ezra’s back as he stood behind him and watched the doctor with Vin and JD.
Starting with the younger of the boys, Roberts returned the child’s quiet, “Hello,” with a bright smile. Grabbing a clean hospital gown, he started his examination of the boy by getting him out of the filthy clothing that swathed his body. Thankfully, he found nothing more seriously wrong than a few minor bruises and a skinned knee. He chattered with his young patient all through the ten minute examination about nothing in particular, though he did discover the boy was just over five, not four as the ATF agents had thought. Wrapping the cold child in a blanket, he reported his findings to the two anxious agents and turned his attention to the oldest boy.
Vin was a whole ‘nother story. Vin didn’t say a single word during the examination, even when the doctor palpated the bruising on his stomach and chest, he didn’t make a sound. Again the doctor got the child into a clean hospital gown right away. The doctor clucked his tongue each time he found another bruise. When he asked where they had come from, Buck and Chris saw the quickly hidden flash of anger on the doctor’s face when they explained that the boys had been driven out of the warehouse they had been living in.
“Well, Vin, you’re worst injury is that sprained wrist. We’ll send you up to get some x-rays just to be sure later and get you a brace for it. It should be good as new in a few weeks,” Roberts explained to the boy, but Vin just nodded his head and didn’t answer. Roberts handed a blanket to the older boy, and watched as he wrapped himself up in it.
As the doctor turned to examine his third patient, he said, “Would one of you gentlemen go ask the nurse to bring some glasses of juice for our young friends? I’ll bet their thirsty, aren’t you, boys?”
JD nodded enthusiastically as he agreed, while Vin simply nodded once. Ezra nodded too as the doctor started his examination.
After one look at his friend, Buck slipped out of the room quietly, leaving Chris to continued watching over their charges. He watched as the doctor gentle checked Ezra’s eyes and ears, but they ran into a snag when he went to remove the boy’s outer shirt.
As the doctor reached forward to start unbuttoning it, Ezra pulled away as best he could, muttering, “No.”
“It’s alright, Ezra,” Chris reassured him. “The doctor just wants to make sure you’re okay.” Thinking the boy might accept him better, Chris reached for the buttons on his shirt only to have the boy shy away from him, too.
“Ezrwa don’t like not having p…prwoperw clothes on, says it makes him rwememberw too much,” JD piped up helpfully, even while Vin was trying to shush him.
“Remember too much what?” Chris asked with a sinking feeling in his stomach.
“Being hurwt,” JD answered sadly.
Chris stood and moved in front of Ezra on the gurney. “Ezra, we really need you to take your shirt off. The doctor needs to see how badly you’re hurt. Please?” Chris met the boy’s direct gaze unflinchingly. He seemed to be searching his face for something, weighing whether the man standing there could be trusted. It saddened Chris greatly that the boy had had to learn how to do that at such a young age.
Chris felt relieved and strangely happy when Ezra nodded his
head slightly, and whispered, “Very well.”
With trembling fingers, the small boy unbuttoned the dirty outer
shirt. Layer by layer, Ezra removed the
clothes that had protected him from the cold of the
Buck and the nurse were just coming through the door when
Ezra, sitting with his back to the door, removed his last shirt to sit on the
gurney in just his underwear. Startled,
he couldn’t contain a softly muttered, “Oh, God!” while the nurse simply
“Sonuva…” Chris whispered. Raising his voice to a normal level, he continued, “Dr. Roberts, I think you better see this.” When Ezra started to turn, Chris put a hand lightly on his shoulder to hold him still. “It’s alright, Ezra.” Ezra stiffened slightly, but remained facing forward.
When the doctor saw what had grabbed the two men’s attention, he also wanted to swear, though he contained it in deference to the children in the room. Waving the nurse toward the other boys, he bent to examine Ezra’s back.
A back crisscrossed with scars.
