A Close Call

[Deleted]

The boy was still unconscious and clutching his stuffed bear when Declan lifted him out of the the car and carried him to the back entrance of the Sanctuary. Will Zimmerman was waiting with a gurney to take the boy to the infirmary. "Thanks mate. He lost consciousness about ten minutes ago, he had a high fever and he's suffering from malnutrition and dehyration." "My God, what happened to this kid?" "Mate, I have no idea." As they talked they raced to the antique, spacious elevator. Declan jabbed the button for the floor the infirmary was on impatiently, and paced around the small space that was available. He was worried about the boy's health, obviously, but he was really concerned about the boy's reaction to him when they first met. Something had happened to the child, something that made it nearly impossible for him to trust anyone. All Declan could do now was wait and trust in Magnus's and Will's ability to treat the boy. It was going to be close.

[MICHAEL MATTHIAS WINSTON]

He awoke after a while, feeling strange. He felt warm...and his head was pounding..but he was better. His stomach wasn't making the rumbling hungry sound, and his vision wasn't as blurry. This was good, right? Well, it was until he looked around and saw where he was. There was something not like his home. And his blankets weren't beneath him either.
When he lifted his arm, there was something on it, a needle. he wanted to take it out...needles were bad, they hurt, and they were just bad in general, but he couldn't. He put his hand on the needle slowly, but pulled away. Mentally, he couldn't build up the courage to pull it out, seeing as it would hurt a lot.
Normally, he would freak out and use his power, and try to make sure nothing would hurt him that way, but he wasn't focusing enough, so he couldn't really even find the place where his power was supposed to be.
A bit of sharp inhale was released as the boy gripped the bear in his arms. It was his...and it hadn't been taken away from him, not yet anyways. He lifted his knees to curl them up to his chest, and noticed his clothes were gone. He was wearing something else, it was thin...and weird. They put him in a dress. Did...whoever put him here...think he was a girl?
It was a place he wanted to be out of, though, a place with too much of an antiseptic smell. Out was better than...than this. Even if it was light, and...maybe it was a bit warmer.
Suspicious grey-colored eyes were now scanning the infirmary area. There was no one in there..not that he could see anyways, so he let his knees straighten, and his legs stretch out in front of him.
The grime had started to come off of him, and rest on the blankets, which showed somewhat paler skin beneath. He rubbed at it a moment, frowning. He'd already forgotten he was that dirty. The gaunt complexion not something a nine year old really should have. But it was so that THIS didn't happen. He was taken somewhere...probably by the bad people, who killed his mum and dad. The bad people that killed those he wanted to be near him.
At least he had his mothers teddy bear. This he held close to him, shaking not out of fever, which had been taken care of, but out of fear. They were going to hurt him, too.
He tried to hold back this fear, but it wouldn't go away. He didn't know where his own clothes were, they'd taken those too. His clothes, and his mum and dad. He muttered something to himself, but it was unintelligable. Soon, he lifted his knees up once again, and pulled them to his chest.

[DR HELEN MAGNUS]

- - - - - - -

In over one-hundred and fifty years of her life, never did she have to perform so many critical procedures on her patients in the span of a few days. Well, not in a while. You could count World War One and Two, but that was still years into the past. Now was a different era. Since the Abnormal invasion, came the onslaught of humans trying to take matters into their own hands. There was not many in the world who had the heart and will to protect these beings. But no. The military decided to step in, and hence, the start of a new age.

This is never what Helen intended. Never in all her life. All hell broke loose, when Adam Worth decided to destroy most of Praxis, hence why the Abnormals from Hollow Earth fled to the surface. And in so, began the rebellion. This began to spiral out of control.

Every day, more and more Abnormals found themselves at the Sanctuary. Either it was for refuge. A roof over their heads. Protection. Or simply involved in onslaught all over the city. Or the world. Even Helen could not control them.

Helen was in the middle of a delicate procedure when Declan Macrae – Head of the London Sanctuary – Gave her a distressing signal. In recent times, Henry had noticed some interference with the communications, for not only the Sanctuary, but spikes throughout the city. There were times when Helen would call out, only to be greeted with static or broken transmission. No-one could figure it out in time. Though, that was just one of the Sanctuaries recent obstacles, among other things. Helen had Biggie take over and finish up on the procedure. She was luckily enough to have him around given the crisis.

Helen rushed out of the surgery room after cleaning up, only to find Will and Declan wheeling in a small boy into the Infirmary. Rushing to the boy’s side, she retrieved a small light from her pocket, and shone them in the boy’s eyes to check his response. The boy was clearly unconscious. Quickly turning to Will, she asked him to attend to a few Abnormals awaiting rooms in the foyer of the Sanctuary. So on Helen’s orders, he hastily left the room.

"Declan? I thought you were not meant to arrive for another few days?"

Helen began checking the boy’s pulse, blood pressure and any other signs of life. Thankfully, the boy was alive. However the cause of his condition is unknown. His muscles were tense, and his fever was growing worse by the second. Inserting a drip into his hand, she settled him onto the bed, along with several monitors attached to him. The drip was only a mild sedative, in order to relax his nerves, and hopefully aid in bringing his fever down. She didn’t know if he was Abnormal or not, so she did not want to risk giving him anything yet, that may react badly to his form.

After placing the boy in her care, she then turned to Declan, ” – I received your call, but as you know, we’ve had a lot of disturbances in our communication. It’s been like that for several days now, so we’ve had Henry look into it. Now tell me, what happened? Where did you find the boy? He seems to have suffered a mild shock. Possibly a relapse in his nervous system. The cause, however, is unknown. ” Helen had a look of concern on her face.

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As he and Zimmerman wheeled the boy into to infirmary, she quickly handed over her current patient to Bigfoot and hurried over. She shone a light in the boys eyes and started asking the routine questions. After a moment, he answered her queries about the boy. "While I was waiting for you in your office, I noticed that your computer was beeping. At first I ignored it, but soon I realized that there was a pattern." He paused. "Magnus, the signal was an SOS, and I think that the boy is the source." He paused again as he waited for Magnus to finish inserting the IV into the boys arm. "I traced the signal to its source and found the child hiding in the alleyway. He was in tough shape, as you can see." He quickly recounted his obvervation of the boy's condition, mainly the headache, and how, when he first touched the boy's shoulder, the blackout had occurred simultaneously with his frightened reaction. "It may just be a coincidence, but I think it's possible that the boy is the source of the communications problem. As soon as he passed out, the power came back."
Even in his sleep, the boy was tense, nervous and frightened, his forehead wrinkled into a frown that seemed permanent. He still clutched his raggedy stuff bear, and Declan had a feeling that if someone tried to take away, they wouldn't be able to. His heart reached out to the boy, who obviously had no one left that he trusted. He was probably from Hollow Earth, too, which would automatically explain some of the child's behavior. Imagine losing your world in an instant and being rudely shoved into a new, frightening reality, with no one and nowhere to turn. Declan resolved to try and find the little boy's family, or at least what happened to them, even if that became his main focus. He would send out a message to Smithson as soon as he could. For now, all he could do was wait and watch Magnus work.

[MICHAEL MATTHIAS WINSTON]

His dreams were not pleasant. It would have showed in how tense his muscles would be, or perhaps rolling and squirming in his sleep, but luckily, being sedated lightly dealt with that problem. As the medicine had kicked in, the boy’s muscles had unclenched, and the sweat and dirt from his ordeals seemed to be thrown into brilliant contrast with the pale skin, recently shown due to his being treated with the needle in his hand. The area of course had to be clean, so it was quite clear the rest of him wasn’t.
His fever calmed soon enough, as the pressure of his power eased off. When he was unconscious, it was better for him. His power didn’t seem to want to get out as much at that point. The boy’s eyes were now peacefully closed, and his hand that was not accompanied by a needle, resting on the small bear in his arms. He needed that bear with him at all times, just because it was his. There was nothing much Michael could call his anymore, and the bear was one thing he knew was. Perhaps his shirt and pants were his as well, but he still felt as though the rest of his items weren’t his anymore.
It was many hours of the boy laying down with this calm expression on an otherwise skinny, malnourished child, before he woke up. The first thing that he heard was a beep. It seemed steady, and his eyes remained closed as he listened to this beep. A beep wasn’t supposed to be on the streets…right? Maybe someones phone…he lazily let himself drift off to sleep again, feeling rather loopy.
The second time he awoke he felt a bit more alert. He could feel the pressure of the needle on his hand, and he could feel the sheets against him in the gurney he was placed in. He let his heavy eyelids sit for a moment as he tried to gather things, his thoughts a little bit random. There was a beeping still, right by his head, and he wanted to make it go away…with his power, which he would do, but he couldn’t really find it. Maybe something was wrong.
Michael moved to sitting up, but only after quite a bit of time struggling. The world spun a bit, and he had to grip the bed tightly…or what he thought was tight. And his version of sitting up was more, his head moved on the pillow. But, just this felt impressive to him. There was an urge to take the needle out, and to be confident in the fact that…wherever he was….he could do that. But there was a flaw in that plan. It would hurt. So he fumbled with his hand that still held a loose grip on the bear to try and touch the top of his needle bearing hand. Of course, it took a few flops, because his body wasn’t listening to him right, which was confusing, but the bear was moved to his lap during these attempts, and one hand on top of the other, receiving the drip.
He didn’t actually care to pull it out. He really didn’t want to. It felt big and dangerous, and something was making a beeping noise near him, whatever it was kind of made things a bit more daunting too. His head was still a bit fuzzy, but it started to clear up, and he tried to speak. Of course, this meant that his mouth kind of…moved. But nothing really happened. Not that he’d wanted to say anything, he was just confused.
Where was he? The alleyway with his blankets didn’t have such blinding bright lights, or needles. Did…the bad people come get him? Maybe they found out it was him. N-no way. They couldn’t know, right?His gray-blue eyes were swiveling around, trying to focus on something, but to no avail. Things were too bright and he had to keep closing them. Wherever he was…he was in trouble.

[DR HELEN MAGNUS]

Helen was quick as she moved around the room, making sure the monitors set up were giving her the information she needed. At times she noticed the monitor’s readings had jumped. Other times, it would go blank. And yet the boy was still alive.

Although she was busy trying to settle the boy in, she listened carefully to what Declan was saying. It did explain a lot as to what was happening within the last few days. As Henry has blatantly put it, ‘the signals were all messed up.’ Though even the resident Hyper-Accelerated Protean could not solve the technical mystery. So, they has been trying to deal with other matter’s among all the communication chaos. The Sanctuary was not under threat, as of yet, but she still told Henry that it needed to be dealt with as soon as possible.

Now after both Will and Declan came to the Sanctuary with a child in tow, she was thinking that maybe perhaps, the boy was behind it all. She tucked the boy in bed, and adjusted the IV drip. Turning to Declan again, she blinked several times and glanced back at the boy. ”I need to run several tests, yet I need him conscious to do so. Although, it does explain a lot. But we need to be sure he is the cause of all the scrambled communications.” She sighed and looked back at Declan directly, ”Was anyone else with him -”

The boy then began to move, as slowly, he was coming back to reality. The boy looked towards the drip on his arm, almost curiously, and Helen made her way to the edge of his bed, and sat down. At eye level, she needed to make the boy more comfortable. After giving Ashley the same treatment when she was a child, she needed to apply the same method to this boy. After all, the last thing she intended was to scare the boy.

Gently, she placed her hand on his arm almost in a motherly gesture. She needed to remain as gently as possible, and hopefully he will remain calm. ”It’s quite alright. You are safe here. I’m going to take care of you. Now tell me, what is your name?” Her voice was calm and soothing, and needed to be careful not to jump to any conclusions yet. The boy looked to be about nine or ten, and she was not going to expect the boy to tell her anything just yet. She needed to take it one step at a time.

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[MICHAEL MATTHIAS WINSTON]

As time went on, he became more in tune with reality. It was a few minutes really, and then he felt quite a bit more awake than he had previously. His eyes were open, the lights around him not as bright as they were before, and his muscles listening to him more. As soon as he could feel a few things extra, and his arms would listen to him, he lightly pulled his hand away from the woman.
After all, she was probably one of the bad people. But she sounded really nice. Confusion was still etched over michaels face, the past few events having slipped through his head, now lost. He wasn’t used to that. The photographic memory he had was something he relied on. But he had never seen this person before. He’d heard her voice though, over one of the signals he took away. She was talking about abnormals…and that was something that the bad people did too.
Anyone talking about abnormals seemed to be undesirable, in the little boy’s world. He just did not like the name. It made him stick out. That was the last thing he wanted. Sticking out meant that he was watched, and he was so weak that being watched would not necessarily be a good thing. After a few attempts, he managed to mumble something.
"J..jhon.”
It wasn’t his name. Of course it wasn’t his name, and he was horrible at lying, so it showed that this wasn’t his name. It showed in the way his eyes darted away from the woman. It showed in the way he hugged his teddy-bear that much tighter, and it showed in the way his face looked guilty.
It was warm in here, and he had a blanket, but there were things in there that made him feel uncomfortable. The needle in his hand, for one, and then the beeping of all the monitors. Michael had never been to a hospital, in his entire life, so he had no idea what they were doing, or what they were even for. Of course, his heart rate was quickened as he risked a glance at the machines. His eyesight was slightly blurry still…but better, and what he thought to be quick movements were actually quite sluggish, and slow.
He wanted to hurry and find his power, mostly so that beeping would just go away. It was loud, and it made him scared that something else bad would happen, like a count-down. And when the beeping seemed to increase, he was even more frightened. Of course, the increase was due to his heart rate, so he was just scaring himself.

[Deleted]

The monitors were beeping irregularly as he and Magnus watched the young boy. In the years that he had been part of the Sanctuary network, never had he met such a young humanoid Abnormal and because of his extensive military background, he didn't actually have a lot of experience with young children in general of any species. "There was no one with him when I found him in the alleyway. I don't think he's had anyone for a while." The boy began to stir and regain consciousness as they spoke in hushed tones. Both he and Magnus were able to discern immediately that the boy was lying when he said his name was John. Declan decided to let it go, knowing that the boy would tell them his actual name when he was ready. It was obvious that the young child still didn't trust them.
"John, I like that name. I know a John, several Johns actually. Most of them are nice, though one of them..." He stopped, suddenly aware that he was babbling, and shot a guilty look at Magnus.
He was hopeful that he could gain the boy's trust by proving that they weren't the bad guys and by showing that they cared about his health and him. “Do you know any other Johns? Perhaps… among others like yourself?” “John” didn’t respond immediately, so Declan pulled Magnus away from the bed. “Like I said, I found him in an alleyway, about ten minutes from here. There was no one with him, and I don’t think there has been anyone with him in a while. He was frightened of almost everything, and he reacts to the slightest touch, like with you just a second ago.” He paused when the boy stirred, then continued when he settled. “I think that that boy, lying in that bed, is the source of the communications trouble AND the blackout. We should try to care for him carefully, because he could be dangerous.”
Honestly, Declan was worried about the threat that the boy posed to the Sanctuary. Even though the boy’s powers were unconfirmed at this point, it was safe to say that there was a connection, and that his powers were extremely strong. The communications blackout had effected a 150-mile radius around the Old City Sanctuary. What was really impressive was that, theoretically, the boy had created a technical problem that Henry Foss couldn’t fix. This boy was somebody to watch.

[DR HELEN MAGNUS]

Helen offered a warm smile, even as the boy removed his hand. Of course, she couldn’t get his hopes up in earning his trust that quickly, but she knew it could take some time. What she could tell, the boy seemed damaged. Lost. Trust was not something she could force on hand, but she could at least try. She needed to somehow push the medical doctor side of her, and rekindle guardianship and somehow, motherhood. Maybe this boy had lost his parents. He was young, and Declan had found him wandering the streets on his own. It was indeed a worry, and she will try and do what sha can for the child.

Her eyes seemed to twinkle in wonder. What is this boy capable of?

She smiled again, as the boy managed to speak. That was a good sign. He announced his name, but a nagging feeling in the back of her mind, told her that maybe it wasn’t his correct name. The boy was frightened. She knew this. ”John? What a lovely name. How are you feeling?” Helen clasped her hands on her lap, as she waited patiently for the boy’s reply. The sooner the boy can show full functioning signs, then the sooner she can remove the IV drip. She could only imagine what thoughts were running wild in the boys mind.

She flicked her gaze back to Declan in hopeful expression, ”We’ll know more, once John is able to recover. Perhaps his abnormality is one to keep an eye on. For now, I think it’s best if we wait until he is able to tell us. “ She looked back to John, ”You are safe here. We won’t let anybody hurt you…We want to help.” Her voice was low, calm and soothing. She tried desperately not to let her words scare him.

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[MICHAEL MATTHIAS WINSTON]

Michael looked scared. His eyes were closed tightly, and he was trying to calm himself. That incessant beeping was making things worse. He couldn’t take it anymore. With a snap, he let himself go to his “place” that “place” in his head that made the electronic stuff do what he wanted. He flinched lightly. It hurt sometimes…and this was no exception. His eyes were closed, because he knew people where there, but if they were open, they might be seen as a bit…different.
Green numbers, binary code, scrolled across what were now completely black eyeballs. It was eerie without much effort. Perhaps the only one to think of opening his eyes would be someone who really thought he was doing something, but the boy must have just looked scared to most.
It took him longer to find the signals he wanted to take away, the fact that he was lightly sedated being the cause, but the fact that he was sedated was bad for another reason too. Being less…aware, his eyes weren’t as sensitive, nor was the rest of him. Frankly, he might not notice if his eyes were opened, or his positions scrutinized. He just needed to get the thing done that had to be done.
He did accomplish it. Within about ten minutes, while Declan and Magnus had been talking, he’d managed to complete his connection. If Magnus had been able to read brainwaves in some way, shape, or form, there would be an astronomical spike in them, enough to make a regular human one break. The beeping was gone, and in fact, all of the equipment around him that had been making noise was gone. He was scared, but he wanted to show the people near him he was special, and so they should let him out. Yeah. If he was this special there was no way they’d keep him in. None in any way shape or form..right? He held his teddy bear tightly.

[DR HELEN MAGNUS]

There were moments in that room where Helen could swear she heard some sort of buzz in the air. Extremely faint. Much like the kind of feeling one would get in a pressurized room, devoured of all space. It got to her head. It was a strange feeling. Nothing was happening in that respect, but she could sense something was different. It wasn’t her. It was the boy.

The sensation was indeed strange. Almost like she could sense her own nervous impulses being affected. There was a faint static in the air. Something odd was happening. Within minutes, the machines that were connected to the boy were going somewhat ballistic. The readings were going off the scale, and then dropping to zero in a matter of seconds. Helen got up from the edge of the bed, and made her way to the machines. She frowned, not knowing what was happening. All she knew that it was indeed the boy that was doing this. How, was completely unknown. Declan was right. The boy could be dangerous.

As she went to adjust the monitors, thinking that perhaps attaching them was a bad idea, was hit with a light zap as she went to touch them. She immediately retracted her hand, and looked at the boy with a confused look on her face. She has seen Abnormals with a similar ability, but much on a lower scale. This boy’s abilities were slightly more elevated. His eyes were definitely catching Helen’s gaze. His eyes went murky black, and were instantly replaces by buzzing binary code. A remarkable sight. His eyes could be the conduit for this newfound energy. She was excited by the thought of researching this further.

Then all of a sudden, the machines just….stopped. That was it. The beeping throughout the machines just ceased. They resumed working as normal, and she noticed the readings went back to normal as well. But the boy was far from normal.

She looked at John again, ever so curiously, as a small smile tugged at the corners of her lips, ”That is quite the ability you have there. Have you always been able to do this?” She calculated roughly in her mind what this boy could do. His potential was another thing to be discussed. But she already figured that this boy was some sort of technopath. To be able to manipulate electronic technologies around him, even by using simple nerve waves to send the message across. Even the thought of this boy harnessing this power at such a young age, somewhat worried her.

If she could not figure out a way to keep this ability at bay, things could get out of hand very quickly.

Then another thought came to mind. Perhaps the fact that he was directly connected to these machines, could have sparked an even bigger conduit of power. These machines gathered electrical energy, and maybe...Just maybe, if the boy was smart enough, could use that against them. People could be put into more danger, if she did not resolve this soon.

"John, if you will allow me, I am going to remove the needle in your arm."

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[MICHAEL MATTHIAS WINSTON]

Her words seemed to jolt him from a reverie. The boy returned, and his eyes returned to normal as well. He was feeling better…the beeping had stopped, and the release of power in a controlled way had made him feel better as well. There was no answer to magnus of course, as she asked of his ability.
There was one thing that he took to heart, however. It was that she did not run away out of fear, and she did not gasp, or scream at him, or tell him to stop whatever he was doing. She was genuinely curious. In this, he felt she could be trusted…a little. Perhaps he wouldn’t say anything about what he was. He might not say what he was doing. He sure as heck wasn’t going to say why he was doing it…but he was going to speak.
It was as though he was preparing for a long, arduous task as he took in a shaky breath.
“M..michael…is my name. I-I lied about, about jhon.” He was hesitant to answer any other questions, but he did want the needle to come out of his hand. It hurt, because it was something he wasn’t used to. It pressed on his skin, and it felt weird. He definitely didn’t mind that it was coming out.
“Needles…I don’t like needles.” Of course, he did not speak loudly, but his bright red face showed the embarrassment on there. Young boys were also more likely to respond emotionally in some way to a mother-figure. Perhaps she reminded Michael of someone? He didn’t know, but she was nice. It was..really, really nice. No way he’d tell.
His hand reached out slowly, and he let it touch on top of the blankets, closer to her. He wouldn’t reach for her yet…but he’d let her know it was okay to take that out.

[DR HELEN MAGNUS]

So far, the boy seemed calm as she spoke to him. As long as he made no attempts to escape, the Helen figured she was doing something right. The last thing she wanted was to scare him. She didn’t want that at all. She wanted to help him, from the goodness of her heart, and wanted him to know that in the Sanctuary, he had nothing to fear.

Helen smiled warmly again. Good. The boy was learning to trust her more, now. Honestly is the key here, and the sooner she can discover how his ability works, to sooner she can help him feel safe.

”Michael. It’s lovely to meet you. My name is Helen Magnus, but you can just call me Helen. You are a brave young man, Michael. I assure you, you will feel much better soon. I promise. ” So far, it seemed promising. Actually, it’s been a while since she had a little conversation with a child. The last child she had any kind of talk with was her daughter Ashley. It’s been far too long. She missed her with every fibre of her being.

Helen then held out her hand. She could not force Michael to do anything, and if he trusted her enough, he will let her do what is necessary for his well-being. ”If you give me your hand, I will remove the needle. You seem better already, so you no longer need it. Close your eyes and think of something that makes you happy. Can you do that for me, Michael?“

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[MICHAEL MATTHIAS WINSTON]

Something that made him happy? As his lined, small little face knit itself into a small object of confusion, it seemed he was having trouble connecting all the little pieces of yarn. He knew what made him happy, most definitely, but he wasn’t sure how it would work here. It was so scary here, and the room was filled with many things he’d never seen before. For a moment, he thought about it, sifting threw his thoughts carefully, as any other child his age would do when faced with a very important task. He had to find something very happy after all.
The hand that had a needle in it was lifted, and lightly made the connection with her, and instantly, the images came to his head. Warm contact, when he did not have a fever anymore himself. It was as though he was not in the room anymore, thinking of when he was with his mother. His real mother. He did not have a face to her form, nor a form to imagine her face for, so when he was five, he came up with one. He drew countless pictures of this beautiful golden-haired woman, handing him his bear.
There was a small tear in the boy’s eyes, and he seemed to be dazed for a moment, absorbed with his own thoughts, but the pulled himself back, wiping his eyes slowly with his hand currently needle-free. H-he couldn’t be comparing her to his mother? She was pretty…he thought. His eyesight wasn’t amazing yet, still a bit blurry from waking, and he didn’t see other people much to judge. She was nice, so far, and she was smart. But she didn’t have golden hair. For at least the one moment though, Michael let himself pretend. He wanted to mumble the words on the tip of his toungue, say “thanks mommy” but he did not. He knew it wasn’t her…but his head was hurting less from fear now. And the impulse to use his power was lessened by the sheer happy emotion.

[DR HELEN MAGNUS]

As soon as Helen noticed Michael drifted off in thought, the needle was removed as quickly as he had thought. It was difficult to know what the boy was feeling. Honestly, she wished she knew what was running through the boy’s mind. Declan had said he found him alone. No friends. No parents. Just…On this own. And this worried her.

Her face softened, as he dropped his hand. He was quiet. He didn’t cry out and she removed the needle, so at least that kind of trust did not break. ”There we go. All better now. See?” She reached in the drawer beside the bed, and retrieved a blue bandaid, to which she placed over the small needle wound. She glanced at Declan, and then back at Michael. She was glad the boy was now calm, though she wasn’t quick to jump to any conclusions yet.

Still seated on the edge of his bed, she nudged the little bear that Michael was grasping in his arms. It was obviously sentimental to him. But she needed to know about the boy, and the bear was the best place to start. ”So Michael, it seems you are taking good care of the bear. Does he have a name?” Helen tried to read the expression on his face, but she was patient with him. ”Who looks after you? Surely you have a home somewhere…”

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