Chapter 1
Deep harsh breathing makes my chest ache as I run up the fire escape to get away from that man, "Damn kid, I'll get you for this"he says turning around in the other direction and leaving. I jump down from the fire escape and I start to run down the bustling New York city street hoping he won't come after me again for stealing his wallet. I had no choice, I'll starve if I don't have the money and on top of that I'm sick, and I need medicine. Once I'm sure I'm clear I sit down on the curb,pain wrenching in my stomach, "mm,damn"I mutter under my breath as my fingers lightly brush my side and come away dampened with blood and puss. I pulled my stitches that I did myself a few days ago and now the wound is infected, I know I should go to a hospital but at 16 being on my own it's risky, they could send me back to foster care,which I really don't want to go back to. Once the pain fades I get up and try to walk when it hits me like a storm, the pain is really really bad. I need to go to the er now,and so once it fades away again I walk down the block.
I finally find a hospital,knowing that this is a desperate move on my part, I would never go unless I really needed it and I know that it's too much to handle on my own this time. I go into the ER and to the nurses station, "what do you need"the nurse behind the desk asks, "I need help,I've got a really badly infected wound"I say in a somewhat unrecognizable voice to me, "K you don't look so good honey,so I will get you on a gurney and we'll get you taken care alright,do you mind telling me your name"she asks, "yeah"I ,Jack" I say wincing. Two nurses come around from behind the desk and gently guide me to a gurney, no questions asked, they're used to enough homeless kids coming in for help,so they know better.
They take me into a room and a nurse helps me get undressed and into a gown and then takes my vitals. "your temp's high, 104,how long have you been sick"she asks, "since Monday"I say, "Jack honey that's been 4 days"she says. "I know but I did the stitches myself and I didn't think it was a big deal"I say, "K how long have the stitches been in and why did you need them in the first place"she asks, "a week, I got stabbed and I noticed it was deep so I did it"I say as she starts to probe the wound as a doctor comes in. Then the doctor takes over and probes the wound, then asks the nurse for a syringe. "K buddy this isn't going to feel good, i'm going to pull the stiches the rest of the way out and then drain the wound"he says. He does exactly what he says and it hurts really really bad as I squeeze the nurses hand to get through the pain. Then he finishes and I get an iv put In my arm for antibiotics and then they leave me alone to sleep. And for once I actually do because I know I'm safe and I won't be attacked.