Chap 4
Rachel O'Malley walked down the hall of Huntington Memorial. A Trauma Specialist who was on call with the Red Cross and the United Children's Association, she specialized with children who had been abused or abandoned.
She walked up to the door of Room 310 and gently opening the door; she knocked and peeked around the corner. She saw a boy asleep in the bed. He was lying on his stomach, dark curls standing out against a face too pale. She turned and looked at the other occupants in the room.
An older man sat in the chair by the window. A small boy sat on his lap and cuddled up to him while he was being read The Adventures of Curious George. A grin flickered over his face and he shifted as he reached out to turn the page so the story could be continued. He was small for his age and looked to be about 5 or 6 years old.
"Hello everyone." Rachel smiled and moved further into the room. "How are you all doing? What kind of trouble is Curious George getting into today?"
Two heads turned toward her and she watched as the little boy shrank closer to the older man. He gripped a fistful of the plaid shirt and laid his head on his chest. As the man moved to loosen the child's grip and then began to stand to greet her, she held her hand out and said, "Don't get up, you both look comfortable." She watched as they settled back into the chair.
"My name is Rachel O'Malley and I've come to visit with you and meet the boys." She moved toward the other chair and sat down. "I will be giving a recommendation to Social Services about their condition and possible future needs."
Rachel turned to the little boy and smiled. "I brought something for you in this little bag. Would you like to see what it is?" She watched as his eyes turned toward her and his body posture slowly changed. He began to sit up and his head started to move forward while he strained to see the bag. She held it out to him and waited till he took the handles in his small hands.
He looked at her as though he was making sure she really was giving him the bag. "Go ahead, open it." She urged.
He looked at the bag again and then opening the top of it, he peeked inside. Shyly a smile appeared on his face and he turned to Alan and both adults watched as his little face lit up. Turning back again he reached in and pulled a stuffed grey and white dog out and dropped the bag. "Ohhh!" He hugged the dog close and leaned back against Alan.
"Hey Mark, what do you have there? Can you tell Miss Rachel thank you?" Mark looked at her shyly again and whispered 'thank you' to Rachel. He turned back to the dog and touched the shiny eyes and then ran his finger down its back and tail.
"You're welcome Mark. This is Roscoe. Would you like to take care of him for me? He can keep you company at night and you can tell him how your feeling whenever your sad or happy."
Mark nodded his head and climbed down off Alan's lap. He moved over to the couch and began to play with his new friend. As the two adults watched him start to play quietly, Rachel said in a quiet voice. "I was told you found the boys in your storage room. Do you know anything about them at all?"
Alan shook his head. "I basically know their names and that's about it. They did have a couple of small bags with them. They looked like backpacks. There might be some information in there. I can have one of my son's bring them over later."
Rachel nodded. "If you'd like to take a break, go get some fresh coffee or a sandwich, I can stay with the boys. Maybe Mark can tell me something that will give Social Services something to work with."
"Alright." Alan stood up and watched as Rachel moved toward Mark. Mark looked up and looked from Alan to Rachel uncertainly. "Mark, I'm going to go down and get some coffee. Would you like a sandwich?" He nodded and Rachel watched as a look of worry crossed the little boy's face.
She moved over to the couch and sat down beside Mark. "I think there might be a couple of other things in your bag." She handed him the bag again. "Why don't you see what's in it?"
While Mark's attention was successfully diverted to the bag, Alan slipped out of the room and moved toward the cafeteria. He figured he probably didn't have too much time to stretch his legs, grab a couple of sandwiches and drinks. He would wait outside the door and listen in case he was needed.
Rachel watched as Mark pulled a couple of old Matchbox cars out of the bag. She had grabbed them from the box of emergency items she kept in her trunk. She never knew what she was going to need and it was filled with everything from the stuffed dog, toys, licorice, granola bars, a couple of comics, and anything else that caught her attention when she was out and about.
"I thought you and your brother might like to play with those together."
Mark turned and looked at his brother and then turned back to the cars. He ran them along the arm of the chair making little motor sounds. It was obvious though that he was listening.
"I heard that you were camping out in Alan's garage. Were you there for a long time?" Mark looked at her, and then slipping to his knees, he ran the car over the floor, up the side of the couch and across the seat. The car sounds grew louder.
"How did you get there? Did you walk there?" Mark shook his head no.
"Did you fly there?" He shook his head no again and ran the car up the back of the couch.
"Did you drive there?" He nodded his head and standing up on the couch he drove the car across the back of the couch.
"Who drove you there?" Sitting back down, he rolled the car over his leg, up his tummy, chest and back down his right arm.
"A lady. She said we had to live with them now." As Mark said that, they heard a sob come from the bed and they both looked at Danny. Mark slid off the couch and moved closer to Rachel. "Is Danny going to die like Mommy died?"
Rachel felt her heart break for these little boys. Carefully, she slipped an arm around Mark's waist and drew him closer. "No honey. Danny isn't going to die. He's just not feeling very good right now."
Mark looked up at her, "Daddy hurted Danny real bad, just like he hurted Mommy." He looked back at his brother and then leaned his head on her shoulder. "The lady said Aunt Marg'ret would take care of us now."
A gasp filled the room. Neither of them had noticed the door open and that Alan had come in. His face had gone pale and his eyes wide. "Did you say Aunt Margaret?"
Mark nodded and Alan sat down suddenly. Rachel looked at Alan closely as his face had gone pale, "Do you know who 'Aunt Margaret' is?"
"My wife's name was Margaret. Margaret Mann Eppes. She passed away almost 5 years ago." He looked long and hard at the boys trying to see any resemblance to his Maggie. "She had a sister who lived in Nevada I think but she didn't talk about her much." He turned to Rachel, "Do you think?"
Rachel moved closer to Alan and put her hand on his arm, "We can do some research and try to find her. These might be her grandchildren. Was she quite a bit younger than your wife? Could she have children this young?"
Alan shook his head, "I don't think so. She was maybe about 11-12 years younger, I can see if I can find anything in the house that might say. Margaret saved everything. I still have some of her letters. Maybe my son can find out. He's in the FBI and has access to all sorts of databases."
Rachel pulled out a notebook, "You do that. I'll jot down some notes and see what I can find out." She turned toward Mark. "Mark, can you come here please?"
Mark looked up and then moved toward her, stopping when he came within a couple of feet of her. She reached out and gently pulled him toward her the rest of the way. Putting an arm around him, she rubbed his back and asked. "Mark, do you know your full name?"
He nodded, "Mark Evan Mann and my brother is Daniel Jeffrey Mann".
She jotted down both names. "Do you know your mommy's or daddy's names?"
"Mommy and Daddy." He gave her a funny look. "What are you drawling?"
"What did your Mommy and Daddy's friends call them? Do you remember?"
"They called Mommy Linda."
"Good boy. I'm writing your Mommy's name down. Maybe we can find out if your Mommy knew Alan and Margaret and what happened to your Mommy and Daddy."
An irritable voice came from the bed. "Mark, what are you talking about? You're not supposed to tell them about Mommy and Daddy. Nobody's supposed to know about them. Mike'll get real mad."
Alan moved toward Danny, "Shhh, it's OK, no one's going to get in trouble. We'll take care of you. How are you feeling? Are you hurting at all?"
Danny nodded and shifted, "I'm hungry and I gotta go to the bathroom."
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A short time later Danny walked slowly back to his bed. Both adults watched as he painfully pulled himself up on the bed. He lay down and closed his eyes and they watched as tears ran down his face slowly. He wiped his eyes and sniffed a little.
Rachel watched as Danny lay there with his eyes closed and then spoke up. "I just called the nurse and told her Danny woke up and was hungry. Do you know what you'd like to eat, Danny?"
After Danny choose chicken nuggets and macaroni and cheese for his dinner. Mark walked up to him. "Hi Danny, Miss Rachel brought us each a car to play with." He put them on the bed. "You can pick yours first."
While the boys played quietly on the bed the adults sat on the couch and waited for the doctor to arrive. They both looked up when they heard a knock on the door and then the door opened and Don's head poked through. "Hey everyone."
