Wow. It's been a while. Sorry. I've been occupied with so many different stories. I've got some new ones I'm working on too. I can't wait to start posting them! I'm so excited! Tell me if you want to hear more about those!
Anyways, sorry for the long wait. For some reason I just got stuck on this one and I had some help coming up with ideas so thank you FuriedNight and bexlynne for your help! Love you guys!
bexlynne: Aww! Thank you so much! It makes me feel pretty good that that scene actually made you tears up! It's so sad and heartbreaking and I had way too much fun writing it. /. I'm evil. And I got a request to write Race's first words. I love it. And now I'm thinking about writing the whole story of Race being arrested and how he wasn't afraid of Drake at first. Thoughts?
Guest: Thank you so much! I worked very hard on it and I'm glad you liked it! :)
Teeloganroryflan: You're perfect, as per usual. ;) Thank you so much!
NASA: Thank you so much! I'm sorry for the long wait! I hope this will make you feel better about life. It made me feel a little better. ;)
Fanz4life: Hey hon! I always look forward to your reviews and I promise I'll read every single one of them! You gave me a very great idea for some Jatherine and I can't wait to write it! And few free to just keep reminding me about it! It's really good and I'm so excited about it! Thank you so much! (You're review for Castle on a Hill actually made me so freaking happy! I am so stoked you loved it!)
sidenotes-from-satan: Haha I'm laughing! That's awesome! But I am so sorry for the late update! I hope you started to become whole again! Love you so much! Thank you for the review!
Selizabethharrisburg: I can't tell you how happy it makes me when you tell me that I did a great job. It literally just makes me so freaking happy and then every chapter I get so self-conscious because I want you to approve so bad. I am so happy you love this story so much! You're amazing! I am so happy that you liked the way I wrote the last chapter and all the panic and helplessness came across the way it did. I am definitely using your idea as a sequel. But I can tell you, Drake will probably make one more appearance (possibly more) in this story. So thank you! And I also hope to write Race's first words story (possibly the whole story) thank you so much for you constant reviews and ideas! They are so greatly appreciated, just like you! Love ya!
queenlmno: OMG I am so sorry! But I understand how you feel. I'm angry at Drake too. Haha I hope you are having a great time at college. Take a break every now and again. Thanks for the advice btw. I won't be doing that. I hope this chapter lets you breathe a little bit :). Just a little though. Thank you so much!
Alright, I really hope you guys enjoy this chapter. ;)
Race was holding onto him, weakly, as they were rushed through the hospital. Jack felt him sobbing against his bare chest. Race still couldn't calm down. He was still clutching onto his hand for dear life and Jack found himself crying. The poor kid didn't deserve this. None of it. He took his free hand and cradled Race's face against his chest.
"Shush, Race. I've got ya." The younger boy didn't respond.
"We've gotta get him onto the bed so we can check out his arm again before we try the rape kit," one of the nurses explained. Jack nodded.
"Race?" Race made a small noise, letting Jack know he'd heard him. "We gotta move ya. I'm gonna put ya on a different bed, alright?"
Race blinked back more tears and tried, in vain, to take a proper breath. He clutched onto Jack's hand tighter and pressed himself further into him. "Don't leave me, Jack," he pleaded, fearing that thought more than anything else.
Jack's heart was shattering. "I would neva' leave ya, kid..." he vowed, kissing the boy's temple and closing his eyes for a moment, simply taking in the kid's presence, reminding himself that his brother was still there. Still breathing. He sighed as he let go of his friend's hand. Then he took a deep breath and slipped off the stretcher, Race still cradled, gently in his arms. It wasn't until he set the boy down on the bed that the pain rushed through him.
Jack cried out as he set his brother down. Race grabbed at his arm as he slowly fell to his knees, clutching his side. "Jack?!" the boy screamed in a panic as his friend dropped to the ground.
Jack closed his eyes tight as white hot pain shot through his whole body. He grabbed at his side and breathed hard as he realized where the pain must be coming from. He could barely make out anything as they tried to pull him up, onto the stretcher that Race had previously occupied. But the seventeen year old shook his head. "No!" he cried out as he grabbed for his friend. "No! Race! Don't take him away!" Jack fought and fought and screamed when he moved, his side exploding in agonizing pain.
Stitch walked into the room. Extra help had been requested. He didn't know why, he just knew it was urgent. And he acted quickly at the mess he saw in front of him.
"Jack!" He ran forward, shoving away the people that didn't understand. He did. He understood. But he also understood the dangers of letting Jack out of the hospital too early. So he slid down next to the boy on his knees. "Calm down, buddy, it's Stitch. It just me."
"What's happenin'?" Race's high pitched voice made Stitch's head shoot up. The boy was terrified. He didn't even look at the nurse. His eyes were trained, solely, on Jack.
"Race, it'll be okay..." The nurse had too many things rushing through his mind at once. He was trying to calm the panicked kid on the bed and trying to get Jack to understand how dangeroud his situation was.
"Race!" Jack's cry was broken and pained and Stitch could tell this would be difficult. No way Jack would leave Race like that. The kid was suffering from a panic attack. Stitch could see it.
"Jack we need to check out your wound! It could be bad, kid!" But the boy was not letting go of his previously deceased friend. His grip was tight and Race held onto him like a lifeline.
"I ain't leavin' him!" Jack was one of the stubbornest kids Stitch had ever met. He held tight to his friend. And Stitch could only shake his head, sadly as he knew what he had to do.
"Sedate him."
Spot sprinted through the hospital. His friends were behind him. He didn't know how far and he didn't care. All he knew was, his friend was hurt. And he needed him. So he ran as fast as he could to the room he knew Race must have been in. And when he got there, he didn't even think before he was acting.
Stitch had Jack collapsing on his chest. There was a needle poking into his friend's arm but the strike leader still clutched onto Race's hand in a death grip. The boy on the bed was in a panic. He held onto Jack so tight but the medics were trying to pull him away.
Spot heard people trying to run in behind him but he couldn't wait for them. He sprinted in and jumped onto the bed on his knees, right behind his friend. "Race..." The boy was hyperventilating. He didn't even hear him. So Spot did the only thing he could. He wrapped his arms around the boy he'd been calling his best friend for years and held him so tight, not knowing what to expect.
Race held onto Jack so tight. All he wanted was for his brother to hold him. To wrap his arms around him and tell him everything was alright. But, as he realized his brother was somehow dying on the ground, he screamed out for him and held onto him like nothing else mattered. And when he felt strong arms wrap around him, he just became more frantic. He tried to struggle out of the grip, to get away from the hurt and torture, but nothing was happening. "No! Please, no! Not again!" He screamed and struggled, but in his feverish, weakened, panicked state, he was stuck. "Jack!"
It broke Spot's heart. And Spot Conlon's heart was not one that was easily broken. He held tight to his friend and he felt the tears streaming down his face. But he held his friend down. He pinned his arms at his sides and made sure there was no way he could run, no matter how much it pained him to see the younger boy so helpless and trapped. But he started whispering, intensely, in the kid's ear. "Hey... hey!" He felt Race jump. He knew it had to happen. It was the only way to calm him down. "Breathe, kid... please just breathe..."
Crutchie limped into the room and froze at what he saw. Jack was on the ground, being carefully maneuvered onto the stretcher next to him. He was clutching his stained red side and grasping onto Race's arm with force. He saw Race sobbing in Spot's arms, his cries for Jack dying into small whimpers as they finally got the two boys to release their holds on each other. He heard Jack scream as they started pushing him away.
Jack cried. He reached out for his friend. He couldn't do it. Not again. He was too scared he'd wake up and Race wouldn't be there anymore. His oldest friend would be gone again. And he just couldn't do it. But it seemed, he didn't have a choice.
Crutchie heard his friends rush in behind him and he felt Davey grab for his arm again, trying to hold him back again and just watch what was happening. But the boy had had enough of being protected when it wasn't him who needed it. He ripped his arm out of Davey's grip and made it in between his brothers.
He watched as Jack was set on the stretcher. He was sobbing. He was calling out for Race. Then his eyes caught those of the nurse who had befriended them. Stitch shook his head at him. Jack needed medical attention. Fast. So as they rolled his panicking brother away, he grabbed his other brother's hand and held onto it, tight, as Spot spoke to him, trying to calm him down.
Spot held his friend against his chest. He rocked him back and forth and carefully held him around his thin waist. But Race was still crying, even when the gimp grasped onto his hand. He wouldn't relax against him. "Cmon, Race... it's okay." He pressed a kiss to the boy's temple. He didn't care that the Delanceys were staring or that Crutchie gave him a shocked look. He just kept on whispering. "Tony it's me. I gotcha. It's me, it's Charlie..."
Charlie. It felt like years since Race had heard that name. And it may have been. Suddenly he realized that the arms around him weren't there to hurt him. "Ch... Charlie?"
Spot felt like he could breathe again when Race actually started talking to him. "Yeah... yeah, kid. It's Charlie. I'm right here. You're safe now."
Davey watched, awkwardly, from the doorway. He saw Morris hold Oscar back. They all knew Race didn't need anyone else trying to talk to him right then, no matter how badly they all wanted to. He looked over and caught a glimpse of Katherine running down the hall, asking what was happening to Jack. It was truly heartbreaking. But he took a deep breath and motioned for the two former bullies to follow him out of the room. And they left the three boys in peace.
"Ch-Charlie..." Crutchie sniffled as he heard Race speaking. He was talking. He would be okay. He had to be okay. "J-Jack-"
"Shshsh, kid... I know... it'll be okay," he felt Race relaxing into him. The kid's back finally settled against his chest as he gave up fighting.
"We got you, Race..." Crutchie wiped away his tears with his free hand. He watched his friend's chest rise and fall so quickly, he was worried the older boy wasn't getting enough air. "It's okay... you're okay..."
Race clutched onto the hand that was in his so tight. His mind was reeling and his heart was racing but whoever was holding onto him was there to protect him. He knew it. So he closed his eyes and tried to breathe. "Charlie?" he called out, weakly, trying to make sure his friend was still there.
Spot felt his heart clench when the boy in his arms called him that. But he just held him tighter. "Yeah, kid... I'm right here. I ain't gonna leave."
Race sniffled and twisted in the embrace, burying his face in the older boy's shirt. "R... rape kit... don't want it..." It was all he could manage as he tried to catch his breath.
Crutchie sighed and took his brother's hand in between his. "Race... they need ta do it... they need evidence."
Spot felt Race stubbornly shake his head. It was like his sixteen year old friend was retreating back to an age where things were as simple as yes and no. And Spot didn't know how to get him to understand. He knew his little brother didn't want people touching him. He knew it wasn't ideal. But he also knew, Drake was still alive. And the man needed to put away. Locked up like the animal he was. And this kit had to be the way to do it. To prove what happened.
"I know ya don't want to, kid..." The boy started sobbing again. He knew he had to. He knew he didn't have a choice. The poor kid must've been sick of not having a choice. But Spot just kept rocking him back and forth. "It'll be alright..."
Race let out a shaky breath. "I don't wanna be alone..." He couldn't do it. Not again. He just wanted his brothers.
Crutchie locked eyes with Spot. They could see the tears in each other's eyes. And Spot started to talk again, hoping to calm his friend. His brother. "Hey... what did I tell ya 'bout bein' alone, huh?" He tried to smile when he remembered that night. It felt so long ago. So long ago when the boy in his arms had only been six.
Race was still having trouble taking a deep breath. But he still tried to speak as he knew what his friend was talking about. "I-I... 'm not... I-I ain't... 'lone..." he gasped out.
"That's right, Higgins. Ya ain't. You've got friends," Spot promised before he pressed another kiss to Race's head. "Ya rememba' all those times, kid? You'd wake up screamin' and I'd hold ya and tell you ta stop bein' so stupid."
Crutchie actually let out a little laugh at that when he saw a ghost of a smile grace his friend's lips. But it didn't last for very long before he was sobbing again and his face was pressed back into Spot's chest. "You ain't alone, Tony. I got you. Crutchie's right here... and Jack sure as hell ain't goin' no where..."
Race sniffled. He slowly opened up his crystal blue eyes and glanced around. "Don't want... touch..."
Crutchie ran a hand through Race's hair. He watched a shiver go down the boy's spine. But his older brother relaxed under his hand. "They just want to put Drake away fer good, Race. He can't hurt ya no more. You're safe, Race..." he assured.
Race squinted his eyes in confusion. "...D-Drake..." The name made him want to throw up. It made him feel light headed and weak. Helpless... "He's dead..." He had to be. Race saw him. He saw the blood. The way he couldn't move. But he started shaking at the thought of the man still being alive.
Spot sighed. He figured the kid wouldn't know. But he just pulled the boy closer. He held him tight. "Race... cmon kid, calm down. He ain't gonna hurt ya no more. I'm right here." Crutchie nodded and Spot could tell he felt bad for bringing it up.
"Racetrack!" Race's eyes shot open at the voice. That beautiful, perfect, wonderful voice that he'd missed so dearly. He didn't move from the arms that surrounded him and he clung tighter to the hand that held his.
"Medda!" She was beautiful. He missed her. She was the closest thing he had to a mother. The one who took care of him. He felt the tears welling up in his eyes at the sight of her. She was crying. And he didn't like seeing her cry. Especially not because of him.
Medda ran into the room. She reached for the boy. "Oh, baby... when they called... I thought-" she cut herself off. She couldn't think it again. Never again. She put her hands on both sides of his face. He was burning up. His skin was clammy and he was trembling. She pushed the hair away from his face and wiped away his tears. "They said there was an explosion... baby..."
Race sobbed and grabbed onto one of her hands. "Medda... Charlie... Crutch..." He let Medda press kisses to his cheeks and his forehead. He held onto his brothers and to his guardian.
Medda gave Spot a pleading look. The tears streaming down her face only made the teen's heart ache. So he nodded. He loosened his hold on his little brother. He let Medda sit next to them and she scooped up the boy and she held him in her lap. He cried. He sobbed hard until his eyes started to droop shut.
Race tried to fight for consciousness. If he closed his eyes, he was gonna wake up back in that room. Back in those arms that controlled him like a puppet. But then he heard an innocent voice that calmed him. "It's okay, Race... we ain't goin' no where." And he felt lighter. He snuggled up closer to the woman that held him and let his world slowly fade to black.
"Momma..."
Medda's heart stopped when he choked out that word. She could feel him struggling to let go and fell into sleep. But she regained control long enough to press one more kiss to his head and whisper in his ear. "It's okay, baby... sleep now. You're safe."
And Race believed her. Safe.
I love Miss Medda Larkin.
So a while ago, I told you guys I would write other characters reacting to Race's "death". Is that still something you would like to see? And if so, only with Romeo, Crutchie and Medda? Those were the requests. Just let me know!
This story will have another sequel. Court case. It'll be intense. Interested?
I am thinking about writing the whole story of Race being dragged to the Refuge for the first time and meeting Drake for the first time, then going mute. What do you guys think?
Guys, life has been hectic lately. I just think I need to say I need a hug from Ben right about now. But anyways...
As always, thanks for reading! Let me know what you liked, what you didn't, what you'd change or what you'd improve by leaving me a review! Love ya kids!