Bonus

Undo

Upon entering the house with groceries in her arms, Sheryl is met with the sight of her son with his nose in a textbook, appearing to be studious, and their charge asleep on the couch beside him. She frowns at that, knowing that Bart's behavior had been suspect for weeks and it was unusual for Pete to take naps when there was homework to be done. In fact, this seemed like a complete reversal, as her son did not like textbooks. Especially not math. In fact, he despised them.

"Bart? There are a few more bags in the car."

He looked up, saw her, and reached over, only stopping when she glared at him. "Pete can help?"

"Now, Bart." Was it her imagination, or was Pete guarding his arm, even while asleep?

Waylay

The groceries put away, she directed her son to the kitchen table to actually do his homework. Then she checked on the twelve-year-old, for now she was suspicious. Incredibly suspicious, in fact.

Upon getting close to him, she found that he wasn't actually asleep and he was indeed guarding his arm. "Pete?"

"Hurts," the boy told her, voice a pained whisper. She touched his arm gently, carefully, and he hissed in pain. "Hurts."

She nodded, angry that she hadn't taken him shopping with her.

When her husband arrived home, he found a note: "Took Pete to ER. Dinner will be late and Bart is grounded. Help him with his homework."

Overtake

She was still in the waiting area when Alan arrived, spotting her immediately. He nodded to her and went to ask the receptionist about their charge. The receptionist studied his social services ID, then nodded and let him back, where a nurse led him directly to a specific curtained area. There he found Pete, laying on a gurney with his left arm in a splint, staring at the ceiling

A doctor approached him, explained that it was a greenstick fracture of both bones in his lower arm, that it should heal in short order and didn't require a cast, and Alan thanked him, sighing as he joined Pete on the gurney.

Pete blinked, noticing him. "Do I hafta go back to the Tomkins house, Mr. Jenkins?"

Alan sighed again. "No, kid. You don't."

"All my stuff is there."

"You let me and Sheryl worry about that, Pete. All right?"

Pete stared up at him for a minute before nodding. "Okay."