Chapter 17
Barbara hurried into the school, she'd been at work when she had received a panicked message from the receptionist, the school had rung, one of her charges had been in a fight and was hurt. Frustratingly they hadn't taken anymore, details than that. She didn't know which child it was likely to be Timmy was very protective over others, but Zona was feisty.
Entering the office, she was revealed to see both her children sat there, relatively in one piece, Zona's eyes were red from where she'd been crying, Timmy's hand had an ice pack on. Remembering her promise to herself not to jump to conclusions Barbara nodded at the secretary bending down to the children's level.
"What happened Timmy and Zona?" she asked keeping her voice friendly and calm.
"You're going to be angry" Zona sobbed, burrowing into Timmy, hoping her older brother could protect her.
"I might be angry, but even if I am I still won't hurt you" Barbara promised. "Neither will Daniel," she paused "the Captain," she said using their name for him, "But I do need to know what happened, and I'd rather hear it from you"
"What does it matter, you're not going to believe us anyway" Timmy said, angrily, standing up moving away from Barbara and Zona standing with his arms folded and back to them.
"It does matter, it matters a lot, I'm your guardian and do you know what a guardian does, they protect you from everything they can but to do that they need to know what they are protecting you from" Barbara pleaded with them, she wanted them to trust her to open up and share their worries and fears.
"It wasn't Timmy's fault" a little voice pipped up, Barbara turned, sitting next to Zona, sensing this was her chance, Zona was awful at keeping secrets.
"What happened?" she asked patiently,
"Zona shut up, it doesn't matter I'm gonna get the blame anyway" Timmy sulked, Zona bit her lip trying to decide trapped between her hero nurse B and her brother.
"Johnny called me stupid, and I called him a poopy pants, so he pushed me, and Timmy saw and hitted him away from me" Zona explained.
"Were you hurt?" Barbara asked, gently stroking the soft blonde hair. The bruises she had gained from her father had faded some had disappeared, but she still had the cast on. Zona screwed her face up, trying to decide whether to tell Nurse B about what hurt. Daddy had asked her that once and when she said it hurt, he had hit her again for complaining.
"She landed on her bottom, and I think he twisted her arm" Timmy said, he'd turned from facing the wall and had walked over the thought of his sister being hurt distracting him from the fear of punishment.
"Zona?" Barbara pressed, I won't be angry, I won't get mad but at the moment I feel sad, because someone I love might be hurt and I want to help them but I don't know how" she explained
"You love us?" Zona repeated confused, nobody but Timmy had ever said they loved her before.
"I do both of you so much" Barbara confirmed hugging Zona and pulling Timmy into a hug. "Now what hurts sweetie?" she repeated again.
"My arm" Zona said revealed her casted arm with red marks in a handprint above the cast.
"Oh sweetie" Barbara consoled hugging her. "I am proud of you for telling me, and Timmy I'm proud of you for standing up for your sister but next time please don't hit other children it's not nice"
"But he was hurting Zona" Timmy protested.
"I know, and its admirable you want to protect her, but you don't have to do it alone now, if you see someone being mean you should tell a teacher let them intervene" Barbara instructed, she could tell Timmy had no intention of following her advice. "Just try it next time" she begged as the principal's door opened. Mrs Thomas came out.
"Mrs Robbins, Timmy, Arizona, if you would like to come in" she invited. Barbara took Zona and Timmy's hand stepping into the office. Inside a young boy sat his father standing behind him.
"Okay, you all know why you are here, but I'd like to hear what happened?" Mrs Thomas asked sternly, Zona shrank back into Barbara's arms trying to make herself as small as possible.
"He punched me" Johnny said pointing at Timmy glaring. Barbara noticed the bruise to his cheekbone and hid a smile, Timmy punched hard and didn't miss. She knew Daniel would be proud of him.
"And this punch came from nowhere, you did nothing to provoke it?" Mrs Thomas asked waiting for Timmy or Zona to speak up. Johnny nodded. "Then why was Arizona on the floor?" she asked firmly, she'd been in teaching for 20 years and knew what a bully looked like but to prove it she needed Arizona or Timmy to speak up.
"I don't know maybe she is too stupid to stand up" Johnny shrugged. Timmy scowled, walking towards Johnny,
"My sister isn't stupid, you pushed her and grabbed her wrist" he shouted, Barbara easily grabbed him pulling him onto her lap to join Zona.
"Okay, I can see tensions are high, Arizona can you tell us what happened please?" Mrs Thomas asked gently, Zona buried her head into Nurse B and shook it no. "Very well Timmy,"
"I was eating lunch with Nick and Zona was getting lunch when he walked over, he pushed her tray on the floor and grabbed her arm, she started crying so he pushed her. I went over and stopped him" Timmy reported.
"No" Johnny said, Mrs Thomas raised her eyebrow, she could tell he was lying by his tone.
"Okay so if I asked any of the other kids in the canteen, they will tell me the same thing?" She challenged him, he shrugged.
"He called me stupid because I don't use a fork when I eat, he said I was a dumdum," Zona whispered quietly, she'd started to cry. Mrs Thomas was scary when she was angry, she reminded her of daddy.
"Yeah, well you called me poopy pants" Johnny returned.
"Okay, Timmy, and Arizona could you wait outside" Mrs Thomas asked, Timmy stood while Zona refused to resulting in Barbara carrying the young girl out while Zona clung to her like a monkey. Back in the sub waiting room, Barbara positioned her onto her lap.
"I'm proud of you" she said to both children. "You told the truth and that wasn't easy" she could tell her words had done nothing to reassure the children. As Timmy stood back straight, while Zona sobbed into her shoulder.
After a few minutes the door opened Johnny and his dad walked out, not making eye contact, Johnny's dad hand on his back. They paused by Zona.
"I'm sorry" Johnny said, sounding insincere, his dad pushing him slightly, Johnny sighed, "I'm really sorry I called you stupid and pushed you" he glared at his father and Mrs Thomas, "Happy now" he said, his dad shrugged,
"We will discuss this at home since apparently we have plenty of time there now" they walked out.
"Arizona, Timmy Mrs Robbins," Mrs Thomas invited them back into her office. Again, Barbara carried Zona in.
"Firstly, Arizona I would like to apologise to you, we have a zero tolerance on bullying here. We have a lunch monitor who would normally step in, but she was dealing with a nosebleed and had stepped out to escort them too medical. Are you okay?" Mrs Thomas asked, Zona didn't answer still hiding her face in Nurse B.
"I'll take her to be checked out after this" Barbara suggested. Mrs Thomas nodded,
"In which case I will make this quick. I have suspended Johnny for a week, when he comes back, he will meet with the guidance counsellor once a week. Timmy, while I understand you were protecting your sister, I cannot allow violence in my school thus I'm forced to suspend you too, for the rest of the day. Next time Timmy, you should tell a teacher, or an adult what is happening" Mrs Thomas advised. Barbara nodded in agreement, it was a reasonable punishment, 3-hour suspension, especially as she'd have insisted on taking him home anyway.
"Thank you, Mrs Thomas" she said, "Come on guys lets go" she instructed, Zona didn't move, sighing Barbara lifted her up placing her weight onto her hip, holding her other hand out for Timmy to take.
"I'm sorry, Mrs Thomas" Timmy told his head teacher, "I just wanted to protect Zona" he was looking at the floor, not wanting to make eye contact with her. Mrs Thomas walked around her desk kneeling down, she lifted his chin.
"I know that Timmy, and you have been protecting Arizona for a long time now, but you are not the only one who wants to protect her. To protect both of you, but you have to let us help you, can you do that for me Timmy?" Mrs Thomas asked, Timmy nodded
"I can try," he said shrugging.
"That's all I ask Timmy," Mrs Thomas said hugging him. "You take care we will see you tomorrow" Timmy nodded solemnly as Barbara led them out of the office and to the car.
"Okay Zona, you're going to have to let go of me now so I can drive" Barbara insisted at the car. "I promise it's safe, isn't it Timmy"
"Yeah, Johnny and Mrs Thomas have gone" Timmy confirmed, Zona peeked out, Barbara's heart broke at the red rimmed eyes, and how wet her shirt now was.
"Mrs Thomas was angry" Zona whispered, "Daddy got angry"
"I know sweetie, but Mrs Thomas won't hurt you"
"Johnny hurt me" Zona whispered, breaking Barbara's heart.
"I know and he was naughty he has been put in time out for a few days," Barbara explained. "I'm so proud of you both for telling the truth. Now let's go see Dr Mabel make sure Timmy's hand isn't damaged and your arm isn't broken worse"
"Yay" Zona cheered, she loved Dr Mabel and her magic tricks
Happily Zona climbed in the car Barbara helped her to do the seatbelt before driving to the hospital. Having just left she knew Dr Mabel was on duty and could only hope she had time to see both of her children again. Arriving at the hospital Barbara opened the door, Zona held her arms up wanting to be carried, Barbara sighed, their unofficial nickname of the limpet was in full force, still at least Zona felt safe enough with them to cuddle.
"Come on Timmy" she encouraged the small boy sat in the car,
"Why? I'm not even that hurt, this is stupid" Timmy protested. "Daddy hurt us way worse, and nobody even cared" Barbara sighed, this was turning into a long day.
"I know my beautiful boy, but that was wrong, so wrong, and I know this is confusing, but you aren't alone anymore, you have a whole army of people wanting to help you and your sister, can we help you, Timmy?" She asked, Timmy nodded taking her hand getting out of the car.
Inside Barbara took 3 steps into the ER when Doctor Mabel saw her from the desk, and walked over.
"Nurse Barbara, Timmy and Zona, have we got an appointment today?" She asked worriedly, Barbara shook her head no,
"We got into some trouble at school, I wanted to get them checked out make sure they haven't hurt anything worse."
"Okay, let's have a look" Mabel suggested, raising an eyebrow at Barbara taking them into one of the private exam rooms, "Who wants to go first?" she asked. Timmy sighed,
"I will" he volunteered stepping forwards
"Okay where hurts Timmy?" Mabel asked
"My hand" he pulled out his hand from where it had been resting in his pocket to reveal bloody knuckles.
"Ouch, what happened?" Mabel questioned, although she could have a relatively good guess.
"Johnny was mean, he pushed Zona" Timmy explained, Mabel nodded, she had guessed something like that had happened.
"Okay, can you make a fist?" she asked watching as Timmy stiffly moved it. "Good job, I'm going to clean those cuts and we will get an x-ray just to make sure everything is okay. Now Zona, how are you?" Mabel asked the little girl curled up in Barbara's arms. "Can I see you? I have some magic medicine for you" she said trying to bribe Zona, it worked as blue eyes peaked up. "Where hurts?"
"My arm and my bum" Zona told her, "Can I see magic now please?"
"Of course," Mabel reached into her pocket pulling out a silk scarf, placing it into her hand, then pulled, one by one silk scarfs emerged of different colours,
"Woah" Zona cried joyfully,
"Can I see your arm now?" Mabel asked patiently, Zona nodded showing her the pink cast with fresh bruises just above.
"Ouch it looks sore," Mabel said examining it, "I think we should x-ray it, make sure nothing has shifted, can I see your back"
Zona nodded, Mabel lifted her top up and couldn't see any bruises.
"I think it's just the arm to x-ray, but I'm going to get both of you some magic medicine" Mabel ordered writing Panadol for them both and the x-ray requests. Her gut said nothing was broken for either child, but she wanted to be thorough. These kids had been through enough trauma, they also had a habit of disappearing within the hospital so she decided to give them the VIP treatment and personally escort them to x-ray.
"Okay Doctor Zona lets go" she ordered gently, this time Zona elected to walk, but held Nurse B's hand, while Timmy refused but stuck closely to the group. At x-ray Timmy volunteered to go first Zona pressing the button taking the photo of his bones, watching as it appeared on screen,
"What do you think?" Mabel asked, "is anything broken?"
"No?" Zona guessed. "Timmy is okay" she said wanting it to be true.
"That's right Dr Zona, no fractures, you are better at these x-ray's than some of my interns" Mabel said seriously, "Right your turn" she ordered taking Zona into the x-ray machine and positioning her arm.
"Timmy, do you want to press the button?" Mabel asked, Timmy nodded excitedly before remembering to try and play it cool, he pressed the button watching the flash of the x-ray.
"Well, what do you think Timmy? How is it looking?" Mabel asked as the x-ray's came on screen. Timmy frowned, "This was the first one you can see the fracture here, we call it a spiral fracture. This is the one post-surgery, where we made it straighter, and this is today" Mabel explained she could see Barbara looking at them closely too as Zona bounced into the room.
"Doctor Zona nice of you to join us, I have the x-ray's loaded up, and we are just waiting for your opinion, what do you think?" Mabel questioned. Zona stared at them tilting her head slightly,
"Better" she decided,
"Timmy a second opinion" Mabel requested; the small boy stepped up still studying the x-rays this was important this was his sister's health.
"I think it looks better too" he said finally.
"Good job guys, I agree" Mabel cheered, "And you know what this means."
They both shook their heads no,
"It means it's time for my 2 helpers to get some candy to say thank you, and Zona you can get that itchy cast off"
"Yay" Zona cheered, Mabel opened the door, Barbara led the way with Zona holding Timmy's good hand and following. They arrived at the plaster room
"Okay Timmy lets clean your hand first" Mabel suggested, this was going to be the easier of the 2 jobs, "It might sting a little bit" she warned. Timmy nodded bravely not uttering a word as the antiseptic went on. Mabel quickly placed a plaster on it, she'd drawn a smiley face on the plaster.
"Now for being so brave you can pick a candy from the jar and a sticker" Mabel offered. Timmy chose a robot sticker and a red lollipop. Mabel took a breath, next was the hard part, Zona needed her cast removed which meant they had to use the plaster saw.
"Great now Zona it's your turn, now to cut this cast off I have to use a special piece of kit, it looks really scary and gets really loud, but it won't hurt you, in fact some people even says it tickles" Mabel warned. Zona bit her lip looking at Barbara and Timmy,
"It's okay" Barbara reassured; Zona nodded her blue eyes focused on Barbara's. Her good hand squeezing Timmy's. Mabel started the saw; it was loud she demonstrated on her own arm that it wasn't going to cut Zona by placing the saw on her arm. She pressed it to her skin before removing it and turning it off.
"You see it won't cut you" Mabel promised, "Can I try it on you now?"
Solemnly Zona nodded holding out her arm. Mabel didn't waste time in starting the saw. Luckily with such a small cast it didn't take long to slice through freeing the arm underneath.
"Eww" Zona and Timmy cried out in unison seeing the glitter, squashed peas, baked beans and sweetcorn, half a crayon, and lots of dead skin.
"I know, you'll need to bathe it tonight and apply lots of moisturiser. For now, for being so brave would you like a candy and a sticker?" Mabel asked, Zona nodded excitedly picking the blue lolly and a unicorn sticker. "Good choice, now you too are officially discharged, so I don't want to see you hear hurt anymore. No more fights, no more injuries" Mabel warned. Both children nodded seriously,
"promise" Zona said drawing a cross over her heart.
"I'll try ma'am" Timmy replies not promising anything if he has to fight to protect his sister he will, although next time he will try to find a teacher first.
Mabel hid her smile Barbara and Dan had their hands full with these 2. She wished she could be along for the ride, for now she had to be content with updates from Edna.
Hope you liked it, they are so cute
thanks to those who are reviewing
