Y'all I am so sorry it has been way to long. Please leave reviews so that I can make this story better. Give me constructive criticism, suggestions, or even request a scene that you'd like to see happen. Thanks and enjoy!
-Hayd
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Newsies or its characters. All right go to Disney
Jack and Davey walked together down the halls toward the rec room, which was where Davey said group circle was. Jack tried to memorize the turns as they went, attempting to remember the different hallways. After going back and forth in his head about whether the 6th turn had been a right or a left for about 3 minutes, which resulted in him missing the next 2 turns, he gave up. Instead, Jack buried his hands in his pockets and resorted to counting the colored tiles as they passed on the floor. He could tell when they were nearing the rec room when they heard loud and excited voices from around the corner. Davey put a hand to his ear and pushed open the doors. He rolled his eyes at the rowdy boys inside,
"Geez guys, could you be any louder? Japan is having trouble hearing you." Jack laughed, turning to look at a grinning Race,
"But seriously Race, what's goin' on? It better be good seeing as you're smiling like that" he remarked. Race's grin grew and he bounced up and down on the balls of his feet,
"Guess what?! They'se letting Spot outta Solitary! He's gonna be at group circle!" Jack smiled,
"That's great!" Even though he'd never met Spot before, Jack could tell how happy having him around made Race, so he shared in the excitement. Several minutes later, a middle aged woman walked in. She was about average height, with short, curly, brown hair and a face full of makeup. She was wearing a long grey skirt with a pink sweater and a string of pearls. If it hadn't been for her ID badge clipped onto her sweater pocket, Jack would've thought she was a visitor. She gave each boy a hug before turning to look at Jack, a warm smile on her face,
"You must be Mr. Jack Kelly! We haven't met yet; Medda Larkin, I'm the head therapist here at World." She said, extending a manicured hand. Jack hesitated before shaking it, a confident grin spreading across his face,
"Nice to meetcha Miss Medda"
Medda clapped her hands together, looking like she was about to talk before looking around the room, as if searching for something.
"Everything alright Miss Medda?" Romeo asked, absentmindedly scratching at his shoulder. Medda tapped her lips with her finger, thinking. Her eyebrows furrowed as she spun around again,
"Has anyone seen Crutchie?" She asked, worry in her voice. Jack looked around the room, slightly upset with himself for not noticing the absence of the boy with the ever present smile. The boys whispered to each other as they each scanned the room,
"Hey Blink you'se his roommate, where is he?" Specs asked a boy with light brown hair and an eyepatch over his right eye. All the boys looked at him expectantly as he just shook his head,
"He wasn't in the room during rest time. He was scheduled for an appointment with you Miss Medda" he replied, looking at Medda.
"He never showed up.." She murmured. Jack and Davey exchanged alarmed looks and Jack stood up,
"We gotta find 'im" he said determinedly. The other boys nodded in agreement, standing up with him. Medda nodded as well and the group crossed the room to the double doors to begin their search. Just as Jack was about to push the doors open, they swung open on their own accord, startling the already distraught group.
Standing in the doorway was a short but intimidating boy with unkept dark brown hair, and a red muscle tee exposing his muscled arms. The room was silent as Jack heard a sharp breath from behind him, followed by Race's whisper,
"Spot?" The boy, Spot, as Race had called him, stared back grimly and Jack suddenly realized that he had one arm supporting a familiar limp blonde figure. Jack's eyes widened,
"Crutchie?" The figure lifted his head slightly, squinting under the lighting. Jack heard multiple gasps from behind him as they took in the boy. Aside from leaning completely against Spot, there was a dark bruise forming around his left eye and a stream of blood trickling from somewhere above his hairline. Crutchie attempted to move forward, stumbling. Jack sprang forward, catching the boy and pulling Crutchie's other arm over his own shoulder. Spot glanced at him from the other side of Crutchie, nodding in thanks for the assist. The other boys quickly moved out of the way as Spot and Jack began to carefully help Crutchie move towards one of the couches, practically carrying the boy across the room.
"Crutchie what happened?!" Jack asked, trying to keep his voice from shaking as they led him to a couch. Crutchie looked at him with unfocused eyes,
"Jack? W-what happened? Where...what's going on?" He asked, sounding confused. Medda covered her mouth with her hand, eyes wide. Jack signaled for Spot to let go, angling himself and helping the clearly concussed Crutchie lay down. Henry turned to Spot, who had retreated toward the back of the group, his hand now intertwined with Race's,
"Spot. Welcome back. Now what happened?!" He demanded. Spot shrugged,
"I was walkin' here and I saw a grey beanie on the ground stuck under the door of one of them store rooms. I just remembered Crutchie wearin' it a lot so I opened the door to get it an' he was in there." He said, gesturing to Crutchie.
"I thought he was unconscious or something but when I tried to move 'im he kinda whimpered so I helped 'im up and brought 'im here."
"Where's his crutch?" Finch asked as soon as Spot had finished talking. Spot shrugged again,
"Dunno. Wasn't there when I found 'im. I tried askin' but he was all confused and kept muttering that his head hurt and the lights were too bright" He answered, Brooklyn accent lacing his words. Medda refocused herself, straightening her posture before pointing at a pale boy with short brown hair,
"Albert, go find one of the nurses. And quickly!" Albert nodded, running out of the room. Medda looked at the rest of the boys, opening her mouth to speak,
"I nee-" she was cute off by Davey jumping forward with a trash bin, holding it out as Crutchie lurched forward, vomiting into the bin before falling back down onto the couch cushions, moaning. Everyone looked at Davey, who set the bin next to the couch and quickly brought out a bottle of sanitizer, squeezing a generous amount onto his hands,
"He looked kind of green so I went to get the bin and then I saw him lean forward like he was about to throw up" Jack nodded,
"Good call, thanks Davey" he said, kneeling down beside Crutchie. Davey turned to Medda as Jack comforted Crutchie ,
"He's got a concussion, and a pretty bad one by the looks of it." He reported. Medda nodded, placing a hand of Jack's shoulder. She looked at Crutchie,
"How're you feelin' sugar?" She asked him gently. Crutchie smiled before wincing,
"My head hurts" he groaned. Medda smiled sadly,
"I know it does sweetie but you're gonna be okay. Can you talk to Jack a little? Focus on him instead?" Crutchie gave a small nod, eyes moving back to Jack; looking him with a slightly dazed look, almost like he didn't even see him,
"Jack?" He muttered quietly.
"Yeah?" Jack answered, lowering his voice when he saw Crutchie wince at the noise.
"'m tired." The blond boy said, his words beginning to slur together.
"Yeah I know Crutch but you gotta stay awake. You can't sleep just yet" Jack responded gently. He knew enough about concussions from his time in the group home to never let the injured person sleep until medical help arrived.
"Yeayeah I know 'm just, real tired. I wanna sleep Jack." Crutchie murmured, eyes beginning to flutter shut. Jack's brow furrowed,
"No no n- hey hey Davey! Dave! He's fallin' asleep" He called over his shoulder while lightly tapping Crutchie's shoulder. Dave quickly came up beside Jack, gently shaking Crutchie. The injured boy begrudgingly opened his eyes a little, looking blearily at the two boys next to him,
"Five more minutes Davey" he mumbled, eyes beginning to close once again. Davey shook Crutchie again, evoking more complaints from the blond boy,
"Yeah yeah sure Crutchie, you can sleep but Albert's got something to ask you but you've gotta stay awake until he gets here. Can you do that for me?" He asked. Crutchie groaned,
"'right 'lright fine... Just...tell 'im to 'urry up already" he agreed. Davey patted him on the shoulder,
"Thanks bud" He turned to Jack to say something, but was interrupted when the doors of the rec room opened once again and Albert burst into the room, followed closely by two nurses, one pushing a wheelchair. Jack breathed a sigh of relief,
"Albert". The pale boy nodded as the two nurses quickly slipped by Jack and Davey and carefully helped Crutchie into the chair. One of them handed him a pair of sunglasses and he mumbled a thank you, his words still slurred. Without another word the nurses hurried back out of the room, taking Crutchie with them. The room was silent for a moment until Race spoke up from beside Spot,
"What now" the boys looked around, unsure of what to do.
"We need to find out who did that to Crutchie" Finch said, the rest of the boys agreeing with him. One of the twins, Mush raised his hand,
"Don't yous think we should find Crutchie's crutch? It'd be real nice if he had it when he gets better. He hates wheelchairs." Davey nodded in agreement,
"That's a good idea. We should split up and look for it. Also look out for whatever or whoever could have done that to him." Specs raised his hand,
"I'll go with Romeo!" Race interjected next,
"Spot an' I'll look together!" The twins volunteered to go together, Finch and Albert decided to work together and Blink, Henry, and Elmer agreed on a group of three to search. Jack looked at Davey who nodded at him,
"Let's go"