Chapter Five
"No-No Please Don't! Please don't hurt me." Dave woke up to Spencer screaming at the top of his lungs.
He had hoped that Spencer would be spared the after-effects of the trauma the boy had suffered. Dave knew all to well the after-effects of his line of work as they probably all had aspects of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
He gently shook Spencer awake whispering, "Shhh. Relax buddy. It's just a nightmare. You are here, safe with me. I need you too take deep breaths and calm down. You can tell me about it if you think you're up for it or we can go back to sleep. Either way I'm here for you."
It was a few minutes before Spencer responded looking down at the bed, "I was with her again in-in-in that house. But this time she-she wo-wouldn't stop and she plunged the needle into my arm."
"Spencer look at me. She is in jail and can't hurt you any longer. Soon we will be out of Nevada altogether." He comforted the boy as he gathered him in his arms. David could feel Spencer's tears soaking his shirt as they both drifted back to sleep; Spencer's head resting on his new-found Dad.
Dave phoned Spencer's elementary school the next morning to arrange a meeting with his son's teacher and principal. He needed to figure out what grade his son needed to be placed in, because it certainly wasn't grade five.
He decided to let Spencer continue sleeping for as long as possible. The meeting wasn't until the end of the school day, at three, and the only other thing they needed to get done was clothes shopping. He planned to go shopping with Spencer to outfit the boys bedroom when they got home to Virginia. He was planning to give Spencer the bedroom next to his in the cabin which had its own bathroom and a little study area attached. It was the room that his mama always stayed in when she came over. As he was planning out the living arrangements Dave realized that he still hadn't told his mother that he had adopted a child. He hoped that she would go with the happy and thrilled response instead of the outrage that he hadn't told her yet or the shocked response.
Looking over at Spencer's still sleeping form he decided that now was a good of time as any to tell his mother that she had become grandmother to a ten year-old genius.
When he picked up the phone he immediately heard his mom's scolding voice, "David. Why haven't you called your mother in ages."
"Sorry ma I've been a little busy with work among other things"
"You better not have found yourself another stripper wife, David."
"I have not re-married mother and Andrea was not a stripper. I have however made some changes to our family—"
"You got a girl pregnant."
"No mother but I did adopt a foster child. His name is Spencer and he's ten."
"When did this happen David?" his mother asked after a few seconds. She was used to her son's spur of the moment decisions but that was marriages, not children.
"Yesterday mother. Spencer was a victim of our latest case of a killer targeting children in the foster care system."
"And how do you plan to take care of this boy. I will help out but I am not raising him. And you are gone out of town so often."
"I retired from the Bureau mom. I plan on finally writing and publishing the book idea I've been throwing around. Ma, the thing is that Spencer is a bit of genius and will probably be ready to attend University in a couple of years and this way I can go with him to supervise and take care of him until he comes of age."
"What do you mean a bit of a genius and going to university?"
"Spencer has an IQ of 187 and in all likelihood is ready for university courses now. He has an eidetic memory which means he remembers everything he reads." He explained to his mother
"Sounds like you have an interesting one Davie. You will have to bring the boy to meet me as soon as possible."
"Of course mother. We are in Nevada for a couple more days but when we get back to Virginia I will bring him to visit you."
A couple of minutes after he got off the phone with his mother he saw Spencer beginning to stir.
"Hi buddy. How about you go get dressed while I get you some breakfast and then we can go clothes shopping for you. We've got an appointment at your school at three but that's all we have to get done today."
"Kay" Spencer replied as he scurried to the bathroom.