Tom's POV

I am just getting ready to eat dinner when my phone rings. I see the name is Ruth Puckerman. I think that maybe Noah is returning my call from earlier. He better not have an excuse about tomorrow's interview. I answer my phone only it is not Noah on the line but his sister Rebecca.

I can barely hear what she is saying, her voice is a hushed whisper. I can make out that Noah is hurt and needs to go to the hospital. Something about it wont stop bleeding.

I ask her where her mother is at and all I can here is that it is her mother's fault. She sounds like she is crying now. I ask her if there is anyone else there with them and she says a friend of Noah's is there with them, he is trying to help Noah.

I tell her I will be there in a few minutes, to call me back if she needs me.

I forget about my dinner sitting on the table and grab my keys. I also grab my .38 pistol just in case something else is going on when I get there.

I drive like a madman to reach their house, thinking about he conversation that I had with his mother earlier, she sounded like he had been drinking and was a total bitch when he said that Noah had to be at the job interview.

I arrive at their home in less than five minutes, I walk up to the front door and ring the bell. When the door opens I am greeted by his sister Rebecca whose shirt is covered in blood she immediately starts pulling me upstairs. She is talking so fast that I can only catch some of her words. Blood, cant breath good, hurts, and crying.

I am not prepared for the scene I walk into in Noah's bedroom.

Noah is doubled over clutching his chest gasping for air, blood flowing out of his lip, and the young man that is holding him. The young man is telling him to hold on and to just breath.

"I am Kurt, can you please help him?" the young man asks me in a breaking voice. He is crying like Rebecca and like Rebecca his clothing is stained with blood.

I kneel down in front of Noah next to Kurt. I ask Kurt to tell me what is going on and he tells me to ask Rebecca, that he is having a hard time comprehending everything. As I turn to Rebecca to ask, Noah passes out in Kurt's arms.

I check his pulse, it is weak and very erratic. He is barley breathing. I ask Kurt to move away as I place my arms around Noah's back and under his knees. I pick up Noah and carry him downstairs, telling the other two to open the front door, we are taking him to the emergency room.

I ask Kurt if he can drive and I tell him my keys are in the floorboard of the car. He opens the rear passenger door so that I can set Noah in the back seat. I scoot him over and get in beside him.

Kurt gets in behind the wheel and Rebecca gets in the passenger seat. Kurt tells Rebecca to put her seat belt on and that Noah is going to make it to the hospital.

The kid scares the hell of me with his driving but we make it to the hospital in under four minutes. Damn got to remember to take that kid out for dinner or something, he never lost his nerve swerving in and out of traffic.

Kurt parks in front of the emergency entrance and runs in to get some help. In just a few seconds two nurses appear with a gurney and help me lay him on it. He is still unconscious and his body is shaking hard. Kurt follows them holding Rebecca's hand.

The nurses wheel him into a trauma room and I am asked to go to the front desk to fill out some paper work. I watch as the nurses escort Kurt and Rebecca out of the trauma room with a promise of letting them know something as soon as they had any information.

I flash my badge to the admissions clerk, letting her know that I am an officer of the court. I tell her that I am his probation officer and that he was attacked by his own mother.

She begins to explain to me that his next of kin would need to fill out the paper work and to sign the necessary documents to admit and treat him. I tell her to hold on a minute and pull out my cell phone and call my friend Judge Harrington.

I explain to Ralph what is happening and that I need a temporary guardianship of Noah so that he can be treated and the case can be investigated by Social Services. He agrees after I tell him what happened and that I had a witness, his younger sister Rebecca who was eleven.

He told me that he would call Marion Cantrell, she is the supervisor of the case workers and that she would be there as soon as he could get her on the phone and that an officer would be delivering the paper work in an about a half hour. I thanked him and ended the call.

I tell the clerk what is going on, that a court order giving me guardianship was on the way and so was Mrs. Cantrell from Social Services. She said that was fine and that the doctor would come out when he had any news.

I walk over to the pair sitting together that look as if they both could break down at any minute and open the flood gates of tears. I simply place my hand on Kurt's shoulder and reach for Rebecca's hand, she holds onto it with a strong grip.

They start asking me questions about Noah, and I tell them we all will know something as soon as the doctor comes out to talk to us. A few minutes later a Lima police officer walks in and hands him some legal papers and tells me I owe the judge for this one. I smile and thank him for bringing me the documents.

Another ten minutes pass and Mrs. Cantrell walks in the waiting room of the ER, she doesn't look happy at being forced to come out on this chilly night. She walks over to me and in a tight voice asks if I am Tom Watson. I offer her my hand to shake and she is polite enough to take it.

She asked what was going on and I start to fill her in on what happened tonight between Noah and his mother. I told her what Rebecca told me and the shape that I found Noah in when I arrived at the house.

I tell her about the phone call I had with Mrs. Puckerman earlier in the evening and I watched her facial expression go from one of annoyance to one of shock and anger.

She tells me that it is not unheard of a male child being abused by the mother. It is more common than we think, the boys just don't report it. The boys don't understand why their mothers do not love them. They abuse them physically, emotionally, and mentally.

Some cases the mother actually hates their male children while being a loving parent to the female children in the household. She tells me that this type of behavior didn't just occur tonight, but it probably had been going on for years.

All children are born with the instinct to love their parents, to love the people that are raising them. They seek the approval of the adult, the love that is suppose to be there for them. They don't understand why or what they are doing wrong to receive the bad attention.

They build up defense mechanisms that surface when they are punished by their parent, the mechanisms often reflect in their lives outside of the home. They become bullies, tormentors to others that are less powerful than

She takes Rebecca to a quiet place in the waiting room to talk to her. She needs to get her statement about what she witnessed or heard between Noah and his mother. I take the chance to talk to Kurt.

Fugitive by Mark Stalling

Are you afraid

The wind is calling

For the departed to rise from the grave

They're searching for clues

There's nothing to find

When your chalk outline is all that remains