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Chapter 10: Bonding Time

Kevin's PoV:

I wake up in pain. My ankle hurts... I sit up and pull up my pant leg. Through the wrap around my ankle, blood leaks through. I become scared again... Something's wrong with my bullet wound, and I'm not in the same room as Harry and Marv... I try to stand up, but my ankle hurts too much, so I crumple to the ground again. I crawl to the door and start knocking on it. I say, "Marv... Harry..." I look up at the window behind me. It's dark outside. I have no idea what time it is, but they're probably asleep. How long have I been asleep for? I want out of this room... I'm thirsty... I'm hungry... I'm cold... I have to use the bathroom... I sit up against the door. I'm sweating, yet I'm cold. I'm breathing heavily. I shout, "Marv! Harry!..."

Kate's PoV:

Peter and I walk in the door when we arrive back at home. The kids run up to us, asking, "Find anything?"

"No. There was no luck..." I pull the picture out of my coat pocket again and look at it. Tears form in my eyes. "I'm sorry, I just need to go to bed..." I head upstairs, as I start to break...

As soon as I'm upstairs, I head straight for Peter and I's room and slam the door. I lay down on our bed and cry into my pillow. I hold Kevin's picture tightly to me. Please God... Please... Save my baby... Please...

Kevin's PoV:

I've been crying out for help for the past five minutes, until I finally hear someone heading toward the room I'm being kept in. I slide away from the door, so that I'm not hit by it when it opens. "Shut up in there, kid!" It's Harry!

"Harry, help me..."

Harry cracks open the door and peaks in, seeing me sitting up against the wall beside the door. "What the hell's your problem, kid?!"

"My ankle... It hurts..." I start to cry. Harry pops into the room all the way and kneels down. He looks at my ankle. He sees the blood leaking through.

"It's probably bleeding from you irritating it by running away, kid!" Harry looks down the direction of the hall. "Marv! Marv! Get in here!"

A moment later, Marv runs up the hallway to this room. "What is it, Harry?" he asks, tiredly.

"It's the kid's ankle. It's bleeding again. Carry him out to the living room,"

"Why can't you do it?... Why does Marv have to do everything for you?..." I'm surprised by my words, even though I don't feel well at all right now.

Harry grabs my hair, which I grab on to, too, because it hurts, and he says, with anger in his tone, "Don't backtalk, you little shit." He lets go.

"Ease up on the kid, Harry. He's sick,"

"Stop sticking up for him, Marv! Do you two bond when I'm not around or something?!"

"No, but I'm just a nicer guy than you are."

"Shut up, Marv!" Harry smacks Marv in the arm.

"Guys! I need a little help here!" I interrupt them.

"Yeah! He needs help, Marv!" Harry says, frustrated, to Marv. "Take him to the freaking living room!"

"Alright! Alright!"

Marv picks me up bridal style again and carries me down the hall, with Harry following. He lays me down on the couch, while Harry heads for the kitchen. Harry brings another roll of wrapping for my ankle when he exits the kitchen. He sets it on the coffee table. "We ran out of medicine. I'll have to go out and get some." Harry says. He grabs his coat and puts it on. "I'll be back," And Harry leaves the house...

"Now that Harry's not here, I can do this," Marv grabs the blanket folded on the back of the couch and places it over me.

"Marv, why are you doing this?... Why are you being this nice to me?..."

"Heh. It seems to me that you asked this earlier."

"I know... But, you don't seem as bad as Harry... Why are you working with him?..."

"I need the money, kid, so we teamed up. Come on, enough questions. I need to wrap up your ankle with a fresh bandage." Marv grabs the bandage roll on the coffee table. He removed the old, bloodied one, cleaning the wound—making me gasp in pain—trying to hold back the tears—and wraps it with the fresh, clean bandage. "Does that feel some better?" he asks. I nod. "Good. Do you want to watch TV?" I perk right up and nod my head. "Let's see if I can find you something," Marv turns on the TV and flips through the channels. He finds some cartoons. I'm surprised that he even went as far as putting on cartoons for me. I'm glad, but it'd be cool if he put on Angels with Filthy Souls. I love that movie! Not only because it's an awesome gangster movie, but because it's what scared away Harry and Marv when they tried to break into my house last year.

"Thanks," I say. "But, you wouldn't happen to have the movie Angels with Filthy Souls, do you?"

"I'm sorry, I don't, kid," Marv says. "Would you like something to eat again?" I nod. "What would you like?"

"What do you have?"

"There's some soup."

"That sounds fine. I'm thirsty, too."

"Fine. I'll be right back," Marv gets up from the couch. I cuddle up with the blanket. I want to try and escape, but Marv's being this nice to me. I haven't felt this comfortable since I was first kidnapped. I actually forgot I was kidnapped.

Laying here on the couch cuddled up in a blanket watching cartoons reminds me of Saturday mornings with me and my family. We'd watch TV in the kitchen and relax in the living room. I miss Mom... I miss Dad... I miss Buzz, Linnie, Megan, and Jeff... I feel... more relaxed around Marv than I do Harry. I feel tense around Harry, like I have to watch what I do and say around him. I don't think Marv and Harry would actually kill me, especially Marv. Despite how I feel right now, I end up falling asleep before Marv even brings me my food...

The Next Morning...

Kate's PoV:

I wake up. I notice that I'm still wearing the same brown skirt and matching jacket as I was yesterday. I still have Kevin's picture in hand. Peter's nowhere to be found. I sit up in bed and set down the picture on the nightstand beside the bed. I head into the bathroom to wash myself up. I come out of the bathroom, change my clothes, and head downstairs. The kids are sitting at the kitchen table watching TV. "Hey, where's your Father?" I ask.

"He went out." Buzz answers. Ever since Kevin's disappearance, Buzz hasn't been the same... He's worried for his little brother, and I can tell he takes blame.

"Where?"

"He said he was going out for a drive." Buzz answers, focusing on the TV.

"Did you guys have breakfast already?"

"Yeah." some of them answer.

"OK. Did your Father say when he'll be back?"

"He just said he'll be back shortly." Jeff answers.

Just then, Peter walks in the door. I run up to him and hug him. "Where did you go?" I ask.

"I just thought I'd go out for a drive, clear my thoughts, you know." Peter answers, hanging his coat up on the coat stand.

"OK. Umm... Are we going to go back to the Police Station today?"

"You said for the next few days until Saturday, we would."

"When do you want to head out?"

"In a little while. I just want to sit for awhile."

"Well, when will the police search for any signs of Kevin again?"

"I'm sure not for awhile, honey. They have other things to attend to."

"I'm sorry... I'm just..." I'm worried and flustered. My baby could be anywhere out there...

"I know, honey. I know..." And Peter pulls me into an embrace...

Kevin's PoV:

I wake up. I look around the room. I'm laying on the couch with the TV on. Am I home? I don't clue in to where I am. I finally do, and I sigh with disappointment. I really thought I was home for a second... I sit up on the couch and I notice some fruit juice and a peanut butter sandwich on the coffee table. Beside it, is a small plastic cup with some gross-looking syrup in it. I think it's medicine. Because of my ankle, I haven't been feeling well... This medicine will hopefully make me feel better. I get up from the couch and limp my way to the bathroom. After I exit, I run into Marv coming down the stairs. "Oh, hi." he says.

"Hi." I say back.

"Did you eat your breakfast and take your medicine yet?"

"Not yet." I answer.

"Well, you'd better eat up. I don't know if Harry will be too happy or not, if he finds out I fed you. He's not too happy about last night, how I fed you and let you watch TV."

"Well, it sucks to be him." I say. Marv can't help but chuckle. I limp back to the living room and sit on the couch. I take my medicine, plugging my nose, so that I don't taste the awful medicine. I immediately drink some of my juice afterwards. Again, Marv can't help but chuckle.

"It tastes awful, huh?"

"Even with my nose plugged, yeah." I start eating my breakfast, trying to hurry, so that Harry doesn't find out I'm eating. "Marv, can I tell you something?"

"What?"

"I know I said it already, but I actually mean it this time: I'm sorry I hurt you guys last year."

"I'm sure you are."

"I am!"

"No, I'm not saying that out of sarcasm, kid, I mean it."

"Oh. Well, I mean it, too. If you tell Harry that, do you think he'll forget about the ransom?"

"I hardly think so, kid. I think if it were up to me, I probably would've let you go." False hopes rise in me. I probably would've been home, if it were up to Marv... Sadly, this operation is run by Harry... I wish there were a way to get Harry to change his mind about the ransom and let me go... "I started finding some sympathy for you yesterday, when Harry wanted to hit you over the head with that tire iron. I'm sorry he succeeded the second time, by the way."

"It's OK. It'll heal."

"Well, you'd better hurry up and eat that sandwich, before Harry comes down and sees you eating."

"OK." And I finish eating my breakfast...

Later...

I finish eating my breakfast, and shortly after I finish, Harry trots down the stairs. "Morning," Harry says to Marv.

"Morning," Marv replies back.

Harry enters the living room. I turn from the TV and look up at him. "Morning, brat," he says to me. I only pout and stare at him. "I heard Marv was pretty nice to you last night. Heh. He shouldn't have been..."

"Maybe it's because he's nicer than you are, Harry." I'm trying to sound brave. I hope it doesn't cause me to get hurt by Harry...

Harry grabs onto my hair—making me grab onto it, too, because it hurts—and he says, through gritted teeth, "I'd watch what I say, if I were you, little boy..." He lets go of me and pushes me down on the couch. I curl up on the couch, scared of Harry. "Heh, wuss." Then, he heads into the kitchen. What Harry said impacts me. Am I becoming what he said? A "wuss"?... Last year, I tried to prove myself as just the opposite to them, but now, Harry calls me a "wuss"... I have to prove him wrong... I have to prove that I'm stronger than he thinks! I'll show him! It's Thursday! I can hold on until Saturday! I'm strong... I can hold on until Saturday...

...

To be Continued...

A/N: Thanks for reading! Review positively please! Thank you! I'm surprised I wrote such a long chapter! Actually, I'm surprised I wrote a chapter at all tonight, because I've been busy on my final projects tonight! Well, I guess this is a makeup for not uploading a chapter yesterday! ^_^ So there you go, people! A few more chapters to go until a very intense chapter! Well, ciao! :D

- Termina's Hero1234