A quick and cute update :) Chapters should roll out faster now that I've figured out the rest of the plot and where I'm going with this story. I've got good things in store ;)
Teary blue eyes stared at Peter. The tough agent couldn't handle their pressure. That broken little face beat down on him and made him feel so useless. Neal was sprawled out on the hospital bed with a sky blue cast that covered his entire arm. The little boy just looked hopelessly at Peter while the doctor and nurse swarmed around him.
Then the door burst open followed by a worried Elizabeth rushing in. "Oh Baby, you poor thing!" she said as she made her way to Neal's side. She ran her one hand through his hair and wiped some of his tears away with her other hand. "How are you feeling, Neal?" she asked with overbearing compassion. "I'm so sorry I couldn't get here sooner!"
"Hurts," he said in a weak voice, but water no longer fell from his crystal blue eyes.
"It'll get better, Neal. Mrs. Burke, we've given him some pain killers that should kick in soon," the nurse said.
The doctor cleared his throat drawing the attention of the Burkes, "Mr. and Mrs. Burke, can I speak to you outside?"
With a longing look at the child in the hospital bed, El reluctantly left Neal's side and followed her husband into the hallway.
"Now Mrs. Burke, like we've told your husband, your son has suffered an impacted fraction—" Dr. Ashburn started before he was interrupted.
"What does that mean?" El questioned impatiently. Of course if she had only waited for the man to finish his sentence, he would've told her. But she was too high strung to think rationally at the moment.
"Don't worry; it's nothing too serious, although it needs to be taken care of properly. An impacted fracture is when the bone shatters and the fragments are driven into another bone." Elizabeth tensed and her husband placed a comforting arm around her. "It's very painful, but fortunately Neal's injury isn't too severe and won't require any surgery. As long as we keep his arm immobilized, it should heal nicely on its own."
"Oh thank goodness!" Elizabeth let out a sigh of relief while Peter noticed the doctor didn't look like he was finished.
"How long does Neal have to wear that cast?" Peter asked.
"Children's bones heal much faster than adults, so probably only four to five weeks. These kinds of breaks can be very painful so we will also prescribe him some pain killers. Then after the cast comes off he still shouldn't use that arm much for another two weeks." Dr. Ashburn let a moment of silence pass before he changed subjects. "But there is something else I would like to talk to you two about."
Elizabeth's breath hitched so Peter went on being the brave one, "I know you're probably going to ask us about his legal guardians. But before you jump to conclusions we plan on adopting him soon, we just haven't had the chance lately."
"Well that does answer one of my questions, but there's another one which is also the reason why we didn't contact his legal guardians when he was brought in. Did you know there are signs that Neal's been abused?" the doctor continued carefully.
The agent swallowed and then pulled his wife closer drawing strength from her presence. "We've had that suspicion. When we first found Neal, he refused to tell us his last name and when he did, he begged us not to send him back," Peter said as memories of Neal confessing his crimes flooded back to him. The little boy had been the only criminal Peter felt wasn't guilty and his heart broke to think of the child's past. When he stole a glance at his wife, he saw that it broke her heart too as tears slipped from her eyes.
"I'm sure this must be hard for you to hear, but you should know. This isn't the first time I've attended to Neal. When you first brought him in I thought he looked familiar, so when we took the x-rays of his arm, I also had them x-ray his torso as well. Like I thought, he was the same little boy who I treated three months ago. The x-ray showed that two of his ribs had been previously broken, and the last time he was here I treated him for those broken ribs and a few large gashes on his back. The slash marks were probably from a belt buckle and have healed by now, but there are a few light scars left over." The doctor paused to let everything sink in, but soon continued.
"When he was first brought in he was accompanied by a seven year old boy and his single mother. The boy said that he and Neal were friends and that day he had found his friend bleeding on the playground and so he went to get his mom. Neither the boy nor his mother knew Neal's last name, and when we asked him saying we couldn't find his parents without it, he said 'good' and then refused to tell us. Initially he was in a pretty bad condition, but we fixed him up and he stayed here for a week. We had NYPD keep a look out for missing children matching Neal's description, but no one came to get him. Then one day the nurse went in to check on Neal but he was gone. Of course we reported it to the police, but no one seemed to care. Now that we know his name is Neal Caffrey, we can tell you that he's under the custody of his uncle, Sam Caffrey."
Peter's anger swarmed and he immediately wanted to find this man and throw him behind bars. "Is there enough evidence to convict the uncle of child abuse?" he asked through gritted teeth.
"There's enough to say that Neal has no doubt been abused, our hospital records account for that, but there's no evidence to say that Sam Caffrey is the culprit unless Neal tells us that on his own." At these words Peter had to hold back a scowl; he wanted to tell the doctor all about how he was a special agent for the FBI and knew the law better than any doctor did. He wasn't angry at Dr. Ashburn, just angry at the fact that this wretched child beater could still evade him.
"I'll talk to him, but for now, let's just get him through today," Peter said regretfully. He and El both knew that soon they would file to adopt him and then Neal's uncle would need to be contacted. Peter also knew that if he ever saw this sorry excuse for an uncle, then he would be tempted to put a fist in the man's face.
The two men turned to head back into Neal's room and Peter realized that El had already beaten them to it. The motherly woman was sitting on the side of Neal's bed with an arm wrapped around him and his head lying on her chest. The two looked so precious. "Neal, are you feeling better?" she asked gently.
The little boy nodded his head in her shirt, "Can we go home now? I don't like the hospital."
"Yah bud, we can go home now," Peter said with a compassionate look on his face.
After being cleared and checked out, the hospital staff offered Neal a wheel chair so they could push him out to the car or Elizabeth offered to carry him. Surprisingly Neal chose to be carried. This choice went against every fiber in his body; how could he cling to an adult like such a baby? But Elizabeth was so soft and warm and he was so broken and upset. He just wanted his mommy, the only person who had ever loved him, but now Elizabeth was the next best thing.
Neal wrapped an arm around El's neck and clung to her like his life depended on it. His injured left arm was completely immobilized by the large cast and it hung in a sling by his side. But when Elizabeth went to buckle him into the booster seat, Neal wouldn't let go. He wasn't ready to be separated from his pseudo-mommy.
"Baby, I have to strap you in, I have my own car to drive," she tried. But Neal just shook his brown mop of curls and tears threatened to spill from his unbearable blue eyes. "Peter's gonna be with you all the way home, it'll be okay."
This time, Peter was the one to crack under that adorable pleading face. "Hon, why don't you ride with us and you can pick up your car tomorrow? I'm sure the hospital wouldn't mind if you left it overnight."
"Alright Neal, we'll do this your way," El complied as she gave the child a kiss on his head and then climbed into the back seat with Neal in her lap. She pulled the seat belt over the both of them and little Neal nuzzled into her chest.
It was getting dark out already and the small child hadn't had a nap since his playground fiasco, so within a couple minutes during the drive home, Neal fell asleep in El's arms. When she was sure the boy couldn't hear her, she spoke in a cracked whisper, "Abused and then on his own for three whole months… my poor baby."
Peter managed to lift Neal from Elizabeth's lap without waking him and carried him inside. When in the kitchen, El gently stroked Neal's hair while she beckoned for him to wake up, "Hey baby, are you hungry? You haven't eaten anything since breakfast and I want you to get some food in your belly."
Without even opening his eyes Neal shook his head against Peter's chest. "Neal, come on buddy, you've gotta eat something," Peter tried his hand at persuading. "We've got some strawberry yogurt; I know strawberry's your favorite flavor."
At this Neal cracked his eyes open and answered in a small voice, "Okay."
The new parents had survived their first mini trauma and after Neal had finished his yogurt everyone was ready for the day to be over. Peter carried Neal upstairs and El dressed the boy in his pajamas careful not to put his arm in any discomfort. But when it came time to tuck Neal into bed, neither of the Burkes wanted to leave the tyke. " Neal sweetie, do you wanna sleep with Peter and me tonight?" El asked suddenly.
Peter was caught off guard when his wife had offered this, but strangely he wished that the boy would say yes. He felt that the day's events had been partly his fault and he had failed to protect his little boy; now he didn't want to let go of the child in his arms.
To both parents surprise, Neal nodded yes. So the three made their way into the master bedroom and snuggled in together. It was a bit of a challenge to find a sleeping position that allowed all three to be comfortable and for Neal's cast not to bother anyone, but eventually they did and it wasn't very hard to fall asleep after that. Soon El was wandering away into sleep and Peter was about to follow her when a little voice held him back. "Peter?" Neal whispered.
"Yah buddy?" he responded quietly so they wouldn't wake El.
"Don't feel bad, it's not your fault," Neal spoke with wisdom far beyond his years.
"What do you mean?" Peter asked dumbfounded at the little boy's comment. He felt as if Neal was addressing his guilt, but then again, how could such a young child understand?
"I know you feel bad about what happened at the playground, but don't cuz it's not your fault. I don't blame you."
"Oh Neal," he said as he cupped a hand around the boy's face.
A moment of silence and then, "Goodnight Peter."
A large smile spread across Peter's face. "Goodnight Neal."
I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and like always, please leave a comment! I did some research for Neal's broken arm so all of the doctor talk is actually factual. I'm very proud of myself. Please let me know what you guys think, any suggestions or ideas are welcome!