Chapter Text
Decker held his hurt arm against his chest. A wild dog had attacked him and his friends...well, mostly him. Mangled his arm pretty good. The other kids were safe. Currently, they all were standing across the street of the hospital discussing what they should do. Decker wasn't worried. He could get out if he needed too. Doesn't matter to him. He just will not be caught by the police today. Decker was a street kid, living with other street kids, in an alleyway. It was both sad and freeing. Decker held out his hand to stop the continuing chatter around him by his friends. Skitter was too scared to go. Ava said it was too stupid to go in for a simple dog bite. Louie was practically shoving him towards the door. And Dawn didn't know what to do.
"I'll go. If I don't like the feel, I'll just leave. They can't catch me."
Louie sighed, "You're confident, but you are good. "
"Stay here, I'll go alone. Not like you can survive without me anyways." He smirked then started walking through the street.
Cars honked at him, skidding to a stop mere inch from him. He flipped a bloody finger at them but continued. He heard a shout from someone in one of the cars, but he ignored them. Decker was no more worried about them hitting him than a bird is of falling. The boy was always good at telling which cars are paying attention to the road and which ones are busy with other things. He spent so long observing people that he was pretty much great at it. He could be a detective with how good he was. He didn't want to be. Decker rarely thought about thought stuff. He, honestly, didn't think he'll survive much longer anyways so it didn't matter.
Decker paused at the automatic doors. He entered and went straight to the desk. The woman behind it shot him a look; he offered a smile. "Can I get some Band-Aids or something?"
"A Band-Aid?" She stands up, looking down at him. "OH my-DOCTOR!"
A woman enters with a wheelchair. "Sit down here." She wore a lab coat and smiled at him.
"I can walk." He rolled his eyes.
"Did you get bit by something? A dog maybe?" She asked.
"Oh yeah. Mean fucker."
"Right." She led him into a busy emergency room and then into the treatment room 3. "I'm Doctor Natalie Manning. This is Nurse Sexton."
Another woman, African American, pretty, small, happy personality, entered the room. "That looks nasty. It must hurt badly."
"Hurts like a son of a bitch."
The women shared looks with each other.
The doctor spoke. "Such strong language for a boy."
"What of it?" He quirked an eyebrow. "Something wrong with my language?"
"A little boy such as yourself shouldn't be cursing like that."
God, she was one of those doctors. "Does it really matter how I talk?"
"Okay," She gently takes his head. "Let's see what we are dealing with. Can I push back your sleeve?"
"No." He glared at her.
The doctor hummed. "I know. It's scary. But I need to see what is going on."
"I don't like that. Too much."
"Too much, what?" The nurse asked.
"Touch."
"Touch?" Both repeated.
Decker nodded at them. He was tired of talking. His arm was killing him too. The boy was just ready for a clean wrap and a slap on the wrist to go home. He shuddered out a shaky breath, pain crawling up his arm. The two women carefully cut a line down his sleeve, just enough for them to see the mangled flesh, and not anymore. He watched them carefully just to make sure they were not doing anything he didn't like. Decker was a pretty chill kid, until moments of extreme stress. When people were being pushy with him. He didn't like someone telling him what to do and when to do it.
"Okay...do you remember if you ever gotten a rabies shot before?"
"No."
Doctor Manning nodded, "That's fine. We wrapped it up the best we could...so, can you tell me your parent's number so we can contact them?"
Decker shakes his head. "No. I don't know it. And even if I did, I doubt they'll care enough to come anyways."
"Nonsense." The nurse corrected. "They are probably super busy."
"Getting high, maybe." Decker quirked an eyebrow.
The doctor paused, "Kid, can you answer a few questions for me?"
"I can. I guess."
"What is your name?" She started, getting out her iPad.
Decker already knew where this was going. "Decker."
"Do you know your last name?"
"Yes...and no, I will not tell you. No, I don't live at home. I live on the streets. Yes, I know that's not right. It's wrong. Yes, I know about CPS. No, if you contact them, I will not follow them. Yes...I will bolt." He glared, already answering all the questions she had yet to ask him.
Doctor Manning crossed her arms in front of her. "Honey, that-"
"I am not your honey. It's creepy to refer to your patients as that. So, tell me, are you going to contact CPS?" He squared his shoulders; feet already firmly planted on the ground.
"We have to, swee-" The nurse started, then stopped when she was fixing to say a term of endearment.
"Okay...okay." He held up his good arm.
The two seemed to calm down just a bit and that's when Decker sprinted. He dodged past their bodies and into the nurse's station. People tried to reach for him, but he dodged expertly. One of the officers working the hospital came rushing over to block him from the exit. He skidded just mere inches from him, then jolts away to find a different exit. An Asian doctor comes to help herd him away from that side. A nurse with a stern expression stands in front of him. Her voice commanding, "You are supposed to be in that treatment room, young man."
"So? I'm not going back to foster care." He glared as he came to a slow stop.
"Need help Maggie?" Another male entered, red hair, and very tall. To the kid anyways.
The nurse shook her head. "No, Doctor Halstead. This kid and I are just getting to an agreement."
"No, we weren't." he took a step away to keep the two closest to him in eyesight.
He glanced at Maggie. Decker's best bet was to push by her. The other option was the red-haired man on his other side. He feared that he couldn't get free from him if caught, but her, on the other hand, looked easier. Not because of she is a girl, no, because she had kindness behind her eyes. Kindness always messed up the care. That was where everyone messed up. They tried to care too much, and it ended with Decker running free. He needed to think things through things quickly or he was going to be caught quickly. And just when he was fixing to make a rush at her, two arms wrap around his middle and pulled him backwards.
That same Asian doctor from before had dragged him across the counter and pinned to his body so he couldn't break free...but he still tried. "Let me fucking go!"
"Calm down. We are just trying to help." He muttered.
He kicked out his feet, kicking Doctor Manning in the chest.
"Hey!" The Red-Haired Doctor shouted. "Watch it. Just let us help you."
"I don't want your help! I only came to stop the pain in my arm."
The red-haired doctor paused. "Then why leave?"
"Because SHE," He awkwardly points at Doctor Manning. "She threatened to call CPS. And I'm not going back there. Let me go!"
The red-haired doctor kneels down in front of him. "Alright, we won't call CPS. So, how about letting me finish the treatment? I don't think you want to see Doctor Manning again...and I don't think she wants to see you at the moment either." She was rubbing her chest.
Decker rolled his eyes, still trying to pry the hands off. "Oh yeah, right. Not going to call CPS. I'm not stupid."
"No, you aren't." He shook his head, looking around. "But we still can't let you go without an adult or guardian for you."
"You can try...but I'm getting out one way or another." He frustratedly hit the man's holding him arm.
"Then let's do this." The man holding him says. "You need shots, a fresh bandages, then we can discuss things further."
"Or...I bite you and I go free. I really like that one." He bared his teeth like a wild animal.
The adults all let out a groan of disappointment.
The red-haired doctor sighs, "Okay. Okay...you are right."
Decker jolts when he feels a needle stick into him. A nurse was at his side, pressing forced sedation into his system. He writhed and squirmed and kicked, anything to get away. But his eye lids grew heavy. His legs stopped working. And his arms had no strength left to pry the hands off his body. The boy slowly collapsed to the floor, still fighting off the sleep. It was like every second he closed his eyes they were staying closed longer and longer. Sounds were fading in and out, then just disappeared. One minute he was looking at the ground then the next he was out. His body slumping in the doctor's arms.
Doctor Halstead reached for the kid and gently supported him, carrying him off to his treatment room. "I got him."
"He needs rabies shots." Natalie rubbed her chest. "He kicks hard."
"Anything I can do?" Doctor Charles leans onto the counter. "Want me to talk to him when he wakes up?"
Doctor Halstead nods, "That'll be nice." He starts hooking up the kid to the wires and tubes.
His hands worked tirelessly to get the boy set up and wired up. Halstead helped the nurses administer the required shots. Looking at him like this, peacefully asleep, you can tell just how small he is. His hair was unkempt and greasy, hadn't been washed in a while. He was too skinny for any child at any age. Probably hadn't ever gotten the right about of food in years if not ever. His clothes were dirtier than his skin was, but both were awful looking. He was so small, so alone, so what happened to him? Just what can they do for him? How can they help him leave the life he was in?
Halstead brushed back some of his hair before heading out. It would be quite a long time before that kid was waking up. They have him restrained too. He wasn't going to be able to leave when he wakes up. Halstead closed the curtains then shut the door behind him. He turned back to Maggie and the rest of them looking at him. He quirked his eyebrow at them. They all went back to doing whatever it was that they did. All except for Maggie who had her hand on her hip and her hand reaching out for the unoffered iPad. He placed it on her hand with a sly smile that meant a lot of things.
"You think you can handle him? I hear he's a wild one." She had that tone to her voice.
Halstead sighed, "Yes I can. He's not my only runaway kid that I have treated before."
"Yeah, but he's not like the others. He's smaller, younger...less like them." Maggie gave him another iPad. "Snotty nose in room 1. Go get them tiger."
"Keep an eye on him?" He asked, accepting the device.
She nodded.