TABOO: THE COMPLETE SERIES(12)
“You really want to know, Doc?”
“Yes.”
“Will it help with fixing him?”
“It might.”
“Well, okay then. Weldon used a baseball bat.” Just the sound of it made me sick to my stomach. Just thinking about what that boy must have been through, made me want to kill this bastard standing next to me and the rest of the people who had a hand in this, especially Weldon.
“Isn’t he a little too young?” I said, for lack of better arguments.
“Weldon thinks he’s the right age.” That was Mace’s way of asking me to keep my thoughts to myself. After that I stayed mostly silent, not just because of Mace but also because I wanted to do my job carefully. Despite being exhausted after a hard day at work, I felt like I was going on a hundred caffeine injections. Mace alternated between watching me work and grimacing at the gory sight, but at least he was there and Jake didn’t wake up throughout the procedure which was just as well.
It took me an hour, but when I was done, I got a fresh syringe from one of the containers, removed the plastic wrapping and filled it with antibiotics. I gave the first dose to Jake, and checked his vitals again. He was out like a light now, which meant he wasn’t suffering, but I was dreading the time he would wake up. He had no idea the kind of pain and mental trauma he was looking at the minute he opened his eyes. Worse, was the thought that I might not be there to help him through it all. He would just be locked up like one of those kids these monsters kept in their cells, dead to the world and lost to everyone but Weldon and his men.
“Would you believe his father brought him to us?” Mace said out of nowhere. I briefly recalled the bruise that was on Jake’s face the other night when we first met and I briefly recalled him talking about his father being a jerk. That was the reason he didn’t want to go home. Maybe if he hadn’t gone home, this wouldn’t have happened. Maybe if I’d bothered to get him help before he sneaked out of the apartment, this wouldn’t have happened.
“You know the father?”
“He sold the kid to Weldon,” Mace said. “And probably thought better of it and tried to get him to leave. You know what Weldon thinks of people who try to escape from him. The father had it coming if you ask me, but the kid… well… what’re you gonna do, huh? Life ain’t fair.” I wanted to retort that this wasn’t life being cruel, this was them. Instead, I questioned him more on the father. His willingness to discuss the matter of Jake’s Dad made me think he didn’t like the man much and it wasn’t like Mace to have scruples. “Where’s the father now?”
“Weldon has the boy’s whole family,” Mace blurted out. “A younger brother who Weldon keeps in the special wing and the father. I think Weldon just wants assurance. He might let them go, and keep Jake, who knows? Or he might let the father go.”
“How old is the brother?
“Fifteen I guess.”
By now I was seriously dying to punch someone in the face. These boys in a place like this—it wasn’t right. “I’ll take him back to Weldon,” Mace said but I stopped him. “You can’t do that!” I protested. “He needs to be here. I must keep a check on him. His vitals are not so great, and he needs to be under observation for at least forty-eight hours in case something goes wrong.”
Mace looked like he was trying to make up his mind about whether he believed me. “You can take him if you want,” I said. “But if anything happens to him it won’t be on me.”
“Twenty-four hours,” Mace said, and I felt relief. “Twenty-four hours and then we take him back, Doc.”
“Fine. Come by tomorrow. We’ll talk.”
Watching Mace walk out the double doors was satisfying because I didn’t have to worry about keeping a straight face. I checked Jake’s vitals again. His temperature was a bit high but other than that he seemed to be doing good. Good being a relative term here. Lying there on the exam table, he looked weak and helpless. I felt awful. What had that kid done to deserve this? Just because he happened to have a shitty father who couldn’t protect him? I couldn’t sit still and wait for him to wake up, I had to do something.
I needed to find out more about them.
He was mine for twenty-four hours but then what? How would I convince Mace or Weldon to continue keeping him here? Oh God, this boy was in for some fucked up shit.
I lowered my hand to touch Jake’s face. I was treading dangerous territory. So many things could go wrong. What possible good can come of me getting close to him? For one, Weldon would never allow it. If he had a thing for Jake there was no way I was going to be left with anything but a mess on my hands. But on the other hand, I couldn’t stop myself from feeling what I felt. Maybe I was just as bad as Weldon in some ways. I was being selfish. I wanted Jake and that’s the reason I was helping him, wasn’t I? I couldn’t tell anymore. These people did this to him and there was nothing I could do.
I was working for the Devil himself—so what did that make me?
Jake’s eyelids fluttered.
Memories from the night of the overdose came back. The fear and the need to be there for him, how angry I’d been at Zach, but I’d done nothing to help him besides taking him home and making him sleep in the guest room. But I still remember the fear I’d experienced that night, it was etched in my memory just like today was going to be.