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⇥ 1,703 words
⇥ Trigger Warning; none for this chapter
⇥ Slight AU, Davey is 16 and Les is 8

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Les Jacobs had never seen his parents cry. Sure, his mother teared up when she had a fight with his older brother, Davey, once. But the tears went away when he apologized for his actions and she did the same. His father had never shed a tear as far as Les knew. But, all that changed the day Davey was found lying unconscious in a back alleyway, beaten half to death.

Eight year old Les had been playing in the living room, his school work in a pile on the coffee table. An old wooden train was on the flat, stained surface, it's clanking wheels rolling ride to side. The toy was for a younger child, but that didn't stop Les from finding enjoyment in it.

A thunderous knock sounded at the wooden door in the middle of the room. Mr Jacobs grumbled as he set his paper down, muttering about what it could possibly be at this hour. A boy stood in their door, no older than sixteen, bouncing on his feet. He had a newsie hat on, suspenders hanging loosely off his pants, his shirt torn open.

"Are you Mr Jacobs?" He asked, his voice higher than Les expected. He had a bloody face, his lip busted up, oozing blood down his chin. "Related to Davey Jacobs?"

"Yes, he's my son, why?" His father asked, his stature tough. Les stood up and walked to the doorframe to the entryway, listening in closer.

"He's at the main hospital in Manhattan. It's a long story, but some newsboys were beat up. We couldn't find Davey until we... found... Davey." He whispered the last part, his voice low, intimidated by the man in front of him.

Mr. Jacob's didn't hesitate to shout into the house for his wife, Les jumping out of his skin at the sudden volume change. Mrs. Jacobs darted into the entryway, her skirt whirling past his face.

Time sped up for Les, before he knew it, he was in the hospital waiting room.

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Les watched as his father paced back and forth in the waiting room, his mother's leg bouncing faster than a drummer's. He picked at his hands in the chair, his feet not even reaching the ground in this chair.

A doctor came out in a white coat, a dark look on his face. "Family of David Jacobs?" He asked, his voice hoarse and deep. He was an older man, his hair graying, a chart in his hands.

Les watched as his parents nearly tripped over each other to stand by the doctor, nervous about their oldest son. "That's us, I'm Esther." His mother introduced herself, her voice trembling as much as her hands.

The doctor nodded and gave them both a small smile, exchanging pleasantries before his face fell as he looked at Les. "Well, why don't you come and see David? I will inform you then on what happened. If you'd like, a nurse could watch your younger son or he could come with.."

Before the doctor could even finish, Les was yanked up by the arm and being dragged over to stand by his parents. The doctor simply nodded and led them down a dark hallway, some bedroom doors open, revealing all sorts of patients. One man was nursing a nasty looking headwound, another contained a woman in a maternity dress cradling a newborn baby to her chest. Les looked away and focused on his feet as he walked, nervous about his brother.

The doctor led them to a room, everyone stopping dead in their tracks when they saw Davey laying in the bed. Bruises littered every inch of exposed skin on his body, which was a lot. A blanket covered his lower half, but the hospital gown was open at his chest. An oxygen mask was situated on his face, his breathing heavy and labored. His raven colored hair clung to his forehead with sweat, his bruised skin a sickly pale color additionally.

"Do, sit down." The doctor motioned to a couch in the room. Les watched his mother sit down, his father pushing him to sit down on the couch as well while he stood.

"Do not hold anything back for us. Tell us everything." His father demanded, his voice stern and insistent. The doctor nodded and took a deep breath.

"It's covered by a blanket, but his left leg is a big concern. There is a large laceration and if we can't contain a possible infection, we will have no choice but to amputate to save his life. The bone is also severely broken, if it were to heal, there is no way he will regain full function, if any function at all." The doctor began to explain, Les feeling his heart stop, his mother's arm tighten around him.

"Several ribs on both sides are broken. There is swelling in his abdomen, it's possible there is internal bleeding. If so... there would be nothing we could do, unfortunately. His breathing has been becoming increasingly more difficult for him, we are concerned this is... " The doctor took a moment to pause, he hated this part of his job. "We are concerned this is the beginning of the end."

Les froze, but didn't quite know what else to do. He felt like running, a million thoughts running anxiously through his young mind. Esther broke out into a sob, standing up away from Les, clinging onto her husband. The doctor stepped out of the room to give the family time before he would come back to check on Davey.

Les took a few small steps forward, glancing around his parents to see his brother. Davey's condition hadn't changed no matter how hard Les wished it did. The 8 year old boy squeezed his big, brown eyes shut, rubbing them before opening them again. Nothing had changed, his older brother was still lying injured beyond repair in a hospital bed.

"No!" Les screamed in agony, bolting out the door faster than anyone could catch him. He dodged past nurses and doctors, running as fast as his thin legs would take him out the hospital doors. His feet patterned against the ground, the loose gravel announcing his presence to the few people around.

Tears poured down Les' slightly chubby cheeks, his breathing was becoming erratic. He didn't know where he was going, he truly didn't have a direction, but fate had other plans.

Les crashed into Katherine and Jack, quite literally. He fell to the ground, sliding on his hands, scraping up the surface of the skin. Screaming, he curled in on himself on the sidewalk, tears gushing from his eyes.

"Hey, woah woah, Les, calm down." Jack kneeled down beside the kid, holding his hands out. He shared a worried glance with Katherine, not quite what else he was supposed to do. Katherine just kneeled down beside him, putting a gentle arm around Les' shoulders.

"What happened, sweetie?" Katherine asked, her voice gentle and soothing, like a blanket wrapping around his small body.

"D-Davey died!" Les shouted, breaking out into sobs in the middle of the sidewalk. Both Jack and Katherine felt the breath get sucked out of their lungs, Jack began to tremble almost immediately.

"W-what?" Jack asked, his voice shaking almost as much as his hands. Katherine began to pull Les up off the ground, wanting to wrap up his bleeding hands and get him somewhere more private to talk. Les just adhered and let this happen, he didn't have it in him to fight.

"D-Davey got b-beat up and the-the doctor said he m-might..." Les began to stutter out again, his whole body trembling violently. Katherine picked him up, she was able to suppress more of the anxious emotion.

"Let's get you to my apartment, okay? We can clean you up, you can calm down, and then we can take you back to your parents. Okay?" Katherine asked, cradling the kid close to her body. She was slower walking home since Les wasn't technically very small, he was harder for her to carry.

Les was only sniffling by the time they reached her apartment, Jack looked like he was about to pass out any second. Katherine placed Les down on her couch, going to get a wet cloth and some bandage wraps for his hands. He was slowly becoming lethargic, shutting himself off from everything going on.

"Davey's dead..." Les whispered again, looking down at his newly bandaged hands. Jack had sat beside him on the couch, putting an arm around the kid.

"Did the doctor say he was dead?" Katherine asked, sitting on the coffee table in front of him. Les slowly shook his head, looking down at his feet, his body completely still.

"Might die..." He whispered quietly, his head low. Jack almost breathed out a sigh of relief, but held back. Might die was better than already dead, there was still a chance.

Les calmed down completely, both Jack and Katherine giving him time before Jack helped him up. Each of them held his hands, walking him back to the hospital at a pace that worked. They barely got back in the front doors when Esther ran forward.

"Les Jacobs! Don't you dare do that again! Your father and I have been worried sick, especially with what happened with David!" Esther shouted, yanking Les from Jack and Katherine, wrapping her arms around her youngest son. She broke out into sobs, finally tearing down the walls she built not too long ago when she found out about her oldest son.

Les broke down in his mother's arms, the second time tears poured from his eyes as fast as a waterfall. Jack and Katherine decided to wait in the waiting room incase Les bolted again.

Esther led him back to Davey's room, Davey was still unconscious. Les gazed at his broken brother in the bed, anxiety bubbling up. His father had a tear rolling down his cheek as he gripped Davey's bandaged hand maybe a little too tightly. Les sat on the couch with his mother, cradling up into her chest. It was going to be a long night and a long day.