nacy and karen sat in the living room, nancy working on an essay, and karen sipping tea with a boo in her hands. ted was, as usual, asleep in his la-Z-boy, and Mike was in the basemet with the party. that was when the phone rang. 

"nance, can you get that?" asked Karen. 

"yeah, sure." nancy dropped her pencil and walked into the kitchen to get the phone. when she picked it up, a woan's voice answered.

" hello, this is Janet from child services, may i speak to mrs. wheeler?" nancy nearly dropped the phone when she heard it. child services?!

"um... mom, any reason in particular, child services would be calling you?!" 

"what?!" karen dropped her book and practically ran to the kitchen. 

"hello, Karen Wheeler speaking." 

"hello Karen, i'm calling on account of Richard Tozier. we'd like to speak to you about his current situation."

"alright." karen tried to keep her voice steady, but she was terrified. what could have happened?!

"your son was admitted to the hospital three days ago with a concussion, broken finger, and mutliple bruises all over his body, mostly covering his thighs, hips, arms, and face. there were also signs of self inflicted harm. we attempted to contact his gaurdians, Maggie and Wentworth Tozier, and found that we couldn't get ahold of him. within further investigation, we contacted the school, searched his home, and questioned the boy, and brought Mr and Mrs Tozier to court. there, they were pledged guilty for the harming of his and her son."

karen clapped a hand to her mouth, tears streaming down her face. 

"we need to know if we can transfer custody to you and Mr. Wheeler. if you have no interest in taking him in, he will be sent into foster care."

"no! i'll take him! i want my baby to be safe!"

"i'm sure he will be in good hands. we will; however, need to sent someone to insure the safety of your son in his new home. and expect a lot of paperwork, mrs. wheeler." 

"alright. send for someone as soon as possible. "

with that, the woman on the other line hung up. karen pressed her back against the wall and slid onto the floor, sobbing. 

"mom! what happened?! are you alright?" 

"sweetie..." she pulled her step mom into a hug. 

"honey, its richie. Mike's brother. they called to tell me that Went hu-hurt him! i can't believe i let him go with him!" 

"oh my god. i'm so sorry mom."

"he's coming here s-soon, hopefully."

"do you want me to get Mike?" karen nodded. nancy stood and ran down the basement steps.

"mike! you need to come upstairs."

mike groaned. "why? were in the middle of a-"

"mike! i honestly don't care. this important! mom is crying and-"

"why?" 

"she'll explain herself. Upstairs."

mike was about to protest, but then he realised Nancy was close to tears too. he glanced at his friends' worried faces and followed Nancy upstairs. what could have happened?

for some reason when his mom saw his face, she sobbed even harder. 

"mom?... you okay?" 

"yes- I- i'm fine." she sniffed. she took his hand and took him into the living room, sat him down on the couch, and sat down next to him. 

"oh, mike," she squeezed his hand, " its.. its about Richie.." when he heard his brother's name his heart sunk. he missed him more than anything else in the whole world. what could have hppened? 

"is he okay?!" he said urgently. 

"i hope so... ch-child services called. they told me.... they said your dad was hurting him. i can't believe- it's all my fault! he's coming here, mike. he's coming to live with us."

this hurt more than anything in the world. his brother was abused? by their own dad? how did he ever deserve that? but.... he was coming to live with them. he would get to see his brother again!

"mom i-" he couldn't find words. he just gave his mom a big hug. he was crying too now. sobbing and shaking. he eventually left to go back downstairs... but it took a while for im to calm down. 

"mike! you okay?!" asked will. 

"yeah, what happened dude? you took forever up there.." said Lucas.

"dude, seriously, what's wrong?" said dustin. mike had let a few silent tears track down his face, but he quickly wiped them away. el reached up and rabbed his hand. 

"sad." she said.

"what happened? with your mom and stuff?" asked Max. 

"i- she told me that um... child services called. about Richie. they said that... that his dad hurt him. he's coming to live with us."