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"Is she gonna be okay?" I hear a voice whisper.

"She should be waking up soon, but she won't be able to walk for at least a few more weeks," another voice responds.

I try my best to pry my eyes open, seeing a dozen or so blurry faces in mine. There's many gasps and they almost all move away.

"Ash! Youse alive!" I hear my brother yell. I look up to his face, which is still slightly blurry, and try to smile, which hurts me. "Hey, take it easy, Sweetheart. How ya feelin'?"

"... I can't feel anything right now. But I'd venture to say that I'll be in pain if I move," I say with a scratchy voice. "How long have I been out?"

"About two days. Even the doctas thought you was dead. But thank god that Luis didn't get ya in an artery or ya lung, 'cause he was close," I hear Mush say. I feel my chest starting to hurt from just thinking about him stabbing me again.

"Who's in here with me?" I ask, not being able to see right now.

"Jack, Mush, Boots, Leo, Blink, Spot, Race, a docta, Davey, Sarah, and Les," I hear Jackie say. I smile, trying to control the blurriness of my eyes.

"Oh, wow. So many people here to see me. But why can't I see any of you?" I ask. I hear someone in high heels walking next to me.

"The medication we have you on to ease the pain is currently obscuring your vision because you had to take so much at once. So your vision should be back in about two more days. If you still can't see after that, please do tell that to one of your nurses," the lady says with a kind voice.

"What happened to Luis? And how serious are my injuries?" I ask, not remembering much of how I got hurt.

"That fucker and his goons' in jail. I sweah, when I see my bruddah again, he's as good as dead," I hear Spot say, which makes me smile at how much he cares. The doctor then clears her throat.

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that, because I understand why you'd say that. But anyways. You were stabbed in between your arteries, lungs, and just in between your ribs. If he had just been an inch off with stabbing you, you'd be dead. You also got whipped in the back with chains, your throat was deeply cut, you were punched in the face quite a bit of times, and you had gotten a concussion. I've never seen anything this gory in all my years of being a nurse," the lady says.

"Holy god. How's everyone else? Are they alright?" I ask.

"We'se alright, already mostly healed. But youse shouldn't be worried 'bout us. You should be worried 'bout healin' up. And hey! You also saved many people's lives! You saved mine, Leo's and mosta da newsies who was 'bout tah be beaten!" Jackie says.

"Oh wow. That's good. How's this being paid for, though?" I ask.

"Luis had lotsa money, so we used that! We even have a few dollews left ovew!" Leo says excitedly. I smile, letting out a quiet laugh.

"You guys should get back to work. Let her rest. She's desperately in need of rest," the nurse says. I hear the footsteps of everyone leaving the room. A few people even leave me kisses on my forehead as they leave, while Spot kisses me on my bruised lips.

Every day, people come in to talk, joke, play, and cry. And the nurse was right, after two days, my eyesight was back. Spot would always bring me gifts, every single day. Jackie would always update me on how the other newsies were, even though they would always check up on me. Leo, the little guy, always tries to give me the biggest hugs, even though I'm still in pain, but he always apologizes afterwards.

Spot told me how he'd taken in Leo as though he was his son. And after about three weeks, I was finally able to leave the hospital, much to everyone's disagreement. Although, they made me sleep in for another three days just in case.

I have a scar on my chest, back and neck, so I look the most badass out of everyone else. So when I got back on the street and someone tried to intimidate me into not paying, I showed them my neck and said that I survived an attempted murder, which the other boys backed me up on. Let's just say that I earn 5 extra cents that day.

Today is my first day visiting Brooklyn after the incident. Jackie didn't want me going anywhere for about a week after I got back from the hospital, which was a struggle for me. So I'm approaching the docks right now, excitement in my heart. As soon as the Brooklyn boys see me, they either tip their caps in respect, hug me, highfive me, or say hello. I'm pretty sure Spot forced them to do that.

As I approach the lodging house, I see Renner, the boy who walked me home that one day, standing outside. As soon as he sees me, he pulls me into a big hug, but is careful as to not hurt me.

As soon as he pulls away, he starts leading me to Spot's room. As I walk in, I see Spot and Leo playing Black Jack at a table, where Leo is winning by a long shot. But as soon as the door is fully open, Spot and Leo's heads are turned to me. They quickly jump out of their chairs and run to hug me.

"Ash! You have no idea how much we missed you!" Spot yells. I grip them tightly, ignoring the pain in my back.

"Well, you imagine how much you missed me, and multiply it by ten, and that's how much I've missed you two!" I say back. As we pull away, I pick up Leo and carry him like a little kid. "So what have you two been doing while I was gone?"

"Oh! We wewe just playing Black Jack!" Leo says, then leans into my ear to whisper. "Don't tell Spot, but he sucks." He pulls away and I laugh, giving him a wink to let him know it's a secret. "And Paces has been watching me when Spot gets too busy with wok."

I look up to Spot, who nods. Something about him seems a bit off, though. I just can't place my finger on it. He just looks... Nervous.

"Spots, you okay?" I ask him. He nods vigorously, but even then, he still looks nervous. "Well, I was thinking that maybe we could all spend the night together! I could sleep over, we could go grab a bite, and then in the morning we could go and eat together, like a family!" But to mine and Leo's surprise, Spot shakes his head no.

"I'se real sorry, but I'se got business tonight. Tomorrow, I promise," Spot says. I can feel my heart ping a bit from the pain.

"Okay, well how long should I stay?" I ask him.

"Maybe we can play a round of Black Jack and I can have Renner take you back? Does that sound good?" He asks. I look to Leo, who looks disappointed.

"Yeah... Sounds fine... But since you're going to be busy tomorrow, I was wondering if Leo and I could hang out?" I ask, trying to cheer the boy up, which I can see helps.

"Sure, why don't you take him right now. I'm going to have to go to sleep really early tonight, anyway, just to get ready for tomorrow," Spot says. I nod sadly, feeling like he doesn't want me around. Looking at Leo, I can see that he just seems happy to spend time with me. "Hey, I love ya, sweetheart."

"I love you too, my love. Alright, come on then, little guy! Let's head down to the fair! They say it won't last, and sonny they're right! So we need to head down soon, because the tent comes down tonight," I say, carrying the laughing Leo out of the room. (If anyone gets that reference, you'll have a new follower and friend)

"Yay! Let's go!" He laughs as we run down the stairs.

I find Renner shooting bottles with his slingshot and explain that we'll need a guide to the fair. I invite him to join us, which he accepts in order to protect and watch over me. So we all head out together.

I notice that while walking, Renner also looks nervous.

"Hey, what's been up with you and Spot? You both look nervous," I say, pointing out that something's wrong. Renner just shakes his head and looks at me.

"Yeah. We'se just real noivice about the terf war dat's been goin' ahn between Brooklyn 'nd Queens. Since we'se right next tah eachudda, they keeps sellin' on our terf, which is an issue. Spot has tah go in and talk wit' deir leada tomorrah, which is why we'se been real worried. They's not jus' gonna go down wit'out a fight," Renner says, which confuses me.

"But I though that Brooklyn was the most feared borough in all of New York?" I ask.

"Yeah, we is. But with the strike settled, theyse all think dat because Manhattan changed our mind, dat they can too. Real sucky I tell ya," he explains. I nod, trying my best to ignore the anxiety growing in my stomach.

As we reach the fair, I see colors brighter than the sun. A man juggling, cake stands, and many games to play.

"Only two cents tah toss the bean bags into the clown's mouth! Three outta five wins a prize!" I hear a man yelling from a stand. Looking at Leo, he looks like he's about to explode from happiness.

"Wanna play that one?" I ask him, pointing to the tossing game. He nods a 'Uh huh' and we run over. I hand the man two pennies, and he gives me five bean bags. I hand three of them to Leo to throw, and keep two for me to throw.

Leo throws and makes two of them, the first and the last throw. I ready my aim, barely missing the first throw. I then ready up my arm, graciously tossing it directly into the clown's mouth. Leo and I both look to eachother and high five.

"Congratulations! You've earned a prize! Now, would you like the bear? The doll? Or the candy?" The man asks us.

"The bear!" Leo yells. The man laughs and turns around, grabbing a brown stuffed bear from off the wall. "There you go, little guy! Now, what about you miss? I have a very special prize that you can get tonight, back at my place," the man says with a pig-like smirk.

"Go to hell, you pig," I say, giving him a nasty scowl. He rolls his eyes and waves me away. I scoff and walk to the next carnival game, making sure that Leo doesn't see my anger.

"Can we get some candy?" Leo asks. I nod, pulling out a penny from my pocket and spying the nearest cotton candy parlor and walking over to the stand.

I place the penny down on the table and ask for some cotton candy. "Ash?" I hear the parlor ask. I look up to see one of my best friends from school, Kathrine.

"Kathrine?! What are you doing work at the fair?!" I ask. She laughs.

"Well, I was just trying to make some extra cash. Why haven't I seen you at school all year? Did you transfer?" She asks. I look down to my feet then back to her.

"Not exactly. My brother and I couldn't afford to keep paying for school, so I've just been taking the year off to work as a newsie," I say. She then snaps her fingers.

"That's where I remembered seeing you! You were in the newspapers! You and your brother put together the strike, didn't you?" She asks. I nod. "Wow, you and your brother sure are something amazing! He looked very handsome in the papers. Is he still single."

"I'm afraid not. He's dating our friend Sarah," I say. Her eyes instantly go wide.

"Sarah?!" She yells. I nod. "Well, that makes sense. She's really pretty and smart. I guess if I was a boy, I'd be head over heels for her. But hey, if your brother is ever single, let me know," she says with a wink, which makes me laugh.

"Of course, Kath. Now, I'd better go back to playing with this little guy, he's probably hating me right now for talking too much," I say.

"Of course. Well, I hope to see you next year! Have a good day!" She yells as I start to walk away with Leo.

"You too!" I yell back. As Leo and I are walking around, he looks up at me.

"Who was that?" He asks.

"She's a friend from when I used to go to school," I say. He nods.

"When are you goin' back to school?" He asks again. I think for a moment, trying to calculate our funds with the cost of school.

"Probably in a few months, when school starts up again," I say. He nods again. "Maybe after I finish my school hours, then I could teach you, since you're about the age to start going to school."

"Yeah! That sounds fun!" Leo yells excitedly.

He then immediately gets distracted by the next colorful carnival game. While he's playing games, I can't help but think about how suspicious all the Brooklyn boys have been. It was fairly obvious that Renner was lying back there.

I've got it! I'll go visit Spot tomorrow and I'll bring chocolates! He's probably just planning something big, or is really just stressed about Luis and everything. I wouldn't blame him for being nervous. Maybe all he needs is just a couple gifts and he'll be fine.

I look over at Renner, who's watching from a distance, looking bored out of his mind. Maybe I'll get him something, too? I mean, he's been walking me home all this time and he looks like he hasn't had a gift in forever.

Eventually, Leo decides that he's tired and wants to go back home. Renner walks me and Leo back to Manhattan, where I lie Leo on my bed, and I take the couch. I know that Jackie's going to yell at me for not resting correctly. Well, less yelling and more of lecturing that I'm still hurt. I don't want to sleep on the couch, but Leo needs a place to sleep.

I start to drift off to sleep, thinking about how I'm going to get Spot a gift. But that thought is thrown out of my head as I start to think about school. I'm probably going to continue going to the all girl's private school, as I'm still slightly afraid of men. Not to the extent that I was before, but I'd rather not be around them, and going to an all girl's school makes it easier.

I'd really better thank Jackie. He's always been there for me, and helped me even when I didn't deserve to be helped. He's really such an amazing guy. I've got it! I'll also get him a gift! Lord knows that he needs it.

I've got tomorrow set out for me: Get a gift for Spot, Renner, and Jackie.