Little Morgan Gallagher

42- We cant just leave her

     I was asleep against Lips shoulder in the hospital. After our huge fight, we tried to put it behind us for Liam and headed back to see how he was and stayed the night in the waiting room.

     I was woken up by Lips phone ringing, I watched him walk away and talk for a few minutes. I was still half asleep when I saw him walk back to me.

     "Who was that?" I yawned. He didn't get a chance to answer as someone called, "Philip Gallagher?"

     We both looked and saw a nurse and I jumped up to follow him down the hall to her.

"So his heart rate and blood press have returned to normal and his glucose levels have stabilised, that means we're gonna move him downstairs to a bed in the general paediatrics ward," the nurse explained as we walked with her down the corridor, "That means he'll be ready to be discharged in a day or two."

"Good- that's good," Lip sighed as I smiled, knowing Liam was going to be okay.

"Oh, and Philip this is Ms Matlock. She's from social services," the nurse said as we approached a woman standing in front of us holding clipboards.

My face dropped. Oh SHIT.

"Hello Mr. Gallagher," She smiled shaking Lips hand, "So Philip, your sister is your brothers legal guardian?"

"Along with our dad," I butted in.

"Was your father home when the incident occurred?"

"No, he wasn't. And we don't know where you can find him," Lip told her.

"And your sister is in police custody?"

".. yeah."

The woman sighed, looking at me, then back to Lip, "you're gonna need to find your father before Liam is ready to be released, or he'll be placed in foster care."

"Can I take responsibility for him? I'm an adult, 19. I look after the rest of my siblings when Fionas not around?"

"You're away at college right?"

I bit my lip, looking to my brother. "Yeah- but I'll quit. I can take him," he stuttered.

Shit, I didn't want my brother going down in this shit and not going back to college.

"You can petition the court but your father is the quicker solution if you want to keep Liam out of foster care even temporarily."

She walked off, I was shitting a brick but the nurse came back to us. "Can we see Liam now?" I asked her impatiently.

She smiled at me, "yes, you can come this way."

She lead us to his room, and we both walked in. He was still hooked up to lots of machines but he was awake.

My face lit up when I saw him, "Hi munchkin!" I exclaimed, running to him, pulling him up to my gently to hug him.

"Hey buddy," Lip smiled, kissing his head as I hugged him tight to me, "you're okay."

"You're okay munchkin."

***

I sat in court in between Lip and Carl, along with Debbie Kev and V, waiting to hear Fiona's bail hearing.

I saw my sister in prison uniform in behind the glass where the prisoners were being held. She looked awful. But I forced a smile and waved to her, she waved back with her cuffed hands.

"Fiona Gallagher, charges of possession of a controlled substance, a class 4 felony. And child endangerment, a violation of the reckless conduct code, a class 3 felony," the counsel read aloud.