Fighting For What's Missing

44.

William

I can feel Robbie's eyes burning a hole in the back of my head while I pace my side of the room. How could he possibly be mad at me right now? "Will, go," he snarls, threateningly. I glance at him...damn, if looks could kill, I would surely be dead by now.

"The drugs are wearing off," I point out, then two seconds later, thud, a pillow hits the side of my head. I catch it before it falls to the floor then toss it on a nearby chair. I stop my pacing and move to the end of the bed. "Do you want me to get the doctor?"

"I want you to get the hell out! Go get Agnes!"

"I can't," I say, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Damn it, Will!" He groans in frustration. I hate seeing him like this, as if his broken leg wasn't enough, Robbie not being himself is way worse. Normally he looks like he hasn't experienced anything upsetting in his life before, he's his own positive aura, but now he looks like he just walked through hell and seen the worst. And it's killing me. Over the past few months, Robbie and I have gotten close, he even refers to me as his big brother. We had never talked about it, but when he first called me it, it felt right, like Agnes calling me her daddy. Robbie's my little brother, and I couldn't abandon him in his time of need.

"Agnes will understand." After leaving Tisha's and moving into a group home-even for a day or two-it's still too soon to tell her about Robbie's accident. It's too much. She has a lot on her plate right now, and she doesn't need the added stress of Robbie being in the hospital.

I hope Agnes will understand.

*********

"Sir," the nurse half my size sighs, annoyed. "There are patients here that in worse conditions-"

"Sucks to be them," I shrug, and she takes another deep breath, more vexed than ever. For the last twenty minutes Mini Nurse has been nagging me about visiting hours being up, but as many times as she told me I have to leave, I told her I'm not leaving my brother. "It's only three, people get out of work at three, why the hell are the visiting hours' end at three?"

"Sir, I'm going to call security."

"Will!" Robbie snaps behind me. Ignoring him, I continue to challenge Mini Nurse's glare. She's too small to be this feisty. But then again chihuahuas exist. "Please," Robbie coos behind me. For a moment I think he's talking to me and I'm going to lose-I can't even win when I'm trying to stay with him, but then he continues. "He's the only family I have."

Instantly, Mini Nurse softens and after a moment of staring at me with sorrowful eyes, she groans, "okay."

I stare at her until Robbie mutters my name as a warning, then I roll my eyes and thank the bitch of a nurse.

Agnes

A normal house was not what I expected for a group house, maybe something like an apartment building or a small mansion. But it's not. It's a four-bedroom house, well, there is a fifth bedroom for the women in charge but guessing the small glance I had, it must've been an office or something. There are four bedrooms, two girls in each room, a dining room, a front yard that's mostly an untouchable garden, and a kitchen that reminds me of the kitchen at daddy's. The walls are covered with paintings from the girls, there's even some yarn-made wall decor. It's beautiful.

"You'll be sharing a room with Camila," Lena, the woman who runs the group home, says as we climb the stairs. "She's two years older than you but keeps to herself. I would say it takes time for her to open up, but Ms. Spencer has already explained that you won't be staying with us long...I'm glad you found a home." Now that I'm in Portland again Ms. Spencer is my caseworker again.

I smile. "Thank you."

We step into a room nearest to the hall closet and linger by the door. I'm a bit thrown off by the room, half of it-Camila's side-looks like it was decorated by a fifteen or sixteen-year-old, not a ten-year-old. "My" side of the room is bleak, as bleak as the first time I saw Tisha's room.

"Normally..." Lena says shyly, "I would ask you to unpack, but...actually, can you just leave your suitcase under the bed? It can be difficult for the other girls to..."

"It's okay." I quickly rush over and shove my suitcase under the bed. It's light because I left most of my things at daddy's.

Lena smiles. "Thank you, Agnes. Come on, I'll show you the house again while I'll explain to you your chores. Have you ever done chores before?"

"We never labeled it before," I shrug, and she laughs softly.

Being honest and talking to me as a person, not a child, Lena asked me to do my chores with full effort. She explained because I'm only staying for a small amount of time, it's no excuse to slack off. I was offended by it and told you, and she laughed again then apologized. The rest of the girls came back from a trip Lena's helper took them on. Lena introduced us. Apparently, I'm the youngest and Camila's the oldest. I don't see how we ended up sharing a room. And Lena wasn't kidding, Camila does keep to herself, but not in a rude way. She welcomed me with a forced smile.