Crazy but Sweet, Sweet but Crazy

16: knowing

*Trigger warning: scenes pertaining to physical abuse & assault *

"It's a very difficult promise you're getting me to keep, Ian." Dr. Sarah Maloney said dryly.

Ian, Sarah and I sat in her office, clean kept with white shelves containing medical books.

On her desk was her laptop, a clipboard, and small framed picture of herself and two kids who looked about nine or eight, with her dark brown eyes and round face. The room smelled like Dettol and a musk perfume scent.

"C'mon, Maloney. This is your hospital," coaxed Ian, pushing towards her a cinnamon roll from Tartine Bakery.

Dr. Maloney's eyes fleeted to the cinnamon roll, and then back to Ian's face. She then let out a tut.

"I happen to be running it, but it's not mine. And whether it's mine or not, I'm a doctor. You're a journalist, so you should know what a difficult situation this is for me.

"You suddenly barge in with a boy who looks like he was beaten up with an object I presume to be something like a golf club or a baseball bat- and has a fractured rib, clear signs of sustained physical abuse on his body.

"You bring him in unconscious on your back and insist on covering his face from everyone else, insist on only me treating him. And you ask if I can keep it a secret, not report this to the police. Is that what you're doing, Ian Neil?"

Golf club. Baseball bat. The sour taste of the lemonade seemed to crawl back up my throat.

Ian pressed his lips together with a guilty look. "Erm- yes. Look, Sarah. This boy is not the regular kind of a boy you can just pull out of his house and put under temporary care."

She narrowed her eyes. "And why not?"

With a clear of his throat, Ian glanced at me. I wet my lips. "Dr. Maloney, I'm not sure if you saw him on the news- the boy's Elliot. Elliot Lockwood."

For a few moments, Dr. Maloney looked at me like she was still waiting for me to continue. Then, she put a hand over her mouth. "Holy."

"Sarah. We're trying to figure things out. To get him out, safely. But now's not the time. We report this to the police without any solid plan, the boy's going to get all the backlash. You know how the big guys work."

"What other big shit are you getting yourself into, Ian Neil?" A crease formed on Dr. Maloney's otherwise smooth forehead. She gestured to me uncomfortably. "And why're you getting her involved too?"

"Why don't you just live in peace Ian damn Neil- oh lord. Listen carefully. You better have a damn proper plan for making sure the boy stays alive and in one piece before he is pulled out of that house. You understand me?"

With a nod, Ian pushed up his wire-framed glasses. "Absolutely."

"You better do, because if not, you're going to have the life of a boy, on me."

~ * ~

"Thank you, Mr. Neil." Elliot sat on the hospital bed of the solitary ward with a smile perfectly curated for the situation- grateful, apologetic.

Slightly bulging from under his shirt and round his abdomen, was a brace. "But I think I'll go home."

"Please, let him see a doctor. A safe one- the kind bound to keep secrets, whether by money or contract. After that, help him stay over at a hotel, at any place other than his house."

"No you're not," I said firmly, looking at him in the eye. "You're going to a hotel."

Taking up his school bag, Elliot smiled ruefully. "Sorry to give you a scare, Clare. But I have to. There's an important family event today."