The Human Condition

Chapter 8: Sell Your Soul

"I'm holding on so tightly now

My insides scream so loudThey keep watching, watching me drownHow did it come to this?"~ Sell Your Soul by Hollywood Undead

Heaving a sigh, Vanessa glared sternly at the kid squirming in front of her. The little brat wouldn't sit still as she tried to fix up his arm; pouring more water over it, the boy hissed through his teeth and jerked away. Thoroughly put out, Vanessa sat back.

"Kid I can't help you if you keep moving around like that. You need to sit still."

Huffing, the boy glared at her, lip jutting out in a pout. "You try to sit still when you have big ass scratches on your arm!"

Grinding the heel of her palm into her forehead, Vanessa bit her lip. The kid was right, and it wasn't his fault that her patience was in short supply at the moment. Nothing seemed to want to go right on this Godforsaken night. Freddy had shoved the kid into a charging tube at the last moment before being knocked unconscious by the Daycare Attendant.

Now neither of them knew where he was and couldn't even get into Parts and Service. Then both of them had the shit scared out of them by a map bot. Meeting the little boy's eyes again, Vanessa breathed out a sigh. Holding her hand out, she waited for him to move closer so she could resume tending to his arm.

"First off, language; kid like you shouldn't be going around cursing."

She saw the way the kid rolled his eyes and knew it was going to be a losing battle; he'd probably still curse and there was really nothing she could do to stop him. At least Freddy couldn't accuse her of not trying.

Not that the bear would.

Maybe...he could be kind of tightwad when it came to cursing. Especially from kids or in front of them. He'd probably give her that stern, disappointed dad look and then she'd end up feeling kinda, sorta guilty that she somehow didn't do more. How he managed the look so perfectly was beyond her, but she'd seen it aimed at more than one child and animatronic.

Shaking the thoughts from her head, Vanessa ripped open a few alcohol wipes. Yeah, she really needed to focus and stop getting caught up in inane thoughts. Unfolding and setting them aside, she took a moment to really look at the kid's wound. The lines weren't clean cuts, more like tears, but they didn't seem all that deep. They probably could use stitches, but all she had were some butterfly ones.

They'd do at the moment.

Steadying the boy's arm, Vanessa felt a twinge of sympathy for what she had to do next, "Sorry kid, this is gonna sting. Just stay as still as you can, then we can finish up here." The boy grimaced, before his face went scarily blank; the kid was tough, she'd give him that.

As gently as she could, the guard gently laid one of the wipes over the wound and pressed down. She had tried to flush it out with the water before, but she didn't want to take any chances with possible infection. The boy's fist turned white from how hard he was twisting it into his shorts, but he didn't make a sound.

Removing the first wipe, she tossed it beside her on the table and began to dab at the skin around the wounds, getting them as clean as possible. Once that was done, she took the final two and cleaned the actual wounds themselves.

Kid stayed still for a good amount of time before he started wiggling again. Letting him go, the woman glanced at his face; the young boy's eyes had a glossy sheen to them. Sympathetic, the woman patted his knee, "Worst parts over kid, you did good. Now...I know you said someone took Freddy, but I need a little more info on that," Vanessa paused for a second before amending, "And your name. Can't keep calling you kid all the time."