The Larkin Children

Chapter Two

Race's POV

I paced the room nervously, biting my lip. 2 ½ weeks. Madi has been in the basement for 2 ½ weeks.

Right now, I wished more than ever that Snyder hadn't taken away my Cigars. Without them, I had nothing to calm me down. I needed something to run between my fingers or hold between my teeth, something to help calm my nerves.

Hundreds of thoughts rushed through my head.

What if she doesn't make it?

The last kid who was sent to the basement, never came back up. His name was Munchkin. Well, technically it was Louis, but he had always been called Munchkin by the Newsies in the Bronx, where he was from.

I don't know what I'd do without Madi.

First off, I needed her. She was my best friend, the person I could talk to, my only source of comfort and security.

Secondly, if she doesn't make it, Jack's going to kill me. He can't lose his sister.

Almost as if on cue, Viper burst in, Madi slung over one shoulder. He laid her down on the bed closest to him and turned to me.

"Why don't you teach your little friend to watch her mouth?" He spat before turning on his heel and leaving.

I immediately rushed to Madi's side and assessed her injuries. She had a huge gash across her forehead and her nose was bleeding. Bruises were scattered all across her face and arms, including a particularly nasty one on her left cheek. Her right ankle was twisted and mangled, almost certainly broken.

"Knockout!" I called. "Knockout! Heights! Hurry up! Knockout! Help!"

Knockout, on the contrary to his name, was kind of like the 'doctor' for all of the kids at The Refuge. Heights was Madi's best friend, he was kind of her second brother.

"Knockout! Heights! Come here! Now!" I exclaimed.

He came running in.

"What is it? What's wro-" He rambled before seeing Madi.

He immediately rushed to her side to check her injuries.

"Hey Knockout, I'm going to find Heights," I told him. "He said to tell him if Madi got brought up."

"Alright, but be quick," He responded, starting to bandage Madi's cuts.

I slipped out of the room and nearly ran into someone.

"Hey Race, what's up?" Flash asked.

"Oh, hey Flash," I responded distantly. "Have you seen Heights? Madi got brought up from downstairs and she's in pretty rough shape. I thought he might like to see her."

"Um, I think he was playing Poker in his room with Scribbles and Tiger," He told me.

"Okay, thanks," I replied, already heading towards Heights' room.

When I got there, I knocked and heard a 'Come in' from inside. I opened the door.

"Oh, hey Race, what's up?" Heights asked.

"It's Madi," I told him. "She got brought up from the basement. She's in pretty rough shape. Knockout's looking after her."

"What are we waiting for? Let's go," He exclaimed worriedly.

He rushed past me and ran towards my room, me hot on his tail. Upon getting there, he burst open the door and rushed to Madi's side.

She was looking a bit better after Knockout had checked her over. Her cuts were bandaged and her ankle was wrapped tightly in gauze and medical tape.

When he saw me, Knockout stood up and walked over to me.

"How's she doing?" I asked.

"Better," He replied. "Her ankle's broken. Not a doubt in my mind. I disinfected and wrapped all her cuts and checked her for signs of concussions. As far as I can tell, she has no damage to her brain and the worst of her injuries is her ankle."

I nodded. "When do you think she'll wake up?"

"Soon, I hope," He answered.

He kept talking, but I couldn't hear him. I felt my breath constrict and my throat tighten. Hot tears stung my eyes and everything looked fuzzy and sounded far away.

I felt someone place a hand on my shoulder and vaguely heard my name being called in the distance.

"Race, Race!" Knockout exclaimed. "Race! Take deep breaths. In and out."

It took me a bit of time, but eventually I got my breathing back to normal and I wiped the tears from my eyes.

"I'm sorry," I told him. "I-I-I don't know what happened. Something just came over me and- well, you saw."

"Race that was a panic attack," Knockout explained. "When was the last time you had your anxiety meds?"

"Whenever I finished the bottle I had when I first got here," I replied. "Snyder didn't want to have to pay for my meds, or Madi's so neither of us have had any of our prescriptions since we first ran out."

He muttered something under his breath.

"Guys, guys, I think she's coming to," Heights exclaimed.

Knockout and I rushed over to Madi's bed. Heights was indeed correct, Madi was stirring a bit and her eyes were fluttering open.

Blinking in the light, she attempted to sit up and immediately started bombarding us with questions, "W-what happened? Where am I?"

"Madi, Madi, Madi!" I exclaimed. "You got knocked out by Viper. You're in my bunk room."

"Race!" She exclaimed, enveloping me in a hug.

It took a little bit, but eventually she remembered what happened in the basement and was feeling better. Everything was normal. Or as normal as it could be for a bunch of underfed, dangerously underweight children.