I'm Fine

Hot then Cold

The following week was...interesting. Feister was in and out of her mood swings, which may sound good, seeing as Feister is either yelling one minute and laughing the next. But this was completely different from what the boys were used too. One second she seems like her old self, other times her mind is somewhere else, and the rest well...she kept her distance. Yes, it's understandable that the Refuge had taken its toll. All the boys, (even Mush) couldn't touch Feister anymore, in fear that it might trigger her mind into going back to the Refuge.

The night the boys found out they couldn't touch Feister without triggering something was a hard one. It was Specs who first found out since he was wrapping Feister's arm with new bandages. When she started to tense up it all went down hill. It took awhile, but they were able to talk her out of the memory. What happened next was a bit harder seeing as it was bedtime. It was hard getting Feister to relax enough to go to sleep, and it took about three boys and a cup of warm milk (suggested by Crutchie) to get Feister to finally go to sleep.

On another note the boys' injuries from the brawl were healing nicely. Blacks and blues were nothing but a small dots, scrapes and scratches were now small scabs that weren't even there, and even Les' arm was healed. They were all doing much better...except for one. Feister's bruises went from big to medium, while scrapes and scratches were just starting to scab over. While she was healing physically she wasn't healing mentally.

During the day when Feister would sell the papers, she was quiet and stand offish, at lunch she'd barely eat anything, no matter how much the boys would tell her she needed food in her stomach. The afternoons were the same as the mornings, only Feister seemed more tired than ever, and back at the Lodge, she would go straight into her room for the rest of the night. Every time the boys would ask if Feister wanted to talk, she would blow up and say that she's fine and to stop worrying about it. But with every night, the nightmares seemed to become worse, it got harder and harder to wake Feister up since the littlest touch would make it worse than before.

"I'm gettin' real worried bout her," Romeo whispered one night as he was getting ready for bed.

"An' you'se think we ain't?" Race asked sarcastically for across the room. It was late when the last of the newsies piled into the Lodge, with it being late, the boys all decided to get some rest rather than play a few games of cards or rough house. Well...that and Feister was asleep, and so far, she wasn't getting a nightmare. All the newsies hoped that it would be a nightmare free night for Feister, but deep down inside they knew it would happen sooner or later.

"Look boys," Jack said breaking the silence. "We's all been there, an' know what it's like." Jack paused for a few moments before continuing. "The Spider knows how ta get into heads, and I'm guessin' that's what he did, he...he knows someone's weakness and, there's also the guards who don't give a darn about what happens ta kids as long as they get paid. We's all gone though what Feisty's goin' through now. So just give 'er some space, time an' she'll come round."

"But she's never this quiet!" Mush said, trying to keep his voice at a normal speaking tone. "One minute she's fine an' the next she ain't." in the past week Feister had been keeping her distance more and more everyday. Mush tried his best to make sure Feister's ok, but she always blows it off, saying that she's fine when he knows she's not. Now, Mush knows Feister is probably the most stubborn person on the planet, but he didn't think it would be this hard to get her to talk. He's gotten her to talk about lots of stuff before, and though she never really gave that many details, she still told him stuff, so why was now any different?

"In the end yer the one she's gonna go tah first," Jack reminded. "But, that also means yer the one she's gonna shy away from the most." silence fell over the bunk room as the boys tried to figure out what Jack meant by that. Ok, sure, it does make sense, but a little more explaining would be nice too. "We's all know Feisty's a tough goil with a million emotions bottled in that tiny little body." Jack was so tired at the moment he wasn't sure if he was making any sense, plus whenever he's tired (just like any other newsie) his accent thickens with every passing second.  "So it's obvious she won't know how ta process those feelings an' the only person who can crack open that bottle is whoever her boyfriend is."