Flip ~ A Spot Conlon Fanfic

Chapter 19: Manhattan Declared War

Flip's POV*

"Oh my God, Race!" I shouted, running up to him, kneeling down next to his body, seeing him all beaten up and bruised. "Race!" I shouted again as Spot knelt down next to me.

"I'm gonna kill whoever did this to 'im." Spot growled as a tear slid down my cheek, terrified.

"Race, wake up." I whispered, shaking his shoulder. When he didn't respond, I placed my ear to his chest, listening for a heartbeat and was relieved when I heard one; faint, but it's there. "He's alive." I said to Spot, smiling in relief. "He's alive." I whispered.

"Come on, let's get him to the Lodging House." Spot said to me as Race groaned in pain.

"Don't move. We're taking you home." I gently said to Race as Spot and I carefully got him up; the two of us wrapped our arm around Race's waist as Race wrapped his arms around mine and Spot's shoulder.

"I'm sorry." Race muttered, eyes still closed as I looked at him.

"If anything, I'm sorry. I never should have sent you to Brooklyn alone." I said to Race as Spot and I helped him out of the alley.

"This is the last straw." Spot growled as I looked at him. "The Bronx is about to go to war against Manhattan and Brooklyn." He said to me as the two of us helped Race get closer to the Lodging House.

"And we'll beat them. The Bronx are just jocks and bullies. Manhattan and Brooklyn, we're smart. We can do this." I told him as the Lodging House came into view.

"Hang in there, Racetrack." Spot said to him as we walked up to the door. We opened the door, walking in and seeing no one in the lobby except for Kloppman behind his desk.

"Kloppman!" I exclaimed as he ran up to the three of us.

"I already have fresh sheets and the first-aid kit on Racetrack's bed." Kloppman quickly told us as I nodded. Kloppman already knew about Race from what the other boys told him, and he wanted to help. 

"Thank you." I said to him, grateful as Spot and I helped Race up the stairs. The three of us walked into the bedroom, everyone turning to look at us as Skittery ran over to us, helping us get Race to his bed.

"Is he gonna be ok?" Skittery asked me, worried as Spot and I laid Race down on his bed.

"Jack, get the younger kids downstairs." I told him as he nodded.

"Ok, younger Newsies, get downstairs and let Flip fix up Racetrack!" Jack shouted as he and Spot got all the younger Newsies downstairs so all that was left upstairs was me, Spot, Spot's Newsies, Jack, David, Skittery, Bumlets, Mush, and Specs. I knelt down by Race's side, opening the first-aid kit as I looked at the materials before looking at Race. I reached over, unbuttoning Race's shirt to see the full extent of the damage.

"Sure you wanna do that with your boyfriend right there?" Race joked weakly, chuckling before wincing in pain.

"Spot will have to get over it." I said, taking off Race's shirt, revealing his badly bruised torso.

"Oh my God." I heard Specs mutter from behind me as I gently touched one of Race's bigger bruises as he winced in pain.

"Specs, I need you to get ice from Kloppman." I told him as he nodded, walking out of the bedroom. I dug through the first-aid kit, pulling out a towel and rubbing alcohol as I poured the alcohol onto the towel. "Race, this is gonna hurt." I said to him as I used the towel to clean his open wounds as he winced and groaned in pain. After I was done cleaning the wounds, he was panting as I put the bloody towel down, breathing shakily.

"Here's the ice." Specs said, running back into the bedroom, handing me the bag of ice.

"Jack." I said, motioning him forward as he knelt down next to me. "I need you to hold this to the big bruise on Race's torso." I told him, handing him the bag of ice as he took it.

"And what are you gonna do now?" Jack asked me as I found what I was looking for.

"Why does Kloppman even have this in his first-aid kit?" I muttered to myself as I pulled out an anesthetic shot.

"Woah, what is that?" Skittery asked me wearily.

"An anesthetic. Race needs stitches and this will numb him for a short period of time." I told him as I held the shot, placing my free hand at the base of Race's neck.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Skittery asked me as I sighed.

"Skits, it's this or Race bleeds out. Your choice." I told him as I heard no response. "That's what I thought." I said as I gave Race the shot.

"What's in that shot?" Specs asked me.

"Don't think you want to know." I told him, putting the shot back into its small capsule as I put it back into the first-aid kit. I took the towel again, cleaning where he had to get stitches which was on his side. I picked up the needle and the thread, putting the thread through the hole of the needle as I quickly put on robber gloves I also found inside of the first-aid kit. I grabbed the needle again, bringing it to Race's side as I breathed shakily, my hands shaking.

"You can do this." Jack whispered to me.

"Can you get everyone out of the room?" I asked Jack as he nodded, looking at the boys as they got the memo, all the boys walking away, even Spot as they left the bedroom.

"You ok?" Jack asked me as I looked at him.

"I'm not a nurse." I said, chuckling. "I have no idea what I'm doing. This could be hurting Race even more." I said to him.

"You're not hurting him. You're saving his life." Jack said to me as I nodded, steadying my hands as I started to stitch up Race's side. After I was done, I put everything away as I put a big piece of gauze over his stitched-up side. I then wrapped his torso in a bandage so the gauze would stay in place. Overall, Race looks a whole lot better than from when we first got him back. I tucked Race into his bed as Jack grabbing my hand, the two of us walking out of the bedroom. He then let go of my hand as the two of us walked downstairs, seeing everyone standing up, looking at us.

"How's Race?" David asked me.

"He's fine." I told him as some of the boys breathed out in relief. "Stitches should come out in a few days." I said as I sat down next to Spot, leaning my head on his shoulder.

"You did good." Spot said, kissing my head.

"You saved his life." Skittery added as I sent him a small smile.

"Queens is here...or what's left of us." Corkscrew said, walking into the Lodging House with Blink, followed by a small group of boys.

"What's left of you?" Skittery questioned, looking at her.

"The Bronx will kill anyone who gets in their way. They burned down the Queen Newsboys Lodging House with some of the younger boys inside. When the boys who got outside fought back, The Bronx wiped them out. These are all that's left." Corkscrew said as we looked at the small group of boys, all beaten up.

"The Bronx took over Queens, one of the strongest Boroughs in New York? How do youse expect us to fight 'em?" Swifty asked me as I looked at him.

"Because we're Manhattan and Brooklyn. Together, we can stop them. Manhattan is going to war with the Bronx!" I told him, smirking as some of the boys cheered. 

Ok, please comment and vote. I really appreciate all the positive feedback!

StarWarrior...signing off!