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“Janice, I heard the yelling and crashing from out there. I need to come in and make sure everyone is okay.”
“No.” She steps in front of me, her eyes even more wild now. “No, please. Everything is fine here.”
I can hear grunting behind her, and then the sound of flesh hitting flesh, and she winces.
“Back up,” I tell her and push past her, to find Wally beating the hell out of Jake. “Back away from the boy.”
“Fuck you,” he growls, his fist cocked back to strike again, and my blood runs cold. Jake’s face is swollen, blood running down his right cheek. He’s missing a tooth, and his left arm hangs loosely to the side, as if the shoulder is dislocated. Immediately, I lunge for Wally and knock him to the ground.
“Call for an ambulance,” I manage to call out to backup as I punch Wally in the face, knock him around, and get his arms behind his back and cuffed, then pull him up off of the floor. “You’re under arrest, you worthless sack of shit.” I read him his rights, then turn to Janice. “How badly are you hurt?”
“Oh, I?—”
“How bad?”
“Tried to rape her,” Jake says, his voice coming in a whisper. “Pulled him off.”
“Jesus,” Ryan says as he rushes inside and hurries over to Jake. “My God, buddy.”
“He wouldn’t stop.” Jake finally sees that Ryan’s here, and his eyes fill with tears. “He just wouldn’t stop. Gonna kill me.”
“No,” Ryan says, gently brushing his hand over Jake’s hair. “He won’t. You’re safe, and we’re getting you to the hospital.”
“My kids,” Janice whimpers. “They’re hiding in their rooms.”
“They’ll be taken care of.” I can hear the ambulance on the way. “We’ll need two ambulances.”
“Two are on the way,” I’m assured, and I nod, then turn my attention back to Ryan, who’s holding Jake against him.
Six hours later, with my shift finally over, Wally and Janice’s kids placed in foster homes—oh, the irony—and all of my reports written and filed, I make my way into the hospital and find Ryan at Jake’s bedside. The kid’s asleep, with a brace holding his arm in place and bandages on his face.
“He’s a fucking mess,” Ryan says without looking up at me. “Dislocated shoulder, broken cheekbone, and the asswipe took out a tooth.”
“Jesus.” I sit on the other side of the bed from him and lean my elbows on my knees. “Has he said what started all of this?”
“Wally was going for Janice, and Jake pulled him off of her. Wally turned on Jake, and the rest, we know. Apparently, it’s not unusual for such things in that house, but this is the first time Jake felt confident enough to step up and do something about it.”
“Don’t make me go back,” Jake whispers. “Please, don’t make me go. I’ll do whatever you want.”
“Hey, you’re not going back there, buddy,” Ryan assures him. “You’ll be coming to stay with me.”
“Until they find me another home?”
“No.” Ryan shakes his head and smiles softly at the teenager. “For good. If that’s okay with you, that is.”
“You’re not shitting me?”
Ryan winces. “We need to work on your mouth, but no. I’m not shitting you. What do you say?”
Rather than answer, Jake looks away and gives in to the tears that he’s been fighting back.
“Y-you don’t h-have to,” he says and wipes away the tears with his good hand. “I know you feel bad for me, but?—”
“Hey, look at me, Jake.” Jake’s head turns so he can look at Ryan. “I’d already started looking into it. I spoke with my attorney this morning, in fact.”
“He’s not lying. I saw him walk out of the office myself.”
Jake glances my way, hope gleaming in his swollen eyes. “You did?”
