"Love is like a theif, it robs you of all thought and logic, and all you have left is a heart that you can only pray is strong enough to survive the rest..."
- Karina Halle
Eustass Kid was quickly rising to the top of the world. Violence was his mi...
"Please..! You can see he's really sick! Medicine, clean water, a..anything?!"
My worst fear had come true. The kid's wound had turned septic. It had happened so quickly. One moment he was fine, then the next he spiked a fever, and could barely move.
The middle aged man looked down at us in disgust as I held the boy in my arms, his nose crinkling and teeth baring. "Git outta here, ya filthy brats! None've my business!" He sharply swept his hand out to shoo us off before slamming the door in our faces.
I'd tried so many doors.
So many people.
Every single one of them had said something similar.
"P..Please..." My voice came out in a broken whisper as I stared at dirty wood and rusting hinges, the unnatural heat of the child's body against my chest reminding me that there wasn't much time.
So many people, and not one of them gave a shit about a dying little boy. It made me so mad, but at the same time, I felt helpless. I'd taken on the responsibility of looking after him, and I'd failed. I wasn't even grown myself, but I sure felt like I was. I was supposed to know what to do.
But I don't...I can't...
I was exhausted. For two days I had been carrying the kid around, desperately begging anyone who would even spare us a glance for some kind of help. The only thing I could do was collapse against a wall and pray that by some miracle he'd survive.
"Killer..." I immediately looked down through my fringe at the frail little boy who shifted in my lap, my hand moving to rest upon his head. "Hey...It's okay, buddy..." I murmured, knowing that my voice was betraying my words. "I just need a sec to rest my legs, then I'll get you some medicine, a..alright..?"
The kid's breath hitched with every intake, and his eyes seemed so far away as he stared up at me. So close to death. "Is...someone get...gettin' some for us..?" He asked weakly, hopefully, so much so that it made my heart break.
I forced myself to nod. I hated lying to him, but what else was there for me to do? I didn't want to tell him that he probably wasn't going to make it. I didn't want to tell myself that, either. "Yeah...so just hang in there, okay? Rest up. I'm r..right here..."
When he closed his eyes again, I mentally prepared myself for the likelihood that they would never open again. If we had been born anywhere else, then maybe, just maybe, he could have had access to the things he needed. Not just medicine, but food, water, a warm place to lay his head. Parents who loved him. Not a scruffy punk not five years his senior who had no idea what he was doing.
The shadows of passers by fell so heavy as they drifted over our forms, motionless and invisible in the dark. Filth amongst filth. That was all we were to them, and all we ever would be. The future of this lawless country, if we even managed to survive it at all.
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