LOTF: Before and After

Phase 3: Chapter 3

"Hey, kiddo. What happened back there?"

Jack lifted his head to meet Jeffery Langley's eyes. He could see genuine concern in the man's face; the kind of concern he was so used to seeing in Ralph's. Jeffery was his father alright, there was no question about that. They were so much alike, it made Jack a little uncomfortable talking to the man.

"They can't admit me without an parent or guardian" Jack shamefully confessed.

"Jack, why aren't your parents here? You've been missing for nearly five months. Were you without a proper guardian while you were in military school?" Jeffery boldly questioned the boy.

"No, I've got a dad and a sister. I'm just not welcome there anymore. He's furious. He hates me" Jack confessed as he tried his darnest to keep the tears from falling in front of Ralph's dad. It would be, to Jack, like crying in front of Ralph himself.

"I'm sure your dad doesn't hate you, Jack" Jeffery insisted, placing a comforting hand on the young boy's knee.

"We were really out there for five months?" Jack lifted his head to meet Jeffery's eyes.

Jeffery realized that nobody had really told the boys anything when they were rescued. Jack's concept of time seemed to resemble Ralph's, except Jack didn't have anyone to give him the answers.

"4 months and 21 days."

"How mad would you have to be at Ralph not to come get 'im?" Jack asked the man.

There was nothing Ralph could ever have done that would've made Jeffery not come get him, especially in a situation of this magnitude. He silently cursed Jack's father for letting his son go through this alone, after all he's already been through.

"It has to be a legal guardian to get ya in there, huh?" Jeffery asked suddenly. Jack nodded.

Jeffery squeezed Jack's knee for a moment. He then rose to his feet and walked up to the reception desk. Jack watched him from his seat. He knew he didn't deserve the help, especially not from Ralph's family of all people. If Jeffery had known what Jack had done to his son on the island, he wouldn't be fighting for Jack either.

In the time that Jack had been talking with Ralph's father, Ralph was called back for his examination.

"Hi there, Ralph, I'm Doctor Sutherland and I will be conducting your post-trauma physical examination today. How are you feeling?" the female doctor asked Ralph as the boy sat on the table, his mother on the chair on the other side of the small room.

"I'm okay" Ralph told her as he watched her put on a pair of surgical gloves.

"I'm glad to hear that. You were on that island quite a long time, huh?"

"I suppose so" Ralph halfheartedly agreed.

"Well, it's important that we make sure you're in good health considering. We'll just start with some questions to give me a better idea of what I should be looking out for, okay?" she explained gently.

Ralph nodded slowly as his eyes found his mom's. She gave him a comforting nod of approval.

"So Ralph, I know some of this stuff might be hard to talk about but I need you to answer my questions to your memory as best you can."

"Okay."

"So first of all, during your time on the island, do you remember ever falling from any great heights at all? Even if it wasn't recently?"

"No, never from high up. I tripped a lot in the beginning though. On branches and leaves and stuff" Ralph explained as his voice began to shake.

"Okay, thank you for sharing that with me. Did any of those little trips ever result in any long term pain? Did you ever twist your ankle or land on any part of your body funny?"