The Kid Next Door

Chapter 6

***Link***

This boy is crazy. I thought to myself as I rushed him down the steps of our apartment building. Knocking on my door at eleven at night asking for a ride to the hospital. Where were his parents to do this for him? "Keep that rag on there, Jeremy." I said and pushed him a little faster. I opened the passenger door for him and he got in and I ran around and hurried toward the hospital.

I rushed him into the emergency room and they took him away. The receptionist gave me a clipboard with a bunch of questions about the patient and the patient's parent or legal guardian. I sat there dumbfounded not knowing what to write for any of these questions. I filled in his name and his age and left everything else blank.

After sitting there for about twenty minutes, I suddenly became aware myself. I was wearing pajama pants and a Rhett and Link tshirt. I became self conscious of my clothes. "Are you the one who brought in Jeremy?" A doctor said to me. I nodded and stood up. "It appears he has a broken nose. It should heal soon, but you can go in there with him for a moment. We are going to bandage it up and send you on your way." He smiled and led me down a hallway into a sterile white room where Jeremy was sitting on the bed holding his nose.

I handed him the clipboard and he started to fill it out. "Where are your parents?" I asked. He shot me a glare and said "none of your business." I crossed my arms and said "actually, young man, it is my business if you are knocking on my door at eleven at night because you need to go to the hospital. That's something your parents are supposed to do for you." He looked down at his dangling feet and I could tell I said hurt his feelings.

"You're the closest thing I have to a parent, Link. The only other person who has cared for me the way you do is Zach and his family. My parents don't care about me or anything but themselves. They are narcissistic ass holes who don't deserve a child like me." He started crying and I instantly felt bad and knew the he didn't believe the last part. He probably thought it was his fault that his parents didn't care about him. I sat down on the bed next to him and let him finish the papers.

The doctor came in as he finished and I handed the papers to the doctor and he said "you're not his parent or guardian?" I looked at Jeremy then back at the doctor "no sir. I'm his neighbor." The doctor nodded and said "have the parents been notified of the accident?" I looked back to Jeremy and gave a sympathetic look. I knew I couldn't tell him the truth so I lied "yes. I texted them. They are going to meet us at their house." The doctor nodded and bandaged his nose.

We were in the car. We lived about thirty minutes away from the hospital so I had time to ask him questions. "Jeremy?" I asked. He jerked his head toward me. "Who is Zach?" I decided to start with something simple. He smiled a little. "He's my best and only friend. Everyone else thinks I'm kinda weird, but that's alright. I don't care what they think." I smiled at his confidence. I wish I were that confident at his age. "Do you care what anyone thinks?" I asked. He shrugged "I care what Zach thinks." He paused. Maybe to think. "I care what you think." He stopped and then added in softly "I care what my parents think."

~ A/N ~ This is kind of a cliff hanger... I guess... What do y'all think? I'm really enjoying this. Sorry about my spacey updates. I try to divide my time between this, band, school, and an actual social life. Assuming that I actually have a social life... Alright... I'm just gonna go... Bye.