Brooklyn Hearts

5

The next few weeks were hard for Blaire and her small family. Food was short and the nights were getting colder. It was hard to keep warm at night and with the damp weather Blaire was getting sick. Edna would make her soup and sometimes bring medicine from the houses she cleaned, but Blaire still wasn't getting better. Terrence didn't like the cold either and he began to wander a little more and stayed his nights in the subway. The rival gangs were getting bolder and Blaire had to watch her back all the time. One day she was running from them and a guy grabbed hold of her pony tail, knocking her to the ground. She escaped with just a black eye. When she returned to the fire station she had Edna cut her hair to almost above her ears. She didn't want that to happen again.

It was cold and wet in October when sickness hit Blaire. She came down with a bad cough and fever and couldn't get out of bed. She was so weak from lack of food and didn't want to trouble Edna or Lily. She tried to play it off but finally she succumbed to her fever. Lily couldn't wake her up in the afternoon. "Blaire! Blaire Bear! Wake up!" But she only groaned in her sleep.

Lily ran down stairs to find Edna. "Edna! Edna! Blaire is really sick and she won't wake up!"

Tears were forming in her large green eyes.

Edna looked up from the tattered newspaper she was reading and stood up stiffly. "Come on now, chil', let's take a look." Edna leaned over Blaire and put a hand on her forehead. She was burning up but there wasn't much Edna could do. Edna made a clicking sound in her mouth and shook her head. "Yep, she's a in bad way, sweetie."

Lily was rifling through Blaire's jacket when a business card fell to the floor. Edna saw it with the Avengers logo on it and said, "What's this?" She held it at arm's length to read the small print. Her eyes grew wide when she saw the name on the card and all the phone numbers. "This must be a friend of hers. You take this card and call this number. Go on to Mr. Lee's store and use his phone. Tell this Steve Rogers you need his help right away."

Lily took the card and read the numbers before she shoved into her coat pocket. She ran to Mr. Lee's store which wasn't that far, but it felt far for her. She asked if she could borrow his phone and he readily obliged directing her to the back hallway. Lily dialed the phone number and someone picked up at the third ring.

"Avengers Tower, this is Mr. Hogan."

"Uh, yeah... This is Lily and I'm supposed to call this number for Steve Rogers."

Happy Hogan was not expecting to hear the voice of a small child on the other end of the phone. He wasn't sure if this was a prank or something really serious. Either way, he wanted to take the child seriously.

"Lily, are you a friend of his?"

"No. I've never met him. But my grandma Edna told me to call this number because my sister is really sick and she needs a doctor."

"And where do you live, Miss Lily?"

"I can't tell you that. But if you send a doctor to Mr. Lee's grocery store I can take him to my sister." Lily was hoping she was saying the right thing as she wound the cord of the phone around her finger.

"I'll send a car right away. It will take about thirty minutes to get to you. Are you in a safe place where you can wait that long?"

Lily smiled as she answered, "Yes, I'm with Mr. Lee and he's really great."

"Could you put him on the line for me, please?"

Happy talked with Mr. Lee and got the street address and explained he was sending a car for Lily and her sister. Mr. Lee hung up the phone with a sigh. He didn't realize Blaire was so sick. "You hungry kid?" he asked Lily.