~ALBA RAMÍREZ P.O.V.~
Even though cases like these were my day-to-day, I still felt the impotence of seeing a young child, because people Felix's age are still children and deserve nothing more than loving parents, in such an awful situation.
I followed the nurse down a few hallways before she stopped in front of a white door with the number 032 written on it, which I assumed to be Felix's room. The young lady turned in my direction and looked at me sternly.
"Felix just received a dosage of tranquilizers for his anxiety. The doctor said that if there's any sign of distress while you talk with him you have to step away immediately. Do you understand? We have had kids go through terrible panic attacks because of people pushing them to give more information than the patient is allowed to process, so keep that in mind. His mental health is the first thing we must take care of, before justice. Because, and I can assure you, without mental health, justice will bring nothing good or profitable to the young boy."
"I understand, thank you for telling me," I replied, she may have sounded rude from the outside, but I perfectly understood where she came from.
I knocked on the door. Upon hearing no answer I spoke.
"Hi Felix, my name is Alba Ramírez. I'm the social worker that is taking your case. Can I speak with you, please?"
"I don't want to answer any more questions. I'm exhausted, please just leave me alone." I heard I faint voice say. He sounded so fragile, so broken.
"I know you're tired of questions, Felix. The good news is, I'm the last person you have to see before leaving the hospital and guess what, I'm not here to ask you questions." I said, trying to use a slightly cheerful tone of voice, without it sounding fake or childish.
"You're not?"
"Nope, honey, I'm just here to tell you where you're going to be living from now on, and how the legal process is going to go, but no questions."
"You promise?"
"I promise. Can I come in?"
"Yeah."
I opened the door slowly in order not to startle him and got in, smiling at him. The boy looked obviously drained, but he seemed to be willing to talk.
"Hi Felix, may I sit beside you?"
He nodded, moving so I had some space.
"Thank you," I answered.
"Can I ask you a question?" he said doubtfully.
"Of course, you can."
"You said that you were the last person I had to see before leaving. But where am I going to go?"
"Yes, about that," I flipped through my folder until I found the right papers, and showed them to him, "your mom has a sister, which would be your aunt, whom with the have lost contact, because of a fight that happened a long time ago. I called them to inform them about the situation and they are glad to take you in. She's married to this man named Eric, and she's Amalia. They saw you once when you were a baby, right before the fight."
"They always told me I didn't have any living relatives."
"They wanted to keep you under control," I said, looking for any type of negative reaction, a sign I would have to stop talking, there wasn't one, "if you can't reach out to any family members it's more likely that you'll feel alone, fragile, scared, weak, it's all just a sequence of negative emotions, it's manipulation. Do you understand?"
He nodded.
"Good, they'll be coming to pick you up here, at the hospital," I took a card out of my pocket, "Felix, I need you to look at me," he did as told "any sign that these people might not be good news, you call me, no matter how stupid it might seem, okay? Trust your intuition."
"Okay," he said, his voice trembling, I could tell the thought of going through the same type of situation again scared him, "will I have to change schools or anything like that?"
"Thankfully, no, they live in town, closer to the school than where you used to live."
He smiled lightly, relieved.
"What-," he started, "what about my parents? What's going to happen to them?"
I looked at the time, it was late, and he needed to rest.
"I think it's not the right time to have this conversation, but don't worry, you won't have to face them until you're ready. I will come to visit once you've settled in and talk to you, your uncle, and your aunt, about how things will move on. Until then, please try not to isolate yourself. There are people around you who love you, okay?"
He nodded, but I wasn't completely sure he had believed me.