It took the better part of an hour, but eventually, the soup had gone entirely from the bowl to Jake's, now pacified, stomach. I was feeling accomplished & Jake was acting more like the boy I had seen yesterday. But he still needed his sleep.
"It's nearly 2," I stated. Jake watched as I gathered the bowl & spoon together, then stood. "I need to go see a few others. Can you promise me something?"
"Maybe," he allowed. I refrained from rolling my eyes & settled for a piercing stare. After a few moments, he consented to my request.
"Get some sleep," I ordered.
He only argued with me for a moment before falling silent. When I was convinced that he would take my words to heart, I stood & walked to the door. He didn't get up. Instead, he closed his eyes.
I opened the door, but couldn't make myself leave. I watched him breathe. His breaths grew slower & deeper. He was beautiful.
"Are you alright, ma'am?" The floor guard stood near the stairway door. He didn't seem too concerned. I shut the door behind me.
"Everything was fine." He nodded and smiled.
"I've heard about you, ma'am. You do great things with these boys. Thank you for your service." He lifted his cap to me. I acknowledged the praise with a blush and walked down the stairs once more. His chuckle echoed behind me.
I stopped on the second floor, the pit in my stomach beginning to ache. I hadn't seen Zack in far too long. No one had even updated me on his progress. Thankfully, he was always the forgiving type. I knocked on the door.
"Come in!" I heard his voice through the metal. He seemed strangely cheerful.
"Zack, my man," I announced my presence and walked over to where he sat on the bed, leaving the door cracked slightly open. He was grinning.
"Crystal! Guess what, Crystal? Guess what?" He was practically bouncing off the bed, but he stayed where he was, holding his hands behind his back.
"Oh my goodness," I laughed at his antics, unable to sustain from joining him in his excitement. "What could it be?"
"I made a present for you!" he sang as he ripped the box from behind his back and held it in front of him. Eyes wide, he waited for my reaction.
"A PRESENT?" I covered my face with my hands. "You made me a present? No way. You don't know how to make a present."
He laughed loudly. I was unaccustomed to seeing Zack in this frame of mind. Happy? That was unheard of. But there he was, smiling at me and waiting.
"You're sure Erick didn't make this?" I winked as he gasped. Erick was his best friend in the yard, a few years younger. Zack had taken the boy under his wing a few days after he had arrived, beating up the older boys who were picking on him. Their friendship was something to be rivaled with. "I heard he does well with arts and crafts."
"Erick didn't make you anything!" Zack protested. "It was all me."
"Well then, I guess I'd better see what you made me!" I laughed at his slightly bewildered expression and took the present from his hands, sitting on the bed next to him. The package was wrapped with newspaper, which unfolded neatly. "What on earth is the occasion?"
"Christmas, Crystal," Zack rolled his eyes at me. "How could you forget something so important?"
Part of me knew that Christmas was soon. But there was another part of me, the part of me that had irritated Cal this morning, that had completely forgotten about Christmas. All of my attention was on these boys. Which, I reminded myself, was the purpose of the Christmas party at my apartment that I was planning.
"Right, Christmas!" I finished unwrapping the newspaper and opened the box. Inside was a stone in the shape of a star that had been carefully painted with black, shiny finish. There were two holes drilled into the stone and a piece of yarn through them. A makeshift necklace. The pit of guilt in my stomach jumped up to my throat. "Zack..."
"Do you like it?" he asked, softly. It was almost as though he expected me to yell at him. His behavior cringed inwardly and I did the same.
"I love it, Zack. This is amazing. How on earth did you do this??" I turned towards him immediately. "Can you help me put it on? As a bracelet?"
"I meant it to go around your neck," he explained sweetly. I shook my head.
"I want it on my wrist. That way, I can see it all the time and always remember the amazing boy who gave it to me." Zack immediately beamed before burying the smile and getting to work, tying the string.
We chatted for a few minutes more before I left, eager to see how Alex was doing. I visited a few other boys between the floors. Alex was back in his room, thank the Lord. He was lounging on his bed when I entered. He started to speak, but I held up my hand.
"Don't talk unless you've been cleared by the doctor," I commanded softly. He rolled his eyes & spoke anyway.
"Don't tell me what to do," he teased.
"You sound like an 80 year old smoker." I cringed internally. "If I asked you really nicely to write instead of talking, would you do it?"
"Maybe. Did you bring me something?"
"Kind of. Shut up," I laughed as his eyes got wider. He wasn't actually expecting me to say yes, it appeared. "I have an invitation. But I need to clear it with the guard first. Have you seen him?"
Alex shook his head. "I haven't seen him for a few hours," he admitted. "I've just been in here since lunch. Where have you been?"
"Home, arguing with Cal," I sighed. "I'll explain more when I come back?"
Alex rolled his eyes and sulked. "I haven't seen you in so long, Crys. Come on. Hang out for a little bit!"
I sat on the bed next to him and slung my arm around his shoulders. "You know I love you, and I'll be back as soon as I can be. Please don't be mad."
"If you promise that this visit with the guard will get me out of this place, I'll forgive you," he looked at me with puppy dog eyes.
"I'll do my best." I hopped off the bed, chuckling under my breath. "See you in five."
Alex didn't move after me, so I shut the door and began wandering the halls. The same guard that I had seen upstairs outside of Jacob's room entered through the double doors at the end. He quirked an eyebrow as I got closer. "Yes, ma'am? Didn't I just see you?"
"Yes, sir," I curtseyed, half-joking. "Are you the guard for this floor, too?"
"I've taken double duty for the Christmas shift. Just started yesterday. These stairs have been kicking my butt, too. Why? What's going on?"
"Actually, sir, I've got a question for you. A proposal, if you will."
"Well, if it's a proposal, I might just keep it in my back pocket," he joked. "I've been waiting for a proposal nearly all my life now, & everyone keeps telling me that I'm supposed to be giving one." I humored him and laughed. "Give it to me."
"I've been good friends with Alex and a few others since I started visiting here. It's been a few years of my visits and I'd hoped that I'd built up enough of a reputation around y'all to ask a favor or two. Basically, Christmas. I'd like to throw Christmas for the boys," I rambled, hoping that the words were making sense to him. "Well, not actually throw Christmas. I'd like to throw a Christmas party for them. I know some of their families and I would invite them too. It would be the first time some of these boys would have celebrated Christmas in years, sir. I know how much it would mean to them."
The guard stood for a minute without saying anything. I could see the wheels turning. I just hoped they were turning in the right direction.
"I'll say, that sounds like a tremendous idea," he finally agreed. "Where?"
"That's the hard part. I'd love to do it anywhere but here. Specifically, my apartment. These boys haven't been out of the facility in months or years. It would be a huge moral booster."
"How many boys can you fit in your apartment?"
"I was hoping to bring just a few of the older boys, since the likelihood of them doing anything like this again would be rather slim. The younger ones could have the celebration here, too! We could decorate the indoor recreation space and make it look festive. What do you think?"
"I love it. Who would monitor the boys, though? Make sure they didn't escape your apartment? It'd be easier to break out of than the facility."
"Ankle monitors," I suggested. "We could monitor their locations if anything happened. But, I'm sure nothing will happen. Guards could come and stand at the exits. I just want to make their last few Christmases as children enjoyable."
"Would we bus them to your apartment? Match each with a guard?"
"If you really wanted, we could give them all winter coats and hide handcuffs in the jackets so that it's not conspicuous in the lobby of my hotel. But, all of that comes off once they get into my apartment. I don't want that to be the focus of the night."
The guard nodded. "You've really thought this through, haven't you?"
I shrugged. "It's what they deserve."
"Many would disagree, but I see your point. So, who? Who gets to go?"
I listed them off on my fingers. "Alex, Zack, and Jacob."
"Sethsday? You want to bring the new kid?"
"His family isn't going to be able to come, but I think he needs some Christmas spirit. He's in a rough spot."
"They're all in a rough spot," the guard chuckled. "But, I understand. We'll just keep a close eye on him. I'll take it up to my boss, but I can't imagine he'll say no."
"You're the best."
----------------------------------------------------------------
This is the part where I make an author's disclaimer & say: YES I KNOW the ENTIRE PLOT to this story is RIDICULOUS & would NEVER HAPPEN in real life. That's the point of FICTION.
Please bare with me. I appreciate all of my readers so much & want to make sure that y'all know that I'm not an idiot who thinks something like this could actually happen. The plot, characters, & circumstances are all impossible to recreate in real life, I know. But that's what makes them all so fun to write about.
Anyways, now that we've got that out of the way, please carry on! <3