Wild Ride | ✔

The Most Important Thing

"Maya kind of reminds me of how I was at that age." They both gazed over at the rig where the young girl had climbed over to the end of the bench beside the paramedic. "So innocent but holding the world on her shoulders."

"I'm sure they've seen a lot of things they shouldn't have." Jay's expression seemed troubled as he watched the children mess around with each other. "Social services will meet us at the hospital. Hopefully, they can find someone that will keep them together."

"Detectives. We're all done here. They're all yours." Her partner helped the children out of the rig. Joey hobbled along towards them and Maya lingered behind him slowly like she wanted to disappear somewhere when they weren't looking. "You two take care, okay?"

"Thank you," Joey told her gratefully, looking back to see what was taking his sister so long. "Hey, come on. We have to go."

"But what about our stuff?" She frowned over at the brown shed where they had been hiding out. "The necklace mom gave me? That's all I have left of her."

"I thought you always kept that on you."

"I do. It was making my neck itch so I took it off and put it in my sleeping bag." Maya argued with her brother before asking permission.."Can I please grab it?"

"We can grab it later. My leg is killing me."

"Please?" Maya begged, making a promise to him as she took off across the yard without much warning.. "I'll be quick. Promise."

"Sisters," Joey muttered, realizing he couldn't go after her with his hurt leg. Fortunately, he didn't have to when he realized Hailey went right after her. "Do you have any?"

"Do I have any sisters?" Jay pretended to think about his answer for a second as they watched Maya disappear behind the shed door. "Only one brother."

"Lucky. I love her but sometimes she just doesn't listen."

"What sibling does?"

"Got it!" Maya stated, appearing in front of them as she held up a beautiful gold necklace with a flower pendant, each petal filled with shiny stones. "Hailey says we can get our stuff later."

"Great. Now if you would quit running off." He grumbled, although his grumpiness seemed to be more out of pain than his sister running away. It was clear he was trying to be the man of the house and watch over his little sister.

"The most important thing is you're both safe. Hey, why don't we get you both checked out? Make sure you're both okay." Neither Joey nor Maya reacted as Jay looked down the street. He wasn't giving them much of a choice. "First we need a car. Ours is parked back down at the gas station."

"Go. I'll keep an eye on them." Hailey told him as he pulled his keys out of his pocket. He stopped to talk to Voight briefly, nodding in their direction before walking swiftly down the sidewalk. Joey groaned, hobbling over to the curb to sit down so he could rest his leg. Maya held a pensive expression as she watched her brother while wrapping the gold chain around her finger a few times.

"Are you mad at me?"

"A little," Joey admitted, staring at the asphalt looking back at his sister, his gaze softening slightly as he sat on the edge of the curb. "You always sneak out when you shouldn't. You were never supposed to leave the shed."

"I'm sorry! I was trying to get help, but then I got scared. So I was going to buy you something to help your leg." Maya got quiet, her words sounding less than confident as Jay pulled the car up to them. Turning around, he found his footing and was able to stand.

"I still love you, okay? You just got to stop running off. We're all each other has now."

"I know."

"Help me to the car?"

"Fine." Maya sighed as he wrapped one arm around her waist. They slowly walked across the asphalt as Hailey opened the door for them. "What did you do, anyway?"

"I tripped on something in the shed. It was dark. I'm not really sure what it was." He shrugged tiredly as he held onto the seat. She climbed in carefully, leaving a seat between them. When she was in her seat, he leveraged himself up and Hailey closed the door behind him. From the rearview mirror Joey and Maya glanced at each other, otherwise silent as they made their way to the hospital.

When they arrived, Joey kept the weight off his injured leg as he got out. Maya went a little slower, her feet finally hitting the pavement. She struggled to put one foot in front of the other, finally stalling in place as a familiar face approached us.

"Hey. Who do we have here?" Will questioned looking over the two children with a concerned glance. Maya slapped her hand against Joey's arm, which earned an irritated glance from her brother.

"What?"

"What are we doing here?" Maya questioned softly, her voice barely audible over ringing phones and a man who was clearly intoxicated, yelling and thrashing around on a gurney as the paramedics brought him in.

"Case. Can we?" Jay gestured over to where the rooms were located, signaling they should move them into one as soon as possible. The man began to thrash even harder as Hailey moved to stand in front of them as the man was rolled over to the elevator.

"Maggie, what room is open?" Will inquired, approaching the nurse at the front desk. His tone took on a sense of urgency as she looked up from behind the computer. Without missing a beat, she cast a look over to the other side of the wall to an empty place with two gurneys ready for them.

"Room two."

"Thanks, Maggie," Will called back over his shoulder. "Oh, and page Natalie? Tell her I need her help on this one."

"Already on it." Maggie immediately picked up the phone, her gaze following them as Will escorted them into the empty room.