Just A Moment

Hospital

It was mere seconds before the den was filled with members of the gang. They were all worried, scared and confused as to what had happened, so Hope had to give them all individual jobs to prevent chaos.

Two boys ran off to get an ambulance to the end of the alley. One ran home to get medic supplies from their house, claiming their dad was a doctor. Another two boys picked up Joe's unconscious form and carried him to the edge of the street.

Hope never let go of Joe's hand, insisting on going in the ambulance to the hospital with him. When asked about adults that could be contacted, Hope shrugged, remembering just how little she knew about Joe. They had shared so much and become so close, but they hardly knew each other.

A few hours later, a doctor came from examining Joe and told Hope, who had waited in the waiting room with baited-breath, that Joe was going to be fine. He might be unconscious for a length of time, and there would probably be some memory loss, but ultimately, he would be fine. Hope breathed a sigh of relief she hadn't realised she had been holding.

A few hours after that, Mack turned up at the hospital. By this point, Hope was huddled by the water fountain, embracing herself in her blood-stained hoody, her hair a mess and her make-up ruined.

'You look dreadful.' Mack stated as he took a seat beside Hope.

'I feel dreadful.' Hope admitted with a wry smile.

'How is he?' Mack gestured towards the door leading through to the ward.

Hope shrugged. 'As alright as he can be. Unconscious with a little memory loss, but apart from that he should be fine. No broken bones apparently; just a few nasty bruises.'

Mack nodded. 'Good. I'm sorry I left you alone without checking if he was alright. He just seemed so...'

Hope nodded as Mack trailed off. 'I know what you mean. And it was so sudden. One minute he was fine, the next he'd passed out on the floor. Thank God the boys were there is all I can say.'

Mack smiled. 'They're a good lot. They can always be relied on.'

'Do you know how to get hold of his family?' Hope turned to meet Mack's gaze. 'I feel like we should call them or something.'

Mack frowned. 'I don't think I have a number for them actually. Joe and I met at a club a few weeks ago, and I said he could crash at my place since he had nowhere else to go. We haven't really discussed his family.'

'I suppose we'll have to leave it to him when he regains consciousness then. It's not ideal, but it seems all we can do.' Hope sighed.

There was a brief pause, whilst Hope debated whether to ask the question on her lips.

'You want to know what I did with Bobby.' Mack stated, reading her mind.

Hope nodded. 'I won't say I'm worried about him, but... I need to know.'

'I took him home.' Mack said simply.

Hope looked at him in confusion.

'Worse thing I could have done to him. Took him home and told his mum exactly what had happened. She'll give him an earful for it.'

Hope bit her lip and looked down. 'But an earful isn't exactly a proper punishment for what he tried to do to me, or what he did to Joe for that matter.'

Mack laughed. 'Well, he's in worse shape than Joe. It appears that Joe is stronger than he looks. His mum took him to the hospital, but since she hasn't seen him in three years, I thought it was fair that she had a little bit of time alone with him. I made it pretty clear that I expected him to turn himself into the police when he is fit to. I reported the fight to my friend down at the NYPD and made it clear that Bobby had started the trouble. I don't know what kind of punishment he can get for that, but you and Joe will have justice, I promise.'