Guardian Angel

Cheer

I bent down immediately, grabbing the grey cap and tucking it securely in the folds of my skirt. Once I was sure I wouldn't lose it, I lifted the boy out of the bloody puddle and into my arms. I held him to my chest as I slowly stood up, trying to balance the new weight in my arms and keep his injured body supported at the same time. Walking quickly, I hurried out of the ally and down the street, almost running the two blocks it took to get to my large house and ran inside. At the time I lived with a maid, a chef, our coachman and Madame Price, all of whom I rarely saw.

Rushing up the stairs and into my bedroom, I put a towel on my bed with one hand before laying the boy down. I quickly grabbed my emergency first aid kit from the bathroom and started to remove the boy's shirt to assess his wounds. Taking a rag and putting pressure on the open wound to stop the blood flow, I soon realized that he would need to be seen by an actual doctor. It was at this point that I was very thankful that I had chosen to stay in the Brooklyn estate instead of moving into a new house after my parents died because of the doctor who lived next door.
After asking for the doctor to help the boy and promising myself I would do anything in my power to keep this small boy safe, I had run to the market to buy a new outfit for the boy, hopping to be home before he woke up. I made sure to buy the shirt slightly large since the doctor had to bandage the boy's chest to help heal the large cut. Thankfully the cut was the worst wound he had obtained besides a nasty bump on the head that caused him to black out.

As I walked back into my room, outfit in hand, I heard a soft groan. I hastily walked to the bed and kneeled down next to it, laying the clothing next to me. The boy's eyelids fluttered open to reveal light blue eyes as I brushed the shaggy blonde hair out of his eyes.

I gave him a soft smile as his eyes focused on me and softly said, "Hi."

He looked at me with curiosity as he shly asked, "Who are you?"

" My name is Juliet. I found you in an ally and brought you back to my house," I explained quietly because I did not wish to frighten him.

"Oh," he said, "Why did you help me? Spot said that ladies like you only care about gossip."

"Really now?" I asked well naturedly as I raised an eyebrow, "Well then maybe I'm not like other ladies," I grinned. The little boy giggled and slowly sat up with my help. "What's your name?"

" My name is Cheer," he smiled. I knew that all of the newsies went by nicknames so this didn't
surprise me. His name fit him perfectly since he seemed so happy even though he had to be in pain.

"Well Cheer, I am going to take care of you until you get better. Then you can go back to living
in the Lodging House or if you want you can start selling but keeping living here with me," I told him. I figured that he would want to go back to being a full time newsie but I couldn't just shut the poor kid out after he was healed so I decided to give him the choice. A moment after I said this I was surprised when Cheer threw his little arms around my neck and hugged me close. After tensing up, I quickly relaxed and hugged him back.

"Thank you Angel," he mumbled into my hair, "Can I call you that?"

"Of course but, why?" I reassured Cheer, not understanding why he had called me Angel.

"Because you saved me. Like an angel," he explained as he looked down at his hands in his lap
shly. I smiled softly at Cheer and brushed the hair out of his face, knowing that no matter what I did, he would soon have me wrapped around his little finger.