The Unknown Child (S.W.A.T Fanfiction)

「06」Walk

"What are you doing?"

I avoid eye contact as I turn around and walk back into the room. I head over to the window and look out again. Getting lost in thought when you're doing stuff you're probably not supposed to do is not the best idea. It's literally just asking to get caught. I take a deep breath as I watch people walk around. A young boy is climbing on a half wall and jumping off as, who I assume is his mother, stands next to him on the phone.

A small smile stuck on his face as he jumps down the little distance before climbing back up and doing it again. Not a care in the world. My gaze flickers to his mom. She looks stressed and panicked. Pacing back and forth, she runs her hands through her hair as she talks to someone on the phone.

"What's got your attention this time?"

I jump as I look over and see Chris standing next to me. She smiles warmly at me. I shrug slightly.

"Do you want to try some clothes on? Or do you want to stay in the gown?"

She holds out a shirt and pants for me. I hesitantly grab the clothes from her.

"If they don't fit, I have a few other things you can try."

She leaves and closes the door behind her. I put the pants on, and they fit relatively well. I take the gown off and put the shirt on. It's a little big, but I don't mind. I walk over to the door and open it. Chris was waiting and looks at me as the door opens.

"Looks like I found the right size." She smiles again. "Do you want to go for a walk?"

I look at my feet. I'm still barefoot. Walking around barefoot doesn't seem like a very good idea outside of this room.

"I can find you some socks. Stay here. I'll go get you some."

I walk back into the room, my IV pole following behind me. I run my hand along the edge of the bandage on my thigh, feeling the bump through the pants.

"You should probably leave that alone."

I look up and notice Tan in the doorway as move my hand away from my thigh. Chris walks back into the room and hands me a pair of socks. I take them from her, sit on the bed, and put them on.

I don't like the feeling of the grippys on the socks, but I'll deal with it. Why do they have grippys on both sides of the socks? What is the point?

"Can I tag along with you guys?" Tan asks.

Chris looks at me, waiting to see if I will respond. After a few seconds of me just looking at her, she responds.

"Sure."

I stand up, grab my IV pole, and start walking to the door, following Chris and Tan. We walk down the hallway in silence. The wheels on the IV pole quietly squeak as it rolls. Chris is the first to break the silence.

"Are you able to talk?" She looks at me as we walk.

I look at her, but don't respond. It's been a very long time since I spoke. I don't even remember what my voice sounds like. She seems to drop it after a few seconds.

"Do you want some jello?" Tan breaks the silence that fell over us again.

Looking at him and I smile slightly. It's barely visible—just a little upturn in the corners of my mouth.

"I'll take that as a yes." He smiles at me. "Turn right, up here and we'll be at the cafeteria."

We continue down the hallway and turn right, where he said to. The hallway opens up to a large room with many people. My body tenses up a little.

"If you want, you can find a table, or you can stay here and we'll go back to the room." Tan says as he walks away from me, heading further into the cafeteria to get the jello.

I stay put, not wanting to stay in the cafeteria longer than I have to. Chris stands next to me, waiting for Tan to get back over to us with the jello. He holds up cups of jello with a smile on his face as he walks back over to us.

"Did you get the spoons?" Chris asks him.

"Right here." He turns his hand so that we can see the spoons. "Let's go back to the room and eat."

"Lets go." Chris turns around, and we all start walking back the way we came.

As we walk, I debate poking Tan again. I want to know the time, but at the same time I don't want to poke him, and him not understand what I want. He understood it last time. I could poke Chris. Maybe? I could wait to see if I can find a clock. We turn the corner and continue down the hallway. I could just poke him. He let me poke him last time. I take a deep breath. I reach my arm out and poke him. He looks at me, slightly surprised.

"Yeah?" He looks like he's trying to read me. 

He doesn't seem angry. After a second, I point at his watch.

"Ah, you want to know the time again." He holds out his arm and lets me read the time.

10:52 AM

I give him a small smile, my way of saying thank you. Chris smiles at our interaction.

"You weren't joking when you said she poked you." She chuckles.

I look at Chris but avoid eye contact. Maybe I shouldn't have poked him.

"We now know who she likes the best. She wouldn't even look at you the first time she saw you." Chris continues.

She's not wrong, but I wouldn't go as far as to say that he's my favorite. I like both of them.

We walk back into the room, and I sit down on the bed. Both of them sit down in the chairs next to the bed. Tan hands me a jello cup and a spoon. It's green this time. I open the jello and scoop out a bite. I hesitate. I don't want to puke again.

"You need to eat something, kiddo."

I look at the doorway, where the voice came from. Hondo stands in the doorway, looking at me. I hesitate for another second before taking a bite. It's not a bad flavor. I take a breath and continue to eat slowly. Chris walks out of the room with Hondo, and they talk in the hallway. I can't make out what they're saying, but I can hear them talking. I look at Tan as he sits across from me, eating his jello.