From Crutchie To Wheels (And a Little Les Trouble)

The Next Day

(I'm so sorry about this chapter.)

All of the Newsies were up at 7:30am scrambling to get ready. They all walked back to the hospital. Once inside, the lady behind the desk called for Dr. Prandin.  He came down looking very sad.

"Is there any news on Crutchie and Les?"

"Boys. There's no easy way to break this to you. Les is..."

Davey and his parents came bursting through the doors with tears streaming down their faces.

"Is it true? Isn't there anything we can do?" Mrs. Jacobs said between sobs.

"I'm afraid not."

"Les is what?!" Asked jack.

"Les had an infection in his lungs. He had a coughing fit and started vomiting up blood. He was doubled over in pain, but with his back brace he couldn't bend. He took it off without permission because he said it was uncomfortable and he ended up hurting his spine. It was very weak and when he fell off of his bed, he broke his lower back. It completely paralyzed him from the waist down. He said he didn't want to live life as a cripple because it would be such a burden on his family. From what Crutchie said, Les dragged himself to a cabinet, got a needle, and injected it into his leg. His body had a violent reaction to it, and he died. We would have stopped him had we known, but Crutchie has had a hard time speaking since his last seizure. He couldn't have warned us. You can go see Crutchie if you'd like. Only Les's family and 4 others. Same room."

This news hit the boys like a truck. Some of them just sat down and stared at a wall. Others cried histarically.

"I'll leave you to have some time."

"Dr. Prandin? Before you go, would you mind checking out Buttons's fingers? He got them smashed in a door yesterday." Asked Jack.

"Sure."

He did some simple tests and concluded that his pinky was indeed broken and the others are just swollen and bruised.

Dr. Prandin brought Buttons to the back for a second and he came back with a wrap around his fingers.

"On the house."

"Thank you."

"Can we go see Crutchie now?" Asked Race.

"Yeah. Ok. Me, Davey, his parents, Buttons, Race, and Blink are going up. Everyone else go back to the lodging. I don't think were gonna get Specs today." Said Jack.

"What happensd to Specs?" Asked Dr. Prandin.

"He got locked up in the refuge last night."

"The refuge? Isn't that place wonderful?"

"Hell no!!! Kids are starved, beaten, and whipped! Two to a bed on a good day. Kids have been killed there!"

"That sounds horrible! I'm going to go check out this refuge after work today."

"Ok we're going to go up to Crutchie now."

"Goodbye, Jack."

"Bye, sir."

They boys and family walked up to the room.

They knocked on the door, then went inside.

"H...hhhiiiiii Jjjj...jjjaaack." Crutchie stuttered.

"Hey, Crutch. How ya doing.?"

"Fffiiine, I gggguessss. Ccaatch meee uup."

"So ugh, Specs is in the refuge. Buttons broke his fingers. Elmer hurt his head. Les is dead. Davey's a blubbering mess. You're all caught up."

"Reefffuuugge?"

"Yeah. We were gonna bust him out later today, but then Les happened."

Davey's mother spoke up. "Crutchie, is it? Did Les say anything before he died?"

"Heee ssaaiidd hee loovves hhiissss faammammilyyy. Aanndddd tthhhaatttt heee's sso sorryyyy."

"Thank you for being there for him."

Crutchie nodded. Talking was tiring.

"Bbbbuttons? Hhhaaannddd?"

"Oh, well someone decided to slam a door on my fingers and break them."

"I only broke your pinky!" Race defended. "I thought you were an intruder!"

"Yeah because you forgot to lock the door."

"I did not know we had a lock!"

Crutchie laughed.

Jack said, "Do you feel any better, Crutchie?"

"Mmyyyyy shhooulllddeerrr huuuurts aa looot."

"Yeah, you got it pretty good. How's ya leg feeling?"

"Ssuppprrisinglllyy, iiit's the lleeeaasstt ppaaainnffull thhiiing oon mmyyy bbooodddyy rrriiigghhhtt nnooww."

Obviously wanting to get off the subject of himself, Crutchie said, "Sooo Bllbbllinnkk, hhooow's yyoour eeyee ddoiiing?"

"You mean the one that's still connected in the socket? Haha."

"Hhaaaaahhaaa."

"Nah, but it's the same. Still no eye there."

Mrs. Jacobs looked kind of disgusted at this comment.

"Well, we ought to get going if were gonna catch the wagons today. A newsies gotta sell to eat, right?"

"Seeee yyoou tooomorrrrroowww, Jjaacckkk."

"See ya later, Crutch."