Cold Lonely Nights

Bring Him Back

Shane wakes up back in his room with his window boarded up by planks of wood. He blinks slowly as he lets his vision clear, reaching for his glasses and slipping them on.

"Drew?" He checks, the drugs making what just happened to him a little hazy.

When he suddenly remembers everything, he kicks off a riot in his room, thrashing almost everything in sight.

"Shane!" Jack snaps harshly when he enters the boy's room. "Get a grip of yourself!" He warns.

"GET A GRIP! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT! YOU TOOK HIM AWAY FROM ME! WHY? WHY - YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE - WHY WOULD YOU TAKE HIM AWAY FROM ME?" Shane yells.

"Shane, calm down." The man warns.

"NO! BRING HIM BACK! YOU GOT RID OF HIM SO PLEASE BRING HIM BACK!" Shane sobs.

"We don't have the authority to do that. Drew's family make the decisions regarding his life. You'd better grow up and move on." Jack tells Shane.

Shane just slams his fists against the taller adult's chest. "I WANT HIM BACK!" He shrieks childishly.

"He's not coming back!" Jack growls harshly, grabbing Shane by the collar to yank him off.

Shane flails desperately, kicking and trying to hit him but Jack simply pins him to the bed, holding him down and waiting for his violent struggle to come to an end.

"I HATE YOU!" Shane screams.

"Stop it Shane." Jack warns. "You've been with us long enough to know what we do to children who have loud tantrums!" He adds.

"Get off me." Shane whimpers, still kicking Jack and slapping him at every chance he gets.

"I'm warning you!" Jack snarls.

"I d-don't care! GO DIE! I WISH YOU WOULD JUST DIE!" Shane yells viciously.

"Okay, that's it!" Jack darkly growls, picking Shane up and carrying him over his shoulder.

Shane retaliates by kicking and yelling as he's dragged through the orphanage, not at all caring about the other kids seeing him like this.

"Jack, what are you doing?" Luke asks when he sees Shane being carried to the attic.

"Shane was having a tantrum." Jack simply replies.

Luke glares at him. "Firstly, Shane is eight years old, too old to have a tantrum and then you should take into consideration how his only friend has been adopted by a family." He explains softly.

"He knows the rules." Jack points out simply.

"Cut the kid some slack." Luke tries. "What he's experiencing right now has a strong resemblance to grief. He should just be signed up for some counselling, not being punished for actually feeling an intense emotion."

Jack glares at the other man before putting Shane down, who still keeps hitting him. Luke nods with a quiet "thank you" before resting a calming hand on Shane's shoulder and guiding him to the guidance office.

"Hello Luke, who's that you've got there?" The woman asks when she sees them.

"Shane here's a little upset. His best friend was adopted." Luke explains softly.

The woman gives Shane a sympathetic look. "Aww, you poor thing, come here." She tells Shane.

Shane immediately heads over to her and gives her a hug, crying into her blouse.

While Shane is hugging the woman, she knows that he's too busy crying to notice if she looks up to professionally consult Luke. "Could you get me his file? All of them are in alphabetical order in that filing cabinet." She checks.

Luke nods and looks through the "S" section, eventually finding Shane's file. He places on the desk next to them, tipping his hat as he leaves the room.