Something in the Way You Move [O'J]

Problem Solving

Danny's POV

I'm sitting on the couch next to Jessie, holding my shoulder, which is dislocated. At least, according to Mandy it is. It hurts like hell! I shouldn't have tried to wrap my arm around Callie; Mandy's told us she was beaten and is scared of men because of it. I can't believe someone would do that to a child! I drop my hand holding my shoulder to my side as Mandy and Callie enter. "Alright, Danny, your turn now. Callie's taken care of; for now, at least," she tells me.

I sigh. "Do I have to?" I ask, looking up at my sister.

"Don't be such a baby," she teases. She turns to Jessie and asks, "Mind if we lay him on the table? It's higher up than the couch and it'll be easier for me to re-locate his shoulder."

"Not at all," Jessie says. Mandy pulls me to my feet and leads me into the kitchen. She has me lay on my back, letting my legs dangle off the edge of the table.

"Okay, Danny, this will be uncomfortable---okay, just kidding, it's going to hurt like hell---but the pain should fade almost immediately after it's re-located," Mandy tells me, putting a pillow under my shoulder so it's not resting on the hard wood.

"Okay, I guess," I mumble. A thought occurs to me. "Mandy, you've done this before, haven't you...?"

"First time for everything!" she tells me cheerily. I feel my eyes widen with horror before Mandy laughs, "Ah, you're so easy! Relax, Dan, I've done this loads of times. Can we get something for him to bite down on?"

Jessie gets a wooden spoon and wraps it in a towel before setting it in my mouth. Mandy sets about re-locating my shoulder, turning my head so I'm facing away from her. I clamp down powerfully on the spoon and try to jerk away from her as she starts, but I feel a pair of hands push down lightly on my chest. I try to rip myself away from her as she straightens my arm again and yanks on it, trying to get it to snap back into place. I feel another hand---smaller this time---push down gently on my shoulder, and another covers my eyes. She tries again, but still it won't budge. I let out a slight whimper of pain (as that is all the spoon between my jaws will permit) and Mandy says, "I'm sorry, Dan, usually it's not this bad! Almost done, I promise!" After three more agonizing tries, my shoulder snaps back into place. I let the spoon fall out of my mouth and groan with relief. "Alright, I need a blanket or something to make a make-shift sling for his arm," Mandy says quietly. Jessie gets her one, and she sets about improvising a sling for my arm.

As Mandy is working on my arm, I hear a quiet voice murmur, "I'm sorry I dislocated your shoulder. I didn't mean to."

I turn and look at Callie. She's looking at the floor, looking ashamed. "No, I'm sorry," I tell her. "I shouldn't have tried to touch you." She looks up, and I find myself staring into a pair of brilliant green eyes. "You have beautiful eyes," I tell her quietly. It's the only thing I can think to say. She smiles shyly and blushes a bit. She sits down in the chair next to me and I ask her quietly, "Were your parents abusive, love?" After a brief pause I add quickly, "You don't have to answer if you don't want."

She shakes her head vigorously, and murmurs, "My parents died in a house fire when I was six...I had been at a friends house. I was sent to a foster home and, after a month or so, a man adopted me. He brought me back to the house he shared with...I don't know, five other guys? They treated me like a slave and when I didn't listen..." she gets choked up here, and after a few minutes, she is barely able to whisper, "...they beat me. Burned me, smacked me, punched and kicked me...." She trails off and I notice a few tears sliding down her face. I cautiously reached out my free hand---clearly, I'm not the best learner---and after a few seconds, my fingertips rest on her cheek. When she doesn't pull away from me, I gently slide my whole hand onto her cheek and wipe away her tears with my thumb.

"Hey, none of that, love. It's gonna be alright; I won't let anyone hurt you ever again," I tell her. I mean it; I can't stand the thought of anyone hurting her. She smiles weakly at me and I pull my hand away, not wanting to push my limits. Mandy helps me sit up and leads me back into the living room, where Jessie is waiting for us. "So is Callie okay?" I ask.

"Well, she's severely underweight for her age---she told me she was almost nine, and she's only forty pounds. The average weight range is 60-70 pounds, but other than that, she's healthy. You'll have to be careful if you touch her; her bruises need time to heal. So it's really only her bruises you have to be careful of and I want you two to try to get her to eat more so she gains weight. She's malnourished if she's twenty pounds underweight, but don't force food down her throat, okay? Okay. Now Danny, I'm going to the hospital to pick up a proper sling for you; a blanket will suffice only for so long! You need to rest your arm for a few days, a week would be better. Wear the sling 24/7 for the week, okay? Your shoulder will still be a bit sore, but if it bothers you, just take some pain-killers," Mandy tells us. We both nod and she hurries out of the flat.

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So I don't really know how to re-locate shoulders...so don't try that at home, please. See a doctor if it happens :)