If Found

No More Sweets

CHAPTER THREE

No More Sweets

I apologize for the break. I am going through a bit of personal stuff at the moment and do not have wifi. Once I get things straightened out, I will be back and stronger than ever. That is the plan. I appreciate everyone who has been there for me, you are the reason I do this. Thank you all!!

Dr. Johnson's POV:

One Year Later

Phase two had gone surprisingly smooth, with the exception of the extra vials of sample ten going missing. It was weird, I never got chewed out for it from either of the Sorensens. The boys were doing surprisingly well. Today they were coming to have me check their blood once more. It was nothing more than a finger stick.

"Good morning, Nathan. Good morning, Kota. Victor. How are you, Lucian? Owen, you look rather dapper today. Hey, Gabriel. Hello, North. Sean, please put down my stethecope. Go on and sit down here Silas. You need to show them that this is big boy stuff. Okay?" Silas set his face, and nodded once at me. Such a cute little four-year-old. I couldn't wait to see what was going to happen to these boys as they grew up.

Supposedly phase three was supposed to happen as they grew. I was unaware of how phase three worked, or who was on that part of it. Most of the time, I was allowed to stay and work with the boys and make sure they were smiling and happy. Okay, not completely true. I was supposed to make sure they remained healthy. While I was here at work, I couldn't help but make sure they were happy as well. These were amazing kids.

"Ready, Silas?" He puffed his little chest out, and put on his stern face. Right as the tiny needle stuck his finger, he gave me what my daughter would call the stink eye. I collected the blood into a multivette, then placed it in the machine after I had labelled it with the correct serial number.

Each of the kids took their turns and sat back down, mostly quiet. North was the last to get up on the table. He crawled up and refused to look at me. "North, what's wrong?"

"I don't like this. It hurts." His dark eyes welled up.

"It's not so bad." I rubbed my hand across his head, mussing his dark hair. "Here, give me your hand." I cupped my hands around his right hand, and he watched in earnest. Giving me a quizzical look, I shook his hand. "What have we here? Have you been hiding something from me?" North shook his head back and forth still staring at where our hands were. Slowly, I took the hand on top away which revealed a small Greek Halva chocolate. He didn't know anything about his past, but I wanted to give them as much of their families as I could. His eyes opened up wide as he opened up the chocolate and popped it in his mouth. North smiled and held his hand out for me to clean. As I was lowering the small needle to stick him, the door was slammed open causing me to drag it down the length of his finger. He howled in pain as blood began to drip.

Dr. Devros stepped in, looking as menacing as the Sorensen's'. "Dr. Johnson, you are hereby ordered to leave the premises. The boys are in my control now."

I had to keep calm and keep the boys from falling apart. "Dr. Devros. It is nice to see you out of your office. Please wait outside while I finish up here."

"I will finish up with the Vectors."

"If you don't mind, Dr. Devros, I happen to have a medical emergency on my hand right now, thanks to your barging in. Protocol states that the attending physician tends to the wounded in his care before leaving the premises. I will pack up my things once I have finished with my task. Thirty minutes, tops. You may leave my office. This is not a request, Dr. Devros." I looked at each of the boys I had come to love like my own, silently asking them to understand that they needed to remain calm.

I heard the door shut behind me, and I breathed a heavy sigh. I quickly grabbed the saline solution and began assessing the wound on North's finger as the other boys crowded around.

Sean, my ever vigilant doctor in training, got extra gauze pads out of the drawer as well as some medical tape. "It doesn't look too bad, North. The future Dr. Green thinks you'll be fine. You need some apple pie and it will be all good."

"Unh-uh. I don't want sugar ever again."

Luke's eyes went wide as they stared at each other for a while.

"No more, Luke. You can tell me all the wonderful tastes in the world, but I will never ever eat it ever again."

I looked at them curiously. "What are you talking about? Luke never opened his mouth."

"Sure he did. He was telling me all the chocolates he had ever eaten, and sweets you had given him, and the sodas he had snuck down to the kitchen and gotten ahold of, and the cake that he had found last week. He and Gabriel had eaten the whole thing!"

Gabriel put his hands on his hips and shouted, "You weren't supposed to tell him that, Luke!"

Luke reached his hands above his head and grabbed the silver bar that the skeleton hung from. He pulled himself up and put his legs over the top, swinging himself upside down. "Not like anyone could hear us."

The room was completely silent as I looked at each of them. They were all trying not to look me in the eyes, but couldn't help it. I believe they were imparting a piece of information to me before I left. Something that only I could know. "Boys, I don't know for sure what life will have in store for you. I do know that I care for each of you deeply. Whatever does happen, please stay close to each other. You are brothers to each other, a family." I paused as I finished patching North's finger. "I love you guys. If I could have nine more sons, I would pick each of you. Please remain safe, and trust no one here. Give me a quick hug." I was tackled by each of them and pushed to the floor.

I never heard the door open, but a shadow passed over my face. "Your time is up, Mr. Johnson. It is time for the boys to come with me. Finish putting in your final tests and then you will be escorted out."

"Escorted. I have seen many employees 'escorted' out of here and never heard from again, Eric."

"I am sure I will see you, David. Come now, Vectors. Line up and remain absolutely silent. I don't ever want to hear a single word from you." Dr. Devros barked at them. He didn't realize that that was probably the greatest gift that he could give them.