My Sweetheart -Newsies Racetrack Higgins-

[8]

A/N: Hey guys! Bear with me here. I'm going a little out of order. I know the Letter from the Refuge is supposed to come AFTER King of New York, but I put it before, so Ruth could hear it. Thank you!

"How are ya feeling?" Ruth asked, dunking a washcloth in a small cup of water, and scrubbing the dirt and blood off Crutchie's face. His hair was messed up, bruises covering his body. Frankly, he looked like a bus ran over him.

He chuckled softly, before groaning in pain. "Like hell." He sighed, closing his eyes briefly.

Ruth put the washcloth down, and looked at Crutchie sadly. He opened his eyes a little, and peaked at her. "What?" He asked.

"Nothing. I was just thinking, I think I gots something that'll cheer you up." Ruth smiled widely, before jumping off Crutchie's top bunk and going onto her bottom bunk. She pulled a piece of paper and a pen.

"What's this for?" Crutchie tried to sit up. Ruth climbed back up to his bed, and handed him the paper and pen.

"I got it from one of the girl's a few rooms down. It's so you can write a letter to Jack, or whoever you want." Ruth smiled happily.

Crutchie looked at the paper, before gazing back at Ruth.

She had a large bruise around her eye, lots of little scrapes and cuts littering her face and hands. One of Snyder's men, who they learned to be Sam Dawson, had taken a special enjoyment to hurting Ruth, and "accidentally," as he told Snyder, pushed Ruth down the stairs, causing her to hurt her leg.

"You sure you don't want it?" He asked slowly.

"You need it more than me."

"Thank you, Ruth." He smiled weakly, before thinking about what to write. Ruth took it as her cue to leave, and hobbled to the ladder, and got on her bed.

"Dear Jack," she heard Crutchie start to sing as he wrote in the paper.

"Greetings from the Refuge." Crutchie added.

"Guess I wasn't much help yesterday.
Snyder soaked me and Ruth real good with my crutch.
Oh, yeah, Jack, this is Crutchie by the way."

Ruth giggled lightly, but he couldn't hear her.

"These here guards, they is rude.
They say jump, boy, you jump or you're screwed.
But the food ain't so bad, least so far,
'Cause so far they ain't brung us no food." He paused for a moment.

"Ha. Ha." He wrote.

"I miss the rooftop
Sleepin' right out in the open
In your penthouse in the sky
There's a cool breeze blowin'
Even in July
Anyway, so guess what?
There's a secret escape plan I've got
Tie a sheet to the bed
Toss the end out the window
Climb down, then take off like a shot." Crutchie's smile faded.

"Maybe though, not tonight,
I ain't slept and my leg still ain't right
Hey, but Pulitzer, he's going down!
And then Jack,
I was thinking we might just go
Where it's clean and green and pretty
With no buildings in your way
And your riding Palominos, every day!
Once that train makes-"

"Quiet down!" A boy yelled, making Crutchie stop.

"Damn this place." Crutchie shakily said, looking down at Ruth, who frowned at him.

"I'll be fine. Good as new
But there's one thing I need ya to do
On the rooftop you said that a family looks out for each other
So tell all the fellas from me, to protect one another!"