The Lawyer (boyXboy)

Just Drive, Dad - Jack

It takes me forty minutes to drive through the heavy lunch hour traffic to get to the address she gave me at the other end of the city, and when I finally pull up outside, I feel my stomach drop. It's a bad neighborhood – that much was clear as soon as I passed the man making a drug deal on the corner a block over – and the dilapidated old building I'm currently parked in front of is no better.

Oh, Alice, what are you doing? I ask silently as I reach for my phone, ready to dial her number to let her know I'm here. But no sooner do I find her name in my list of contacts before I hear shouting. I look up, and there she is, exiting the front door of the building with some guy shouting after her right on her heels.

I open my door and step out. "Alice, what's –"

"Who the fuck is he?!" The man behind her shouts.

"Just stay in the car." She tells me. It's only now that she's closer that I can see she's crying. She's crying, and her lip is split, and she's got a black eye. Instantly, I'm fuming.

Alice yanks open the passenger door and ducks inside without a word, quickly shutting the door behind her and locking it so she can't be followed. I do the same, ignoring the angry man now pounding on her window as I pull away from the curb.

"Alice, what was that? Who did that to your face? Was it him?"

She pulls the hood of her jacket up and leans again the window, sniffling. "Just drive, dad."

And though staying quiet is the last thing I want to do right now, I realize that pushing could do more harm than good, so against my better judgement, I let her be.

***

"What the hell?" Alice exclaims as she wakes – she fell asleep not long after we started driving - to find us parked outside the hospital.

"I just want you to get checked out." I tell her. I know I'm very likely overreacting, but she's my child, and she's hurt, and I need to know for sure.

"What? No! I'm fine. It's nothing. Just take me back to your apartment."

I sigh, rubbing my hand over my face and back through my hair. "Please, Alice, just appease me."

It takes another ten minutes of arguing between the two of us before she finally relents and gives in. I take her to fast track instead of the regular ER since her injuries are minor and aren't exactly in need of emergency care.

"I shouldn't have called you." Alice huffs angrily as she throws herself down heavily into one of the chairs in the waiting room.

I frown, taking my seat next to her. "I'm glad you did."