I'm With You

Chapter 5

Wendy pulled up at the side of the road about five minutes later. "Right now, we'll just take the first aid bag out of the truck and the supply bags. We'll keep yours in the car until we know we need it - there are strong painkillers in there, they might get stolen." Wendy said and Miguel nodded in agreement, getting out of the car with Wendy. He didn't recognize where they were, but he wasn't overly surprised. It was a rough area, known for homelessness and addicts.

"You know people who live in this area?" Miguel asked and Wendy nodded her head.

"Unfortunately, one of the women I know was heavily pregnant the last time I saw her. She works as a prostitute." Wendy explained in a quiet voice and Miguel sighed, nodding and he followed her down the sidewalk and towards an abandoned road where barrels were set up with fires, over a dozen homeless men and women stood around them and in a make-shift campsite around them made out of old mattresses and garbage.

"Wendy!" One of the men called a greeting, hugging her and she hugged him back.

"Hey, Hank! How's everybody?" Wendy asked.

"Good, good. We're lucky we already have a roof." Hank said and Miguel looked up to see that they were under the highway. "Who's this?" He asked.

"My friend Miguel, he's covering for Clare whilst she has her baby in a couple of months. Miguel, this is Hank. He's in charge here." Wendy said and Miguel gave a polite smile, shaking his hand. Hank seemed like he was only a little bit older than him, although his time on the streets and with an obvious drug problem had aged him severely.

"Nice to meet you," Miguel said.

"You too, man!" He said, before turning to Wendy. "Speaking of babies, Jane had hers last night," Hank announced.

"Last night? Did everything go okay?" Wendy asked.

"Oh, I don't know. I tend to stay away from that side of things, let the women handle it. Baby was born alright! Has a good set of lungs on her already, that's for sure." Hank chuckled.

"Is Jane in bed?"

"I presume so," Hank said. "Good to meet you, Miguel!" He called as Wendy started to lead the way over to where she knew Jane's bed was.

"I hate that I can only afford to come out once a week, I fucking hate that I get zero funding," Wendy growled, but it was more to herself than anybody else and her entire expression softened when they got to Jane, who was curled up on a pile of old newspapers that were draped with holey blankets and she had a sleeping bag that she was obviously sleeping in. The baby was bundled in an old hoodie, sound asleep beside her Mom. "Hey, Jane! Hank told us you were a real trooper last night."

"He wouldn't know anything," Jane said and Wendy let out a breathless laugh.

"Well, you have me here now and this is my friend Miguel, he's a doctor covering for Clare."

"You're from the hospital too?" Jane asked him and Miguel nodded his head.

"Yeah, so can I check on you and the baby?" Miguel asked and Jane nodded her head.

"And whilst he's doing that, I have some supplies for you. Is she feeding on the breast okay?" Wendy asked and Jane nodded her head.

"No complaints so far... I-I saved up for a while for diapers, so I have those."

"Good girl." Wendy praised, opening the supply bag as Miguel started to check on the newborn baby girl. He didn't know how honest to be with Jane, how vulnerable both she and the baby were to infections. It was a miracle that the baby girl seemed perfectly fine, but he noticed Wendy hand over a pack of condoms to Jane, who hid them under her pillow. Wendy knew Jane was going to return to prostitution to earn her money as soon as she needed cash, she didn't agree with it but she also understood that she was left with very few options and Wendy at least wanted Jane to be protected and safe.

"Is she okay?" Jane asked Joe.

"Her breathing is fine, the cord cut is clean."

"We've been using bottled water to bathe her, to clean her... i-is that okay?"

"It's perfect," Miguel assured her, and Jane smiled at him. It hurt to see how young she looked, she barely looked eighteen years old - he doubted Jane was her real name.

"And I have you set up with some clothes for her, so it'll help her stay warm and a clean blanket for her. Keep her bundled up! It's going to get cold soon." Wendy said, giving her a hug, and Jane hugged her back. It was emotional for Miguel, witnessing how much these people relied on Wendy and the help she brought them.

=

"There are usually homeless in the park, but they usually get moved along pretty fast because of the violence against them," Wendy said and Miguel's eyes widened.

"Violence?"

"People are assholes to the homeless," Wendy said through a sigh, but their eyes widened when they saw a young girl come running towards them from under the bridge - it was a girl neither of them recognized, but she was obviously homeless.

"Help me! I-It's my sister! Help!" Eira blurted, shaking as she sobbed.

Wendy and Miguel were instantly alert, worried at what they were going to be faced with.

===

<3