The Runaways

Chapter Forty-Three - Worlds Most Patheic Thumbs Up

We had managed to find a small little town living in the middle of the woods. It was actually quite pretty. Small little houses made from wood and stone sat peacefully underneath the large overarching oak trees. There was a nice dirt road that wove in and out of town which was accompanied by many small children running around and chasing each other near it. It was a happy little town and it made me feel a bit better. As we walked in we were stopped at the entrance by the townsfolk. They were confused and seemed somewhat defensive at first up until Warren described what had just happened and with the baby still crying in his arms as the bruise on the side of its head became more noticeable the towns people took immense pity for the baby and lead us in quickly.

"Here's a place you can use to take care of him." A woman said as she opened the door to a small tiny house, it had a bed a table full of first aid supplies and a very small kitchen area, "We usually keep this place for anyone in town who gets sick or hurt, we'll gladly share it with that poor child."

"Thank you." Warren said as he smiled at her, "This was a lot of help."

"Oh don't mention it. We need more good people like you in the world. I can't believe the Syndicates did this, it's just a baby! It's unbelievable." The woman sighed, "You said you were a doctor right?"

"Yes I was a brain surgeon right before everything happened." Warren replied.

The woman looked relieved, "Well then it looks like that baby is in good hands."

Warren just smiled and nodded diffidently.

"Well I'll let you do your thing, if there's anything at all we can do to help this poor little thing please let us know." The woman said.

"We will, thank you." Blake said as she nodded at the woman as she left and closed the door.

"Warren please tell me that whole bed won't be used for just the baby." Elias said as he held onto Cleveland for balance, "Like I get it's got a bad head injury but—"

"No don't worry, come over at sit down already." Warren said as he set the baby down towards the end of the bed in hopes that the comfort of the shitty mattress and blanket would help it feel more comfortable.

"I'm going to go look around... and stuff..." Remington said as he opened the front door with his eyes squeezed shut and his face wrinkled in a grimace like he was in pain, "I'll be back later,"

"Bye." I muttered as he quickly left and shut the door.

Cleveland helped Elias sit down on the other half of the bed while Warren paced around looking at what contents were on the first aid table and thinking of what he could do for the baby.

"Corban," He said as he stood there with his hand in his chin as he thought.

"Yes do you need help?" I asked eagerly to show Warren how much I could be of help so he would eventually ask me to come with him on his journey to save his daughter.

"Can you put some real bandages on Elias's leg, and I also believe there's some cleaning solution there as well you can use."

"You got it." I nodded as I quickly went over and grabbed some bandages that were sitting out already. On the table there was an old rusty white container I opened it up and looked around until I found what looked to be some standard hydrogen peroxide. I grabbed it and also grabbed a couple gauze pads as well.

"We should name the baby!" Reece suggested, "I'm sick and tired of just calling it 'the baby', also is it a boy or a girl? I hope it's a girl."

Warren didn't respond, I couldn't tell if it was because he was thinking or if he was choosing to ignore her.

"Reece and Cleveland why don't you guys come with me and we can see if there's any chores we can do for money so we can buy food for us and the baby." Blake suggested.

"Yes that is a good idea." Warren muttered.

Reece rolled her eyes and muttered to herself as she walked out the door, "My idea was good."

I looked down nervously, I don't like how Warren avoided the question about naming the baby. It's like he doesn't want to be attached.

"Is this stuff your going to put in my leg going to hurt?" Elias asked.

I blinked a couple times to get my head in the game, thinking about the baby was distracting me, "Uh yeah, actually probably a lot."

"Nooooo..." Elias whined.

"It's for your own good." I said.

"I know... it just hurts a lot." Elias muttered as he grabbed the pillow next to him and hugged it while I unwrapped the blood covered shirt that was wrapped around his calf. I had Elias turn around so that he was lying on his stomach so I could get the back of his calf more easily. I then gently put a few drops on the wound. Elias jerked his leg a couple of times while his whole body tensed. I could tell he was avoiding making nose since the baby was lying only two feet away from him. I wiped off all the left over with the gauze pads and then wrapped up Elias's leg with actually bandages. When I sat back once I finished I was actually quite impressed of what a good job I did, it almost looked professional. I looked over at Warren to see if he would give his approval but when I looked over he was sitting at the chair by the first aid table with his hands in his face in defeat.

"Warren?" I muttered.

"There's nothing I can do." Warren said as he ran his hands through his hair before picking his head back up.

"What do you mean? Are you sure?" I asked.

Warren nodded, "All we can do is just sit here and make sure the baby stays in a safe environment and I have to watch to make sure there's no signs of the skull breaking. If we're lucky it's a concussion, but the odds are it's most likely a contusion. We better pray to god the skull isn't cracked or ICP doesn't occur."

"ICP?" I echoed.

"Intracranial pressure or cerebral edema. When fluid fills your head and creates pressure. If that happens I'd end up doing my first brain surgery in a very long time..." Warren muttered as his voice turned more into a mumble, "Given the circumstances... I don't think the baby will survive if that happens."

I froze up as I stood there holding the bandages in my hand, now squeezing them tightly, "But you don't think that's going to happen right?"

Warren just shrugged as he stared at the floor, I felt the pit in my stomach grow bigger when I realized that Warren had tears rolling down his face. He was half trying to hide it half given up. Me and Elias flashed a horrified glance before I spoke up.

"Warren are you alright?"

"I'm so tired Corban... I'm so so tired." Warren said as he rubbed his eyes with his hands.

"Do you wanna like... take a nap?" I asked awkwardly. I didn't know how to handle this situation I really look up to this guy and he looks like he's about to jump off a building. How the hell am I supposed to help the guy I always look for help from.

Warren set his head on the table just a little bit too rough for comfort, "yes." He mumbled.

"Alright well I'll look after the baby then for you." I said. As I reached over and set the roll of bandages on the opposite side of the table while he just gave me a very pathetic thumbs up. I walked back and sat down on the bed inbetween Elias and the baby, Elias had the same worried look on his face that I had. Thankfully the baby was content with just lying in the bed it was grabbing at the fabric of the blanket while it weakly laid there, I could still tell the poor thing was in pain. I just wished I could help more.