Daniel spun toward Jem, bringing his hand up and toward Jem’s face.Jem moved so quickly that he was a blur.He caught Daniel’s hand and moved with the blow, pivoting with Daniel’s force and momentum rather than trying to fight it.The result was that a moment later, he had Daniel’s arm locked under his own, and Daniel screamed.
“Drop it!”Jem barked.
Daniel’s hand opened, and whatever he’d held clattered against the pavement.Jem relaxed the hold, and Daniel’s scream cut off.The boy wobbled for a moment, face white.And then he bit Jem on the shoulder.
This time, Jem was the one who screamed.Instinct kicked in, and he released Daniel.The boy twisted free, already turning to run, but he stepped backward off a curb and fell.
By then, Tean was finally moving again.He reached Daniel as the boy began to push himself up.
“Daniel, stop.”Tean gulped air, but he pressed one Keen down on the boy’s midsection, pinning him to the ground.“Enough.”
For a single moment, Daniel’s face contorted, and Tean was sure the boy was going to keep fighting.And then something deeper than exhaustion scoured away everything else in that pale face, and he dropped back against the blacktop, panting like he was trying not to cry.
17
“Motherfucker!”Jem shouted at the flash of pain.
Tean peeled the shirt back a little more and made a noise that Jem had come to recognize as the nonverbal equivalent ofdon’t be a baby.“He didn’t break the skin.”
“He didn’t break the skin?Tean, hebitme.”
“I know.But look at the bright side: now we don’t have to worry about infection.”
“The bright side,” Jem muttered in Daniel’s direction.
The boy didn’t notice.He sat with his face pressed against his knees, refusing to look at them.He’d fled in nothing but the shorts and tee Jem had seen him in at the park—not even shoes.His bare feet were scraped from his run through the hospital and parking garage.Wrapped in Tean’s jacket now, the boy gave no evidence that he felt the cold, even though he must have been freezing.
Jem picked up Daniel’s improvised weapon and held it out for Tean’s inspection.“He tried to stab me in the eye with this.”
Tean considered the ballpoint pen.“He probably stole it from a nurse.”
“Yeah, that wasn’t the part I was worried about.I was more focused on the part aboutsticking it in my eye.”
With a sigh, Tean nodded.
“Hey, dipshit,” Jem said.
Daniel stayed as he was, face buried in his knees.
Voice rising, Jem called, “I’m talking to you!”
Tean shot Jem, of all people, a dirty look and crouched in front of the boy.“Daniel, if you won’t talk to us, we’re going to have to call your mom.”
Daniel shook his head, but it was better than nothing.
“Then you’d better talk to us,” Tean said with a lot more patience than Jem currently felt.Maybe that was because Tean hadn’t been bitten by a rabid teenager.
Face still hidden, Daniel said, “I’ll run away again.”
“And what?”Jem said.“Get your bitch ass killed?A second time?”
Daniel’s head whipped up, and he glared at Jem.
“Don’t look at me like that,” Jem said.“I saved your life, and youbitme.”
The boy tried to hold the glare, but color crept into his cheeks.He pulled Tean’s jacket a little more closely around himself, dropped his gaze, and shivered.
“Maybe you should apologize to Jem,” Tean said.“And thank him for helping you.”
