Suddenly hurricane Mona, hair wild and still in her jammies, ran around the corner. “Where’s Madden?” She was so distressed, I stepped around Rey and held out my arms.
She ran into them, and I hugged her tightly to get her body to calm down. “He’s just in the bathroom, kiddo. He’s okay. The boys were having breakfast down here with me.”
The way her breath stuttered out of her broke my heart. As she pulled back from the hug, her lower lip wobbled and she was seconds away from crying.
“What’s going on?” Madden asked, stepping slowly into the room.
Letting out a small, wounded sound, Mona whirled around and dashed to him. Both Rey and I grimaced at the impact.
Madden gritted his teeth but hugged her close as much as he could standing up. “I’m fine, Bug.”
Rey turned away and we busied ourselves for a moment, giving the siblings space.
Those kids needed so much more than life had given them thus far. I wondered if Ruth’s idea of rescuing some humans along with animals was finally coming true without us even trying.
Chapter 15
Rey
Madden was great. At first, there was this hesitance about him, as if he was waiting for the other shoe to drop, and I could relate, hard.
“You know, it’s okay to trust that you’re here permanently now,” I told him a couple of nights after he’d arrived.
Mona had fallen asleep on the twin bed they shared, and he and I were sitting on the couch Toby had insisted on buying the siblings.
They had a nice setting, even if the room was a bit cramped with furniture. Toby—and every other adult—had wanted Madden to have everything at hand while he recuperated. That was why there was a second Nintendo Switch in the house now, this one docked by a too-large flatscreen on top of a dresser. Just in case Madden didn’t want to play it handheld, Toby had said. That man was so gone on this father thing it was slightly ridiculous.
Madden snorted softly. “Yeah, until Toby gets his way.”
“He wants to adopt you two?”
“He’s doing everything he can to officially foster us, yeah.” Madden was wrapped in a soft fleece blanket, and he was picking lint off it.
“Can I ask why that’s a bad thing?” I asked, grinning a little.
He smiled and then sighed. “It’s not…bad. It’s just…”
I made an educated guess. “Hard to trust anyone, especially the system.”
“Yeah, that.”
“Did anyone tell you what happened with me?” I asked quietly, both because talking about it with someone like Madden was harder than I’d expected and because Mona was asleep just ten feet away.
“River said they found you, but that’s it.” Madden shifted and winced. He was off pain medication, and the incision site that had gotten infected had some weird nerve stuff going on and something about his insides bothered him, as well.
“I had to…” I stopped and tried to figure out how much to say. “I can’t…I can’t tell you everything yet, but—”
“Hard to trust,” he said, tapping his nose with his finger like I’d seen a detective do on TV. His eyes were sparkling with mischief, and I immediately knew we’d be friends.
“That.” I stuck out my tongue, making him shake with silent laughter and then wince. “Anyway, I had to leave home,” I said pointedly. “And I didn’t have any cash at hand, and I was too paranoid to just go and use my card even though in hindsight, I should’ve. I was just too panicked in that moment. I had decent clothing, but it was November in New York City, so it was cold. Anyway, I managed to survive outside a night, it wasn’t too bad.”
Madden nodded seriously and gestured for me to continue.
“I guess I’d learned somewhere that you insulate yourself from the ground with cardboard, so I did that, and I had a nice jacket that kept me warm that first night. Until these street kids found me and…” I sighed. “One of them was nice and tried to give me pointers, but when they left, one of his friends came back and…”
“Survival of the fittest,” he said grimly.
“Yeah. I ended up losing my jacket.” At least I’d had the wherewithal to keep my ID and bank card in my shoe and kept my shoes tied so tightly someone would’ve had to cut them off me.
