Page 29 of The MC's Little Brother

“Yeah?”

“Can I call you Xander?” She waited for him to nod before continuing. “I’ve been meaning to check in with you. Do you think you’d be willing to sit down with me sometime soon? I just want to make sure you’re somewhere that you’ll thrive. I’m a licensed therapist, so you can feel free to talk to me too if you want.”

He shrugged, but I could tell by the way his expression went blank like Wraith’s so often did that his walls were back up. He didn’t trust her enough to talk to her yet.

Penny seemed to pick up on that, too. She pressed her lips together and nodded. “Alright. Well, if you need a safe place to talk, you feel free to call me.” She handed him her card before looking him up and down. “Are you here for medical reasons today?”

“Nope,” I answered, popping the ‘p’ sound. “It’s bring your bestie to work day.”

I felt pretty proud of myself when a smile ghosted across his face for a moment. Penny chuckled and shook her head.

“I don’t think that’s a thing, Melissa. But I don’t see the problem with him hanging around as long as he doesn’t cause any trouble for the staff. If you get bored, there’s a TV in my office waiting room. We can let you choose something to watch, as long as it's appropriate. And I think there’s a gaming system on the pediatrics floor.”

“There is!” I agreed with a grin. “I go up there a few days a week to play with the littles. Not to brag, but I’m the queen of Mario Kart.” I buffed my nails on my scrub top, a smug smile on my face.

Xander huffed out a laugh. “I’ve never played, so you’ll probablybeat me.”

Well, that needed to be fixed. Didn’t all kids love video games? And it’d be a good way to get Xander and Wraith to bond. Wraith might be a stoic ass sometimes, but he played video games with the crew on occasion. He was more into the first-person shooter games from what I’d seen, but it’d be kind of funny to kick his ass in the games I was good at.

“Well, if things are slow, I’m sure you can pop up there for a little while to try it out,” Penny said with a nod. “Melissa, can I speak with you for a second?”

I nodded, giving Xander one more squeeze before I followed her out of earshot. She lifted her eyebrows at me, waiting for an explanation.

“It’s… awkward, I guess is the word I’ll use. They’re both a little standoffish and they haven’t found common ground yet. But they’ve been busy with the custody thing and getting Xander the things he needs to be comfortable, so they haven’t had a lot of time to sit down and talk it out. I’m hoping to bridge the gap a little. Mattias and I have known each other since we were young, and Xander seems to trust me. I’ll help them figure it out.”

She nodded along, her expression worried but kind. Penny had a difficult job to do. Social workers all did. They wanted what was best for the kids, and sometimes that meant taking them away from the adults in their lives. But she knew, like I did, that it took more than a few days for kids to settle with their new families. Wraith and Xander just needed a little more time.

“Well, I trust your judgment. I just want to make sure he’s in the right place. Has he considered therapy?”

“I’m not sure Mattias has mentioned it to Xander yet.”

Penny shook her head. “No. I meant for both of them.”

I frowned. “Both?”

“Yes. This is a huge change for them both. Mattias didn't even know he had a brother until a few days ago, right? And suddenly he’s thrust into a parenting role. It might not hurt to talk to someone, at least to figure out how he and his brother are going to make things work. If they can make things work. Even with the best intentions, it doesn’t always work out. A therapist can help with that.”

I considered her words thoughtfully. I hadn’t looked at it from Wraith’s side. I knew Xander needed to talk to someone, and I planned onmentioning it to him once he was a little more comfortable with me. I hadn’t thought about Wraith going too. But it might not hurt to suggest. I knew he was struggling to communicate with Xander and he seemed stressed by the big change. If not a therapist, then he needed to talk to someone. Now I just had to figure out how to bring that up without pissing him off.

18

Wraith

After a long drive to clear my head, I went back home to make a few phone calls. Xander needed to check back in with the doctor before he could start school, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t start on the process now. I might not be able to talk to him without it blowing up in my face, but I was going to do everything I could to make sure he was okay. Including getting him back in school.

After calling first the elementary school, then the middle school after I was redirected because of Xander’s age, and getting the list of things I’d need to get him enrolled, I switched gears and called work. I’d told my boss I had a family emergency I needed to deal with, but it’d been a few days since then and he texted me while I was on the phone asking for an update. He needed to know what was going on because it might change my availability having Xander around. I sent him a text first since he was a busy guy, but when I got the message that he was available to talk, I called right away.

My phone rang a few times before he picked up with a gruff, “Salinger.”

“It’s me.”

“Yeah, no shit. I’ve got caller ID. Where the hell have you been? I thought I’d hear back from you after twenty-four hours.”

I was a little tired of repeating the story to everyone I spoke to. The social worker, the hospital, the crew, and now work. It got tedious. If I could, I’d just send out a mass email saying Xander was in my care for his own safety. End of story. I couldn’t get away with that, especially with my work. So I forced myself to repeat it again, gritting my teeth when I admitted for the fourth time that my little brother was stuck in an abusive household and I had no idea.

“Shit, Ruiz. When you said you needed to talk, I thought maybe you were finally going to accept that promotion.”

If he could see me, I would’ve rolled my eyes. “I’m not moving to Texas. You can stop asking.”

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