Fighting Through the Pain » Places

         

Lucas "Luke" Trainor

"You would not be intruding dear, It's an open invitation. I'm not just being nice" his mother said with a smile. "It's true. One of my friends lived with us for 2 years because she had abusive parents. Our house is always open" Lucas added. His mother shook her head softly and handed Emerick a few napkins to wipe his tears. 'Kid probably doesn't get hugged much' Lucas thought. The look of anger on his mother's face was apparent. He could tell she was angry about Emericks situation and he agreed with her. Nobody should have to go through what he was going through. "You've got to tell your parents sometime. If you want to stay tonight and call your parents tomorrow you can do that but I don't want to worry them, no matter how much I disagree with their values" she said softly. "Or if you want me to go with you to get some of your things from your house i'll do that too...then you can tell them." Lucas could tell that part of Emerick wanted to go home and he understood that. It was his family after all...no matter how horrible they made him feel.

Lucas' mother scooped a large helping into a bowl and set it in front of Emerick with a spoon. "I'm not sure how much you eat, but Lucas here can eat his body weight in food." she laughed and Lucas rolled his eyes. "Football does that to a guy" he replied shaking his head.

Indiana "James" Carver

Indiana observed as her facial expressions went from confused to frustrated to conflicting and back. He wondered what she was thinking about but knew it couldn't be anything good. "Yes" she said simply. Indiana just nodded his head. He understood that everyone had their fears. 'How does someone so incredibly beautiful end up on the streets?' he wondered, then he shook his head at his own ridiculous thought. 'Beauty doesn't determine homelessness. Besides you're not allowed to think of her that way. She's here for treatment for a serious problem' he thought. But part of him couldn't help but admire her strikingly blue eyes. He could see the pain flash into her eyes. The pain of a long hard life. He knew that look. Many of the pictures the orphanage orderlies took of him looked like that. He understood the feeling, but he didn't say anything about it... He didn't feel it was his place to discuss his life..nor did he want to.

"If I can just have something...I don't care what it is. Toast" Indiana shook his head. "I can do you one better" he smiled and walked into the kitchen. He scooped beef stew into a bowl and brought it out to her. "Beef stew. I recommend you eat it now...Withdrawal is going to happen soon and you're not going to want to eat" he said bluntly, but he knew she understood. "So are you the one who's going to take care of me?" she asked. "Yeah. I was assigned to your case." he said simply