Helios Beginnings (The Helios Chronicles #0.5) Read Free Page B

use that.” The voiced cleared her throat before she spoke in a hushed voice. “He has a lot of old injuries.”
    “Have you documented them?”
    “Yes. How someone could hurt a child always surprises me.”
    “I always think I’ve seen everything and then …”
    There was silence for a long moment and Andrew almost opened his eyes to see if they were still there, but if it was one thing he had learned from his parents was how to stay completely still and quiet.
    “When are you going to tell him about his mother?”
    “After he wakes up, the sooner the better I would imagine.” He heard the voice sigh again, “I'm not looking forward to that conversation. This is the part of my job that I hate the most.”
    “Yes, I would imagine so.”
    “Thank you for the update, doctor. Please keep me abreast of his progress and when he can be released.”
    “I will.”
    There were footsteps that approached him and another set that seemed to leave the room. He wasn’t sure which voice stayed, but he didn’t care. The only thing on his mind was whether his dad was out of jail yet and what was going on with his mom that they didn’t want to tell him. Whatever it was, he suspected it wasn’t going to be good. The hands of one of the voices picked up his wrists and placed her fingers there. He wanted to open his eyes to see who it was, but then the reality of his situation would need to be addressed. He decided he’d like to stay in the dark for a little while longer.
     
    Helios, age 12
    “Andrew, aren’t you coming?” Mrs. Samson asked as she waited near the gate of the cemetery.
    Andrew shook his head and threw the flowers he was holding in his hand to the ground before closing the car door. Mrs. Samson walked over and stooped down to pick them up. She glanced at him briefly, but he wasn’t looking at her. She strode around the vehicle to the driver’s side of the car and slid in with a huff. She dropped the flowers between the two of them. Mrs. Samson had been Andrew’s case worker since his mom died last year. His father was in prison where he would be staying for the rest of his life. Unfortunately, that left Andrew alone and in the past year he had been in three foster homes. Mother’s Day had just passed and Andrew had thought that he should go to his mom’s grave, but now that he was there he didn’t want to do it.
    “Andrew, you said you wanted to come to your mom’s grave.”
    “I changed my mind.” The anger was clearly evident in his tone.
    “Andrew, I’m here to help you. If you would...”
    Andrew rolled his eyes and cut her off, “No, you’re not. You don’t care about me, just like the Morgan’s, the Dailey’s and now these fucking assholes the Meyers.” He turned to her and narrowed his eyes, “What’s the big deal anyway? She’s been dead for a year now, why do you care if I see her grave or not?” The words came out bitterly. His body tensed and the anger within him began to boil over. “Wait, are you moving me again?”
    “I know that none of this makes sense, Andrew, but if you would just talk to someone or allow these families to help you versus...” She started to say but Andrew didn’t let her finish.
    “Fuck you, just send me away again. I don’t care,” Andrew stated before turning back to the window to stare outside.
    Mrs. Samson stared at the troubled young man with pity. She had hoped that the damage his parents had caused would not be permanent, but she was not so optimistic anymore. In every placement he had been in, he refused to interact with anyone in a positive way, he stole money, he yelled. He frightened them with his fits of rage. He was only 12 and she feared that if he continued in this manner he would end up in jail, right alongside his father. She had thought him wanting to visit his mother’s grave was a good sign, maybe his way of having some sort of closure, but now she could see he wasn’t ready for it. She turned the ignition and pulled out into