Laura smiled as she walked through the gym listening to the middle and high schoolers having a good time.  She had come across the opportunity to come down and spend some time in Florida, helping with some troubled kids for a month.  She had only been there about a week, but was enjoying herself immensely and getting to know the kids was a wonderful experience. 

The kids were mostly living in foster homes or on probation for getting in some kind of trouble.  The program in the gym was a way to get the kids off the streets and into a safe environment where they were supervised while parents were at work. 

Walking around the basketball game going on, she headed toward a group of boys in the corner.  They had a tendency to get into trouble if they thought no one was watching.  Laura glanced at the kids dancing on the stage, stopping to ask a brief question, but by the time she turned back towards the corner, a fight had broken out. 

Jogging the last few feet, Laura tried to break up the fight between the two boys, who were much larger than she was.  Approaching from behind, she found herself thrown against the stage.  Her arm caught the stage just right and had just enough force from the throw; she felt it snap. 

Falling to her knees, she brought her head down as she tried to catch her breath.  Another one of the volunteers had made it over to the fight by that time and had pulled the boys apart.  Struggling to get back to her feet, she masked the pain on her face. 

Adam, the volunteer who had broken up the fight, turned to Laura and asked, “Are you alright?”

Laura let out a breath before answering, “Yeah, I’m fine.  I want to talk to Brandon here though.”

“Ok, you take Brandon into the office and I’ll take Mike across the hall and we’ll talk.”

Both boys groaned, they knew they were in trouble, but they followed their respective leader grudgingly. 

Laura stepped back to allow Brandon to enter the office first, cradling her arm against her chest.  No one noticed the pain she couldn’t quite hide in her eyes. 

“Back here,” Laura said as she stepped around the front counter.  In the back part of the office were two cubicles the volunteers could use to plan more activities and run the programs that were needed so badly. 

Brandon looked around nervously as Laura circled to sit behind the desk.  “Sit down Brandon,” she said sharply. 

Brandon sank into the chair as Laura rubbed her good hand down her face.  Her broken arm throbbed, but that would wait until she had a chance to talk to Brandon. 

Laura softened her tone as she simply said, “Talk to me, Brandon, what’s going on?”

Brandon looked up at her and didn’t say a word. 

She looked back.  “It’s alright, we are the only ones here, and whatever you tell me stays here.  I want to help you.”

Leaning back in the chair now, she waited him out.  His eyes were darting around the small room, before he started to talk. 

“I didn’t mean it, I really didn’t.  Mike just starts talking and won’t shut up.”

“What’s he talking about?”

“Just sh…stuff.”  He amended when he caught her raised brow.  

Laura waited patiently, but he offered no more information.  She had spent enough time around the two boys to know that Mike had probably tried to pressure Brandon into doing drugs.  Brandon had refused and attacked Mike out of frustration. 

“Have you ever done drugs?”

“What!  No man, I’m clean.  I don’t want o be involved with that.”  He announced.  Laura smiled to herself, drugs were a big no-no to him, but he would steal electronics any day of the week.  At least he had some notion of right and wrong. 

“So why the fight then?”  No response from across the desk.  Laura decided to try another tactic.  Leaning forward, “Brandon, there’s something you should know about me – I don’t like to ask questions, I don’t already know the answer to so if I’m asking, I probably already know the answer.  So I’m going to try one more time, why the fight?”

Silence once again invaded the room.  He wouldn’t meet her eyes.  “Am I kicked out?”

Laura knew she would get no farther this way and with her arm throbbing more with every moment and swelling so that it was pressing against the sleeve of her sweatshirt, she decided to let him go for now.

“Alright, since you don’t want to talk to me, you know what happens to people who get in fights.”  He nodded.  “Kitchen duty for the next week.  We’ll discuss this more later, but for now you need to go find Mike and apologize.  Stay away from each other and Brandon…”  He glanced up.  “Stay away from the drugs and alcohol.  Keep your nose clean and make your mom proud of you….You may go.”

He quickly got up and walked out of the office.  Laura let out a groan after the door closed.  Now that her attention wasn’t being diverted, her broken arm demanded it be taken care of.  I need directions to the nearest hospital.

Slowly getting out of the chair, she walked toward the door, but stopped with a gasp.  She hadn’t realized anyone else was in the room, but JC Chasez had stepped from the cubicle next door.  Laura had known that he supported the facility financially, but had never expected him to actually show up there. 

“Sorry, I couldn’t help but overhear.  By the time I realized what you were doing, I decided I wouldn’t interrupt.  You handled that nicely.”

“I don’t know, it’s very frustrating when they won’t talk to you and let you help them though.” 

“Yeah, I know.  I normally take a backseat to those kinds of things.  I’m all for playing a little basketball or something, but I never know what to say to a kid like that.”

“Well, most of them are just looking for someone to care for them, know that they are not alone.”

“Yeah, well, I just want to say nice job.  I’d better let you get back out there.”  He said as he stepped back from the doorway to let her pass. 

“Actually, can I ask you something real quick?”  Laura hesitated when she saw the brief look of annoyance cross his face.  If she hadn’t been looking so closely, she would have missed it.  “Never mind.”

“No, what?”  He said with a rehearsed smile on his face.  “Let me guess, yes, I am JC and do you have something you want me to sign?”  Laura couldn’t believe his ego.

“Ummm…no thanks, I just – just wanted to know if you could give me directions to the closest hospital.”

He gave an embarrassed laugh.  “What?”

“Never mind, sorry to have disturbed you.”  She said as she stepped around him, once again taking care not to bump her arm.      

“Wait, why do you need the hospital?”  JC lightly grasped her injured arm above the elbow.  She inhaled sharply, pulling away from his grip, gritting her teeth against the sudden pain as she turned her face away from him to hide the sudden wetness in her eyes.  After taking a couple of deep breaths, she turned back, but kept her eyes averted. 

“I tried to break up that fight earlier and am now paying for it.  My arm hurts pretty badly.”  She admitted reluctantly, downplaying the painful arm. 

“Why didn’t you say so earlier?”  He turned and grabbed his jacket off the hook on the wall and put a gentle hand against her back, as he guided her toward the door.  “Let’s get going, do you need to get a purse or anything?”

“No…no, you don’t have to do anything, just give me directions and I’ll find it.”

“No way, I’m not letting you drive with one arm.  Now, purse?”  He looked down at her with a raised brow, opening the door to let her precede him. 

“Its right here, I can get it.”

“OK, then, I’ll meet you at the door.  I just want to tell Adam that we’re leaving.”  He rushed away before she could say anything else. 

Walking outside, Laura rolled her neck, the tension was already settling in her neck.  Closing her eyes, she inhaled deeply.  Hearing the door open behind her, she saw JC shrugging on his jacket as he nodded towards the parking lot. 

“I’m over here.”

“Seriously, you really don’t need to do this.  I don’t mean to take you away from anything.”

“Seriously, I don’t mind.  You shouldn’t have to go to the hospital alone.  Now do you need help getting in?”  He asked as he held the passenger side door open to his SUV. 

Holding her left arm carefully, she stepped into the vehicle and sank down into the seat.  He grabbed the seat belt and leaned in across her to buckle her in.  Shutting her door, he walked quickly around the front to get in his side. 

Starting the car and buckling himself in almost one motion, they were pulling out of the parking lot before Laura could get her bearings. 

“So, you must be new at the center, huh?” 

“Yeah, I’ve been there about a week.  I have about 3 weeks to go before I head back home to Ohio.  Although, I don’t know what will happen now, with this thing.”  She said gesturing with her good arm. 

“Oh, you must have come in with that new program they were trying.”

“Yeah,” she said.  “I’ve got leadership experience with kids and work a lot with these ages of kids so it seemed like a great opportunity to come down and try something new for a month.”

“Are you enjoying it so far?”  He navigated swiftly and confidently through traffic 

“Yeah, I really am.  So many of these kids are just looking for confidence in themselves, you know?”

“Yeah, that’s why the center does such a good job.  They teach these kids that you don’t have to do drugs or sell yourself to make it in this world.”

“Are you there a lot?”

He sighed, “Not as much as I would like to be, but whenever I’m in town I try and stop by and spend a couple of hours, shooting hoops or whatever with the kids.”

“I’m sure they enjoy that.”

“Who knows, at least they pretend to!”  He pulled into the parking lot of the emergency room and parked.  “Stay there, I’ll be around.”

Circling the car, he opened her door and again leaned across to unhook the seat belt.  Grabbing her good right arm, he helped her out and onto the ground.  Shoving the door closed behind them, he kept a hold of her arm as they walked to the ER entrance. 

After checking in, Laura was immediately called back as the ER wasn’t busy.  She hesitated, turning back to JC.  “Would you mind coming back and keeping me company so I don’t have to think about my arm?  You don’t have to…”

He glanced around quickly, “Sure, I can do that.”

The nurse took Laura’s blood pressure and got other important information before taking her to an exam room to wait for a doctor.  Just as they entered the room, JC’s phone rang.  Glancing at the screen, he groaned.  “I’m sorry; I’ve got to take this.  I’ll be right back.”  Stepping out of the room, he answered with a quick hello, his voice fading as he walked down the hall.