When Olifar opened his eyes, he found himself in a white room, squinting as he adjusted to the light of the window and bright fluorescents hanging above his head.

He quickly learned that trying to look around was a pain, as his head was throbbing and his neck was stiff and sore, but he had noticed a faint beeping noise that compelled him to find where it was coming from. Turning his head excruciatingly slow, Olifar peered around to see a few machines standing next to the bed he was lying on, one of them emitting the noise and showing his heart rate on a monitor.

I’m in a hospital... Why am I- oh, that’s right... my uncle tried to kill me.

Well... I'm not surprised. He’s been violent since like, forever and he probably just got too angry to even care about the consequences of killing me anymore.

Olifar turned when he heard a few knocks on the door, which opened with a snick a few seconds later. In walked a nurse with light blue scrubs, along with two cops and a professional-looking lady in a suit.

The nurse looked in his direction and smiled, “Oh good, you’re awake. There are some people here to see you.”

After saying that, she left the room, which was getting a little cramped now, with the three adults surrounding his bed.

“...” no one said anything after the nurse left, and he just stared down at his lap, waiting for someone to break the silence.

No way am I speaking first, I don’t even know why they’re here.

“...Hello Olifar, how are you feeling?” the woman in the suit spoke up after a moment of uncomfortable silence.

My memory is blotchy, I have a raging headache, my neck is incredibly sore(and most likely bruised), and my back hurts…

But he didn’t want to complain to this group of strangers, so he just ignored all of that.

“I’m g-good... what happened? W-who are you? Why…?” He waved in their general direction, too nervous to finish his question.

I haven’t done anything, so why are the cops here? Bea and Georgi didn’t blame me for something, did they? He attacked me first! I didn’t even fight ba-

“Ah, right. Sorry ‘bout that, you must have a few questions.” the officer closest to him chuckled. “I’m Officer Randen, and this is my partner Officer Koltey. We’re gonna ask you a few questions about what happened, and then get outta your hair if that’s ok with you?” the cop said, pointing to his partner as he introduced him.

Olifar nodded hesitantly, and turned to the woman on the left side of the room.

“Child protective services sent me,” she said in a soft, lilting voice that didn’t quite match her looks. “My name is Calley Durea, but you can just call me Calley.” she smiled warmly. No one had smiled like that towards Olifar since his mother passed away, and he was honestly surprised. Most adults were mature and respectful enough not to outright bully him(with exceptions like Bea and Georgi), but they were also never kind or caring. They just ignored him or were overly cold when they had to talk to him.

***

The next hour passed by quickly as Olifar tried to keep up with what they were telling him.

Officer Randen explained right away that Bea had called the cops when she saw how badly he was bleeding.

“Lady said she heard a loud crash and went to check on ya, and when she saw Georgi, she pulled out ‘is gun and shot ‘im in the shoulder.” Randen stated. It was hard to believe that the same Bea that insulted him every stir had actually saved his life.

“After the bottle knocked ya down, Georgi pressed his foot against your neck, trying to suffocate ya, and picked up some o’ the jagged glass, slashing it across your back.”

That explains my stinging back and sore neck…

“Do ya remember any o’ that?”

Thinking back, Olifar couldn’t remember much, just trying to escape then falling to the ground, so he just shook his head. He was surprised that Bea had even saved him, but guessed that she just didn’t want her husband to become a murderer. Who knows though, maybe she was really just tired of Georgi.

Randen nodded in understanding and finished explaining, but Olifar was still trying to process all of what they had just told him.

Georgi attacked me… then Bea saved me?? That doesn’t make sense, she hates me. Georgi is going to be arrested for attempted murder after he heals decently enough… so where am I gonna stay now? Alone with Bea?

Shaking his head, Olifar looked up briefly and noticed they had all turned their heads towards him expectantly, so he took a deep breath. He was a lot calmer after realizing they were just here to help him, so he easily explained everything that he could remember.

“I was in my room, and Georgi got home way earlier than he was supposed to. He drinks a lot and hits me sometimes, but I’ve never seen him that angry.” Olifar started as Officer Koltey took notes. “He threw some of my things out of the window, and when his back was turned I tried to run away. After that I don’t remember much, but I was in a lot of pain, and I could barely breathe.”

Officer Koltey looked up from his notes when he was done, and asked a few more questions along the lines of, ‘How long have you been living with them?’ and ‘How often did your uncle resort to violence?’.

When they were satisfied with his answers and had done everything they needed to, the officers excused themselves. As they walked out, Olifar stayed silent and waited until the door was closed to look at Calley.

“Well, now it’s my turn to talk, I suppose.” Calley grinned. “The good thing is that your injuries aren’t too bad. They might hurt for a while and there may be a few scars on your back, but it’s nothing life-threatening! You will have to stay in the hospital until we find a new home for you though. This means you’ll fall a little bit behind in school, and you’ll possibly have to transfer to a new school depending on where you’re placed.”

Well, that’s not too bad… everyone already hates me at school and I have no close friends, so I guess it will be a fresh start.

“Ok… when… do you think I’ll be placed in a new home?” Olifar couldn’t really believe anyone would willingly take him into their home, unless they’re some sorta saint.

Maybe they aren’t given a choice and just have to take me no matter what… they would probably hate me for that too.

“The quickest we can find somewhere for you would be a couple weeks. You could go back to your house and gather your belongings during that time if you wanted? I could go with you too.”

“Will Bea be there?” Olifar didn’t really feel like going if she would be there.

“Well, it is her house now. I could grab all of your stuff and bring it back to you, if you’d rather not see her again.”

When he nodded gratefully, she smiled and looked down at her watch.

“Oh, I have to go now,” Olifar looked behind her at the clock on the wall and noticed it had been more than two hours since she had come into the room.

“I’ll be back next week to check on you and bring your stuff here!” she chirped as she slipped out of the door, waving to him and then quietly but firmly shutting the door, which made a dull thud.

The rest of the stir was uneventful, with nurses coming to change his bandages every so often and make sure he was ok.