I've been told that I sell myself short, but this isn't me being self conscious, this chapter is REALLY awful. It sucks. Just a heads-up!

It had been two weeks since Jack's meeting with Hook and things had been going downhill for the Manhattan newsies. The frequency and intensity of the skirmishes had increased, though no one else had died that they knew of.

No boy was left unscathed. To come back to the lodge without someone having gotten into a fight was extremely uncommon. Everyday the boys came back after selling, their skin littered with scratches and bruises, many of them new and having been acquired that day.

A few of the boys had developed scars from especially nasty fights, but that did nothing to destroy their determination to fight back, instead it only fueled them more.

Romeo was specifically uncaring of bruises and scars. He'd gotten caught at dark by a boy much bigger than him who was also carrying a sharp shard of glass. He'd made it out, but his previously unblemished face would forever hold a reminder.

When asked how he felt about the cut, which stretched from his left temple to the middle of his forehead, he replied with a wink and a cheeky, "The ladies love it!"

The boys' room had been turned into a makeshift infirmary and Specs had taken on the role of doctor. He spent most of his evening fixing up boys who'd gotten into fights.

"Sit down Ike!" He exclaimed exasperatedly.

"Ike, listen to Specs, he's nearly a certified doctor!" Mike said, trying to convince his twin to obey Specs' orders.

"Specs ain't certified in anythin'!"

"That's why Ise said 'nearly', 'sides, that don't mean he don't know what he's talkin' about."

"I don't need to sit! I'm fine!" Ike complained.

"You may be fine, but ya still need to sit down so Ise can be sure."

After another pleading look from Mike, Ike groaned and sank slowly onto the bed.

"Sniper, give me the cloth."

Sniper was laying on his stomach on the floor, playing a card game with Tommy Boy, holding a wet cloth and bandages in his free hand. He handed the cloth to Specs who took a close look at a cut beneath Ike's eye. After a minute of observation, Specs pressed the cloth against the wound, gently at first, then slowly applying more pressure.

Ike hissed as the cut began to sting and tried to pull away, but Specs grabbed the back of his head and held him in place.

"Hold this here," Specs said before turning around to take the bandages from Sniper.

"Ise gonna go check on Jojo, but I'll be-" Specs stopped as he turned back to face Ike. The boy had already removed the cloth. Specs roughly pushed it back against Ike's face and gave him a stern glare. "Ise gonna check on Jojo. If I come back and that cloth ain't on your face, youse won't have to worry 'bout the Bronx, I'll soak ya myself!"

"You heard 'im," Mike laughed as Ike grumpily held the cloth in place. "It ain't gonna kill ya."

"Infection might," Ike said darkly.

"That ain't funny," Mike said, rolling his eyes.

"I thought it was."

***

Jojo looked up as Specs moved over to him.

"Hey there Jojo! How ya feelin'?"

"Pretty good Specs, but Ise bored outta my mind! I ain't had no visitors all day!" Jojo was on his third day of 'resting' and couldn't wait to get back to the streets, not only because of how boring it was sitting in that room all day, but also because of how guilty he felt.

He knew the other boys were paying for his meals. Soon after Jack returned from the meeting they had set up a 'soakin' fund'. All boys would add a cent or two every day, and it would go to pay for meals of boys who were deemed too injured to sell for a couple days. Jojo himself had put quite a bit in the fund and he had been happy to help, but now that he was one of the boys using the money he felt like a burden. A couple of cents could go a long way.

When he'd told Race, the boy had laughed at him. "Where else would my money be goin'? Sheepshead? Nah, I'd rather spend it on you then I would gamblin' it away!"

Jojo had been reassured by that, but it didn't lessen his need to be independent again.

"Don't worry Jojo. Youse should be fine for sellin' tomorrow! Your head looks just fine now! You can't even tell no more, except for a couple bruises! And I'll have someone come talk to ya, I would but Ise gotta stay near Ike. He's real stubborn!" Specs grinned.

"Alright, thank Specs!"

True to his word, Specs talked to Crutchie about visiting with Jojo, and Crutchie was seated beside his bed a couple of minutes later.

"Hey Crutchie! How are youse?"

"Shouldn't I be askin' youse that?" Crutchie chuckled.

"I'm fine, just wanna get outta this place! Specs said he'll let me out tomorrow."

"That's good!" Crutchie smiled softly.

"Yeah," Jojo agreed happily.

Crutchie began to tell Jojo a story about something Les had done that day, but Jojo was more focused on the way Crutchie's hand held tightly onto his knee. Years of living with him had taught all the boys that if Crutchie was holding his leg, especially his knee, that meant his leg was bothering him.

Jojo tried to ignore it, but when Crutchie grimaced as he turned his bad leg, he spoke up.

"Your leg alright Crutch?"

"Yeah, it's fine. Why youse askin'?" Crutchie asked.

"Well, youse holdin' ya leg a lot," Jojo replied. Crutchie immediately removed his hand from his knee, folding it with his other hand.

"Ise fine. Just did a bit of walkin' today."

"It's okay to admit that you're leg's botherin' ya. I ain't gonna think any less of ya."

Crutchie sighed. "I knows that. It's just, Jack ain't been lettin' me help very much cause of my leg, and if he knows it's been hurtin' he'll think that he was right for leavin' me back here. I just wanna show him that Ise can do stuff, even with my leg."

Jojo gave Crutchie a smile, covering Crutchie's hand with his own. "You don't gotta prove anythin' Crutch. We all knows how tough you is. Jack does too, he's just tryin' to protect ya."

"I know he is," Crutchie said softly. "But I need to help out sometimes. You guys are my family and I wanna protect ya."

"Youse already do Crutch," Jojo insisted. "Youse always there for all of us, wese all know ya care about us! We all loves ya!"

"Really? Bum leg and all?" Crutchie asked with a small grin. He already knew the answer, but hearing it always made him feel better.

"O' course! Specially with ya leg! Without it ya wouldn't be Crutchie, you'd be.... I don't know, somethin' else, but ya wouldn't be Crutchie!"

"I guess youse right Jojo, I ain't got nothin' to worry about!"

"Of course I'm right! When ain't I?"

"Be careful," Crutchie warned with a grin. "Youse startin' to sound an awful lot like Race!"

Jojo smiled back, happy to see Crutchie back to his happy self. "Whatever. Now finish tellin' me that story 'bout Les, would ya? I missed it the first time."

Crutchie agreed, repeating the tale, doing his best to keep Jojo from growing bored. Specs came over to check on Jojo once more that evening, but the boy had fallen asleep. Crutchie remained at his bedside.

"He's out cold, I think youse can leave now if ya want to," Specs said.

"I'll wait, just in case he wakes up and wants to talk."

Specs shrugged and hurried back to his other 'patients'. Crutchie stayed with Jojo for quite a bit longer, not leaving until Race came over and insisted that he could watch over the boy just fine.

Crutchie still pulled the blankets up towards Jojo's chin, smoothing his hair, before leaving.

"Night, Race."

The boy gave him a nod, continuing to smoke his cigar.

"Don't stay up too late. He's all healed now."

"Thanks for sittin' with him, Crutch."

"Anytime, Race."

***
Okay, I'm pretty disappointed in this chapter, it's a filler, but there's a little brotherly love at the end. That's gotta be somewhat redeeming, right? Next chapter will be better!

I'm really sorry about the long wait for this chapter, I've been super busy packing for my trip and we're also selling our house. I should be able to update a couple times while on my trip though!

Thanks for reading!
-Anna