The Royal Contract

She wanted to rush the boy to the hospital, feeling herself to blame for not looking at where she was going. But the young lad stopped her, declining the offered help. 

"Don't worry. There is no need to go to the hospital." He persisted, waving his hand to signal no at her.

He sat on the solid ground, assessing his injury, feeling some pain in some parts of his body caused by the fall. But he believed he could still manage just fine.

Then, his head slowly swirled around, searching for something, but it was nowhere in sight. He was sure he had it in his hands before bumping into the woman, but it appeared to have disappeared.

"I'm sorry, but let me help you." She insisted, not wanting to leave the boy, still lying on the floor, unattended.

She stood up but did not move away. She stretched her hands to the boy, extending her help. Thankfully, he finally accepted, taking the hand she offered.

"I'm ok, Miss. It did not hurt that much." The boy answered her as he attempted to stand up. He pushed himself up with Dani trying to assist him, but he barely could put pressure on his foot.

He tried to put on a brave face, pretending that it was not worse than what it was, but the discomfort was just unbearable. He could not hide the pain as he tried to move.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

"I don't think so. Let me help you." This time, she did not take no for an answer. She guided him to a nearby bench, not believing his act.

It looked like it was not that serious, but she still wanted to be sure that the boy would be ok. He might seem alright, but it could be something worse than she initially thought once diagnosed. 

She could not stay complacent and leave the boy on his own, despite his request. She suddenly remembered what happened to her when she also suffered the same incident. It took her a week to heal and be able to get back to normal.

"Should I call for an ambulance?" Ben whispered near her, but she signaled for him to hold that thought. 

She could sense that the boy would not appreciate seeing any form of authority around him. She still wanted to gain his trust by conversing with him to gain more information to assess the situation.

"Hey, don't be afraid. By the way, I am Dani, and this is Ben." She initiated, hoping that he would also supply his identity. "We only want to help you. What is your name?" She repeated.

Ben knelt on the ground in front of him while Dani stayed at his side. "I will only check on your ankle to see if you broke anything." Ben waited for his answer.

"I am Jeremy." The boy reluctantly said his name. "Are you a doctor?" He answered, still slightly hesitant to show him the injured foot. 

He rarely trusted people to touch him after all the traumatic experienced he had with the different foster families he had to live with, unfortunately, in the last five years.

"No, but I have some training in handling emergency cases," Ben explained to him as he pointed to his foot. 

"Ben knows what he is doing. Let him help you." Dani spoke to him, trying to convince him. Finally, unable to take the pain, the boy conceded.

He extended his affected foot to Ben and allowed him to look at it. After gently turning and mildly twisting the foot, Ben came to his conclusion.

"Well, it doesn't seem broken, but you have a terrible swelling. I think it would still be advisable to have it seen by a doctor." Ben recommended. "They will be able to prescribe you pain medications."

Without any supplies, there was nothing else Ben could do. He made a mental note to have a first aid kit in his car at all times. He would never know when he would need it.

"No hospital and no doctors." The boy felt panicky. "Miss, I know you wanted to help, but it is just a sprain. It will heal on its own." The boy insisted, refusing to get treated in the hospital.

He had never been in one, and from what he heard from his friends, it would not be a pleasant experience. He was afraid that the system would find him and return him to his foster parents.

It was not such a good idea, in his opinion. He ran away for a reason, and he had no plan of going back to that house and those despicable people who pretended to take care of him.

"Ok, Jeremy. What about your parents or guardian? Where are they?" She had been looking around, hoping that they would come and look for him. But nobody appeared to claim him.

"I came here alone. My parents do not know that I am here. If they find out, I am sure they will be furious." He fabricated a lie, thinking that would fool her.

"Then, you should let me give you a ride to your house. I doubt you can go home on your own with your current condition." She stated, not buying one bit of his alibi.

She could detect that he was lying through his teeth when she told him about his family. But she was not about to confront him about it just yet. 

"So, maybe you can drop me near my place and let me walk home on my own. I don't want my parents to know that I sneak out." Jeremy kept his act as he thought of a way to get out of the woman's hair.

He blamed himself for not looking closely at where he was going when he grabbed the wallet of a man at the other side of the park. Now, he had himself injured and lost the wallet at the same time.

He was sure that the man was loaded. He had seen the bills inside when he paid for a refreshment. It would have been enough for a few weeks' supply.

"Ok. We can do that. But before I take you home, let me have your foot check first at the nearby hospital. Or else, we can call your parents right now.." She was not giving him an easy way out.