Chapter Text
The last thing Luke remembered was the rustling of bushes and an animalistic growl. It was just his luck to get clawed by a bobcat while roughing it out in the National Park and almost losing an eye in the process.
A nearby forest ranger had found him just in time, but just barely.
He was bleeding from all his cuts, malnourished, and his arm bent at an awkward angle. Apparently the state of Connecticut noted him as Missing six months ago, long before he finally landed in this shitty New York hospital.
All things considered, he knows he should be glad to be alive.
Hell, he was surprised Hermes even bothered to file a missing persons case after doing fuck-all for him and his mom all these years.
But now, now he gave a shit about him, enough to cover his hospital bills and fix his crooked arm, but put him into a private hospital room? Hah, forget it. And so, into a two-patient ward Luke went after his surgery.
He was in and out of consciousness (and surgeries) for a while, so he didn't notice when the other bed was taken up by another patient until he woke up to a woman crying in the nearby chair.
She was holding his hand, apologizing over and over to the child lying in bed.
He had dark hair, bandages around his head and a neck brace.
He must have been eight or nine….or just malnourished like him.
The boy slept on, and so did Luke.