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Max growled low in his throat. David had put all their clothes in the washer aside from their pajamas. So, naturally when his father decided that he wanted to have a movie night, he didn’t mind. The boy only minded that his father decided to drag them both to Walmart at roughly 10:30 Pm. This led to him being in Walmart late at night. In a bear onesie; pouting.
When a woman approached David and complimented his pajamas, the man beamed. He looked down at himself. Naturally, he had the map of the Camp Campbell printed into flannel pajamas. David explained so and beamed with delight as he rested his palm on Max’s head.
“Oh! Well, it makes you look like the adventurous type,” the brunet purred. Her lashes batted and Max felt his stomach flip. Annoyed, he rolled his eyes. Of course David would be oblivious to the flirting. As his father went on about the summer camp he worked at, the boy looked about the isles.
The woman’s young daughters began giggling at the boy. They whispered to one another and Max huffed through his nose as some of their exchange. One went on a tangent about how Max looked stupid in his onesie. She commented on the floppy ears and bobbing tail.
Trying to distract himself and avoid trouble in a place with cameras, he began to wander. His hands trailed along the shelves as he moved between them and whistled calmly. He spotted another young girl who looked irritated and frustrated. Her mother was caught in a conversation with an older man.
Grinning wickedly, Maximilian approached her and shoved his hands in his pockets. “Forced to wait, too?”
The seven-year-old nodded and crossed her arms. “Yeah! We’ve been here for nearly 20 minutes. I have a new toy waiting back at home! This is ridiculous.”
Max snickered and let his eyes land on the fire alarm near David and their pests. He noted that her flirting seemed genuine and his brows furrowed. His biological mother had just left his life. David’s son wanted nothing to do with another woman in his life.
“You know… If you trigger the fire alarm, we’d get to go home.”
The girl huffed. Her blond bangs hung over her eyes and they fluttered. “But your dad might catch me. I’d already thought about it. My mom is too stupid to ever think I’d do anything like- anything like that.”
He took a moment to think. The girl was right. So, he decided to distract his father. Max snuck around the aisle, unnoticed, and snuck up behind one of the bratty children his leech had brought with her. She didn’t notice when Max grabbed the hem of her skirt. Just as fast as the crime had been committed, he’d gone. Maximilian wandered up beside David.
One of the flirtatious woman’s daughter’s suddenly shrieked in dismay. Her skirt had gotten caught on a piece of torn metal of one of the shelves. Her skirt tore near the center, and her underwear was visible to all. Her mom came to her aid and David grabbed Max and turned him, beginning to usher him away awkwardly. David ushered his son past the three young women. Max gave a thumbs up to his accomplice and she returned the gesture before running up to the fire alarm and pulling it.
Panicked, David grabbed Max’s hand and began to run. Max gasped and interlocked his fingers with David’s as they ran. The soft paws of his onesie repeatedly tripped him in the store. The linoleum floor was slippery. Outside was no better. It had rained recently and his legs quickly became soaked from the puddles he trudged through. He hadn’t thought David would panic so badly.
More than once, he’d tugged on his father’s hand, attempting to plead with him to slow.
“MAX!” David scolded, “We have no time for this! we need to get as far away from here as possible!”
Max gasped when his outfit got caught on a piece of metal sticking out of the rear of a car. David tugged his hand before he could warn the man. “David!”
The man pulled and let go when he heard Max scream. David’s heart beat from his chest when he heard the tear of fabric amongst a small crowd of people rushing past him. His eyes went wide when Max went to the ground and his arm popped .
“MAX!” David jolted forward and landed on his knees. His son was screaming as he rolled to his back and held his arm. Max sobbed quietly as he glared past his tears and at his dislocated arm.
Teal eyes widened in horror. The severity of the wound made his heart skip a beat and his lungs empty themselves with a scream as he kicked frantically at the air. His arm had dislocated. His humerus separated from his shoulder. Maximilian shrieked as wailed as his father tended to him. From the inside of his upper arm, the bone tried to tear through the skin. A large lump had formed and a crowd soon followed.
David used his arms to keep prying people back. “Stop! Stop! Unless you’re a doctor, I know what to do!” Men and women took some steps back as the man bent over his son and unzipped his onesie. A soft apology left his lips as he carefully held the boy’s arm as he slipped it out of the pajamas. Max screamed the whole time and tears built up in his eyes. It was his fault that his son had gotten hurt. Max didn’t even want to come on this trip.
If it weren’t for him, Max wouldn’t be shrieking and sobbing on the ground as his bone threatened to tear every muscle it was attached to. David took a deep breath. “Max, listen to me. I need you to trust me, okay? I know you don’t have any reason to, but let me help.”
Confusion and pain blurred his thoughts and Max nodded.
His father locked eyes with him. “I’m so sorry, Max. This is gonna hurt, okay? I’m here. Don’t worry. This is gonna get better!” David gently grabbed both of his shoulders. Gripping Max’s dislocated shoulder, he bit his bottom lip and pressed hard with his palm. Max screamed and choked on his tears. David’s own eyes misted over until he felt the bone pop into place.
Max’s screams began to soften until he was sniffing and panting in relief. Still, the boy hissed. David’s eyes widened and he put his hand on his son’s uninjured shoulder. “Stay down. I’m going to carry you to the car and we’re going to the E.R.”