The thing was when you could not afford was medical care but when someone had connections to the field, you knew what to do in many situations.
Like in this one, Victoria knew how to bring the fever down and one of the ways was to give him a cold compress.
So she tore a piece of her shirt and tucked the remaining in her Jeans before using the strip and her water to wet it, then she placed it on his forehead.
That was done a long time ago, now she was waiting for him to wake up as his temperature had gone down significantly.
She knew this by experience because her father often contracted cold and fever by working to make their ends meet and her mother did not have enough paid leaves to take care of him. So the responsibility fell on her.
The boy moved, in the darkness she caught the movement of the outline of his body moving a little before she stepped back.
He sat up and touched his forehead before noticing her, "what?"
"Um," she gulped before squeaking out, " you had a fever. I-I helped bring it down."
"By what?" He barked, making her flinch, "What the fuck did you do? Sit by me and stare at me like a fucking creep?"
"No!" Victoria rushed out the word in an instant. "no, no, look at this," she showed him the wet rag, "I kept this on your forehead until your fever came down. And-and your water bottle is right there. Drink some."
"Fuck off." He scoffed and shifted closer to his corner. "and stop coming closer. Get away."
He said the word get away with such disgust that Victoria felt like a pest.
She slowly moved to her corner and held her knees to her chest as the empty water bottle crinkled.
At times, she felt like her father was right. There was no use in helping others.
*****
Since there was no window in this room, so she had no idea what time it was. Victoria fell asleep after some time but she constantly woke up in between and it was more like multiple naps.
She had no idea how the guy on the other side of the room was fairing and she was not going to ask. For now, it felt like he could die for all she cared.
Had her mother complained to the police? Did she look inside the school? They had security cameras there so they must have caught something.
Her father must know what to do. He must've called all his construction friends and they would be looking for her. It would only be a matter of time until she was going to be found.
The door opened slightly and unlike the rest of the times where white light flooded through, it was red.
Red light?
Someone entered the room and in the red light, she could outline a woman. Women were good, they were safe.
Victoria frowned. Why was a woman coming inside and not helping them?
The woman ignored her presence and went directly to the boy. Then what is the sound of something juggling Victoria tried her best to keep the curiosity inside? It was going to get her killed.
The light, even though it was red, illuminated the entire room to her vision and she saw the boy.
Her lips parted in a silent gasp as she looked at the figure of the boy that had red all over his face. She saw that he was hurt before, he was hurt on an entirely different now.
He was cranky, he had been bleeding all over.
Little Maslow," the woman had a lovely voice, "how do you feel after being my guest for so long? Are these up to your standards?"
The boy who had been rude and cranky, snappy to the bone, now shivered in front of the woman in fear. So, she was the villian.
"Of Course not," the woman answered her question with the click of a tongue. "Maslow's have a very distinctive taste."
Maslow?
She exhaled loudly and touched the cheek of the boy, "I don't like that you have not said a word in my presence yet. When are you going to talk? I need to see and hear for myself if your voice matches your father's."
For a brief second, Victoria's eyebrows shot up to her hairline. The boy had told her to fuck off in a corner and was now not speaking in front of the woman who had kidnapped him?
"don't you worry, Little Maslow." The woman patted his head and it looked like she was doing it with love. "I have just the trick to make you sing."
And it was then she pulled out a bag, emptying the contents of which fell down a hammer and nails.