Leon looked at his wife. "Do you suppose this is the friend that Liona has been feeding?"
"He looks vaguely familiar. If I look past that bruising and swelling, he has that striking resemblance to a boy Liona introduced to me at one point. What are your thoughts, Leo?"
"I've suspected that was the case, but I didn't want to jump to conclusions. What do you think about helping this young man, Vi?"
"Well, first, let's look into his home situation and then go from there. He doesn't need an ambulance, but he needs treatment for his injuries. For now, he needs an IV to administer some fluids to help restore his vitals." Vivi was concerned about the state of the young man. At his age he should be taller, bulkier and not this sunken faced, hollow husk of a boy half his age. If he looked like this, did all the siblings Liona mentioned do too?
After Vivian administered an IV to Erik, the paramedics finally arrived and found her work satisfactory before leaving again, saying they had nothing they could do that she hadn't already done. While she attended to the young man, her husband and wonderfully capable mate finished his business with the other officers and the man that had laid his hands on this poor young man.
As she attended to young Erik, he briefly regained conscience every now and again. When he did, he always called out for her daughter, which was quite endearing, but it worried her he had become so dependent on Liona's lunches for his daily sustenance. Helping a friend in need was what they had taught her, but it broke her heart that it had taken her daughter's interest in the boy for him to get the nutrition he so desperately needed.
Pretty soon the IV had run its course and with it Erik had been restored to a somewhat stable state. He was well enough to travel, which was fortunate, because Leon and she had decided that they were going to investigate the matter of his malnutrition themselves. As the head of the EEA, her husband had the power to investigate the abuse of any alpha or omega. Since Erik was an alpha, he fell under his jurisdiction.
Leon noted that although Erik was conscious, the boy was a shrinking violet who seemed more scared of him than the attack of the store manager. It puzzled him and by the time they had reached the kid's address, he still hadn't figured out why. The address was just across the road from the lake that Vivian used to come to all the time when they were little more than Liona's age. He had honestly forgotten that there was a trailer park here. The slow drive up to the small trailer listed as the address left no doubt that the young Erik lived in abject poverty if he had as many siblings as their daughter said he had.
With a little assistance, Erik got out of the car and walked with his head down as if ashamed. The little porch was rickety and looked ready to collapse at any moment if they all stood on it, so Leon had Vivian stay below with Erik while he knocked on the door. A brief moment later, with the sounds of scurrying footsteps from inside, the door opened just a crack. There stood a woman that was unmistakable as the boy's mother.
"Mrs. Norman?" The woman appeared wary.
"Who's asking?" Came the curt reply.
"You're the Mother of Erik Norman?" Leon tried again. This time he got more than the previous guarded response.
"Oh hell, what's happened?" There was apprehension and worry in the woman's voice.
Leon motioned for Erik to come up to the steps to join him on the small porch despite his worry that it looked like it would collapse under their weight. The boy was so slight after all that it would be fine… Probably.
"Mrs. Norman, your son was involved in a workplace incident…" Before he could explain much further, the woman who heard the creak of steps peeked further out the door to see, flung the door open at the sight of her battered son.
"Oh, my goddess! Erik! What happened?! What happened to my son?! YOU! WHO ARE YOU?!" The shrill voice of an angry mother in tears rang loud and clear in Leon's ears, making them ring as she enveloped her son in a gentle hug as she looked him over. The boy winced at the sound of her voice, too.
"Mrs. Norman, I'm Leon Bartley. Head of the EEA, and this lovely woman is my mate and wife, Dr. Vivian Bartley. Your son was involved in a battery, by his former manager at the grocery market not far from our house. I witnessed it myself, but could not intervene before the man known as Asmo Deus battered him with a canned good. My mate will explain his injuries and the recommended treatment. May we come in? We also have some concerns we'd like to discuss with you."
"I'm fine, Mom." Erik was obviously trying to ease his mother's worry.
"Is this an official visit?" The wary tone was back.
"Not official, but it can be if that would make you more comfortable." Vivian spoke softly to ease the mother's worry as the deck creaked as she shifted her weight to appear as un-intimidating as possible; as she nudged Leon to do the same. She knew her mate could appear a little overwhelming to scared people.
"I'm sorry, what kind of doctor did you say were? Why should I trust some random person showing up on my doorstep claiming these things? That goes for you too, Mister. I want to see some identification."
"Of course, Mrs. Norman. Here you go." Leon pulled out his identification, his EEA badge, and took Vivian's from her to show the upset woman. Meanwhile, Vivi listed off her credentials.
Only when the woman had inspected their IDs did she step back from the door. However, she seemed to do so reluctantly.
Once inside, it was clear that although small; the trailer was absolutely spotless; not even a toy or article of clothing was strewn about. It also looked almost barren to Vivi's eye. Like they could pack up and leave at a moment's notice and not leave a single thing behind. It left her curious how a family this big, poor or not; not have any personal possessions laying about. Even the poorest of her patients that she saw as part of her charity work had some kind of presence in their living accommodations. Even those that lived in group homes had a bit of their life by their beds.
Although there were supposed to be a lot of children living here, the spotless nature of the trailer slightly unnerved Leon as he explained in detail what happened, and Vivi explained Erik's injuries and the recommended treatment for them.
"What?! Hospital?!" The woman's face paled instantly as Vivi explained Erik should be seen at the hospital where she worked. He wouldn't be the first charity patient.
"Mrs. Norman. I'm not sure you're aware of this, but we are somewhat aware of your financial strain. It seems our children have become friends at some point and our daughter would prepare lunches for him. She speaks highly of him and would be disappointed to see him in such a state once she's able to again. As such, I would like to offer my services to help Erik recover properly…" Vivi explained carefully, hoping to ease the mother into trusting them.
"I am perfectly capable of caring for my son, Dr. Bartley."
"I'm not implying that you can't, but as I've explained; your son has a broken wrist, a concussion, a sprained ankle, and large gash over his eye, all of which would be best taken care of and monitored overnight. Without proper training, a concussion can turn quickly into something much more severe! Not to mention that his wrist will need to be X-rayed to see the extent of the damage and, depending on how bad, it may need surgical intervention. To heal properly, that gash should be stitched up, if nothing else than for cosmetic reasons. He was a victim of alpha abuse by another alpha and that is what concerns me, as well as his undernourished state, could cause complications." Vivian was passionate about her profession, regardless of if it was about babies and mothers in labor.
That caught Mrs. Norman's attention.
"Mrs. Norman. I have seen many children born and raised in poverty in my days as an EEA agent. Now I have given you the liberty of not questioning you about your son's chronic malnourishment. That lack of nourishment is partly to blame for how bad his injuries are. If he had been a healthy teenaged alpha male, he would not have even sprained his ankle, let alone broken his wrist the way it was held by Mr. Deus. That's not to say that Mr. Deus wasn't responsible, but it is concerning to us how easily he was injured." Leon was giving a subtle warning.