A Push in the Right Direction – Chapter 9 – emersli1!

Reading Time:
9 Minutes

“Mr. Quinn?”

Corvus barely looked up from where he was gently smoothly the sparse hair on his son’s head.  “Yes, sergeant?  Did you need to see the birth certificate too?”

The police sergeant sat down on the opposite side of the cot.  “No.  We have a copy for our records.  How is the little guy?  I’m Sergeant Curtis, by the way.”

Quinn sighed.  “They got him back, in the ambulance.  It’s funny.  In June, I was struck by a car.  They tell me I was dead for between three and four minutes.  That’s why Thad was with her.  And now …”

“Well, that’s good that they got him back.  We will need a record of his injuries to prosecute.  But we can get that from the hospital.”

“Yes, I signed that form.  I think.  I signed a lot of forms.”  Corvus shook his head.  “I don’t understand how someone could do this.”

Curtis shook his head.  “I asked that question a lot my first few years on the force.  Now I just know that there are some folks who aren’t fit to be around others.  Mr. Quinn, were you aware at all that there was another child in the home?”

Quinn shook his head.  “No.  My late wife and her sister weren’t close.  I had no idea.  And I certainly didn’t know the child was up there hurt while I was tending to my own son.  I wouldn’t have just left the poor thing.”

“No, no.  I can quite see that.  And what about now?”  The man looked at Quinn intently.

“Now?  Now I’m going to sit here and pray that my son wakes up.  Is there something else I should be doing?”  Corvus wasn’t budging from this spot until Thaddeus opened his eyes.

“Well, should be…no.  But.  The other child is your nephew.  He was drugged with phenobarbital, to a dangerous degree.  We’re recommending two counts of attempted murder and complete severance of any and all parental rights.  Because of the heinous nature of the crimes, and in an effort to avoid the significant harm that could be caused to the children by a slow process, they are expediting the proceedings.”  Again, the man looked consideringly at Quinn.

“And this means what, that you are here talking to me by my baby’s bedside?”  Quinn just wanted the boy to wake up.  At this point, he didn’t care if he had health issues or brain damage… he just wanted him to wake up.

“This means that there is another little boy, with no one at his bedside.  I can’t and won’t fault you if it’s too much to ask, but … he is innocent of his parents’ crimes against your son.  And you are his closest living relative without a police record.  His father has a sister, but she has been charged several times with animal abuse.”

Corvus raised his eyes from the motionless figure of his son.  “Sergeant Curtis, I live in Andorra.  I was only back in Britain for a short-term job and to pack up the last of my late wife’s things before relocating for good.  I’m not willing to stay here while a guardianship case makes its way through the courts.”

“If that’s your only objection, Petunia Dursley is willing to sign papers transferring him into your custody in a private adoption, which will be expedited along with the criminal trial.  Vernon Dursley has been judged unable to stand for his crimes.  He had a stroke while in custody, and the damage was severe.  His rights have already been terminated.  He is unconscious and expected to remain so until he passes.  There is no activity above the brainstem.”

Severus had been a child once, in the custody of an adult who thought it was acceptable to hurt things just because they were smaller and softer.  He reached for the button to call the nurse.

As the woman came in, he looked up at her.  “Could you please move another cot in?  It seems I have another son somewhere in the hospital and I can’t be in two places at once.  So I would like….”  He trailed off, looking pointedly at Sergeant Curtis.

“The Dursley child.”  The man supplied helpfully.

“Does he not have a name?” Corvus asked in exasperation.

Curtis chuckled.  “Best thing you could do for the poor boy is change it with the adoption decree.  His full name is Dudley Vernon Dursley.”

Quinn wrinkled his nose.  “Did they just hate the poor child from birth?  Alright, please bring my son Matthias Madoc Quinn down here where I can keep an eye on him and his brother.  Is he older or younger than my boy?”

Sergeant Curtis considered the matter.  “Your lad was born in late August, right?  Well Matthias, good strong name by the way, was born June 25th.  So he’s a wee bit older.  Not so much as to make much difference, I shouldn’t think.”

Just then Thad’s doctor came bustling in.  “What’s this I hear about you claiming the Dursley boy too?”

Sergeant Curtis stood up to address the doctor.  “Mr. Quinn has graciously agreed to adopt the boy as his only living relative.  I’m going to go get that paperwork written up.  I’ll bring it back tomorrow for your signature.  Hope both boys are awake by then.”

Corvus looked at the doctor in some alarm.  “Is Matthias not awake yet either?”

With his claim corroborated by the police, Doctor Barrow was willing to share what she knew.  “He’s roused a bit once or twice, but just seems confused and very lethargic.  His reflexes are very diminished, and his muscle tone is poor.  The poor child was probably left alone in his cot most of the time.  I realize that’s better than the closet, but …”

“That horrible woman!  People who don’t want children shouldn’t have them.  It’s easy enough to prevent pregnancy these days, except in extreme cases of course.  None of which apply here.  Petunia was absolutely thrilled to be marrying Vernon, and no one was pressuring them for grandchildren either.  I just don’t understand.”  Quinn shook his head.

Doctor Barrow laid a gentle hand on his shoulder.  “Well, you’ll be a good father to the boy … just like you are to this one.  And I really believe he’s going to wake up.  We just have to be patient and ease him back into nutrition while his breaks heal up.  Before you know it those two will be running you ragged.”

A sound at the door and Quinn looked over to see a nurse wheeling another small cot into the room.  Leaning over to peer inside, Corvus blinked.  The boy inside looked to be about two of Thad.  Part of that was no doubt the difference in size between Vernon Dursley and James Potter, but for Merlin’s sake!  Had they not let the poor child move around at all?

Doctor Barrow sighed.  “The same problem at two opposite extremes.  One child starved, the other stuffed.  Neither allowed the freedom to run and play like normal toddlers.  It’s going to be a bit of rough going at first, but they’ll settle out.  We’ll make sure you see a dietician before we discharge the boys, so you have a clear plan to give to their GP.”

Quinn sat his chair between the cots and settled in to wait for however long it took for his boys to wake up.

What in the world had he gotten himself into?

A slight noise woke Quinn from his light doze where he sat between the cots.

Turning on the small lamp on the table, he peered into the cot.  Small blue eyes looked back at him disinterestedly.  

Start as you mean to go on, Severus.

“Hello Matthias.  Did you have a good rest?”  The boy peered up at him somewhat doubtfully.  Kind voices and gentle speech were obviously not part of his life experience.  “I’m your papa now, and you are my good boy.”  Slowly Quinn reached into the cot and smoothed the little boy’s hair.

The newly christened Matthias looked as though he wasn’t sure how to react to the gentle touch, but Corvus just kept softly petting through his hair while telling him about the new people in his life.  “You have a little brother, Thaddeus right here in this cot beside you.  And when you’re both feeling a little bit better, we’re going to go to our home far away from here.  There are tall mountains, and big trees.  We have a big garden, and a house.  And in that house is your avi.  Your grandfather, a man who is going to love you both.  I promise.”

Matthias struggled to roll over, leaning up to peer into his brother’s cot.  “Taddus.”

“That’s right.  That’s your brother Thaddeus.  What a clever boy I’ve got.”  

“Matty.”  That little voice came from Thad’s cot.  Thanking Lady Magic, Corvus turned to smile at the bright green eyes.  “That’s right, Thad.  Matty is your brother.  I have two clever boys, it seems.”

The two boys studied each other intently for a moment or two.  

“Buzzer.”  Matthias seemed pleased with himself for getting the word out.

“Bubber.”  Thaddeus agreed solemnly.

Both boys seemed to consider the matter settled.

Corvus Quinn’s life had just gotten very interesting all of a sudden.

It was closing in on Halloween, and Corvus Quinn was worried.

Something told him that he needed to be away with both his boys, and have them blood adopted, by the 31st of October.  Quinn wasn’t sure where the danger was, but he could feel it circling around them.  So far it didn’t seem to have noticed them, and that’s the way he wanted to keep it.

“Papa, look!”  Matthias had climbed onto the small slide in the children’s physio room and was waving frantically at him from the top.

“I see you Matthias.  What a strong boy, to get up there by yourself.   Now, can you get down by yourself?”  Corvus was interested to see if the boy would be willing to try it this time.  So far, when he’d reached the top of the slide, he’d wanted someone to pick him up, so he didn’t have to slide down.

But now, the little guy nodded seriously.  “Me do!”  Suiting action to words the toddler pushed off and went sliding down the short ramp all by himself.  Corvus caught him at the bottom and swung him into the air.

Across the room Thaddeus cheered.  “Yay Matty!”  Enthusiastically supporting his brother.

Quinn put the little boy down, and Matthias toddled over to where Thad was doing his exercises with his therapist.  “Good Tad.  Papa look. Tad stong boy too.”  He briefly got in the way as he gave his brother an encouraging hug.

“Papa sees he has two strong boys.  That makes me so happy!”  Corvus couldn’t believe how quickly they’d progressed.

The boys had both needed speech therapy, since it didn’t appear either of them had been encouraged to talk.  Thaddeus had to have been encouraged during the first fifteen months of his life, but the past year had taught him harsh lessons he was struggling to unlearn.  The vast importance of silence being one of them.

Both boys were also on specialized diet plans and had physical therapy.  Neither had been offered much freedom of movement, so muscles had to be carefully worked to allow them to build strength and functionality.

Neither was completely toilet-trained, though they both could stay dry during the day.  At night, when the nightmares came both boys had a tendency to wake up needing a change and a cuddle.  The nightmares were fading, but healing wasn’t linear and sometimes they’d surge back with a vengeance.  Neither boy could really articulate their night terrors, though once Matthias had awakened screaming about a ‘bad dog’.

All in all, Thaddeus and Matthias were both much improved from the two little boys who lay in those cots that first night they all spent together.  But they still had quite a ways to go.  In another few days Thad would get his casts off and barring any unforeseen difficulties they would be going home.

Sergeant Curtis had been very helpful, running paperwork back and forth and retrieving a few family things from the Dursley home.  The home itself had been put up for sale, along with most of its contents, fetching a nice sum Corvus had put into a muggle bank.  Once they got to Andorra, he would go to the bank there run by the fade, the elves of the Pyrenees, and set up accounts for both boys.

For now, Corvus watched on proudly as his boys played and worked with their therapists.  Soon they would be going home.