He's the cutest little boy.

Mike looked down at the cherubic looking face on the bed surrounded by the blinking and beeping of the monitors. The boy looked like he’d been in a bar fight. One eye was bruised and swollen shut, the small left arm was in a cast, and a tube was keeping the boy breathing. A large laceration on his face ran from above the swollen eye to the opposite cheek. Looking up at the nurse he said to her, "He's the cutest little boy. Makes it that much sadder, doesn't it?" She only nodded in reply as she looked at him.

Turning away he walked out of Bay 3 into the busy hubbub of Angel Memorial’s Emergency room. He found Steve sitting on the couch holding his wife talking to the doctor. He had just finished talking to them and was going back to the boy’s room. The guy who had attacked them in the parking lot had used a baseball bat. The five year old had tried to defend his mother. One hit and the boy had gotten the worst of it. Cheryl’s arm was in a sling, she’d been lucky. He heard Cheryl ask Steve why this had happened. Steve could only shake his head and tell her the entire force was looking for the man.

“Steve, we got the guy who did this. I found out a few minutes ago. He’s on the way to lockup.”

Steve looked up at him with pain filled eyes. “Good, “ was the simple reply. Cheryl said softly, “I’m glad you are here. If he wakes up he’ll want to see Uncle Mike.” They had been partners for seven years on the force.

“Don’t worry about that now; take care of each other and your son. We’ll take care of him.”