All of the blood drained from Jake’s face. “You wouldn’t…” he snarled, but without conviction. Even Alice looked slightly surprised. It was rare for kids to be sent there, though she supposed Jake probably deserved it. He was pretty awful to her and her friends, though this was the first time he’d gone this far. Both of them looked at Felix apprehensively.
"Oh I would, don't underestimate me," Felix said. He was glad that it did actually hold leverage against them, but it did sound awful so it makes sense. "I can either take you there, or you leave Miss Alice and her friends alone."
“It’s only temporary, what’ll you do after I’m out again?” Jake taunted, his bravado back. Alice blinked, looking back at Felix. It was a fair question. She knew it would most likely become worse once Jake got out.
"I'm sure I can come up with something by then, especially if I extend your stay in there. But don't worry, it won't be too bad." Felix smiled. Inside he was panicking like heck, this was the most involved thing he has done, and I bet most of the other nurses haven't dealt with this either. "So what's your choice?"
Jake seemed to realize that Felix was panicking. “Oh yeah? And who’s going to help you?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Certainly not Nurse Grace,” Alice couldn’t resist mumbling.
“Can it or I’ll slap you again!” he snapped at her. She glared back.
Would this kid never give up? "You are not slapping anyone, especially not Alice. And I do not need any help. You may think I'm a weak new employee, but you will soon find out that I can be quite the opposite." Felix was running out of ideas and things to say.
Jake was actually quite nervous, but he was used to covering it up with bravado. If only Alice and Felix could find a way to convince him to give in…
Suddenly, the door to the hallway slammed open. “Reinforcements have arrived,” Chessidy announced, holding her head high. She, Charlie, and Maddox surrounded Jake. “What are you going to do now, Jake?” she taunted.
Felix's small smile grew as Alice's friends came in. "As I said, what's your choice?" He was so glad the had come, it gave him a small surge of confidence. He was surprised none of the other nurses had noticed this, Maddox was definitely right, most of the staff at the center were shit.
Jake glanced around at them, glaring. “Fine,” he growled. He folded his arms across his chest. “Whatever.”
Alice smiled triumphantly, shooting a thankful glance at her friends and at Felix.
"Thank you so much, Jake, but don't think that hasn't left my mind. Next time you do something like this, you will not have a choice." Felix gave Alice a slight nod and a smile to her friends.
Jake gave Felix a surly look. “Are you going to stand there blathering about how much of a bad boy I am or what?”
Charlie noticed the mark on Alice’s cheek, whispering to the others, who all looked concerned and then even more angry at Jake.
"Actually no, no I'm not. Let's all leave… peacefully may I add." Felix moved and turned to Alice, his eyes widening once he saw the red on her face. He checked his watch, there were only 10 minutes left of dinner. "Jake, you should go. Your friends are waiting."
Jake glared at them one last time before walking back into the cafeteria. The others all clustered around Felix and Alice. “What happened?” asked Charlie. Alice didn’t speak.
"Miss Alice, are you okay? That looks bad…" Felix's eyes were still wide. What was wrong with that kid, it is definitely a good thing he's here. "I'm not completely sure what happened though."
Alice felt like she was on the verge of tears, trembling. She swallowed the lump in her throat, trying to respond. “He…he slapped me,” she whispered, not mentioning anything else.
Felix, instinctively, wrapped his arms around Alice in an attempt to help her feel better. He wasn't completely sure what to do since the medical nurse wouldn't really care, so there was no point going there.
She was surprised at first, but Alice slowly hugged him back. Her eyes stung from tears on the verge of being shed, and she tried not to cry in front of her friends. They already had enough problems; they didn’t need her adding to it.
Felix smiled, feeling Alice's arms wrap around him. "Do you need anything? We can't really go to the medical nurse, so I'm going to have to be the one to help you, okay?" He was so glad he started working here, who knows how far Jake would have gone without anyone noticing.
She looked up at Felix. “Um…I kind of just want to take a nap or something, honestly. I just need to be alone for a little while…” she admitted.
(bump)
Felix nodded. "Okay, you should go to your room then, I don't care that dinner time hasn't ended. You can go, if anyone asks then tell them I sent you." He smiled a little and let go of Alice.
She nodded, giving him a wobbly smile. “Thanks.” She headed off towards her room, honestly a bit uncertain about whether his word would be good enough for more mean staff members, but too worked up to care.
Felix nodded as he watched Alice walk off. "So, do you guys need anything?" He asked, turning to Alice's friends.
“Nah, I’m fine,” Charlie responded.
“Yeah, I just wanted to make sure that Alice is okay,” added Chessidy. “But Jake needs to be punished.”
"Yeah, I know. I'm going to talk to the boss later. Hopefully, he'll do something about it more than just the detention chamber… if not then I'll do something about it myself." Felix looked at his watch then back to Charlie, Chessidy, and Maddox.