Never Judge

Miguel had placed Dominic in a VIP room since it was Cedric who had asked the boy to be brought over. 

When the group entered, they found a female nurse trying to calm the boy down. He was crying and huddled at a corner of the room.

"Dr. Chan." The nurse said as she noticed Miguel and his group enter the room.

"What happened?" Cedric asked as he looked at the scared boy.

"When we noticed that he had woken up, we tried to check his vitals, but as soon as I took a step towards him he jumped off of the bed and ran to the corner." The nurse explained. "We need to get to him to check his injuries."

"Cedric, do you think you can try talking to the kid?" Miguel asked as he looked at his friend.

Cedric nodded and walked over to the clearly distraught boy.

"Hey, it's Dominic right?" Cedric asked as he crouched on the ground. 

Dominic's expression relaxed, but Cedric could still see the fear in his eyes. Something in Cedric wanted to just pick up the child and comfort him, tell him that everything would be alright.

The boy slowly nodded his head as Cedric inched forward.

"Dom, can I call you Dom?" Cedric asked, to which the child responded with a nod again.

"Dom, do you remember who I am?" Cedric asked in a calm and comforting tone.

"Yes, y- y- y- you saved me." Dom said as he stuttered, his eyes darted between Cedric and the other people in the room.

"Dom, don't worry." Cedric said. "They are good people. The doctors and nurses here just want to check up on you."

"They will hurt me if they see." Dom said as he began to cry.

"No, no Dom. No one will hurt you as long as I'm here." Cedric said as he dared to move closer to the child.

"You won't leave me?" Dom asked. "My mama and papa said they wouldn't leave me, but they still left." Dom said as tears began to fall from his eyes.

"No Dom, I promise I will stay with you." Cedric told the child. He watched as the scared look slowly left Dom.

"Can I carry you to the bed?" Cedric asked Dom.

Dom nodded and Cedric approached, picking up the little boy in his arms.

Earlier that day Cedric had been too focused on the boy's injuries and on getting him out that he didn't realize how light Dominic was. It seemed that the people at that school didn't even care to feed him properly.

"Dom, are you hungry?" Cedric asked the little boy as he placed him on the bed.

Dom shook his head, refusing to answer Cedric.

"Dom, don't worry, it's okay." Cedric said as he gently patted the child's hand. "You can ask for food if you are hungry and water if you're thirsty."

Cedric suspected that the kid was punished whenever he voiced out his hunger.

Despite Cedric's words Dominic shook his head, refusing to answer.

Cedric sighed and turned towards Mae.

"Can you get him something to eat?" Cedric asked. "Some soup and bread. And water, bring over water."

Mae nodded and left to do as Cedric asked.

Cedric returned his attention to Dominic, who was just looking up at him.

"Dom, this is my friend Dr. Miguel Chan." Cedric said as he gestured for Miguel to move closer.

"Hey Dom." Miguel said with a friendly smile.

The little boy was hesitant but he did not move away. 

"Dr. Miguel will just check up on you." Cedric explained. "He just wants to see if you are hurt. Will that be alright?" 

Dom nodded allowing Miguel to approach. 

"Dom, this is Nurse Jo." Miguel explained as Jo approached Dom on the other side of the bed. "He is here to help me check up on you. Will that be fine?" Miguel asked.

Dom nodded again, allowing Jo and Miguel to check on him.

Cedric and Adrianna moved away, allowing Miguel and Jo to work on the boy.

"That was amazing what you did there." Adrianna said as she planted a chaste kiss on Cedric's cheeks.

"It was nothing." Cedric said, shaking his head. "I just thought of Yoyo and how I would talk to him if he was afraid."

"It was still amazing." Adrianna said with a smile.

"I think in a few days we can let him meet Yoyo." Cedric said with a smile as he pulled Adrianna into his arms.

"It would be nice for Yoyo to have a friend." Adrianna said as she looked at the poor boy on the hospital bed.

"I was serious about adopting him." Cedric suddenly told his wife.

"I don't mind." Adrianna said with a shrug. "I would be more than happy to add another child to our little family." 

"It just pains me to see such a poor boy like Dominic, he was clearly abused and starved at that school." Cedric said, shaking his head.

"Dominic was lucky you needed to pee." Adrianna teased, making Cedric laugh.

"That he is." Cedric said as he shook his head.

Soon Mae was back with some food, she had come back right as Miguel and Jo finished examining Dom.

Miguel gestured to Cedric that he and Adrianna could approach.

"He is doing better." Miguel said with a nod. "He needs to stay in bed for his injuries to heal, but other than that he should be fine."

"Thank you Miguel." Cedric said with a smile. 

"I'll stay here for a while, I hope you guys don't mind." Miguel said.

"It's your hospital." Cedric said with a laugh as his friend shrugged and walked over to the couch to rest.

Cedric decided to talk to Dom, he didn't know Adrianna yet and Cedric wanted to see if Dom was willing to tell them about his abuse.

"Hey Dom. Feeling better?" Cedric asked the child.

"Yes sir." Dom said with a nod.

"No need to call me sir, just call me Ced or Cedric." He told the boy.

"Okay Ced." Dom said with a slight smile.

"This is my wife, Adrianna." Cedric told Dom as Adrianna approached the boy. 

"Hello." Adrianna said with a smile.

"You're pretty." Dom suddenly said, making Cedric and Adrianna laugh.

"Thank you Dom." Adrianna told the little boy with a smile.

"And these are Mae, Dave, and Ian. They work with me." Cedric said as he gestured towards the three assistants.

Dom looked at them, he didn't smile but he didn't look scared either.

"Dom, why don't you eat first. Then we'll talk." Cedric said as Mae pulled over a table with food for the boy.

At first Dom hesitated, but with some urging from Cedric and Adrianna, he eventually started eating.

Cedric couldn't help but worry about how he would ask the child about his abuse.