Page 29 of Carver

“You have to calm down first. He’s not going to react well if you’re a well of anger. And I need you to promise you’re not going to lose it the minute you see him either. Repeat after me: It’s not Hex’s fault. Doc is trying to help. Everyone is going to be ok.”

He repeated the words with a touch of bitterness. While he didn’t want to force himself to calm, he could see the truth in Fury’s words. Carver was a scary fucker when angry.

“I’m going to let you in now. I’ll be right behind you, Prez. If you give me any indication you’re going to attack anyone, Slayer and I will have to subdue you. Understood?”

Carver frowned at the no-nonsense tone. It wasn’t like Fury. Something else was going on.

He took a deep breath, then nodded. “I’ll keep my cool.”

It was a promise he was barely able to keep once the door opened and he stepped inside. The scene before him would haunt his nightmares, much like the vision of when he’d originally found the boy.

A still form laid on the bed, obviously sedated. Doc checked his arms and legs as Hex sat on the floor by the bed, his head in his hands. Those two things were innocuous alone. It was the state of the boy’s body and the open closet door that bothered Carver.

Deep bruises on his pale skin.

Broken wood lined the floor of the closet.

Together, he knew what the picture painted. The boy had tried to hurt himself again. It was then Carver took in more details.

The bowl of food from earlier was still full, though it was shoved to the side. There was a sheet wrapped around the broken pieces of wood. Hex’s heavy breathing. Doc’s concerned gaze.

“What happened?” Carver asked, his voice whisper soft.

Hex’s head rose, revealing red eyes and tear stains down his cheeks. “I’m… I’m sorry, Boss. I came in as soon as I heard the noises. It was?—”

“Almost too late,” Doc finished. “This was a close fucking call. I’m half tempted to suggest we send him to a hospital no matter what you say. How the fuck are we going to stop him if a sheet is a weapon?”

Carver recognized the helpless tone. He felt the same pain in his own body. This shouldn’t have happened. They’d brought the boy here to help him. Instead, he’d managed to make two attempts at his life. What kind of protectors were they?

“This isn’t any of our faults.” Fury’s words drew everyone’s attention.

“You sure? Because I feel real fucking responsible for this right now,” Hex said.

Fury moved over to him, then dropped to a squat. “I’m sure you do, but that’s not the case. Whatever is going on in this boy’s mind, it’s deeper than any of us can understand. He sees ending his own life as a better option than living. That type of trauma takes time to heal.”

“Then how do we stop him from doing it again? I’m with Doc on this. Even the idea seems impossible,” Slayer grumbled.

Slash backhanded his brother in the chest. “Stop being a dick. Can’t you see Prez is still upset.”

All eyes turned to Carver. He practically vibrated with the restraint he had to force himself to maintain. Fury had warned him to keep his cool. While he knew lashing out would bring temporary relief, the idea of being forced away from the boy made him miserable.

“Well, shit. That’s another issue entirely,” Slayer noted after looking Carver up and down.

Fury left Hex’s side to move closer to Carver. “You’ve got to make some big decisions now. I have ideas of what we can do to help, but you’re not going to like it. Honestly, I don’t think anyone here will. But it’s either trying these things or sending him on his way. There’s no in between anymore.”

Carver was nodding before the other man even finished his words. He’d do whatever it took to get the boy better. There was no request too off-putting. Fury had helped him navigate his own trauma. He trusted the other man to be right about this too.

“Tell me,” Carver demanded.

Fury looked each man in the eye before he sighed deeply. “His life before this was spent essentially as that woman’s pet. It’s all he knows. All he understands. We took all of that away from him. Even though it’s shitty, I think we have to take a few steps back in that direction.”

“Which means what?” Hex rasped. “Are we going to put him in a cage?!”

“If we have to, then yes. He needs a collar too. I know we’d planned on getting one before, yet we never did. Now it’s a must. While we don’t need to treat him badly like they did, we do need to simulate what he knows as normal. At least for a bit of time. Once he’s stable, then we can continue to wean him away from this type of life. It will be a slow process though. I don’t want any of you to consider this easy in the slightest.”

“Nothing about this feels easy, Fury. We’re all fucking aware of what failing at this means.” Slash’s words had the other man’s brows rising.

“And what does it mean?”