A New Life

Chapter 2


Logan took the boy to his own quarters, and decided to tend to him by himself. He knew quite a lot about nursing, and it felt better than leaving him in the hands of some army surgeon. But this poor child’s condition was all but good, and Logan knew he had a difficult task ahead of him. But this child had really captured his heart, and he was going to do everything in his power to save him.

The first thing Logan did when he reached his quas was was to really check how serious the boy’s injuries were. He placed the child gently on his bed, and began to take off the jacket that was wrapped around his body. The boy’s breathing became ragged and he tried to curl up, as to shield himself.

Logan made him lie flat on his back, and looked more closely at him. The child’s flesh – what ever “flesh” he had – was bruised and bloodied, and Logan had to make sure he had no serious internal injuries. But when he gently pressed the boy’s abdomen, it felt soft and pliant, and he found nothing that indicated there was any internal damage.

Then there was one more thing he had to check. Had this child been raped? Logan prayed to God that that wasn’t the case, for if he had, healing him – mentally and physically – would be very difficult.

He gently spread the boy’s legs to assess the hurt down there. He was happy to discover that his sphincter looked like it should, he fhe found nothing that indicated the boy had been violated that way. But he could never be 100 percent sure, of course. Only the child knew.

All Logan could do was to clean the boy’s wounds, hoping that he would not die from any possible infections. He bandaged the child, and checked on his vital signs. His pulse was fast and weak, indicating blood loss and dehydration.

“Poor child…” he said, giving the boy a compassionate look. “I have to give you something to drink… And eat…”

Logan stood up in order to go into the kitchen and find something to give the boy, but when he rose, the child tried to reach out for him, and whimpered feebly, not wanting to be left alone.

“I’ll be right back,” Logan said soothingly. “I won’t leave you. Don’t be scared.”

He decided to make some porridge, mindful that the child needed something easily digested, since his stomach wouldn’t be able to handle anything too tough.

He returned about fifteen minutes later, carrying a tray with a porridge plate and a glass of water. The boy had almost fallen asleep while he was gone, and Logan had to gently shake him to wake him up.

“It’s time for you to eat, sweetheart,” he said. “W you you like that?”

When the boy saw the food plate, his look got frantic and he reached out, dipped his fingers in the porridge, and began to lick them clean.

“No!” Logan said, grabbing his hand. “Not like that! I’ll feed you, don’t worry.”

The boy flinched, and looked like he expected Logan to beat him. Logan smiled to soothe the child, and then lifted him onto his lap, figuring he’d be too weak to feed himself.

He began to feed the child, slowly bringing the spoon to his mouth, making sure he didn’t choke on the food. The boy swallowed everything he was given, and didn’t try to shove his hands into the food. Afterwards he slowly drank the water, his famished body demanding fluid.

“Feeling any better?” Logan asked. “Would you like to sleep now?”

Logan lowered the child onto the bed again. He could see the outline of almost every bone in his body, and the view was not pleasant.

“We should get you something to wear…” Logan murmured and began to check through his drawers. He pulled out one of his own sweaters; a white one, made of cotton that looked soft and comfortable.

“Now,” he began, approaching the boy, “I’d like you to wear this. You will probably almost drown in it, but at least it’s warm and clean.”

He carefully put the sweater on the boy, knowing that his painful wounds and bruises would make it difficult for him to wear anything for some time ahead. And he had been right; the poor boy practically swam inside the huge garment, but he didn’t seem to mind it. And at least Logan didn’t have to look at his bare abused body.

He decided trying to get the child to sleep. He only had one bed, and putting the boy on the floor was out of question. And, since he seemed to be reluctant to break the physical contact between them, Logan thought he might sleep with the boy in his arms.

Logan stripped down to his undershirt and briefs, and crawled down into the bed, spooning behind the boy. He was so large he could fully envelop the child with his own body, although he was careful not to squeeze him too hard. Logan took the boy’s small, bony hand in his own large one and entwined their fingers.

They lay like that for a wh bac back to belly, and after some time the boy’s breaths had become calm and even, and his taut body had relaxed. Logan believed he was sleeping soundly.

Poor little thing, he thought. When was the last time this boy really slept? For how long had he been hiding under that bed in the barrack? Several days? Oh, God. A few more hours, and he would probably have been dead.

Logan didn’t need much sleep – his “healing factor” or whatever he should call it, enabled him to stay awake for days in a row without getting tired. But now he was tired, though, and he suspected that it was due to this boy; mental fatigue rather than physical.

Logan fell asleep as well, listening to the child’s heartbeats and breaths; the sounds calmed him and as long he heard them, everything would be alright.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

When Logan woke up in the morning, he noticed that the boy was already awake, and looking at him with his large, pale blue eyes. He looked a little better than yesterday, when Logan found him, and he seemed to feel better too. The look in his eyes was no longer terrified and apprehensive, but curious.

“Hi there, sweetheart,” Logan said and sat up in the bed. “How did you sleep?”

The boy frowned in confusion; it was obvious that he didn’t understand what Logan said. And Logan didn’t know German, so this might cause communication problems.

Logan thought that he might start by introducing himself. He tapped at his own chest and said “Logan” over-explicitly.

The boy simply looked at him, and his curious frown deepened. Logan repeated his name and motioned to himself.

“Log-gan…?” the boy said slowly, pronouncing the name in a funny way, but he did say it.

Logan nodded eagerly. “Yeah, that’s right. My name’s Logan. What’s yours?” he asked and tapped at the boy’s chest.

“Erik…” the boy said. “Erik Lehnsherr…”

“Erik? That’s your name?” Logan asked.

Erik regarded him with a slightly bemused expression, but then he nodded. “Erik…” he said, tapping his own chest. “Log-gan…” he said then, gently brushing Logan’s chest with his bony hand.

Erik carefully studied Logan. He knew now that this man had saved him, and he had no reason to be afraid. Logan was a very handsome man; tall, dark, muscular, with strong, stylish features, though not exactly beautiful. He was too masculine to be called “beautiful”.

Erik wished he could have found a way to express himself, to thank Logan for saving him, but they spoke different languages, and Logan would not understand him. So Erik decided to show his feelings through actions instead. He reached out his right hand and tentatively touched Logan’s coarse bearded cheek, stroking his whiskers.

Logan got more than just a little surprised – but of course very happy – when Erikded ded his arms around his neck and pressed his small, emaciated body against his. Logan chuckled and hugged the boy back.

Erik’s head was shaved, but Logan knew he was dark-haired, since his dark roots had begun to grow out from his scalp. Dark hair and blue eyes. A beautiful combination indeed. He ran his hand over Erik’s cropped head.

“Maybe we should bathe you,” he suggested. “Would you like that? Or do you think it will hurt?”

Erik replied something in German, and Logan could not make out much of it.

“I think that will be fine,” Logan said. “At first I’ll bathe you, and then we can both have something to eat. Will that be okay?”

Erik nodded slowly, even though he didn’t understand what Logan had said, but he knew from the tone that the man had asked him a question.

Logan laughed. “Okay. Consider it done,” he said and placed his arm around Erik’s thin shoulders.

For the first time in over a year, Erik actually smiled.

TBC