"Lucas Graham Michaels!" a lady exclaimed when we exited the building where she waited with another one of mine and Stephen's coworker and a security officer that we knew, and Luke turned away from her and closed his eyes, tensing slightly in my arms. "What is the meaning of doing that?"

I pressed my lips into a thin line and set my jaw, not saying a word while I subconsciously shifted him away from her.

"Do you know how scared I was? This is why you do not go anywhere but school and home because you do stupid stuff like this. Now, what do you have to say for yourself?"

Luke didn't say a word and stayed tense. He didn't try to get out of my arms, and I couldn't help but look at my coworker, who was one of my main bosses before I looked at his mother.

"And why are you still in this person's arms? Are you that lazy that yo-"

"My name is Erin Peterson, Ma'am," I said, interrupting her from her tirade, forcing a smile on my face, even though all I wanted to do was scowl and narrow my eyes. "I don't mind doing this. He is not that heavy."

"Well, he needs to stand," she said, sounding a little too harsh, and I couldn't help but set my jaw tighter and turn my body a little so that I was blocking him from her view. "He is an ad-"

"With all due respect, Ma'am, he is a child, not an adult," I said, interrupting her, and she gasped in shock while she looked at me. I cleared my throat and stood taller. "Now, why don't we go to the medical tent and get your son checked out to make sure that everything is ok, ya?" I raised an eyebrow in question.

Mrs. Michaels pressed her lips into a thin line and narrowed her eyes. She didn't say a word and looked toward my boss before she opened her eyes further as if she wanted him to say something or do something to me.

My boss cleared his throat and shifted on his feet, looking between the three of us, and we looked at him. "Why doesn't Miss Peterson keep him in her arms until we get to the golf cart, ya?" he asked and raised an eyebrow in question. "After that, Miss Peterson and Mr. Reynolds will have to get to work, and we can go ahead and ride there together."

I opened my mouth to say something but didn't say a word when I saw him flick his fingers, so I closed my mouth and pressed my lips into a thin line, annoyed. I didn't say a word and looked at Luke before I looked at his mother.

Mrs. Michaels pressed her lips into a thin line and narrowed her eyes, setting her jaw. She looked between the two of us before she sighed and relented, and she nodded. "Fine," she said coldly, "b-"

"With all due respect, but nothing," my boss said, raising his hand to silence her. He scowled and narrowed his eyes while his whole body grew tense. "Come on and let's get your son taken care of. Ok?"

"After that, we will need to fill out a report so that something like this does not happen again," the security guard, Mitchell, said. He bowed his head and cleared his throat while he licked his lips and lifted his head. "You have our most sincere apologies, Mrs. Michaels."

Even though you were the cause of it, I thought, holding back an eye roll and making sure that my face was blank. I didn't say a word and made a mental note to see if there were any other animals near the area to see if they had seen what happened.

Stephen glanced at me from the corner of his eyes before he looked at Mrs. Michaels, who was glaring at the security guard.

Finally, she relented and sighed begrudgingly, nodding. "Fine," she said, folding her arms across her chest and scowling. She folded her arms and scowled while she narrowed her eyes. "However, I would like to be compensated. This shouldn't have happened. How dare you people let this happen! H-"

"Please, let's get the boy checked out, Mrs. Michaels." my boss said, interrupting her. He raised his hands in surrender, trying but failing to calm her down. "We will talk about that stuff later. Ok?"

"Fine," she all but snapped. "Let's go." She turned away from us and started to walk toward the golf cart, and everyone except for Mitchell stayed back so that we could talk to each other about the next steps and what to do next.

My boss, Isaiah, scowled and narrowed his eyes at her before he looked at me and the kid, relaxing his face. "See what you can find out," he said softly so that Mrs. Michaels wouldn't hear us because like Stephen, he knew about my "secret." "We'll talk to Luke, too, but I want to know what happened."

"Can Erin come with me while I get checked out?" Luke asked, his voice barely above a whisper and filled with hope and sadness. He grabbed my neck tighter but not tight enough to choke me, turning to look at Isaiah with wide, sad eyes that were filled with hope and fear. "Please?"

I smiled sadly and shook my head, my heart breaking a little because I did want to stay with him, but I knew that I had to work and that it wasn't my place to be in the room with him while they talked about everything. "Sorry, Bud," I said, apologetically and shifted him so that he wasn't hurting my side. "Unfortunately, I wo-"

"We'll see, Luke," Isaiah said, interrupting me. He gave me a look that told me to stay silent before he looked at Luke. "Let's take care of you getting looked after first before we talk with you about everything. Ok?" He raised an eyebrow in question while he looked at him.

Luke hesitated before he slowly nodded and relaxed his grip from around my neck. "Promise?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper, and Isaiah smiled and nodded.

"I promise."

And with that, we walked the rest of the way to the golf cart in silence with me praying that I would be able to be in the room when they questioned him.

At least he would have someone that cared about him and his well being in the room with him to make sure that he was safe...

I looked at the mother, who was waiting for us with her arms folded across her chest and tapping her foot on the ground. I held back an eye roll while I saw her scowling and narrowing her eyes at me, and I could see the disgust in her eyes.

And not just this piece of work of a mother who didn't deserve a child like him...