"Ohmygod, what was that?"

Henry heard his wife, and felt her stirring next to him. He peered at his phone. Nearly one in the morning. Great.

"You stay here," he told her, sitting up. "Probably the cats just knocked something over." He retied the waist of his sweats as he stood.

"It was really loud, though," Mouse replied, sitting up herself.

Henry opened their bedroom door as he flicked on the light, and felt the blood drain from his face. It was an odd sensation, something he'd never experienced before, like suddenly entering a freezing cold room.

The doors to the linen cupboard were open, and its entire contents seemed to have spilled into the hallway. Some of the shelving, too, was on the floor, while a few planks stuck haphazardly out of the closet. All three animals were assembled, staring at the mess, adding the last, surreal touch to the tableau.

In the middle of the mess, unmoving, lay Leo. He was surrounded by bath towels and pillowcases, and some extra comforters.

"Leo?" Henry's feet felt nailed to the floor as he looked at his son, lying lifeless in front of him.

Next to him Mouse took in a huge breath as she, too, stared.

"Oh god, Leo!"

Henry felt her brush against him as she ran to their son, who hadn't twitched. She knelt next to him, trying to wake him up. "Leo? Leo, baby, what happened?" She turned to her husband. "Call 911, Henry. Henry!"

Henry finally got moving. "No, I'll just take him, it'll be faster," he said tersely.

"But what if he's really hurt? We shouldn't move him--" she stopped talking when they both heard Leo moan.

He opened his eyes, and Henry could see his pupils dilate as he saw his parents hovering over him.

His eyes filled with tears. "I'm sorry," he murmured. "I'm really, really sorry. I was bad, I was a baby--"

"Something's really wrong," Mouse said, trying not to sound hysterical. "Call 911, call 911 right now, please."

But Henry was already reaching for his son, who looked and felt so frail and tiny. "You stay here, I'm taking him to the ER right now, okay, honey?" Henry looked at his wife, whose face was the same color as her white nightgown.

"Ow, Ow," Leo cried. "My arm," he continued as Henry rose, holding Leo in his arms. Henry could tell that it was hanging at an odd angle. And a huge knot was forming on his little forehead, too.

"Okay, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Henry soothed. He was stepping into his running shoes, which were near the front door. He felt Mouse putting his wallet and phone into the pocket of his sweats. He looked at her as she opened the door, and he could tell that she wanted to come with them.

"No, Mouse, no, you're not dressed, and it would just slow us down," he said, trying to sound calm and reasonable. "You can't go out like that, and I don't want to wait, okay?" They were now at the elevator, waiting.

At that moment, Leo made another sound, a little whimper, from his father's arms, and the sound seemed to bring Mouse back to earth. She nodded, biting her lips together.

"Mommy? Mommy?" Leo sounded desperate as he reached for her. He was really starting to cry, which was kind of reassuring; it must mean that he was fully conscious, at any rate.

"Yes, I'm here, I'm here," Mouse soothed, reaching for the hand on his uninjured arm.

"I'm sorry," Leo said again, squeezing her fingers. His eyes were bright with pain as he looked at her in the lights of the hallway.

The door next to the elevator opened, and Manuel and Maurice, their neighbors, came out into the hallway. They were wearing beautiful matching robes in spite of the strange hour and circumstances.

"Oh my goodness, what happened?" Manuel asked, a look of shocked concern on his face. Maurice hovered behind his husband, blinking in the unaccustomed light. Manuel reached out a comforting hand to pat Leo.

"He fell," Henry replied briefly. The elevator dinged to announce its arrival. "He was messing around in the linen cupboard or something, and fell."

"At this hour?" Maurice asked.

Henry shook his head as the doors slid open. "We were asleep, we don't exactly know what happened," he admitted as he stepped on the elevator.

The last thing Mouse saw as the doors closed was her son, who looked so small in her husband's arms, his little bottom tucked against Henry's chest in his 101 Dalmatians underwear and his green pajama top. He was cradling his arm as he looked at his mother with streaming eyes.

"Are you okay?" Manuel asked solicitously as  Mouse turned back to her front door. "Would you like me to make you some tea or something?"

Mouse shook her head. "I have to change and get to the hospital," she explained.

Manuel and Maurice nodded understandingly. "Well, keep us informed, okay?" He patted her arm. "And let us know if we can help in any way, dear."

Mouse nodded her thanks as she ran to get dressed.

In the elevator, Henry tried to calm his son.

"Shh, shh, it's okay, everything's okay, we're going to the doctor to get you fixed up right now." He looked at Leo's face.

"Son? What were you doing? Can you talk about it?" Henry asked. They were walking across the lobby now, which was dark and cavernous because of the late hour. Henry's voice echoed in the emptiness.

"I was--I was trying to get a sheet," Leo said. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I hope I didn't break the washer. I tried to be brave, but it was so scary." He was beginning to shake.

What?

"Shh, shh, okay," Henry said. "I'm sorry I asked right now, kiddo, you don't need to tell me."

They stepped outside, where the cold hit them in an icy blast. Henry wished he'd thought to at least cover Leo with a blanket. He spotted a prowling cab within seconds, thankfully, and stepped in, trying not to jiggle Leo or agitate him.

For the entire cab ride, which was surely the longest few minutes of Henry's life, Leo babbled in his arms about his bed, and the washing machine, and Happy. He interspersed his ramblings with apologies, though for what Henry couldn't ascertain.

"Don't try to talk now, okay, big guy?" Henry said, looking down at his son. "Everything's going to be fine, everything's going to be fine, I promise."

Minutes later they were in the emergency room, which was full of bustling people and seemed reassuringly normal, given the nightmarish circumstances. Henry could feel Leo grabbing the front of the shirt he'd slept in with his good hand, and knew that his son was frightened.

"Please help us," Henry said, walking up to the front desk. "My son fell and hit his head, and I think his arm is broken as well."

Slowly, the official wheels of the emergency room began to turn, and Henry was reassured by the speed and efficiency with which his son was whisked off for X-rays and a head CT.

And, as he'd known she would, Mouse appeared within the hour, lines of concern etched on her face.

"Where is he?" she asked without preamble as soon as she walked in. She stood before Henry, hair in a pony tail, in jeans and a baggy maternity sweater, looking all of fifteen.

"They just took him for a neurological exam," Henry explained, rising and putting his arms around her.

Even as the words left his mouth, a young woman in a lab coat approached them. Her name tag identified her as Dr. Covarrubias.

"Mr. and Mrs. Gardener?" she began. At their tense nods, she continued. "Well, it looks like his head is okay, the X-ray was normal, and I don't think the neurologist will find anything to worry about, either. The only issue is his arm. It's fractured, though it looks like a very clean break. It's also dislocated at the elbow and will need to be reduced, or put back in place.

"We're going to do an external reduction first," she continued. "That means the orthopedist will pop his elbow back in place. If it stays, which we think it will, then we'll cast his arm, and you can go. If the reduction doesn't take and the elbow pops back out, we might have to an internal reduction, which means surgery."

Mouse started crying at the doctor's words.

"Shh, honey, don't do that, he's going to be fine," Henry soothed, putting an arm around her. "When can we see him?" he asked the doctor.

"I think they put him in a room already, I'll take you," she responded. Henry noticed that the look she gave them as they were walking was a little odd for a doctor in that it wasn't very sympathetic.

Leo was sitting up, and his parents could tell that he was in a lot of pain, and just so upset.

"Leo!" Mouse ran to him and took him in her arms, being careful of his injuries. "Oh my god, big guy, you scared us!"

Leo buried his face in Mouse's front. His whole body was shaking from his crying. "I'm sorry," he said. His voice was muffled by her sweater.

"He keeps apologizing," Dr. Covarrubias said to Henry. "And his explanation of what happened is pretty vague." She gave him another direct look that wasn't quite a glare. "Can you tell me how this happened?"

"No, I'm afraid we can't," he replied. "My wife and I were sleeping, and the sound of him falling is what woke us." He swallowed. "It looks like he tried to get something out of the linen cupboard in the hallway, and pulled the shelves down on himself when he was climbing to reach."

"I see." The doctor's voice was clipped. "Any idea why he was doing that at this hour?"

Henry shook his head.

The doctor approached the bed, and Henry was glad to see her voice and demeanor changed when she addressed his son.

"Leo? Hi, remember me?" She smiled reassuringly when his tearstained face lifted from Mouse's sweater. "I'm Doctor Angie. We have to fix your arm, so we're going to give you some medicine so it won't hurt so much, okay?" She nodded to the nurse, who started an IV with a heparin lock on his hand. Leo winced, and buried his face in Mouse's sweater again.

"Ow," he said, scrunching his eyes closed.

"There, now we can give you some medicine so it will hurt less, and we can fix your arm, okay?" Dr. Covarrubias continued. "So, Leo, can you tell me how this happened?" She sat down on the edge of the bed. "What were you doing when you got hurt? Your dad says he doesn't know what happened. Do you? Can you tell me?"

Leo looked between Henry and Mouse, and again, Henry's heart broke at the caution he saw there.

"I--uh, I was trying to get some clean sheets," he finally said. His voice was nearly a whisper.

"Leo, why?" Mouse asked, smoothing his hair away. "It was the middle of the night. Why did you want sheets? Did Happy do something?"

Leo shook his head.

"Is Happy your dog?" Dr. Covarrubias asked.

Leo nodded. "It's not her fault, though," he said in between hitching breaths. "She was just sleeping, like she always does.

"It was my fault," he whispered.

"What? What was your fault?" Dr. Covarrubias prodded.

"I wet the bed," Leo finally admitted, his tiny voice barely audible. His grip on Mouse got tighter. "I wet the bed like a big baby because I had a scary dream." His voice started to get louder as the words spilled out. "I had a scary dream that you guys left me, in this huge place filled with scary, crying kids, you just left me there and went home with another kid that you liked better!" He finished speaking in a wail, his sobbing uncontrollable.

"Oh god," Mouse murmured, wrapping her arms around him and rocking him as best as she could on the bed.

Henry throat got tight as he listened to his tortured child's words. He joined his wife and son on the bed, putting his arms around both of them.

"I was watching a documentary about Romanian orphanages the other night," Mouse told Henry. "Leo walked in at the very end. I didn't know it would affect him like this, though.

"Leo, I'm so, so sorry," she continued, addressing the crying child in her arms. "That was too scary for you, and I'm sorry." Mouse's crying got louder.

"Don't cry, don't cry," Henry begged. "It's not good for you, or the baby, this isn't your fault--"

"Leo? Why didn't you just wake your parents?" the doctor probed, her voice gentle.

He shrugged, not lifting his head. The medication was taking effect. "I didn't want to bother them," he said.

"Bother them?" the doctor repeated.

Leo nodded his head. "I don't want them to think I'm a bother. I don't want them to get mad at me."

Dr. Covarrubias sat back, her mouth set in a grim line. "Leo, would you rather talk to me about this alone, just the two of us? You want your parents to wait outside?"

Henry sat up as the implication sank in. "Now wait just a minute," he began, but the doctor shushed him with an imperative hand motion.

"Leo, does that happen often? Do they get mad at you?" she asked. "What really happened tonight?"

Mouse was so shocked she stopped crying, looking between the doctor and her husband with huge eyes.

Henry had enough. "We need to speak privately, I think," he said as he rose from the bed. "Out in the hall, please?"

"Just what in the hell are you trying to imply?" he asked as soon as the door was pulled shut.

The doctor shrugged evenly, meeting Henry's gaze. "He told one of the techs that this wasn't his first time in an emergency room," she said. "He said he was hospitalized last year? What was that about, then?" She took a step closer to Henry. "I think you should know that I've already put in a call to OCFS, Mr. Gardener." She looked him up and down, and Henry could see the contempt in her eyes. "I've only been doing this job for a year, but I do know that abuse comes in all shapes, even affluent, upper class white families aren't immune.

"Do you have any idea how unusual it is that a child of such a young age would go to such extremes to cover up a bed-wetting episode?" she went on. "It shows a considerable fear of the consequences, Mr. Gardener. And for him to keep apologizing like he has been? Very unusual."

She turned and opened the door to Leo's room, leaving Henry standing in the hall.

Henry followed her, but the door was opened again before he could say anything.

"Hello, everyone," called the cheerful man who'd entered. "I'm Dr. Mallow," he said, addressing Leo. "Like marshmallows, get it?"

Leo, who was lying back, was able to smile.

"I'm the orthopedist, and I'm going to fix your arm, okay?" Dr. Mallow continued.

Leo nodded drowsily.

"Okay, mom and dad, we ready?" Dr. Mallow addressed Henry and Mouse, knowing it would almost be harder for them to watch than for Leo to experience. Normally, parents would be asked to leave, but Leo was so young to go through this alone.

Dr. Mallow kept up a steady, calming stream of conversation as he worked, keeping Leo distracted.

The five-year-old jumped with surprise and pain when his elbow was reduced, but rallied enough to pick a color for his fiberglass cast.

"So, Leo, is it?" Dr. Mallow continued as he wet and wrapped the purple fiberglass around Leo's forearm. "How did this happen?"

Leo took a deep breath. "I had a scary dream, and I wet the bed," he told the man, his drugged eyes somber. "My mommy's going to have a baby, and she's so tired, you know?" He reached out and patted Mouse's stomach with his free hand. "The little bean makes her so tired, and I didn't want her to have to get up, so I tried to take care of it myself, but I couldn't. My clean sheets were really high in the closet, and all of the shelves and stuff came off and fell on me."

Mouse looked away, unable to control her tears.

"You're a very considerate young man," Dr. Mallow told him as he finished up the last layers of the cast. "But that's why you have a mom and dad, you know? You should always ask for help, especially for things that are really high, okay?"

He looked over at Dr. Covarrubias. "A word outside, please?" He looked over at Henry. "You, too, if you don't mind, Mr. Gardener?"

As the three of them left, Mouse got in bed with Leo, so she could really cuddle him. He turned into her side, eyes closed, newly casted arm held carefully away.

"This is the case you called OFCS about?" he asked the younger doctor.

At her nod, he turned to Henry.

"I apologize for my colleague's actions," he said. "In her defense, she's very new, and is only trying to do her due diligence."

"Wait a minute!" Dr. Covarrubias spoke up hotly. "I was right to make the call. Did you see how scared that child was? How apologetic over something he has no control over? And this isn't his first time to be hospitalized, either--"

"He wasn't scared of his parents, Dr. Covarrubias," Dr. Mallow said gently. "That much was obvious to me as soon as I walked in. He's extremely comfortable around them, just look at his body language. And obviously he hasn't been neglected or abused in any way."

"Neglect and abuse can take many forms," Dr. Covarrubias retorted.

"You're right, you're right," Dr. Mallow responded. He placed a calming hand on her arm. "Like I said, I admire your passion and compassion. I just think it's misplaced in this particular case."

"Doctor, I would never, ever hurt my son," Henry said, his voice gentle and sincere. "My wife would never, ever hurt him, I swear it."

The three of them looked through the window into the room. Leo had fallen asleep in his mother's arms, exhausted by the long night.

Dr. Covarrubias' expression softened as she watched the mother and child, and she finally nodded.

"Unfortunately, I can't cancel my call," she finally said. "Someone will be coming to talk to you in the morning, before Leo is released. I can, however, write my notes to indicate that I made a mistake, notes that Dr. Mallow will corroborate."

"That's fine," Henry responded, not taking his eyes from Mouse and Leo. "I understand your motivations, and I'm glad there are people like you looking out for our children."

He quietly entered the room and sat down in a chair next to the bed, closing his eyes. He was content to know that his wife and son were close by and resting, along with his unborn child.

Henry slept.