Chapter Text
For Edward Winder there is no such thing as a slow day. There are different days, certainly, but a hospital is always busy.
He might spend a few hours doing paperwork, prescribing medication and taking phone calls the one day, only to spend the next six hours dealing with emergencies left and right.
He likes this job. He always has.
He only truly learned to love it after the birth of his son.
He used to work in adult care. Taking patients with agency, once that could make their way to the hospital on their own. People who were there to get themselves checked.
When he had a child of his own, Winder learned a new side of things. He decided to help out with childcare. He saw parents bring in their sick kids, sometimes kids that couldn’t even get to the hospital if they wanted to.
That’s when he decided to change careers. It meant a year of offtime, to get a refreshed education. But it’s worth it. A job he enjoyed became one he loved.
Seeing other parents smile, their relief when he gets to tell them that their kid will be okay… it makes it all worth it.
Today he is going to do the kind of work he most despises doing.
The call came early, almost eerily early.
Winder knew the man on the other end of the line. They’ve had talks like this before.
Comments such as “Of course we answer fast, when you call it’s always an interesting case.” Don’t exactly help Winder feel better.
No one should be eager to have the kind of talk that they’re about to have. Not even if it breaks monotony. Winder would much rather have a boring life than deal with this.
But he will grit his teeth and bear it. He is going to be a heavy weight on the scale that determines Happy Blossom’s fate after all.
He doesn’t intend to let Eliyen and Maruzensky down. He wouldn’t, even if Maru wasn’t someone his son looked up to. Even if Eliyen wasn’t a sweet woman, who he could relate to.
But he will not enjoy it.
In contrast to the man now in his office, who seems to be having the time of his life. A lanky, almost worryingly slim man in casual wear. Just a purple shirt and a yellow tie, matched with black pants. Gaudy, perhaps, but Winder isn’t fashionable enough to judge.
His beard is just unkempt enough to be considered intentional without slipping into a displeasing image.
He seems almost happy to be here, a faint glint in his eyes. A loose smile sticks to his lips.
At least he isn’t laughing, he hasn’t started cracking jokes. Winder is thankful for that. The man still understands that these are dire circumstances, and that it is no laughing matter.
Collecting evidence. That’s his task. He too won’t be the one to decide anything. He’s here to ask questions, and to get answers.
“Here.” Winder hands over the first piece. He made sure to take pictures a while ago, of Blossom’s wounds. He knew that seeing them, still open and still bleeding, would have the most visceral effect.
More pictures are added as well. Once they were cleaned. Pre- and post-surgery. Stitches.
Winder made sure that Blossom would be out of the hospital for this meeting. He won’t burden her with being seen. Not without giving her warning, and letting it happen on her terms. These pictures are all the tangible evidence that Junji would get. For now, it should be all he needs.
“Bottom of the feet.” Junji murmurs, as he flicks through them. “I mean, common tactic, but even for that these are bad. How in the hell did they go unnoticed for so long?”
“The victim-“ Winder chooses intentionally not to refer to her by name. “-was hiding them on purpose. She was brought here by someone else, who noticed them once they got this bad. She’s been defending her abusers, occasionally. Trying to frame them in positive lighting. That, or she’s lying about how she got them. Either way, she was hiding them of her own choice and made it a lot worse for herself.”
Junji scoffs. “These can’t be accidents. Too orderly. Too… well cut.”
“I know.” Winder shakes his head. “It was a doctor. She admitted as much. We can’t wear white coats around her or she refuses to talk to us.”
“Bad case then, huh?” Junji still hasn’t looked up from the pictures. His smile finally has faded. “What was her name again?”
Winder has to be honest now. “Blossom. Though she has changed it, she’s admitted as much to me. Her chose name is Happy Blossom. Her uma birth name is Bitter Blossom.”
If he could, he would have just referred to her as Happy Blossom. He recalls vividly the memory when he warned her some medication for her would taste bitter. The way she almost flinched at the mention of the single word, even in that context. The way in which she withdrew from him after.
She admitted the reason why she reacted that way just a few days ago, during a routine checkup.
“Any siblings?”
“Ashen Spring.” Winder answers. “But I can’t say more than her name. She hasn’t felt comfortable talking about her.”
“Blossom” Junji repeats. “Bitter? Hold on, that rings a bell. Sort of. I’ll make a call.”
The pictures are placed back on the desk, between them. It really is a normal, common sight for them now.
The bottom of the feet are such a common spot for abuse. No one bothers to check them. It’s such an invasive ask that despite it being known, they can’t just… ask to see someone’s feet on a routine checkup.
Junji doesn’t hesitate, he already has the number dialed by the time Winder finishes the thought.
“Yeah. Me again. Quick question. I don’t think we have it as an active search still, but there was that call, I want to say three months ago, right? The oddly calm guy, submitting a missing child report?”
Silence. Winder can do nothing but sit and wait.
“Yeah yeah, that guy.” Junji continues, and slings one knee over the other. A casual position. “The one that was really oddly calm and we all agreed it was a fake in hindsight. Did we ever hear from him again?”
“-“
“No? Okay, who did he ask for?”
“-“
“Yeah, it was a Blossom, right? Yeah. I remember that too.”
“-“
“Bitter Blossom. Okay thanks. And really no check ups?”
“-“
“Gotcha. We filed it away as lapsed, right? One month passed without any signs or follow ups?”
“- - -“
“Do we have their address?”
“-“
“Yeah. I found someone who goes by the name Blossom. Could be that was a real call.”
“- - -“
“I want you to send someone to check up on them. There’s a sister in play, and if what Winder is showing me right now is accurate, she’s in serious danger.”
“-“
“Of course I believe him. It’s Winder.”
“-“
“Yeah. Might as well. I’ll file a report when I’m back. Sirens off, yeah?”
“-“
“Yeah. Yeah. I know. I know what happened last time. I’m just reminding you. We don’t want a repeat.”
For a moment Junji covers the bottom of his phone. “Can you make me copies of those? Make me three, the police will want a set as well.”
Winder nods. It’s moving fast.
And it gives him something to do during the rest of the phone call.
Something tangible.
Something to distract from the last case they worked on. A case where the police got called as well.
There’s something about hearing sirens outside of one’s door that makes one act rash and irrational. A final act of injury. A final retaliation before the perceived end. Without reason, without rationale.
Winder doesn’t like thinking about it.
So he makes the copies.
At least they know better now.
The phone call continues for a bit. He barely pays attention to it, somewhere at the edge of consciousness.
Then, a click.
The printer behind them whirrs to life a few seconds later.
The two of them sit in quiet anticipation, as the machine finishes its task. It’s an old, rickety thing that is far too loud for anyone’s wellbeing. It wouldn’t surprise Winder if he discovers hearing damage in his later years, solely due to having that thing in his office.
Dark humor. Coping mechanisms.
“I do have a request.” Winder speaks the second the printer quiets down.
“Oh?” Junji smiles. “So we’re getting to the actually interesting bit then.”
Winder sighs. For a moment he wants to overlook it, but he simply can’t. He has to address the Elephant in the room. “Why interesting? What is possibly interesting about this poor kid’s suffering?”
Much to Winder’s satisfaction, Junji quiets down. He’s been got, caught, exposed. He’s excited about something so terrible.
The remorse on display is enough to answer the question.
“I mean… come on. It’s you. You always bring the weird and the crazies. It’s like they’re drawn to you. Besides, you were pretty cryptic in your email, I had a hunch there was gonna be a catch. I can already guess it too, from the way you’re acting.”
That is true. Winder does seem to be drawn to the stranger cases. Something that he tries not to think about. “Fine. Just take it seriously, and I’ll get to the point.”
“Sure.” Junji’s foot wags in the air, as he leans back.
Winder can’t judge what he’s thinking.
“I’m going to ask you to let Blossom stay with the family she’s found.” There’s no point in talking around the point.
“…You know we can’t just-“
“I know.” Winder has heard this speech plenty of times. “And I know that you try to avoid causing trauma to children. She already calls them mom and mama. They got engaged to adopt her. If you rip her away from them, you’re going to destroy the poor kid.”
Junji sighs. Then a small smile. “I mean, I knew it was coming. I called it. You’re too empathetic for your own good sometimes. There’s a reason for the process, for the tests, for the applications. We can’t just let a kid stay with some random people just cause they got attached. Just cause they were the first folks to find her.”
Winder sees an opening. “These aren’t random people. It’s Maruzensky and her soon to be wife.”
Junji’s facial expressions go on a journey. At first, disbelief. Then a slow but careful acceptance. A shake of his head and a smile, which slowly turns into a frown. “I mean. Sure. But we can’t give special treatment to celebrities? Not that I know of anyways. But you’re right, it would look really bad if we did that.”
There’s uncertainty in those words. A shakiness.
Winder isn’t sure what to think. They both know the racing persona. They have both seen Maruzensky during her interviews. And he is pretty sure after meeting her in person that it isn’t an act.
In another way, he is right. No special treatment. But that isn’t exactly what Winder even wanted. He thought just knowing that it’s Maruzensky of all people, would be enough on its own. Her bright and happy personality should be all it takes to convince him.
But neither did Winder want the threat of bad press to be the motivation. It feels cheap, if it is.
Winder sighs. “Can I convince you to at least meet with them and talk to them? I’m not asking for me, I’m asking for them. You’d be tearing apart a family in the making, you’d be causing more pain to the poor girl.”
“I mean. Yeah.” Junji shrugs. “I’ll do it fast. If the decision is made that she won’t stay, it’ll be one big wound, and not a second one.” He probably realizes how grim his words sound a moment later.
He pivots
“I’ll talk to the girl. I’ll have to talk to the superiors about… everything else. But you realize there’s a bunch of people out there on a long wait list, hoping to get their chance to adopt their kid? We can’t keep making exceptions.”
“I’m asking what… once every few months?” Winder shakes his head. He’d understand that argument if he was asking every day. If there was a case like this every other week maybe. “Just… just talk to her. You’ll understand why I insist.”
Junji is quiet for a moment. He considers everything.
The man again reaches for the pictures. Looks them over.
“I’ll give you that, these really aren’t random. There’s no way these are injuries she got from accidents. So at least we have a case. I can promise you that. Those abusers are going behind bars.” Junji’s words carry a satisfaction to them.
An easy job, that is what Winder handed him.
Winder doesn’t comment. He’s tired. There’s an entire day of work still ahead of him, and this is what he started it with. Really, he should have insisted on an appointment towards the end of his shift.
Then he could have gone home to his dear boy, and just forgotten about it all pretty fast.
“And this girl…” Junji pauses a moment. “Blossom. She really just up and met Maruzensky? Charmed way her into a family?”
It’s an idle remark. The kind that points out something impossible. Improbable.
Winder takes it as an attempt to make conversation. “Her and her fiance, yes. Though as far I understand it was the fiance who took Blossom under her wing. She is fiercely protective of her. The way I see it… they were going to find someone in need of help sooner or later, and adopt them.”
Junji muses on it for a moment, strokes his chin. “So you’re saying this Blossom girl just happened to get lucky?”
“Her and her sister.” Winder nods. “I wouldn’t be surprised if they try to adopt Spring as well.”
Junji shrugs. “If they get permission to keep Blossom that’ll be child's play. Pun not intended. Siblings should stay together, so we might as well get them permission for both at the same time.”
There’s something about the way he speaks that makes Winder smile. “Already got you on my side, huh?”
He rolls his eyes. “Listen, I’m not heartless, but I have a job to do too. I’ll… I’m gonna try and put in some good words. Oh, and give me the contact data for those parents to be too. I’ll talk to them, who knows, I might let myself get bribed with an autograph or two.”
Winder can only roll his eyes at the humor, but he does as is asked.
At least it’s a rather harmless coping mechanism.