Alvaro

I sat at the dinner table with the rest of my brothers as we were finishing up dinner. Our chef Maria had made a delicious dinner. Grilled lamb chops with spanish style chorizo rice and green beans. We were talking about the next shipment when all of a sudden my phone rang. We had a rule on no phones at the table. Especially once dinner is the one meal we all sit down for and eat. As I looked down at my phone I saw an unknown number from the Chicago area. The only reason I could be getting a call is because one of the smaller bosses up there is having trouble but I haven't heard anything concerning in a few months.

"Excuse me, I have to take this. Continue without me." I tell my brothers as I walk into the hallway.

"Hello?" I ask.

"Yes hello. This is Jeniene with Child Protective services. I'm calling in regards of Elias Rameriez. This is Alvaro Rameriez correct?"

I freeze. Elias? What is this about?

"Yes this is he. Why are you calling about Elias?" I ask cautiously into the phone. I text Jones. One of our best hackers and have him track down the phone number. You can never be too careful.

"Hi Mr.Rameriez. Elias was found in an illegal fighting ring a few nights ago. He was severely beaten by a man high off of ICE and is now currently in the hospital. About three years ago his stepfather was found dead and Elias ran away as you should know. He was the top suspect in the murder case but he ran away before the body was found. Now as he is a minor he needs a guardian so I am calling in regards to ask if you would like to assume guardianship of him." Jeniene tells me.

"Yes I knew about the murder trial and him having run away. But he's in the hospital? Is he okay?" I ask Jeniene as Jones messaged me back telling me this is a real call.

"I can't answer that until I get confirmation that you would like to assume guardianship of Elias." Jeniene tells me sharply

"Yes. Yes I would like to assume guardianship of Elias. Where is he right now?" I ask her as I rush to my room to pack a bag as Jeniene continues to explain the situation.

"Yes well from what we found he was staying with a man named Liam Smith. He was involved in an illegal fighting ring for about 3 years now. Last night the police raided the ring where they found Elias in critical condition. As I stated earlier he is the number 1 suspect in the murder trial. Now detectives have already attempted to talk to him but he refused to say anything. They questioned him without clear status on guardianship which I apologize for. It took the police a few days to uncover the web of lies his mother spun. His birth certificate was illegally changed, said he had no father, that he was about a year and a half older than he actually is, and his birthday was incorrect. His mother changed her name as well but once we ran a DNA test the lies started to unravel. It is my understanding that you are currently residing in New York correct?"

"Yes I am."

"Okay well you will need to come to Chicago Memorial Hospital so the doctors can explain Elias condition, treatment, and his recovery; as well as, sign some legal documents to gain guardianship of Elias. What is a good estimated time that we can expect you?"

"I will be able to get on a flight within the hour. I believe from New York to Chicago it is a 3 hour flight. I'll be there within the day." I explain to Jeniene as I walk out of my room with my bag slung over my shoulder.

"Alright then, we look forward to seeing you. This phone is my personal cell so if any problems arise then please text me. We look forward to seeing you soon Mr. Rameriez." Jeniene tells me as she hangs up the phone.

We're getting Elias back, after a long 13 years. As I walk into the dinning room I see everyone cleaning up.

"Boys I need your attention for a few minutes." I tell them.

They all stare at me and wait for me to continue.

"That was from Child protective services. Elias has been found and he is in Chicago now. He apparently joined an illegal fighting ring and one night there was a raid where Elias was found. He was in critical condition and is now in the hospital. I am on my way over there right now to go get custody of him. Leo I need you to come with me, you're a doctor and I want you to understand his condition. The rest of you finish cleaning up and prepare his room. I want you to go and get some new sheets, or anything out would think a 13 year old would like." I tell them.

They stand there looking at me like I've grown three heads.

"Leo lets go, we don't have much time, I've already contacted our pilot we take off in 45 minutes."

I watch all of their faces and gauge their reactions. Leo shakes off the shock and goes to his room to get packed. Marco is staring off processing the information, Alex looks excited but nervous, and Santiago is just staring off, looking more unhappy than anything. Alex then asks the first question.

"Are we telling him about the mafia?"

"No, not until he's older or problems arise. We need to let him settle in before we tell him about the mafia. We don't involve him in any of this unless we absolutely need to. So watch your mouth around him." I tell the boys.

I hear Leo walk down the stairs with his duffle bag.

"I don't know how long we will be in Chicago. The social worker told me his condition was critical but nothing else. I will let you all know when we're on our way back." I tell the boys as we start walking out the door.

We have a private jet with our pilot on speed dial. We are always traveling, and sometimes we don't have much of an advance.

Me and Leo walk out to the black SUV waiting for us. On our drive to the runway I talk to Leo about what the social worker told me.

"He was a part of an illegal fighting ring, the other night there was a police raid and Elias was in the ring. Apparently his opponent was high off of ICE and was extremely aggressive. Beat him to a pulp. So be prepared."

The rest of the ride was silent. Not much was said between me and Leo. When we got to the runway and boarded the plane I got out my laptop and started making calls to our head of security. Preparing them for Leos arrival. I didn't want any mistakes or issues with his arrival.

We sat in quiet for the rest of the flight. Both of us working on paperwork and trying to get ahead or the next few weeks.

3 hours later....

We land in Chicago late. We had been eating dinner at 8, so with the one hour difference and the three hour flight it was 10pm. I didn't know if we wanted to wait for the morning to meet Elias. Me and Leo are both caught up in our thoughts on the way to the hospital. Was Elias happy? Was he tired? What is his personality like? We missed the first 13 years of his life. I don't know anything about my youngest brother.

We walk in to the hospital and walk to the front desk.

"Hello I am Alvaro Rameriez, here to see Elias. His case worker Jeniene should be here." I tell the receptionist.

"Hi yes, I need a legal form of ID and I will call Jeniene down now. Who is with you?" She asks me

"This is Leonardo Rameriez, my brother."

We continue on with the formalities when I see an older woman walk out holding a clipboard.

"Mr. Rameriez?" I hear the women call out.

"That's me. Where is Elias?" I ask her.

"You can't see him until you sign some papers and are informed on his condition and status." She tells me as we walk to the elevators.

"We're heading up the pediatric wing currently, Elias's doctor will meet with us in a conference room so we can get you guys caught up with his condition."

We continue to follow tells through the pediatrics floor of the hospital. We pass by so many kids hooked up to machines and it makes my heart hurt. My poor hermanito (Baby brother) He has been alone for the last 3 years. I want to know why he ran away. I know his stepfather got into drugs and that only makes me concerned for what he went through growing up. Especially after our mother died.

Eventually we make it to a conference room. I see a doctor sitting in one of the chairs.

"Please gentlemen have a seat." Jeniene tells us as she takes a seat next to the doctor. Leo and I take a seat across from them and wait for them to start.

"Okay so before we can start you need to sign a few papers to gain legal guardianship of Elias."

Enter process of that. (I do not feel like writing the specifics)

"Okay, now that that is out of the way let me explain to you both the situation we have on our hands. Elias was found in an illegal fighting ring. Participating willingly it seems, but Elias has not said a word about any of this so it's only speculation. He ran away around the same time his stepfather was murdered. That makes him the prime suspect in this case. His stepfather did not have a job, nor any contacts in his phone. The last person to talk to him is assumed to be Elias but we don't know that for certain. The trial has been put on hold until Elias can get settled into his new home and has healed from his injuries. The organizer of the fighting ring has records of Elias being apart of it for at least 3 years." Jeniene tells us

"So looking at the legal aspect of this, we won't have to worry about it for a few months?" I ask her.

"Yes, the detectives are willing to put this case on the back burner for a few months. Now Elias has been out of school for the last three years. But even before that he wasn't doing good. Only attending once maybe twice a week, and failing all of his classes." she says as she slides me his school record.

I look it over and sure enough he was barely there and barely passing. He was in the wrong grade due to the lie about his age but looking at notes from his teachers that was not the only problem.

'Tested at a second grade reading level in 6th grade. Tried calling parents but could never get ahold of them.'

'Extremely quiet, and small. Tried talking to parents about nutritional issues but parents never responded back.'

'Refuses to participate in any class except music.'

'Very timid, he doesn't run around at recess or talk to anybody besides the music teacher'

That's when I see a few notes from the music teacher at his elementary school.

'Very quiet and timid around people, he looks extremely malnourished and is smaller than everyone in his class. He comes to see me during lunch where I teach him different instruments. He is very gifted in the musical department. I tried complaining to the school about his size and demeanor, worried he wasn't getting enough food at home but they ignored my request for a free lunch. I'm not sure where the parents are or what they do. They never answer any calls, emails, or texts. I tried showing up to their house but got no response. I tried communicating this to the school but was again ignored. I tried calling CPS but they could never find the parents either. No case was opened."

"This says that his teacher called CPS but nothing happened? Why wasn't anything being done?" I ask Jeniene enraged that nobody tried to help my little brother out.

"My best guess was because since nobody could get ahold of his parents, and he was only at school every now and then they gave up. Which was extremely wrong of them. He should have been found and given the help he needed." She tells us. But she continues before I can get a word in.

"Now I know you're upset. And you should be. But the point I'm making is he hasn't been in school for at least 3 years. He will need to take a placement test to see where he lies academically and then I would recommend homeschooling until he is caught up."

I look and Leo and he just stares at me. His eyes tell me she's right. We need to take things slow until we can get Elias caught up in school.

That's when the doctor starts talking.

"Now he has a broken nose, broken and bruised ribs, a shoulder that popped out of socket, a few broken fingers, and he had internal bleeding. We went in and fixed his internal bleeding, luckily it was minor but you need to be careful with the stitches there. He will be given a brace for his ribs to help support and stabilize them so they can heal properly. The stitches will dissolve but he also had multiple other lacerations that required stitches. Make sure to use an antibacterial soap to clean them and keep them dry. Cover them with gauze for a few days until the stitches start to dissolve. He will be given a sling for his shoulder and his fingers have splints over them. He will be very limited with any movements for a couple of weeks until the stitches dissolve but he needs to keep that shoulder stabilized in the sling for about 3-6 months." The doctor tells us.

I look over to Leo to make sure he is understanding all of this. I'm trusting Leo with his care and treatment. he's the doctor so he should know what to do.

"When we examined Elias we also noticed multiple scars and broken bones that never healed properly. Between that and his malnourished state it is safe to say that he was abused. Some of the scars are raised and irritable. Meaning they are more sensitive so be sure to be careful with them. We can only assume that he was hit and burned with and array of different objects." The doctor told us.

I sat there stunned. I had expected abuse but not this severe. Scar tissue that never healed properly. Nerve damage, and so much more.

"We also found words carved into his back. They have healed but are prominent. One on his upper back says "bastard" while the other one is on his chest that says "piece of shit" You need to be extremely careful with how you approach this subject. He only said a few words to me but between this, and the information we had shared with him we cannot declare his mental state. Some of our nurses have seen him looking paranoid, whispering and talking to himself and the walls. It could be traumatic psychosis but you will need to keep an eye on that. His mental state is very fragile right now and you need to take things slow and steady. Do you understand this?"

Leo speaks up before I can.

"Yes, I am a doctor. I know the signs and what to be looking out for. Thank you for your concern. Is that all or can we go see our brother now?"

The doctor looks at Jeniene until she speaks.

"I suggest to do it in the morning. He will have been exhausted and he needs time to process this information. Let him sleep tonight then meet with him in the morning. Are you okay with that?"

"I understand. I want all of the paperwork for his treatment, injuries, and anything else that has happened to him." Leo says.

"Can we stay in here for the night?" I ask her.

"Yes you may, the couch pulls out and I will also be here if you need me. What do you say about bringing him breakfast in the morning? I think that will be a good time to be introduced." Jeniene tells us.

"That will work, can we get him discharged now or do we have to wait?" I ask the doctor.

"I will have one of our nurses start the discharge paperwork tonight and you guys can leave first thing in the morning. Does that work for you?" The doctor asks.

"Yes that will work. We will stay in here for the night. Let me know if anything changes." I tell them both as they walk out the door.

I look to Leo. Neither one of us will be sleeping tonight I can see that clear as day.

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I know this is a long chapter, I wanted to get it knocked out quick because I don't like writing Alvaros POV it feels awkward. IDK why but I know a lot of people like it.

I know a lot of these stories the siblings know nada until it becomes a huge reckoning in the story. I feel like the brothers need to know about his condition.

Anyways any things you liked or didn't? Be nice please

This chapter has 3,000 words. 😱