2What can I say? I'm an absolute sucker for these. I published this on AO3 at first because of a few difficulties, but I was able to figure it out and now I can bring all of my other Newsies one shots over year.
I don't own Newsies.
Something Gained
City Buses smelled like cabbage and where the worst place to take your sick two-year-old, Jack had decided. He vowed never to ride in one of these again.
Eloise had woken up that morning, complaining of a sore throat. She wasn't going to daycare today. That was for certain. Jack called his boss/father-in-law and explained the situation to him. He was granted the day off.
As the rest of the day went on, he felt like something was off. Eloise's temperature had shot up and she refused to eat anything. That was all it took for him the bundle her up and head to the nearest bus station for the ER.
Jack should've just taken an Uber. He hadn't thought of all the germs on the bus. He gave Eloise his phone to entertain himself. Now Jack could either watch his daughter play PBS Kids or he could people-watch. He decided on the latter. There was only so much PBS Kids that a man could take.
People really were fascinating on the bus. One man had his pet rat on his shoulder. Another had his hair up in a spine shaped Mohawk. Jack had forgotten all about how strange people could be. He hadn't taken the bus in ages.
Eloise began to get antsy. She began clicking on and out of apps. There goes his best source of entertainment for her.
"Daddy," she whimpered, "Tummy hurts!"
"I know, baby. But soon, we'll have a doctor to make you better."
She groaned, loudly. Eloise began to whimper. She dropped the phone onto her lap, opting to moan about the misery she was in.
Jack would've done anything to take her pain away. Like he would've taken Crutchie's pain away when they were just kids. He hadn't taken him to the ER then. He wasn't risking anything again.
The bus Suddenly swerved to a stop. His phone went flying into the air, crashing to the floor. Jack thought himself from cursing. How was he supposed to do this? Had a baby in his arms and his legs couldn't reach his phone.
It turned out that he didn't have to worry. The man sitting next to him picked it up and handed it to Jack.
"Here," the man said.
"Thanks," Jack replied, relieved.
There was a pause. Eloise began coughing.
"What's your kid's name?" the man wondered.
"Eloise."
The man leaned down so he was face to face with her. "Hi, Eloise. You'se not feeling great?" She shook her head "my name is Sean. You can call me Spot."
"You want to meet some of my friends?" He held up his fingers. Spot pointed to his thumb. "This is Thumbkin. He's poor as he-dirt." He pointed to his ring finger. "This is his mudda, Finmony. She's a singer."
"Hey El, Finmony's a singer like Miss Medda," Jack pointed out, grinning.
Spotlight on. Pointing to each of his fingers and telling Eloise a bit about them. His middle finger became Thumblore, while his index finger was proclaimed the grandma. Eloise became enchanted with the stories that Spot told her. Jack felt himself relaxing.
As they neared the emergency room, Eloise's eyes were drooping. Spot had been a savior. If it weren't for him, this bus ride would've had a very different outcome. They had both gained a lifelong friend.
"Thanks a lot, Spot," Jack said, as their bus slid to a stop.
He made a motion with his hands that meant 'No problem'. "I babysit for my little sister's kids every once in a while. It's no big deal. Hey, make sure that Eloise gets better, will ya?"
Jack smiled. "I'll do my best."
I love the headcanon of Spot becoming Jacks "big brother". I also wrote this before realizing that Eloise is Jeremy Jordan's daughter, Clara's middle name. I swear, I didn't do that on purpose. XD
Thank you so much for reading and I love reviews!
