Adi saw the boy coming in on a stretcher and her heart dropped. He could only have been 7 or 8; he was battered and bloody, shaking and crying as they wheeled him in.
"Hey, Dr. Driftwood. Uh...We found this kid along the street...He...He ran away from his parents...They apparently did this to him. Can you take care of him? The other ER doctor is tied up, and I know it's not really your department, but..."
"I've got him, yeah." She slowly approached the bed. The boy jumped back, whimpering as he still shook. "Shhhh...It's okay buddy. It's okay. We're gonna take care of you, okay?"
"I...H...Hurt...So much..."
"Oh, sweetie. I'm sure you do. We're gonna make you feel better, okay?"
"Please don't hurt me...Please..."
"No, no. I promise honey. Some of the things we have to do may hurt, but we won't hurt you intentionally. I promise." Adi held out her pinky finger. "I pinky swear."
The boy sniveled, accepting her promise.
"I'm gonna take your shirt and pants off, is that okay?"
"No! No please no don't do that to me!" His sobs redoubled.
"Shhh. Sweetie, it's okay. We just want to check you out. We just want to see where you're hurt..."
"Nooo...The...The thing Daddy does hurts so much...He takes my clothes off and h...hurts me..."
"Honey, I promised I wouldn't hurt you, remember?"
"R...Right...Okay..."
As Adi examined him, she couldn't help but let her mind wander to her man. She wondered if Otis was this scared at his age. The boy was almost identical. He was being abused- apparently sexually, as well. He wasn't albino, his hair wasn't shorn as Otis had said his was- on the contrary, his hair was long and matted from the lack of care.
Once they got him stabilized, they gave him the full work up- X-rays, a CAT scan, and once he was sedated- a rape kit.
As she left the slumbering little boy to go home to her survivor, she sighed. She didn't want to leave him, but she needed to get home to Otis.
Otis had been struggling lately. It wasn't surprising to her; thirteen years of being brutally abused and assaulted will certainly leave its scars. Mostly, he was relatively fine, but every once in a while he slipped into a depression, which usually resulted in him struggling with his weight. She felt horrible for him when he was like this. She couldn't imagine the emotions and trauma he still had from his childhood...Guilt, anger, fear, regret... He had never had the opportunity to work through them, and he vehemently denied her suggestions to go to therapy or a counselor. He became withdrawn, much quieter than usual, and much less social. That is, if you could call Otis social in any situation.
Apparently, these episodes happened with a drastically decreased frequency since he and Adi had been together, but they still happened every once in a while. She knew he had helped him, but she couldn't fix all of his problems just with her love.
When she arrived home, he was curled up to his pillow like he always was in her absence. It was early in the evening, though- around the time the family would be eating- and he was sleeping.
"Sweetie..." She murmured sweetly, stroking his back. He stirred, whimpering in protest.
"Hey, mama..." He groaned, stretching.
"How are you doing today?"
"I'm fine..." Stubborn as always, Otis denied that anything was wrong, especially during one of his episodes.
"Okay. That's good." She kissed a stubbled cheek. "Have uh...What'd you do today?"
"Were you just going to ask me if I've been out of bed today?" He squinted at her. She wasn't sure if the expression was because he had just woken up, or if he was irritated.
"Well...Y-yeah..."
"I'm not fucking depressed, Adi." He grumbled, burrowing into his pillow. The dichotomy of his statement and action made her chuckle. He glared over his shoulder. "Worked on 3 cars with Rufus today. Exhausted."
"I bet, honey..." She stroked his hair, pulling it over his shoulder in a white cascade. "I bet dinner's almost ready. You gonna come join us?"
"No..."
"Babe..."
"I'll work on a sculpture or somethin'."
"Otis, you haven't eaten in days."
"Yes I have! Rufus and I went down to the diner today and ate lunch."
"Mm-hm. What did you have?"
"A burger and cheese fries. Even stole some of Rufus's fries."
"And did you keep it down?"
"...Yeah..."
"Otis."
He sighed. "No..." He shifted. "Didn't think you'd ask..."
"Seriously? HOW long have we been together?"
"Shut up."
Sighing, she rubbed circles in his back gently. "I love you, sweetie."
"I love you, too."
"I'm going to go down and eat. Are you coming?"
He shook his head.
"Baby..."
"No."
"Okay. Okay." She knew better than to argue, and left him.
After dinner, she walked back up to their room with a plate of food. Dammit, she was going to get that mule to eat.
She found him sitting at his desk, staring blankly at a white canvas.
"Baby?"
He sighed, running his hand through his hair. "Er...Maybe...Maybe you are right...Maybe...I...I'm a little not okay..." He swallowed heavily, looking down at his hands.
"Sweetie..." She stroked his hair, then kissing his cheek. "I know. And It's okay."
"It just...It just happens sometimes..." He pinched the bridge of his nose.
She sat, stroking his back in silence for a moment.
"You know...I think I may have something that would make you feel better."
His shoulders slumped and he shook his head. "Adi, I told you I...It took me long enough to tell you, I'm not talking about this to someone I don't know-"
"No, no. I know...This little boy came in today...His mother and father beat him...And after we did a rape kit, we found out that he had been sexually abused too...He's so scared, honey...And I think it would help both of you if you went in and talked to him."
"Huh?"
"He's terrified...I think it would be good for him to see someone on the other side of it. To show that you can get through it. And you of all people would know what he would need and want. You've been through it. I think it would be really good for him to have someone he can talk to about it that know's what he's going through."
"How do you think that would help me?" He quirked an eyebrow.
"Don't you think it would make you feel better to help someone? To be who you always wanted someone to be when you were a little boy?"
"Doesn't change what happened to me...OR what happened to him."
"No, but you can take some of the pain away."
"Mmm...Alright...I'll go talk to him."
"You hungry?" She asked, pushing the plate of food into his stomach.
"No..."
"Otis, you have to eat something."
"I did eat something today."
"You ass."
"Fine, fine..." He begrudgingly took the plate from her and ate.
