So this was supposed to be a one shot but it will now be a two shot.
Legal: I do not own DeGrassi.
TRIGGER WARNING! This fic deals with domestic abuse please read with caution.
Important stuff to know:
This is a future fic, Clare is 23 and Eli 24
Clare never dated Drew and was never pregnant in high school
Adam did not die and lives in L.A.
Jay never dated Manny and is now married to Paige
That should do it the rest is explained in the fic
Enjoy!
Ch. 1 Stop Pretending & Start Living Again
(PAIGE)
"Please, my baby make sure my baby's okay."
I'd worked in the hospital as an administrator for almost eight years now and by now the bustling and urgency in the emergency room hardly fazed me. I was used to people coming in with gunshot wounds, stab wounds, after car accidents, in labor and a hundred other reasons and in different states of dire need. It always affects you to see someone in distress, particularly children and pregnant woman, but I hardly paid attention any longer and let my medical staff do their job and I'd do mine. I admit there were some cases that still grabbed my attention, for instance when a young man came in with a steel bar through his head because he was skate boarding in a construction site. And of course any VIP patients or patients that might catch the attention of the press I was alerted to because part of my job was controlling the press.
However the pleading voice asking about the welfare of her baby was none of these, and yet I stopped looking over inventory budget reports because there was something familiar in her voice. I looked at the woman on the gurney being attended to by Dr. Temple and the EMTs, her face was swollen and bruised, she had a bad scrape on her arm and she was quite pregnant. Her light brown hair was cut fairly short but framed her face giving her a classic look. Her frightened eyes filled with pain and fear are a bright almost translucent blue and they too seem so familiar, they're almost haunting and I know I've seen them somewhere before but I can't place them or this woman.
"Twenty-three year old female seven months pregnant, her husband called 911 and said she was mugged walking home from the store. She's got multiple abrasions and difficulty breathing, we had trouble establishing a fetal heartbeat," one of the EMTs tells Dr. Temple.
"My baby is he okay? Please tell me he's okay," the woman begs. I study her face trying desperately to place her.
"We're going to have a look at your baby right now, what's your name?" Dr. Temple asks her.
"Clare, Clare Edwards-Goldsworthy," she answers.
My heart rate suddenly increases, Edwards as in Darcy? Darcy did have a little sister I remember her now, her name was Clare but we all called her Baby Edwards, and she had bright almost translucent blue eyes. It must be her, Goldsworthy must be her husband's last name. Dr. Temple orders her up to maternity and I watch them rush her to the elevator. She didn't look well and I fear for the life of her unborn son, I have to sit down and take a breath. There's something else that's bothering me as well, I've seen a lot of mugging victims come into the hospital and Clare's injuries just didn't look like a victim of mugging, her injuries were more consistent with a victim of domestic abuse.
I haven't thought about Darcy in years and last I heard she was still in Africa, honestly I never really paid much attention to Clare and only saw her a few times but Spinner and Peter were fond of her. I want to know more and find out what really happened but right now I have a job to do and a meeting to prepare for, besides she's in the hands of some of the best doctors in Toronto. I take a deep breath telling myself I can see Clare before I leave and get back to work. I finish looking at the inventory budget report and am about to go up to my office when a man comes in wearing dark jeans and a grey t-shirt, it matches his dark hair and he has these eerily vibrant green eyes.
"I'm Eli Goldsworthy my pregnant wife was brought in a while ago, Clare Edwards-Goldsworthy," he says.
"So this is the husband, he doesn't look very menacing but you can never tell, he could be a monster when he's angry or drunk," I think to myself as I look him over.
"Your wife is in surgery Mr. Goldsworthy she had some internal bleeding. It was minor but they are concerned about the baby, if you take the elevator to the third floor they'll show you to the waiting room," Abby our reception nurse tells him.
Since I have to go up to my office I follow him to the elevator, he presses 3 I press 7 and the elevator starts going. I want to say something to him but what am I supposed to say? "So you married Clare Edwards? I hated her sister and met her a few times maybe ten years ago." "I really don't know Clare at all but I think you beat her." No none of that sound right or will likely get me anywhere. I can however access hospital records here and see what I can find on them from my personal computer at home. Eli gets off on the third floor and I ride up to my office, I ask Gloria to alert me to Clare's progress and get to work. I get alerted when Clare's out of surgery but they're keeping her sedated to heal from the surgery and reduce the stress on her. She's in the maternity ward because she's pregnant and they need to monitor the baby, they think the baby's okay but they'll keep Clare in the hospital for a few days to be sure she and the baby are alright.
Just before I go I check Clare's status and medical chart, her condition is listed as good but there are notes to check her vitals every half hour and she has a fetal monitor on. She also has two fractured ribs, one broken rib, a torn liver which is why she was bleeding internally and of course many bruises and a few scratches. There are photographs of many of her bruises and they simply don't look like injuries from a mugging unless she was beaten by a group of thugs with 2 x 4s. Even thugs won't usually go after a pregnant woman, steal her purse maybe but you'd have to have no heart at all to beat a pregnant woman.
I send my secretary to the gift shop for a bouquet of flowers and when she returns with them I go down to Clare's room. She's sleeping and my heart breaks at her bruised face, Eli is nowhere to be seen but that's not so surprising. I set the flowers on the table tell Abby to call me on my cell if Clare's condition changes and then I leave for home. Jay isn't home yet but I always make it home before him, at least when I leave the hospital on time. I go into my home office turning on my laptop and do an internet search for Clare and Eli. First I find their wedding announcement in the Toronto Sun and another in the New York Sun. They were married when she was twenty years old and still attending Columbia. She was a journalism major and Eli went to NYU film school. I find out she's an independent journalist and I find several of her articles online, she seems to be fairly successful and everything I read of hers is really engaging and well written. Eli is a fledging writer, producer, director and when he didn't have much success in New York they moved back to Toronto. He had mild critical success with his last film but not much commercial success; I find that he has another project in the works; I can't find anything else on it so I log into my hospital account and look up Clare's medical records. I hear Jay come home but I'm engrossed in what I'm doing and don't go out to greet him. I'm looking at Clare's medical records when Jay comes in and starts kissing my neck but I'm too busy going over her medical records to react.
"Hey husband kissing your neck some acknowledgement here," Jay whines.
"Sorry I'm just caught up with this and not in the mood right now," I apologize without taking eyes off my computer screen.
"Alex is coming over should I cancel tonight?" Jay questions.
Alex Nunez dated both me and Jay at different times, we all lost touch and then Jay and I started dating when I moved back to Toronto after business school. I'd been hired as an administrative assistant at Toronto Western and saw Jay when he came in after an injury on the job. He was still working at Tony's then but he owns a garage now. Jay and I started dating and four years ago we were married, I was moved up in the hospital administration and Jay's garage got popular fast, we were really busy and barely seeing each other. Then Alex brought her car to Jay to get fixed, despite the fact that she had long ago discovered she was a lesbian the two had remained good friends. She and I had been hot in high school and we'd even remained friends. Jay invited her to dinner and we caught up, she started hanging out at our apartment a lot and then one night she kissed me. We didn't stop and Jay was enjoying watching now Alex is our lover. She comes over once a twice a week to stay the night and well let's just say none of us are stressed in the morning.
"No I need it tonight more than ever," I tell him after viewing Clare's medical records.
"What's up?" Jay asks as I close my laptop and stand up.
"Do you remember Clare or Darcy Edwards at all?" I question.
"Yeah of course I remember Darcy she dated Spin and Clare's her little sister right?"
"Yeah we called her Baby Edwards I hadn't seen her since she was twelve or thirteen but she was at the hospital today. She was beaten real bad, she said she got mugged but I think it was domestic abuse. It's not as though I've never seen victims of domestic abuse before they come into the hospital all the time but I know her, sort of. She's seven months pregnant Jay I'm just worried and can't get her off my mind," I tell him.
"Are she and the baby okay?" Jay queries and I hear the worry in his tone.
"She'll live and they think the baby's okay but they're keeping her a couple of days to be sure. I told them to call me if her condition changes," I reply.
"Then know that they'll call you and you can go in if something is wrong but you need to relax. Why don't you change into something more comfortable and I'll go pour you a glass of wine," Jay suggests giving me a tender kiss.
"That sounds good, I love you," I smile giving my husband another kiss.
"I love you too, you sure you're up for tonight?"
In response I simply kiss him again.
(CLARE)
Waking up to the sound of constant beeping I remember I'm in a hospital before I even open my eyes. It seems to be very early morning; the sun is just coming in my window. My first thought is Julian, my unborn son, I put my hand on my stomach and I don't feel anything. I begin to panic that the beating I took was too much, as I panic my heart rate goes up and it brings a doctor and a nurse rushing in.
"Good morning Clare I'm Dr. Nichols how are you feeling?" The male doctor asks.
"Is my baby okay?" I question ignoring his question about me.
"Yes he's alright but we are going to keep you in here for a couple of days just to be safe. We're monitoring both you and your child, you had some internal bleeding from a tear on your liver, it was small and we stopped it without too much trauma to you or your baby. An injury like that comes from severe trauma but according to the EMTs you were mugged," Dr. Nichols tells me while the nurse looks at my monitors and chart.
My eyes fill with tears as I remember yesterday afternoon and what really brought me to the hospital. I look away closing my eyes but nod my head.
"Yes I was mugged, by some teenagers, they were high and wanted drug money, that's what happened," I assert to the doctor.
"Okay well the police will come by to get a statement when you feel up to it," Dr. Nichols tells me.
"I didn't see their faces there won't be much to tell the cops," I reply.
"Quinn why don't you get some breakfast for Clare and I'll be back in a couple of hours to check on you," Dr. Nichols says and the nurse nods.
They both leave the room and I run my hand over my stomach, my only thought is that I'm grateful Julian's okay. Nurse Quinn comes back with a tray of breakfast and I move the bed up so I can eat. None of it looks very appetizing but I eat the fruit cup and a little oatmeal, I push the tray away after drinking the juice and a woman comes in the room. She has long honey blonde hair, she looks somewhat familiar but I can't place her. She's wearing a suit and I don't think she's a doctor yet I know I've seen her before.
"Hi Clare, do you remember me?" She asks.
"You look sort of familiar," I reply still trying to place her.
"I'm Paige, I went to DeGrassi with your sister," she tells me.
"I do remember you now, we met a couple of times but you didn't come here just to visit me," I comment.
"Actually I work here as an administrator, I saw you come in yesterday. I heard your baby is going to be okay, they still want to keep an eye on you to be safe. Clare I know what you told the doctors but your injuries just a…"
"I was mugged by teenagers who wanted drug money, that's what happened," I assert again.
"Clare you can talk to me, we can help you. I looked at your medical records, in the last year you've been to various hospitals eight times, most of them after you became pregnant a…"
"The pregnancy has been difficult; I fainted a lot and sometimes got hurt. I fell down the stairs once and slipped getting out of the shower," I tell her biting back the tears that have flooded my eyes.
"And yesterday you were mugged by high teenagers? That's a lot of bad luck for one person," she says and I look away as the tears begin to pour out. "Clare I get that you're scared and ashamed but think about your baby," Paige urges but I just bite my lip and cry. Paige takes my hand and squeezes it. "If you want to talk, about anything, just tell the duty nurse to call me."
I hear Paige leave and I wipe the tears away, I wasn't mugged, there were no teenagers, Eli did this. My own husband beat me and put me in the hospital and it's not the first time.
"Mommy!"
I look over to see our 20 month old daughter struggling in Eli's arms to get to me.
"Vada you have to be gentle mommy was hurt yesterday," Eli tells her setting her on the side of the bed so she can hug me.
"Kiss better," Vada says kissing one of the bruises on my face.
"Thank you Sweetie, I love you," I say to her and look at Eli, "I have to be in here a couple of days."
"I know I'm taking her to my parents in Ottawa they'll keep her for a few days so when you come home you can just rest," Eli says smoothing my hair and kissing my forehead.
"Thanks," I smile at my husband and look at my daughter, "You have fun with Grandma and Grandpa."
"Kay Mommy," she grins.
"Vada why don't we go downstairs and get Mommy some pretty flowers," Eli suggests and Vada nods. He kisses me and they leave the room, they are gone long enough for the nurse to take my tray and check my vitals.
"Fwowers Mommy," Vada says proudly holding a single lily from the bouquet that Eli's holding.
"Thank you Vada they're beautiful," I smile and she kisses me.
"Nurse could you take our daughter for a few minutes," Eli requests.
"Sure, come on Dear why don't we go get you a snack," nurse Quinn says taking Vada from Eli.
Eli watches them leave and then closes the door, he comes back to the bed and takes my hand, "I'm really sorry Clare. It will never happen again, I swear to you Clare, I lost my temper because I was stressed but it won't happen again."
"You say that every time Eli, this was the worst time. You really hurt me Eli; this isn't just a bump on the head or a couple of bruises. I know you're stressed about the movie but this can't go on," I tell him.
"I know, I know it won't I promise you Clare it won't. I won't bring the stress home, please Clare I swear to you I won't. I'll go to the gym before coming home, I'll do anything please Clare I love you so much," he pleads.
"I know Eli, I love you too but you could have killed me yesterday," I remind him.
"I didn't mean to Clare, I didn't mean any of it I was just so angry and I couldn't stop myself. You know how I get when I'm in one of my moods."
"You have to take your meds regularly; you can't miss a dose I can't be around you when your moods are wild like that. For the safety of our son I just can't and neither can Vada, she gets terrified when you're like that Eli," I tell him firmly.
"I know and I am so sorry I will take my meds every day I won't miss a single dose. Clare I swear that I it will never happen again, I love you so much Clare, you and our children are my life," he says kissing my lips and then pulling the covers down to kiss my belly.
"I love you too Eli, you should probably go get Vada from the nurse she does have a job to do," I point out.
Eli smirks kissing me again, he tells me he loves me one more time and then he leaves the room promising to come back tomorrow.
(PAIGE)
"Mrs. Hogart Clare's husband is here with their daughter," Quinn tells me calling my office phone just as I've gotten back to it after visiting Clare.
"Thanks Quinn I'll be right down," I tell her and hang up the phone.
Taking the elevator down to the third floor I walk to Clare's room, I hear a very you child and Eli. I stay at the nurse's station while they're talking and catch some of what they say. When Eli and his daughter go out to get some flowers I go to the doorway of her room but she's curled on her side and I decide to give her a few minutes. Before Eli comes back Quinn goes in to check Clare and the baby's vitals. Eli and his daughter come back with flowers and then a moment later Quinn comes out with their daughter.
"Hello what's your name?" I ask the little girl. She's absolutely gorgeous; she has ebony black hair like Eli but with Clare's blue eyes.
"Vada," she says proudly, she certainly isn't shy.
"Nice to meet you Vada my name's Paige," I smile at the young girl, she doesn't look like she's quite two yet.
"I'll take her to the vending machine for a snack," Quinn tells me and Vada waves to me as they walk off.
I walk closer to Clare's room and eavesdrop but I do so for a good reason. With the door closed I'm not able to hear everything, I am able to hear enough to know for sure that Eli beat her. He beat her and it's not the first time just as I thought. He's begging for forgiveness and swearing that it will never happen again, Clare tells him he needs to stay on his meds and he promises that he will. They talk a few more minutes, more promising that he will never hurt her again and saying he's sorry and she telling him he can't. When Quinn and Vada return I go back to the nurses desk and Eli comes out a moment later. He thanks Quinn and takes Vada she waves to us as she leaves for the elevator. Now that they're gone I go into Clare's room.
"Hi Clare how are you feeling?" I ask walking into the room.
"I feel alright, mostly tired," she says.
"I saw that your husband was here and met your daughter, she's beautiful and very friendly," I comment sitting in the chair next to Clare's bed.
"Thank you, she's always got a smile on I don't know who she gets that from," Clare tells me.
"Clare I heard you and Eli talking are you still going to tell me that you mugged by high teenagers looking for drug money?"
"He didn't mean to, he loves me and I won't press charges. He's bipolar; when he's stressed he sometimes forgets his meds and then his moods are unpredictable. He promised to take his meds again, he loves me and our children, he would never intentionally hurt me," Clare tries to convince me and herself.
"But he did intentionally hurt you Clare, and how many times has he promised to go on his meds again? How many times has he sworn it won't happen again?" I try and reason with her. Clare turns on her side and looks away from me, she holds her pregnant belly and I see tears begin to fall from her eyes.
"Paige I know you're only trying to help but stop, Eli promised and I have to believe him. He's my husband, the father of my children, he's not usually like that, it will get better, it has to. It just has to, he knows if it doesn't…it just has to," she says with finality.
I sigh; she won't listen to reason, not right now anyway, maybe after a couple days in here. I'll keep talking to her, trying to convince her that the best thing is for her to leave. I'm sure Jay will come too and help me convince her, I know we have to get Clare away from Eli but we won't be able to force her to leave she has to choose to.
"I hope you're right Clare, I really do, for your sake and that of your children."
I leave her room to let her rest and return to my office, I'm having trouble concentrating and I can't stop thinking of Clare. I'd leave and go home early but I have a meeting with the board of directors I have to attend. Which in fact is in a few moments, I gasp and quickly grab my files running to the conference room, composing myself before I enter. The meeting lasts three hours and while I manage to push Clare to the back of my mind but she never leaves it. After the meeting I tell my secretary I'm leaving early, I don't return home however I want to see Dylan and speak with him, he'll be at work now. I drive to the MasterCard Centre, I shouldn't be allowed in but the guards know I'm Dylan's sister and they always let me and Dylan's boyfriend in. After an injury ended Dylan's pro career he was offered a job as an offensive coach. He's the assistant coach now for the entire team and two years ago he began dating the younger brother of one of his players.
"Hey little sis," Dylan says hugging me tightly before yelling at his team, "Six you can get more speed than that, forty four keep that stick on the ice. Not that I don't love when you drop by my work but there's usually a reason so what's up?"
"I have a woman who's seven months pregnant and the victim of domestic abuse. The couple has a young daughter; she's just a toddler, not even two. This woman listened to her husband's apology, she won't leave him and I just hope I can convince her before he hurts her worse the next time or he hurts their daughter," I tell him and then get hugged from behind.
"Hi Fabulous," Dylan's boyfriend greets me releasing me from the hug.
"Hi Tris," I smile as he goes over and greets Dylan with a kiss.
"GUYS TAKE TEN AND GET HYDRATED!" Dylan yells at the players and they start skating over. Hank, the head coach, says he's going to grab some coffee and Dylan sits down with Tris while I lean against the wall. "It's heartbreaking sis but you get domestic abuse cases in the hospital all the time so why's this one got you so agitated?" Dylan inquires.
"Because I know her," I tell him as a few of the players skate into the bench, "she's Darcy Edwards little sister."
"What about Clare?" Owen questions. Owen joined the leafs two years ago as a defenseman and shortly after that Dylan and Tris, Owen's younger brother, began dating.
"She's in the hospital because her husband beat her, and she's seven months pregnant with their second child but she won't leave him," I inform him. I probably should have guessed that Owen would know Clare since they attended DeGrassi together at the same time.
"Eli did what? No way Adam would have said something," Dallas exclaims. Mike Dallas is the starring center, he's been on the team three years now and he was on the Ice Hounds with Owen and at DeGrassi as the same time as Clare. "If Eli was hurting Clare then Adam would have called me to go check on her and hurt him, right?" Dallas says to Owen and Owen only shrugs.
"Who's Adam?" I question.
"Clare's best friend and Eli's too," Tris answers.
"Adam probably doesn't know, this isn't the first time he's hit her and she makes excuses for it," I tell them.
"Why would she do that?" Owen asks with a tight jaw.
"Because all battered women do, even the smart ones," I sigh.
"Eli was pretty crazy in high school," Tris comments.
"Yeah before he went on meds he crashed his car to try and keep Clare and some other crazy stuff. He ran through the school naked when he was on MDMA but he was pretty calm after that, once he was on his meds," Owen says.
"How badly was she hurt?" Dallas asks.
"Is her baby okay?" Owen queries.
"The doctor said he baby was okay but they're keeping her for a couple days to be sure. She's got some bruising on her face and the rest of her body; she had a few scratches, two fractured ribs and one broken rib. She also had a tear in her liver, something you can only get after a very traumatic impact or fall. She was bleeding internally but the doctor's stopped it. I talked to her this morning, I heard Eli apologizing and telling her it would never happen again. I tried to get her to listen but she just made more excuses and said Eli would change. I hope she's right but I know she's not I see it all the time," I tell them.
"I'll call Adam after practice," Dallas says.
"I'm going to see Clare after practice," Owen speaks up.
"Right now you two need to get back on the ice," Dylan comments as Hank comes back. Dylan blows his whistle and he and Hank start yelling at the players to do drills.
"I love when he's all take charge and forceful like that," Tris grins gazing adoringly at my brother and I laugh.
"I'm going home; I think I'll see if Alex wants to come over again tonight I'm sure Jay won't mind. Tell Owen I'll call the hospital and make sure you four can get into Clare's room any time," I tell Tris.
I hug Dylan goodbye and go out to the car, I'll ask Alex to talk to Clare too, her mother was in an abusive relationship so Alex knows firsthand what it can do. I get in the car and call Alex as I start driving home. I really hope Owen can help Clare and that she'll listen to him, or any of us, because I know it will end badly if she stays with Eli, we just need to convince her of that which won't be easy.
As I said this will be a two shot, unfortunately you have to wait a while for part two. It will be on Friday December 5th picking up with Owen visiting Clare in the hospital.