Hello! This is my very first Casualty fic so I hope you all like it :) just a few pointers- Zoe/Max and Fletch/Tess are canon in this fic (2 of my favourite pairings) and *trigger warning- it does deal with emotional, sexual and physical abuse*. Feel free to review, I always like to know what I'm doing right and what I can improve on :D -Sophie x

Connie Beauchamp was stressed, to put it lightly. This ED was ridiculously unorganised, and it would take even her a while to get it under some sort of control. It would take time. Lots of time, but it was manageable. She was wading through some paperwork at her desk, when the previous clinical lead Dr Zoe Hanna burst in.

"Connie, 3 minutes until 3 RTC casualties get here. 2 with minor injuries but one girl has a suspected damaged spine." She said, as Connie got up and strode towards the door.

"Ok, you take the one of the minor casualties with Ethan, and Tess and Ash can take the other. I'll get the damaged spine with Charlie." She said confidently, rounding up her staff.

"Right RTC in 2 mins, I need Ethan, Tess, Ash and Charlie please, rest of you stick to cubicles- I'll need at least 3 spare. Thankyou."

They dispersed, just as the ambulances pulled into the hospital. Jeff and Dixie leapt out separate vehicles and Tamzin opened up the doors.

"Right Jeff who have we got." Connie asked, pulling on her gloves and following the casualties into resus.

"We have Charles Perkins, 37, suspected broken arm and sprained ankle. Sats ok and has and air given en route. This is Maria, his wife" he said, gesturing to a woman with long blond hair, "35, she was K-O'd at the scene, deep laceration to the forehead and is complaining of headaches. Both been conscious throught."

"Ok, and who's this?" Connie asked, walking beside a petite looking girl with long brown hair, laid down and strapped to a neck brace. She too was conscious and sobbing.

"This is Louisa Perkins, 15, daughter of Charles and Maria. She has a suspected spinal injury, she was given morphine at the scene, and she's very shocked. She also had a panic attack when we got there so she's a little weaker than expected."

"Ok thanks Jeff."

He smiled at her before backing out with Tamzin.

Connie turned to face the sobbing girl. She looked remarkably like herself when she was younger. "Hello Louisa. I'm Dr Beauchamp and I'll be treating you today." She said with her usual briskness, but softer than she usually would have. The girl continued to sob, her large brown eyes looking up at the doctor in fear.

Connie and Charlie, along with the other nurses, helped transfer her to a bed, and they tried to assess the situation. However, Louisa wouldn't answer any questions Charlie asked her, and to be honest, she looked more scared of him than Connie. She held the girls hand, and looked into her eyes.

"Louisa, I need to you to talk to us, ok? We're here to help you, not hurt you."

"Are y-y-you sure?" The girl whispered.

Connie was surprised. She squeezed her hand gently. "Yes, I'm sure." She smiled.

Louisa calmed down a little after that, and started telling Connie what exactly had happened. She was still very weary of Charlie, however. She spoke of how her parents were arguing again and her dad wasn't paying attention to the road. He hit her mother and swerved into another lane, crashing into another car in the process. Luckily, no-one in the other car was hurt. Louisa had phoned 999, and ended up having a panic attack when she saw her parents being extracted from the car by Jeff. Dixie helped calm her down and got her into the ambulance.

Whilst she was talking, Connie put up a screen, and cut her top off so she could get to her back. But when she turned the girl on her side, she realised her back was full of bruises, cuts and sores. She suddenly felt very faint, and had to take a few deep breaths. She knew these hadn't been caused by the crash. She knew the shapes of them all too well.

Once she'd got over her initial shock, she discreetly asked Charlie to wait outside the curtain whilst she did an assessment. She came to the conclusion, that 2 discs in her spine had slipped out of place. Connie managed to sort it out in resus, but she decided to keep her in for a few days due to "some swelling". Really, she wanted to know if her theory of how she got those scars on her back was true. She rolled her onto her back again, and sent Charlie who was waiting patiently outside the curtain to clear the side room for her, so she could help her put on a hospital gown.

Connie rolled the girl into the room, changed the sign to occupied and pulled down the blinds.

"Right Louisa, we need to get you into a hospital gown, ok?" She smiled. Louisa managed a small smile back, before Connie helped her ease on the gown. Once they'd done, the doctor noticed Louisa had gone red.

"You're not stupid are you, Mrs, um..." She trailed off.

"Beauchamp,-" she hesitated, before carrying on, "but you can call me Connie. And if you're referring to your back, then no, I'm afraid I'm not."

Louisa started to cry again, quietly at first, but she got louder and louder. Connie put her arm around her, but she flinched away.

"Louisa, darling, listen to me." She said, crouching beside her bed so they were both eye level. The darling shocked the clinical lead, she was never sympathetic. Her patient looked into her eyes. "I promise you, I would never, ever hurt you. Ok? I'm here to help you and look after you."

The girl seemed comforted by this. "Ok."

"Now," Connie said in a soft voice, "do you think you could tell me how you got those marks on your back?"

Louisa looked up at her and hesitated. "It might take a while." She said at last.

The clinical lead thought for a moment before speaking. "We're going to take you to a ward after we're done here. My shift finishes at 7. Why don't I bring you up a drink when I've finished, and we can talk. Ok?"

"Alright. Oh Connie?" She asked as she wheeled her out of the side room.

"Yes?"

"How are my parents?"

"I don't know, but I'll find out for you straight away." She smiled before spotting Zoe and Max walking down the corridor.