A/N another new one! This idea came to me earlier that wouldn't leave me alone so I thought I would write it up and see what people think of it. Enjoy and please read and review! Xx

Zoe normally hated cases like this, she always got the same comments from her colleagues; 'Why are you being so detached, Zoe?', 'Can't you see s/he needs our help?'. Of course she could see that the patients needed help, she was a qualified doctor after all. As for being emotionally detached from difficult cases, well, that was a coping strategy.

…

Her first patients were 5 year old identical twins Coral and Lila (pronounced Lye-luh) who were proving to be difficult for Zoe. Not in the sense of their behaviour, in fact she had seldom come across such well behaved children and that in itself raised suspicions from the consultant.

She struggled to tell them apart, they were certainly identical! Zoe walked back into the cubicle, glancing momentarily at the clipboards containing each of their records before turning to face the girls "Right, girls, I need to find a way so that I can tell you apart without having to ask which one you are every time I come in. Any ideas?"

Coral piped up immediately "I'm the one that talks more! My daddy says I'm a real chatterbox, but I never shut up. Lila doesn't really talk, only to me" she smiled, pleased with her idea before looking to Zoe to see if she approved. When she saw the look of concern she quickly added "But she's alright, aren't you Lila?"

Zoe smiled at the young beaming girl who she had now identified as Coral "That's a good idea. But what if you aren't talking? I think we need a back up plan, just in case. I just so happen to have these stickers, so choose one each and I'll be able to remember who you are that way" she held the sheet out to Lila first "Lila, do you want to choose first?" she asked gently, frowning when she instantly shrank back away from her and towards the end of the bed.

Coral took the sheet of stickers from her and moved to sit next to her sister "Lila, which do you want?" Zoe watched as her hands and fingers moved effortlessly as she spoke, before it clicked that she was signing "She had special hearing things to help her hear. The lady said she can't hear as well as me and other children, but she can hear a bit, and sign and lip-read" she explained, as if she had read her mind. Zoe sighed, why wasn't this in her notes? "What sticker do you want?" Coral repeated, holding the sheet out to her again "She wants the butterfly" she told Zoe, emphasising the sign.

Zoe smiled and looked to Lila, and signed 'butterfly'. She watched as Lila signed it back before pushing some of her dark curly hair behind her ears to reveal 2 small hearing aids "Those are pretty" she commented, putting her thumb up, forgetting for a moment that the girl could lip-read. She approached her slowly, then focused on a large bruise at the side of her forehead "What happened to your head?" she asked, pointing to the bruise. Lila simply shook her head and turned towards her sister. Zoe took the opportunity to look at them more closely, they were beautiful little girls, Indian, each with a delicate heart shaped face and dark skin and thick, dark, curly hair that reached their shoulders.

Looking discreetly towards Coral, she noticed that she had a similar bruise, a bit more faded perhaps. Both girls seemed to have lots of bruises and small cuts on their faces, more so than she would expect. She remembered how jumpy they had been when their parents were mentioned, and Zoe was getting more and more concerned over their welfare. She looked back to Lila briefly, who made a sign which Coral translated "She says will you help us? Its okay Lila, the doctor is nice. She can help us"