Casualty Fic: Music Numbs my Skin
Pairing: Kirsty/Adam
Summary: Warren's treatment of Kirsty is getting too much for Adam. How will he respond when confronted with the decision to stay and comfort her or go out to seek justice?
Disclaimer: It isn't mine :-(
AN: yeah, these things are turtlin' annoyin' but I need to explain things. Each chapter is a song by Envy on the Coast. If you've seen any of my other fics you may notice a pattern, I do tend to put some songynees into my fics, but usually EOTC. This is just a full flush to get it out of my system. Song lyrics are in bold italics- just to help you out XD
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~~Casualty~~
Chapter One
(X) Amount of Truth
~~Casualty~~
Wake all the children from their slumber,
Before they wonder why their dreams have gone to hell.
Wake all the children from their sleep.
Down the staircase we shall creep,
To the basement of this white picket home.
~~Casualty~~
Last night hadn't been the worst. She figured he'd had a relatively good day. On the other hand he could just have been exhausted. He'd seemed surprised when she wasn't late home, in fact she'd been a good twenty minutes earlier than expected. She didn't tell him why though. She didn't tell him that she'd nearly fainted and Tess had sent her home. She didn't tell him that Adam had given her a lift home and dropped her off down the street, just in case Warren was watching. But it'd just be like him to find some excuse to hurt her.
~~last night~~
"You're home early" he stated in his low voice
"Yeah, was able to get off earlier, the ED was fairly slow today." She replied with a forced impish grin "which means we have a little time before Nita gets home."
"Aren't you going to get her?" he asked, sounding a little peeved
"No, she texted me and said she was going to the skate park and Lauren's mum will drop her home. She said she'd only be a little while, about an hour and a half at the most."
"Right" he stared back at the counter.
"I was thinking that we could do something until then."
"Like what?" he asked half sighing
She shrugged "I dunno, something fun. I'm stuck for ideas, what do you think?"
"I think you need to shut it, you lyin', cheatin' slut."
"Why?" she asked exasperatedly "Why this every single bloody night? What have I done, what have I really done? All this thinking I'm cheating on you is all in your head, Warren. This stupid paranoid frustration is all made up. When are you going to open your eyes and realise that?"
"I told you to shut it." He said his voice raised slightly in a warning.
"What are you gonna do now, then? Hit me? Beat me to a bloody pulp? Kill me?"
"You never know, Kirsty. All I know is that it's what you deserve. It's the only way I can get you on the straight and narrow."
"You're actually justifying what you do?" she scoffed "I wanted to do something nice and couple orientated but obviously you have a better idea. You always do."
"You think I enjoy this? Hurting you. Having to punish you. Do you honestly think that this is fun for me?"
"I don't know, Warren. It might be. This might be the way you get your kicks."
"Don't"
"Don't what?"
"Don't you dare. You have no right."
"I have every right!" She screamed "Who are you, Warren? Who, no, what have you become? I don't even know my own husband anymore." Her voice cracked and she started to calm her voice down "What happened to the person I fell in love with when all I had to worry about was a couple of exams and getting my homework done on time."
He pushed her into the wall and Kirsty grimaced as she felt old bruises screaming and new ones joining them on top. "I'll tell you what happened." He shoved himself against her "He. Grew. Up." It was then that he shoved her to the floor and she'd blacked out. Well, it could have been worse.
~~back to present~~
He used to be so nice, so loving. Where had that man gone? He hadn't grown up, he'd turned into a monster she didn't recognise. Her eyes were drawn to her surroundings; she was lying on the kitchen floor, it wasn't all that messy. There was broken glass near her feet, between her and the door. He'd actually bothered to put a cushion under her head, or had Nita? Oh God! Had Nita seen her in this state? If she had, what excuse had Warren given? 'She'd been drunk and passed out on the floor and he'd felt too exhausted to carry her up to their bed.' Or 'she'd lashed out at him and he was scared to go near her' or something else along those lines.
She had to get to work. What time was it? Never mind the time, what was the day? How long had she been out for this time? She moved her hands under her and tried to push herself up. Her arms shook violently and buckled under her, causing her to smack back down to the floor. Cursing under her breath, she tried again, with the same result. She whimpered and fought the tears prickling in her eyes "Come on" she whispered "Don't let him win"
"Mum?" said a timid voice from the doorway
"Nita" she said, feeling all the colour drain from her face.
"Do you want me to get dad?"
"No" she said quickly "Just- just help me get up."
"Ok. You sure you don't want me to get dad phone in sick for you?"
"Definitely sure, I need out of this house."
"Dad said you had a fight and you must have fainted"
"If only." She muttered
"What's that supposed to mean?" Nita asked, pulling her mother into a standing position.
Kirsty hesitated. Nita looked so much like Warren standing there with the innocent look on her face, except that her's was genuine. Kirsty sighed and said "Nothing. I'm just a bit tired." She slumped onto one of the kitchen stools. "Could you make me some coffee please?"
"No."
"Nita. Please. I just need a pick me up and I'll get changed and go to work"
"Not until you tell me what's going on."
"Darling, I'm going to be late for work, it can wait, and you have school."
"I want to know now, mum."
Kirsty bit her lip "I'll make you a deal. You make some coffee, I'll walk you to school and we can talk then. Just not now, I'm not ready to. Not here, Let's talk when I'm more awake, yeah?"
"Promise?"
"I promise." She said only a little truthfully
~~Casualty~~
"Alright princess, out you get." Jeff helped a little girl out of the ambulance and led her into resus, after the gurney carrying the girl's mother.
"Will my mummy be ok?"
"Lemme tell you something, darling. See all these people?" he gestured to the doctors and nurses in the room. The girl nodded "They'll do their very best to help your mummy and get her all fixed up nice and quick."
"Shannen McAllister, 27, found unconscious. Regained consciousness after five minutes of CPR, been slipping in and out for the past 15 minutes since. Ok have we all got a bit? On three, One, two, three." Said Dixie instructing the team, as she had way too many times before, to lift the woman onto the bed.
"Right, Shannen, my name's Doctor Truman, can you tell us what happened?" The woman murmured incoherently. She opened and closed her eyes lethargically. "Come on, stay with us Shannen"
"Who's this then?" asked a nice lady, with dark curly hair "My name's Kirsty, do you wanna come with me sweetheart, while the doctors make your mummy better?" she held out her hand, with a smile. Adam smiled slightly at the scene, before turning his attention back to his patient. Kirsty could wait, Shannen couldn't.
~~Casualty~~
"My daddy said she was being bad."
"Ok." She said, carefully "do you know how mummy got hurt?"
"He pushed her down the stairs but he said it was by an accident. He was cross."
"Do you know why he was cross?" Kirsty asked the girl curled on the sofa beside her in the relatives' room.
They girl stared at the floor, but Kirsty saw her eyes glazing over as she replied "Mummy was a bad girl. Bad people deserve all they get."
Let's show them where the bad ones go.
The familiarity scared Kirsty for a second. No. This wasn't her husband. This was a six year old girl she'd known all of ten minutes. "Ok. How about your name. You know mine but I don't know your's." She grinned mischievously "Come on. I'm sure you're mummy gave you a really pretty name, eh? So how about you tell me?"
"My name is Sarah."
"Wow. That is a pretty name. You know my friend Jeff? Yeah? I bet he called you 'princess', am I right?" the girl nodded, a small smile tickling her mouth "Well, that is exactly what your name means. Sarah means 'princess'. How about that then? Do you like that?" She smiled and nodded, unfolding until she was sitting, facing Kirsty. They chatted for a while longer until Adam put his head around the door.
"Aha, there you are. So. Sarah, your mum's a lot better now but she's still quite sick. Do you want to go see her, she's awake now."
The little girl's eyes lit up "Yes please."
"Right, just give me a minute and I'll get someone to take you there."
"Why can't you take me? Or Kirsty?"
"Well, I just need to have a little chat with Kirsty and then we'll both be straight in, ok?" he smiled when the little girl nodded. He spotted Tess and called her over. "Ok, Sarah, this is my friend, Tess. She'll take you into your mummy, ok?" she nodded again, and took Tess' outstretched hand.
~~Casualty~~
For all they know, for all they know,
Their heroes are still untouchable.
What they don't know, what they don't know.
~~Casualty~~
Ever since I was little, I used to think my mum was indestructible. That she was somehow a superhero. That what she told me this morning was total crap. But it wasn't. When I'd found her lying on the floor I knew it was dad. I loved him but there was no excuse to what he did to my mum! There is no way I, Nita Clements am going to let mum go back to that. I suspect I only know the very tip of the iceberg. Probably even less. I have no idea how long it has been going on for. "Nita" Why is dad so horrible? He was always Mr Nice. A bit of a joker and always with a quick cheeky joke and a giggle. Somehow mum was the exception to his rules. "Nita! NITA!" the sound of mum screaming my name made me want to cry. It was only a memory. She was at work. She was safe there. Dr Truman would look after her.
"Nita Clements, can you please pay attention and give me an answer please? Before I keep you behind in detention."
"Sorry, sir. The answer is-" Ahh, school. So mundane and tiresome. At least it broke up the time between the long hours spent at home, wondering if her mum would turn up on time. Oh good she'd answered correctly, maybe she could be left in peace to wallow in her thoughts. Some things are way more important that a stupid geography lesson.
~~Casualty~~
"Kirsty, you have to call the police on him."
"What about Nita? She'll side with him and hate me forever. She always has been 'daddy's little girl', Adam."
"Once she sees that he's hurt you and is nothing but a lowlife scumbag then she'll understand."
"You're talking about her father. She loves him more than anything."
"Well she's going to find out sooner or later. Would you prefer it to be now and have her hate you for a week or two, or would you prefer it six months down the line when you end up six feet under and she spends the rest of her life hating herself?"
"Sometimes I wonder if she'd be better off if I was dead."
"No. Don't say that Kirsty, you are a fantastic mother. She's a teenager for Christ's sake. She's bound to resent her mum a little, it's what they do."
"I am in no way a good mother."
"You're worrying about what she'll think or do. That says that you care and that you love her. You were great with little Sarah just now."
"Come on. You promised we'd be in there with her. Let's not let her down." She passed him, still standing by the door. He lightly put his hand on her arm to stop her and looked into her glowing bronze orbs.
"This isn't over Kirsty." He told he softly
"I know" she said, matching his tone.
~~Casualty~~
Her phone buzzed for the fifth time that day. Nita had an idea that her dad was ringing yet again. Just to be sure, she snuck a peek at the caller ID.
'Dad'
Crap! Not again! She swiftly sent a text when the teacher briefly left the room to get some more textbooks to remind her dad that she was at school and she would ring him back at lunch break.
'OK' the swift reply. She'd bought some time to actually concentrate on school. Ten minutes later her phone buzzed again. This time, a text from her mum:
'Change of plans- coming to pick you up today. C u later. Mum x'
Ten minutes until lunch break. Wow, had the time really gone that fast?
~~Casualty~~
"You look like you could use a drink." Adam said cheerily to Kirsty at the end of a long shift.
"I can't, I'm picking Nita up today."
"So tell her to get the bus or go with a friend."
"I don't need another excuse to give to Warren."
"We could go to the police today and report him. You could Pick Nita up, on the way."
"I can't, Adam. Not today. I just can't do it. I'm sorry." Kirsty leaned her head against the locker door. She jumped when she felt her phone buzz: a text from Nita.
'Dad rang me- we need to talk some more. There's stuff I need to say. I'm 5 mins from the hospital I assume u haven't left yet. C u then. Nita xxx'
"It's from Nita, she's coming here. She says she wants to talk to me."
Adam read the text and nodded "Ok, I'll wait for her with you then."
"Thanks, Adam." She smiled at him. He thought it was the most beautiful thing he'd seen all week.
~~Casualty~~
Nita pulled her coat tighter around her, against the bitter January wind. She was within sight of the hospital. She crossed the road and navigated her way to the E.D.
"You alright, princess?" asked a man she had met briefly before, and knew vaguely as 'Jeff'. "You lookin' for your mum?"
"Yeah. Do you know if she's still here?"
"Yeah, yeah just saw her in reception with a couple of the gang." He grinned cheekily "Look, go in and if you can't see her ask Noel and he'll point you in the right direction. I gotta go, I've got a callout."
"Ok, thanks."
"See you around, princess." He grinned cheekily at her and hopped into the ambulance shortly followed by Dixie, his best mate, partner and wife.
Nita heard the latter say "Right Jeffrey, off we go."
~~Casualty~~
"Come on, Kirsty. Come out for some end of shift drinks. It's good to let your hair down once in a while." Said Zoe almost exasperatedly.
"I am exhausted. I'm just going to get my daughter and go home to bed."
"No mum."
"Nita. You're here already. Good. Now I can get out of here and home to my warm bed."
"No. We're not going home. At least not tonight."
"But your dad-"
"He's why. I'm not letting you go home until you call the police."
"Nita, please" she gently pulled her daughter to the exit "Not here. We'll talk in the morning. Right nowwe should be heading home."
"Mum, no. Adam, help me. We need to talk some sense into her."
"Nita's right. You need to get out of there. I told you she wouldn't hate you."
"You thought I'd hate you? Mum. I thought you were dead this morning. When I checked for a pulse I couldn't find one, in my panic. I thought you'd stopped breathing and I'd got up to go get a phone for an ambulance, and you came to. I've never been so relieved in my life. I could never hate you."
After the past few months, the beatings had gotten worse and more frequent. Kirsty started to cry uncontrollably and fainted from both the emotional stress and the physical pain. Adam and Nita sat outside Kirsty's hospital room waiting for her to regain consciousness. Adam held the teen in his strong arms, not too tightly so she wouldn't be hurt. Nita sat there, motionless in his almost fatherly embrace, occasionally a whimper would escape her lips. Neither of them had dry eyes. It had been six hours and Kirsty still wasn't wakening. Nita had turned her phone off which she knew her dad would be angry about. But she really couldn't care less about the so-called father and husband. She just prayed to anyone or anything that was listening that her mother would be ok again. She wasn't all that religious but right now, she needed all the help she could get.
~~Casualty~~
All the preachers and the ministers
Administer those sinister looks.
They teach from a liar's chair.
A pulpit mounted on a child's prayer.
~~Casualty~~
Please, please let my mum be ok.
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Yeah yeah I know I have a million other things to do on SVU world but I HAD to write something on this... I've got rather hooked on Casualty and as it's a British med drama it sorta takes priority over American cop shows... sorry mes Americano amigos.
Also sorry it's a bit of a longy! I just started and couldn't stop! XD lol