Room of Temperance Bradley
Bellevue Psychiatric
December 20th,
"So,Tempe, tell me, where's home?" Amanda asked her
Tempe drew a picture of the building.
"Here?"
Tempe nodded.
"Have you made friends here?"
Again, she nodded.
"Can you show me?"
Tempe nodded happily, drawing a picture of her holding hands with Rebecca, who stepped forward and asked, "Who's that?"
Tempe pointed at her.
Rebecca smiled. "Is that when we went to the park?
She gave her a grin and nodded, tapping her fingers on the crayon-rendered balloons in the drawing.
Rebecca nodded wisely. "Yes, we got pretty colored balloons."
"Do you go to the park a lot?" Amanda asked.
Once again, Tempe gave her an affirmative gesture, pointing excitedly at the brown and white puppy that was in the corner of the drawing.
"There's a puppy there?" Amanda questioned.
Tempe looked to Rebecca for help in explaining,
"Yes," she said, smiling at her. "There's this Australian Shepard puppy. Her name is Nelle. Tempe likes to pet her, and her owner doesn't mind. She's real friendly. Her owner brings her there every day to run and play when there aren't a lot of people around."
"Do you like to play with Nelle?" Amanda inquired.
Tempe nodded enthusiastically and made a throwing motion with her arm.
Amanda didn't understand, so she looked at Rebecca.
"She's telling you she likes to throw a tennis ball for Nelle when we see her," the doctor explained.
Amanda smiled "I bet she really likes that."
Tempe gave her a grin in return.
"You want to play catch?"
Tempe reached out and squeezed her hand, and Amanda chuckled warmly. "I'll take that as a yes."
A few hours later, they were all playing catch when a male doctor came by the door of the room. Very quickly, Tempe's happy demeanor changed. She scurried into a corner and pulled her knees up to her chest. Rebecca glanced at Amanda briefly, then bent down next to Tempe."You're safe. Don't be afraid. We won't let anyone hurt you."
"That man that walked by the door just now, is he the one who hurt you?" Amanda asked.
With tears welling in her eyes, Tempe nodded.
"Can you show us how, Honey?" Rebecca prodded gently.
Tempe shook her head frantically.
"It's okay," Amanda comforted her. "We're here for you."
After what seemed like a very long time to both women, Tempe finally rose and walked back to the table. She picked up her crayons and drew a picture of the man sticking her with the needle. Then she drew one of him touching her between her legs. Both Rebecca and Amanda knew that the next step would be the hardest. They would have to help her find words for what had happened so she could tell Casey and Casey could put the man away.
Amanda smiled at her. "You're a brave girl, Tempe. Can I take the pictures?"
Tempe, who was now snuggled into Rebecca's comforting arms, nodded.
Office of Assistant District Attorney Casey Novak
December 21
"And Temperance never spoke the accusations?" Casey asked, trying to understand what she was up against.
"No, " Amanda admitted, "but she reacted in a scared way when she saw the man walk by the door, and she drew it all out for me and Hendrix,"
Casey shook her head "I may not be able to put her on the stand."
"Why not?" Amanda asked, even though she knew what she would say.
"Well, number one, she's 5, and most judges don't consider a child able to be sworn in that young. Number two, she didn't make the accusations verbally, she drew them. The defense might see that as a sign she's incapable of knowing what really happened. They might also say we interpreted the pictures wrong and that she actually meant something entirely different by them."
"So there's no way we can help Tempe?"
"There may only be one way, and that's to get her to say the words out loud."
"Casey, she's never talked at all."
"Then we may have a big problem."
Amanda sighed. Now she was really going to need Rebecca's help. They simply had to help Tempe find her voice. Otherwise, the doctor would be able to go on abusing who knows how many others. It was now or never.