If you haven't figured it out already.. this one is going to be dark and angsty... with mature/adult situations... don't continue on if you aren't prepared
Chapter Two
Maggie looked at April and Dr. Choi who were standing beside her at the double doors. "Okay, so we remember what Trudy said?"
April nodded, still visibly confused. "Jane Doe."
Ethan shook his head. "I guess we'll figure out why when they get here."
Maggie looked at the ER and shrugged. "Lucky for us we're at a slow time of the night, it shouldn't be too hard to get Jane Doe set up in the far corner and make sure we keep her presence limited to personnel who understand our limitations here."
April heard the familiar sound of the ambo in the driveway and stepped to the door. "It's horrible," she sighed, "I've got this sinking feeling that it's someone we know."
Ethan gave her a reassuring touch on her shoulder. "Me too."
"And," Maggie added, "how bad it is that they're coming in like this."
They all pushed through the automatic doors and met the EMTs as they opened up the back door. Sgt. Platt was the first one to hop out. All she had to do was sweep a gaze past the three staffers and received their acknowledgement.
That's when she started. "Jane Doe, beaten," the EMT wheeled the stretcher forward and Ethan and April helped him along. Trudy grabbed Maggie's arm and held her back for a moment. "Suspected sexual assault. Tread lightly on this one."
Maggie nodded, fighting back tears. "Sure, sure… of course. You want to call 51?" As soon as she asked it, Maggie's eyes widened in realization. "Oh… wow… she doesn't want them to know."
Trudy nodded. "She doesn't want me to make an official report-"
"What?" Maggie shook her head. "What do you mean? Whoever did this… she can't think-"
Sighing, Trudy looked at Maggie. "I know, but at this point, Stella is refusing a police investigation… I'm hoping we can convince her otherwise."
"I'm still going to ask her to do a kit."
Trudy nodded. "Yes… if you have any trouble convincing her, call me. If she won't let us go after the bastards, then at least we can preserve the evidence."
There was a moment of silence when Trudy looked across the room at the examination area completely shrouded by curtains. "I asked her some questions on the way. She has holes in her memory… she didn't tell me much but I could tell that she was struggling. Get the kit… When she's ready to report this, ready to deal with this… maybe we can give her the answers she doesn't have."
Reaching out, Maggie squeezed Trudy's arm. "We'll take care of her… don't you worry."
Trudy had her phone out and nodded. "I know you will… just do what you can."
#
By the time Mouch got to Chicago Med his heart was in his throat. He couldn't help but wonder why Trudy had insisted on absolute secrecy… If Stella had been hurt on the job, then surely it was just a matter of letting the House know and soon they'd been filled to the rafters with visitors… especially Kelly.
That's what he was most worried about. If this was something straight forward she would have told him to bring Kelly.
The ER doors whooshed open and he stepped in, taking one moment to locate Trudy standing off to the side with her cell phone to her ear. "Yeah, yeah… I'm on my way back… is Upton there? Burgess? Keep at least one of them there… I need to talk to them about a potential case."
She ended the call and shoved the phone in her pocket.
"Hey," Mouch stepped up to her and was shocked when she stepped in toward him and hugged him close, "how are you?"
"How am I?" Her voice held a strange rasp in it as if she was holding back tears. "You didn't see her… you didn't see the pain in her eyes… the bruises." She stepped back and she pressed her hands over her heart. "They'll only get worse."
"Do you know," Mouch had to approach this carefully, "what happened?"
"I can guess. Anyone can guess when you take a look at her. I called you because I need your help."
"Sure!" Mouch was happy for anything he could do. Not just because Trudy was upset, but because he knew this was about Stella. "What do you need?"
"What house is she stationed at now?"
Mouch opened his mouth. The first number in his head was 51, but that wasn't true. Not anymore. Not since Chief Grissom got involved. "She's at 36."
Trudy nodded. "That explains why she was in our area." She could see his confusion. "A passing motorist found her collapsed on the sidewalk. No id, no keys. Just St- She was dressed but it looked like it hadn't stopped whoever did this. I'm guessing she walked out of the house while they weren't looking. By now, they'll have realized she's missing."
"Wait." Mouch put a hand on her shoulder. "Are you telling me you think this happened at a firehouse?"
Trudy looked at him for a long moment and then nodded. "She didn't say so, but I have a feeling. She's still on this shift right?"
Mouch nodded. "And if she'd been anywhere else, she'd have more with her. Identification."
Trudy agreed. "If I'm right they're likely circling the wagons right now. Tossing her stuff if they have it. When I get back to the station. I'm meeting with one of the women from intelligence."
"And this Jane Doe thing?"
"Stella's request."
Trudy's eyes spoke volumes but Mouch was still glad when she explained. "She knows she can't keep it from Kelly forever," she told him, "but she's afraid that once he has any clue of what happened to her at 36-"
Mouch shook his head and found his heart thundering in his chest, "He'd kill them!"
Slapping a hand over his mouth, Trudy looked toward the end of the ER. April and Maggie had lowered the lights in the hallway and drawn all the blinds and curtains closed.
When Trudy was sure she had silenced Mouch, she lifted her hand from his mouth. "Now tell me, why did she change houses."
Mouch nodded. "I'll tell you what I know."
#
April stood at the side of Stella's bed and struggled not to react to her own feelings in case Stella opened her eyes. She didn't need to see the horror that April felt.
Ethan sat beside Stella on a stool, asking her questions. Stella answered them as best she could.
"I'm not sure," she told him, "I know two of them. There were more. I could hear more, but I could only see two."
Nodding, Ethan didn't meet April's eyes and she was glad. "Stella, do you know if you were… if you were-" He'd asked these questions more than a few times over the years and it only made it harder that he knew Stella personally. That he knew all of the people on her shift at 51 and April… she knew Severide so well.
He was a professional, so this interview/intake should be something he could do in his sleep, but knowing it was someone he cared about.
"What I mean is-"
"Yes," she drew in a breath and let it out. "I don't know who," there was a hitch in her voice, "or how many. They told me to keep quiet, but I didn't. I started to scream and kick and that's when someone hit me across the back of my head."
Stella opened her eyes for a minute and saw Maggie at the end of her bed.
"I woke up on top of a pile of turnout gear. My pants were still around my ankles, my shirt and bra still on... but pushed up under my arms. I didn't know if they were coming back, but I wasn't going to wait. I pulled things back into place and took my shoes and left the house."
Maggie moved and touched Stella gently on her blanket covered leg. "You did good, Stella. You got out of there… you got yourself help."
Stella didn't seem to register the words. "I let myself get trapped. I walked right into it."
April leaned over the rails on her bed and picked up her hand, gently. "Don't say that. This wasn't your fault."
When Stella swung her head to look at April's face, the nurse felt the impact of Stella's pain like a punch. "Of course it was," Stella's voice was barely a whisper, "I just got in the way. And I'm not reporting this. Treat me and then let me go." Stella's voice didn't get above a whisper but they could all hear the utter determination in her voice.
April felt her heart break and she lifted Stella's hand to cradle it against her stomach. "Please, Stella, you have to."
Stella's head dropped and Ethan looked over at the monitors. "She's asleep. I need to get her into a CT scan to look for head injuries." He got up and looked at Maggie. "We need someone to do the kit."
All three of them knew what the unspoken word was in that sentence.
Maggie nodded. "I can do it." She looked at April. "I don't think you should."
April nodded. "I don't think I could hold it together…" she looked at Ethan. "Even with this Jane Doe stuff… you know Kelly's going to find out and when he comes-"
"Yeah," Ethan agreed, "you should be there for him. This is going to be hell on both of them."
Maggie walked back into the exam area. "Imaging is waiting for her. I'll do the kit when she comes back." She met Ethan's eyes. "You want me to call Dr. Charles?"
"Yeah, yeah," he nodded, "he knows Stella... so inform him before he comes down."
April stretched out her leg and unlocked the wheels on her side of the table. Ethan did it on his side and they were off.
