Stella walked swiftly into the ER with her arms around Maya. Maggie approached them immediately when she saw them, "Stella is everything okay?"
"My sister," Stella replied taking a deep breath, "She" she said slowly, "has been assaulted."
Maggie's eyebrows rose as she looked from Stella to Maya, unaware and surprised that the firefighter had such a significantly younger sibling, but she didn't let it show, "Okay," she nodded, "Let's get you in a room sweetheart."
"Go on with Maggie," Stella gave Maya a gentle nudge.
The younger girl looked up at Stella with terror on her face, "You're not coming."
"I'll be right outside," Stella reassured her, "I'll come in once you're changed."
"Okay," Maya said reluctantly stepping towards the nurse but keeping her eyes on Stella.
"I'm not goin' anywhere, I promise." Stella told her, giving her hand a squeeze.
Maya nodded and headed towards one of the curtained rooms as Stella sunk down into a chair, head in her hands. She stayed like that a moment before pulling out her cell phone and calling Kelly.
"Hey, how's it going?" Kelly answered on the other line.
"We're at the hospital." Stella answered.
"Did you get any more information from here?" Kelly asked.
Stella sighed, "She told me what happened. At least, part of it." She paused fighting the tears that threatened to spill over, "Kelly it was my uncle, and his crew. They beat her up and they, they..." Kelly waited patiently on the other line for her to continue, although his gut told him it wasn't good. He could hear Stella take in a shaky breath preparing herself for the next few words. "They raped her Kelly." Tears now flooded freely down her cheeks, "and they starved her. I was sending him money and he was buying drugs with it instead of feeding her. How could I have let this happen?"
"You were 100 miles away, it's not your fault." Kelly tried to comfort her but he knew there was nothing he could say to ease the pain and guilt Stella was feeling.
"I should have been there, I should have brought her here, I should have visited more-"
"Stella, you can beat yourself up as much as you want but it's not going to change what happened." Stella sniffled as she tried to catch her breath, wiping away the tears from one eye. His words made sense, but she could tell her was angry.
"We're gonna be here for awhile, talk to the cops." Stella tried to change the subject.
"Want me to come by?" Kelly asked.
"Yeah," Stella breathed, "I think so."
"What should I tell the others?" he asked, "They're worried about you guys."
Stella paused, the care and concern from her firehouse family was a gift she treasured more than almost anything, "Tell them we'll be okay and I'll see them soon."
Kelly came through the hospital doors just as Jay Halstead and Kim Burgess entered. "You here about Maya?" Kelly asked and they both nodded, "What kind of animal does this to a kid?" Kelly snapped at them.
Jay shook his head, "I denno man." he replied apologetically.
"We're gonna get him," Kim offered. Kelly nodded but it didn't do much to ease his frustration.
Maggie spotted them and headed over, "Detectives," she greeted, "Kelly." she looked between them, "Maya and Stella are in the last room on the right."
"Thanks," Jay replied as he and Kim headed that way.
Kelly hovered, "You heading back?" Maggie asked taking him in, Kelly stood with his hands shoved into his pockets.
"I don't want to make Maya feel uncomfortable." Kelly replied looking around the waiting room, "I'll just hang out here if that's okay and wait for Stella."
Maggie nodded understanding, "Of course."
After what seemed like hours but was really more like 30 minutes, Severide watched as the two Detectives emerged from the curtains giving a curt nod to him on their way out.
Stella appeared a moment later, running a frustrated hand through her long dark curls as she glanced around the area looking for him. He was at her side in a minute. "How did it go?" he asked.
Stella shook her head, "Not good, she, she's scared, and can you blame her?"
"Of course not," Kelly replied and Stella nodded glancing towards the ceiling to stop the tears, "What is it?"
"What if I can't protect her Kelly?" Stella asked as a stray tear made it's way down her cheek.
"Hey, come here," he pulled her into his arms and wrapped her into a tight hug, "It's gonna be okay. We just have to let the police do their jobs." Stella nodded into his embrace, wanting to stay there forever. The sentiment was so unlike him, but he knew that's what she needed to hear right now.
"Stella?" came a quiet voice from behind the current.
Stella pulled back from Kelly, giving his hand a squeeze, before slipping behind the curtain, "I'm here baby, what is it?"
"I'm sorry," Maya picked at her cuticles, "I know I was supposed to talk to the police."
"It's okay," Stella grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze, "but you know, if you change you're mind they're just a short call away."
"What happens if I talk to them?" Maya asked, her dark eyes searched Stella's.
"Well, they'll go find the people that did this and they'll probably go to jail for what they did." Stella explained calmly. "Because what they did was wrong."
"I know." Maya whispered, "It's just..."
"What?" Stella looked at her in concern, tucking a loose strand of hair behind Maya's ear, "You can tell me."
"They threatened you."
Jay and Kim returned the the station feeling unsettled. As they moved to their desks, Sargent Voight appeared, "So, what do we got?"
Jay sighed, "Not much unfortunately. The kids pretty beaten up, but she's scared to talk."
"Stella explained she was living with their uncle at the time of the incident in Milwaukee, but without a statement, it's not much to go on." Kim added.
"Well," Voight banged his fist gently onto the door frame, "unfortunately, that's out of our jurisdiction. I can put in a call, but if the kid won't talk then we're likely at a stand still."
"There's drugs involved, I don't have how much," Jay went on, "could be something to look into."
Hank Voight nodded slowly, "I'll call Lindsay and see if she can look into it."