My Heart's Already Broken
Hey! Thanks for all the reviews! It's so nice to hear what you guys think!
-RetardedFish97
When Yvonne did return home, the first thing she did was visit the ED, to thank Nick, Jeff and Dixie. As she entered the glass, swinging doors, she saw Jeff and Dixie, sat at a counter in the hospital canteen, eating a plate of chips each, and drinking a coffee. As she approached, Dixie looked up and smiled at her:
"Superintendent Rippon! I'm glad to see you're okay, love. Can I get you something?"
Dixie nodded to the counter, where they were serving food and drink.
"Erm, a coffee would be lovely. But I just wanted to thank you both- if it wasn't for you I don't think I'd be alive and…"
Yvonne's sentence was cut short by Nick.
"Yvonne!" he called, dashing over and enveloping her in a careful hug.
"I'm so glad you're okay," she whispered into her hair, crying gently. Holding her at arm's length to look her in the eye, Nick asked:
"How are you feeling?"
"Better, thanks- I'm back at work tomorrow," she sighed, half pleased, half annoyed.
"But… An officer has informed me of a reinvestigation involving the ED?"
"Ah, yes," Nick sighed, ushering the superintendent towards Leila's room.
As they pass Zoe in the corridor, she turns and runs back to her patient's room, grabbing Tess along the way.
"What was all that about?" Yvonne asked, bemused.
"I'm afraid that some members of my staff have become rather protective of their patient…"
"Oh- after the baby?" Yvonne asked.
"Yes, she's been quite distressed, so be… gentle," Nick nodded.
Yvonne rolled her eyes at him. She didn't need him to tell her that.
Zoe and Tess were placed protectively around the bed; Tess was sat on the end, holding the girl's hand, while Zoe sat in a chair next to the girl's head.
"Leila Heart? My name's Superintendent Rippon and…"
Leila's eyes widened.
"No…" she whispered, turning to Zoe.
"You said… you promised!" she began to struggle, lashing out at Zoe. Frowning, Dr Hanna grabbed the girl's wrists and held them together. Then, seeing how much this resembled handcuffs around the girl's wrists, she dropped them and looked Leila in the eye.
"Leila, Superintendent Rippon isn't here to take you away, are you?" she turned to Yvonne for help.
Yvonne shook her head.
"No, of course not- Leila, I'm here to try and help you. I've made the checks on the baby top priority, and they'll need your DNA, so…"
Reaching up to her head, Leila pulled out three strands of hair, and offered them to the superintendent, who held out a clear, plastic bag for the girl to put them into.
"Okay- thank you," the superintendent smiled and left.
When she had gone, Nick looked at Zoe, frowning.
"Outside, please…" he ordered, and Zoe followed him out. Leila looked nervously after her, and Tess shot her a pitying look. Before exiting the room, Zoe pulled an exaggerated scared face, making the two laugh and smile- hearing the laughter made Nick frown more.
"Zoe, I may have only been back for a week, but that's long enough for me to see that you're blocking the police at every move," he growled.
"Yes!" Zoe snapped, "Because THEY keep trying to arrest an innocent girl!"
Nick was enraged.
"Dr Hanna- if you continue to show me, and the police, as little respect as you are now, I will look after Leila myself- is that clear?"
"Yes, Nick…"
"That's Mr Jordan to you," he frowned, walking off.
Zoe re-entered to room, feeling deflated, like a school child who'd been told off for a missing homework. She relayed this feeling to Tess and Leila. Leila grinned and said,
"How many times have I felt like that?"
"What was the last time?" Tess asked.
"Erm, that would probably be just before the riots…"
"What did you do?"
"Erm- well, there was this girl who'd been making my life hell for a while. So I decided to play her at her own game, scare her out of ever doing it again."
"So?" Zoe asked, intrigued.
"So I glued her PE kit to the roof."
"That's not so bad, I mean, surely someone could have reached it down?" Tess pointed out.
"Not when I glued it to the roof of our sports hall- which is about three times my height."
"Ah," Zoe smiled, "but how did you get it up there?"
"Soaked it in glue and sort of… threw it?"
A few minutes of laughing and school stories later, Leila started talking about her parents.
"Where are your parents?" Tess asked, noticing for the first time that no one had been in to see the girl.
"They've been told to stay away, until we have a basis for the case…" Leila muttered, sadly.
"Oh, I'm sorry…"
The room fell into awkward silence…
Then Lloyd walked in, with someone stood behind him.
"Scarlet!" Leila yelped, rushing out of her bed to embrace her cellmate.
"They let you out?"
Scarlet laughed and nodded.
"Oh, thank goodness," the girl sighed. She took Scarlet's arm and rolled up the sleeve of her jumper.
"It healed then?"
Scarlet raised her eyebrows and shushed her, nodding.
"Scarlet, what healed? What happened?" Lloyd asked, frantically.
"Nothing, Lloyd- honest," she scowled.
"Scarlet, tell them," Leila urged, "Please tell them, and the police- it will help me."
Scarlet sighed.
"One day, I woke up, hearing our door opening. That officer came in, and dragged Leila from the room. It was too violent, so I got up to help, and her threw me into a wall. It broke my arm, I think, but we couldn't say anything,"
"Or?" Tess asked.
"Or he said he'd kill us…"
