Maggie's Story

©KBrogan 2008

Chapter 7 Part 1

Handle with Care

House was pissed off. The nurse had asked him for a consult five minutes before his shift was over, putting him out the door fifteen minutes after his shift was supposed to end at 2 am. He was tired and looking forward to a quick beer before going to bed. When he got home, he was baffled, the lights were all out. Usually Maggie always left a light on for him. Looking around, he hadn't seen her bike chained up outside and he didn't see her bike in the kitchen, the two places she kept it. He still wasn't alarmed, there could be a logical explanation. He drank his beer, ate a cheese sandwich and went up to bed. Walking down the hall, he saw that her door was closed. The missing bike and dark house nagged him until he opened the bedroom door a notch to peek in, chills ran down his spine as his stomach turned -- the bed was still made.

House knew Maggie had the night shift. He usually ended up getting home a few minutes after her. He had offered to pick her up on the nights he got off at 2 am, but she refused, not wanting to make him go out of his way. Grabbing his keys, House flew out the door. He drove the route she always took to the bar. There was no sign of her. Arriving at the bar a few minutes later, House parked out front. The bar was mostly dark, with just the usual neon signs lighting up the window and behind the bar. But he could see her bike, on its side, in the little pass-way between the buildings. He tried the front door, but there was no response. He couldn't shake the feeling that something was horribly wrong.

He went through the pass-way to the back alley. His heart leapt into his throat when he saw the back door wide open. He opened the screen and walked inside. He was searching for a weapon when he saw the blood by the refrigerator. Grabbing a large wrench from the tool box, he continued to look around, slowly easing his way through the kitchen and pantry. There was no one in the kitchen, the office or the storage room. He looked through the window of the swinging door and saw a heap by the piano. He let out a short gasp.

Maggie was on the floor, her hands tied, skirt up over her shoulders, her panties pulled down. There was blood on her thighs and buttocks. When he turned her over he almost cried, her face was bloody and bruised, swollen to the point that no one would recognize her.

"Maggie? Mags?"

She was breathing, but there was no response. He pulled her skirt down and stroked her hair. "It's okay Mags, I'm here." House jumped up and went to the phone. He dialed 911 and ordered an ambulance. When he hung up he noticed that there was a phone list so House called Jack.

House heard a very groggy Jack answer.

"Jack, it's Greg. Maggie's been assaulted, I just called an ambulance. Meet us at Temple."

"Huh? Attacked? Who attacked her?"

"Jack, I don't have time to talk. I hear the sirens. See you at the hospital."

As the paramedics loaded Maggie, House called the police.

The rather bored voice on the other end of the phone had a heavy Philly accent. House told him what had happened, "Okay, so you say that someone broke into Cavanaughs and attacked the staff?"

"Just the barmaid."

There was a deep silence and then the cop's voice became anxious, "Jesus Fucking Christ, you're not telling me that Maggie Malone has been mugged?"

"No, I'm telling you that she's been beaten and raped."

"Ah, mother fucker!" The cop yelled so loud House had to hold the earpiece away. House heard him yell to someone at the precinct, "Tim, Tim, get yourself over to Cavanaugh's, Maggie's hurt. Hurley, call the Captain, this neighborhood is going to explode in the morning." The voice came back on the phone, "Now, who are you?"

"Dr. Gregory House, Maggie's lodger. When she didn't come home I went out to look for her. I'm going with her to Temple. You can find me there."

House hung up without waiting for a response. He got into his car and followed the ambulance to emergency. When he pulled in, there were already two cops waiting for him. They both saw Maggie being brought in and pulled back in shock at the sight of the disfigured woman in front of them.

The older one sighed, "Ah, Jesus Christ. I'd hate to be the poor dumb bastard that did that."

House shook his head, "What? You're worried about the asshole who raped and beat Maggie to a pulp?"

Officer Donnovan snorted, "Mister, you don't understand, whoever did this is a dead man and he probably knows it. His only hope is to get out of Philly before Maggie can tell her brother who did it."

House understood and realized that they were right. Justice would be swift. If Jack could find the guy, then he was a dead man. House gave a statement, what little he knew and then he talked to the ER doctors. There was noise from the front door of the hospital. Turning, House saw Jack and Theresa flying towards him.

"What happened? Where is she?" Jack asked in rapid fire.

House motioned for Jack to follow him into the doctor's charting room. "When I got home, Maggie wasn't there. I went down and found the back door to the bar open and her on the floor. She's in bad shape Jack. Her face is swollen and bruised. I don't know if there were any internal injuries, but she's been raped."

House didn't like what he saw. Theresa was appropriately shocked and started to cry. But the look on Jack's face turned House's blood cold. It was because there was no reaction. His face was as still and calm as if he had earplugs in. House was no fool, the face was a façade for the volcano churning inside. He had seen this before, when he was a kid, when the Marines on base where he lived would hear that one of their guys had been killed. This was the calm before the storm.

Jack's voice was flat, "Who did it?"

House shook his head, "I don't know. She was unconscious when I got there. They've already taken her up to surgery to repair her nose and some internal injuries. They told me that she'll be okay. Maybe you should call Tom, get him to fly out?" House suggested.

Theresa gasped and immediately cried out, "No! No, Jack. Don't tell him. He's coming back in a few days. We can tell him then."

House didn't understand and was surprised when Jack agreed. Jack saw that House was bewildered.

"Doc, I don't expect you to understand. But, people around here are kind of old fashioned. They think if a girl gets raped it was partly her fault. Tomorrow people will blame the guy who did this, but they'll also blame Maggie for riding her bike at night, although it doesn't look like that really had anything to do with it, not if he, or they, got her at the bar. Greg, thanks for going down there. I know you could have gone to bed and done nothing. I owe you one."

House thought about it. He would have gone to bed if it had been anyone but Maggie.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The nurse and staff were all advised by Jack that when Maggie woke up, he was the first that they should call – not the cops. He let the staff know that he'd be very unhappy if the Police were the first to talk to Maggie. They got the message. When Maggie woke up two days later, three people were by her bedside, House, Jack and Jack's "assistant", Matt.

House was reading her chart noting she had two cracked ribs, a collapsed lung, a broken nose, cracked jawbone and damage to the retina which had all been repaired. She had traumatic vaginal tears from the rape. She had been prescribed prophylactic antibiotics for both the surgery and possible STDs.

Jack knew he had very little time, the police were going to be able to identify the person who did it from the fingerprints left all over the till and safe. He wanted Maggie to tell him who it was now. He had a feeling he already knew. The day after it happened people were in the streets throwing rocks at the cop cars and protesting outside of Cavenaugh's. The crowds were stopping and badgering the police every chance they could get. If Maggie Malone was no longer safe, then things in the neighborhood had really gotten bad. Jack received a dozen phone calls from guys at the roofer's local 30 letting him now that Cory Sullivan hadn't shown up for work. When Jack made a personal call on Cory's wife and kids, his wife told Jack that she had kicked his ass out of the house two weeks ago. Cory had been staying with his Mom on Oxford Blvd. Jack didn't find him at Oxford, but his mother told Jack the truth, she hadn't seen her son in two days.

House watched Jack stroke Maggie's hair. She looked like a heap of flesh and bruises. She had an eye patch, bandages across her nose, her lip was cracked and her entire face was purple and yellow. When Maggie came to, she let out a muffled moan from the pain.

House walked over and turned up the morphine drip. "There Mags, you should feel better in a minute. She looked at House and nodded. Jack continued to stroke her hair and hold her hand.

"Mags, you're going to be okay. The doctors say you're young and healthy, you'll be on your feet soon. We've talked to the med school. They're going to allow you to take any tests you miss later in the semester. Don't worry, okay? I'll make sure you're fine. Apparently your tuition comes with student health insurance, so this is all covered."

Maggie nodded and tried to give him a smile, but it came out half-hearted.

Jacks stopped stroking her hair, leaned down and looked her in the eyes, "Mags, who did this to you?"

She looked in his eyes and knew she would be signing the man's death warrant. She shook her head to say that she didn't know.

"Mags, I already know. I just want you to confirm it. It was Cory, right?"

Maggie took in a sharp breath and a tear fell out of her eye.

"That's all I needed to know." He reached down kissed her forehead, "Now you rest and let Greg here take care of you. You wouldn't be alive if it wasn't for him. You had a collapse lung and blood blocking your windpipe. He got you to the hospital in time to save you."

Maggie looked over at House and put out her hand. House felt awkward, but took it and squeezed it. Within minutes, the morphine was working and Maggie fell asleep, her grasp on House's hand easing.

Two days later, the police took a statement from Maggie and verified it was Sullivan from the fingerprints. But rumor had it that they were already light years behind Jack who, as the neighborhood grapevine revealed, had tracked down Cory Sullivan to a Boston neighborhood where a cousin lived. Jack was fast, while the police took their time. They were a precinct of mostly Irish cops in an Irish neighborhood and they had no interest in getting to Cory Sullivan first.