Thanks for comments, follows and favorites.
I should warn for triggers of domestic violence in this chapter.
…...
Soul Survivor
Chapter 12 – Can't Find A Better Man
…...
Can we talk?
All day yesterday Sam had called Kaya. He knew, if she would just talk to him, they could work past whatever had made her so mad the day before. He'd spent the early morning helping Frank feed the horses and clean out the stalls, then he'd called Kaya before coming in to work at the hospital. He'd called on his break, and he'd called when he finished his shift, but she hadn't answered, and he hadn't left any messages.
This morning, he'd gone by Aspen Ridge to help feed the horses and show the two new ranch hands around the place before coming into the hospital. About eight he'd decided to get some breakfast and text Kaya. She hadn't answered. He'd checked his phone at lunch and resisted the urge to text again when there was still no answer. He thought she might be busy or out of range and didn't receive his text. He didn't want to seem desperate, but that's how he felt.
After checking his phone once again, Sam stepped into the cardiac unit. He could see that David, the unit secretary, was busy with a stack of papers in front of him, so Sam nodded but didn't attempt to make conversation.
"Three admissions and two transfers," David lamented as he assembled charts and sorted through the computer print out of orders.
"Do you need me for anything?" Sam asked.
"No. No security issues. Just sick hearts."
Sam caught Anita's eye where she stood at the Pyxis machine getting medicine for one of the patients. He nodded and she gave him a small wave as he walked out of the unit. It had only been a couple of minutes but he checked his phone again for an answer to his text. There wasn't one.
The security phone rang. He was needed in the ER STAT, so Sam put his long legs to good use and ran down the two flights of stairs from the cardiac unit to the emergency room. He heard the commotion as he scanned his key card opening automatic doors.
"Let me see her now!" a deep voice demanded. "Let me see my wife."
The scene that greeted him sent his instincts immediately into hunter mode. He had to fight the drive to attack the man who had pushed past the nurse and was heading straight toward Dr. Hanson with clenched fists and a determined scowl on his face. Sam's first reaction was to view the man as a monster, but Sam could see he wasn't a monster; he was an out-of-control, angry husband.
Putting himself directly in the man's path, Sam shielded Dr. Hanson from harm. He raised both hands, palms out in a disarming manner as the man slowly raised his angry gaze to Sam's face. Sam stood tall and hoped that his body language would come off as authoritative but not menacing, even though he wanted to pulverize the guy for threatening the doctor.
At Sam's assurance Dr. Hanson slipped back behind the curtain where Sam assumed this man's wife was being treated—for what, he didn't know. But, he reminded himself he didn't need to know. What he did know was that this man would be a formidable opponent if things should get out of hand and become physical. His face was angry, there was a touch of desperation evident in his movements, and Sam noticed the sour smell of stale whiskey. Everything about the man told Sam that it was going to be difficult to reason with him.
"Get out of my way," the man growled, narrowing his eyes at Sam.
"Your wife is in good hands." Sam told the man, keeping his voice calm but confident. "The doctor and the nurse will take good care of her. As soon as she's treated and you've quieted down, I'm sure the doctor will talk to you, and you can be with your wife."
"No!" the man barked at Sam, and his face clouded even more. "I'm going in there now."
"Sir—"
"I have a right! You can't hold me like this." He lunged at Sam, but stopped short when he realized the broad expanse of Sam Winchester that blocked his way was not intimidated and had no intention of moving aside to let him through. The man deflated, muttering at Sam. "You're a fucking ass-hole."
"That may be," Sam answered. "But ass-hole or not, I'm telling you there are two ways this can end." The man snorted at Sam, but Sam continued explaining the situation. "You can sit quietly and wait until the nurse and doctor finish helping your wife, or I can escort you off the premises. What you can't do is threaten the staff and cause a disturbance in the hospital." The man's dark eyes softened in defeat, and he dropped down onto a chair with a heavy sigh.
Roger, the other security officer on duty arrived, easing up next to Sam. "What's the story here?" He looked from Sam to the man slumped in the chair. "Bear? Damn. What the hell, man?"
"You know this man?" Sam watched as the man glared up at Roger.
"Yeah. I've know him since High School, right Bear?" Roger gave the man a disdainful look. "His wife, right?"
Sam nodded. He was beginning to put the scenario together in his mind when he spied Kaya quickly making her way through the ER. She was intercepted by a nurse who led her straight to the curtained bay that held the wife of the man he'd just gotten calm and seated.
"That bitch!" Bear, the man in question, was no longer calm or seated. "Get her the hell away from my wife!" He bolted toward the curtain where Kaya had disappeared, knocking Roger down and pushing past Sam. Once again his hands were clenched into tight, meaty fists, and his face twisted murderously.
Roger scrambled from the floor reaching for his baton, but Sam was faster, reaching his long arm around the man and slamming a broad hand in the man's chest to pull him back. The man struggled, but quickly gave up as Sam backed him up against the wall.
Everything he knew, everything he'd learned and trained for, buried deep in his bones rose to the surface. He couldn't hold his hunter's instincts at bay any longer as they ripped through his body, burning with the heat of adrenalin. "That was your last chance, Bear," Sam growled into the man's face. "Cuff him," he told Roger.
The hunter inside Sam screamed for him to end this monster now while he had the upper hand, but reason prevailed. He didn't know the whole story, didn't know what the man had done or why he was so hostile. He'd threatened Dr. Hanson and Kaya, and that made Sam's blood boil, but the man was human, not a monster. Sam needed to do this the right way—the normal way—not like a hunter.
"Call the city police and have them pick him up for disturbing the peace, threatening an officer and threatening a healthcare professional." Sam snarled the orders to Roger, then helped him secure the man before he headed toward the two women behind the curtain, one at the center of this very public storm and the other at the center of his own very private emotional storm.
Sam Winchester had seen a good many injured people over the years of his hunting life. He'd seen Dean's and his dad's face beaten and bloody more times than he cared to think about. He'd been on the receiving end of more than one beating, stabbing, gunshot and any number of vicious demon assaults. He knew that kind of pain. He wasn't surprised by what he saw—had expected it—but he was disgusted and infuriated.
The woman had been beaten. Her face was washed clean of what must have been a bloody mess. Her lip had been split and was scabbed over, but swelling fast. Her eyes were beginning to darken, and she would soon have dark purple circles around both of them. A gash on her face sported finely sewn stitches. She was covered by a pristine white hospital blanket, but Sam had no doubt there were assorted bruises and gashes all over her body. The smell of blood and antiseptic filled the air, and he felt sick with it. The tell tale smell of a freshly applied cast indicated that she had at least one broken extremity hidden under the blanket.
Kaya stood by the bed of this woman that could very well be her twin. The resemblance between the two women was remarkable. She held the woman's hand and tenderly stroked her hair, carefully working her way around a growing purple bulge on the woman's cheek. When she looked up at him, her eyes red with unshed tears, her face a mix of hurt and anger, he stood frozen at the end of the bed.
"Kaya?" Her name left his lips on a soft whisper. She bowed her head and turned her face away from him. He felt the heat of shame cover his face, as if he shared in the disgrace of his sex and the unbridled use of power and strength against innocence. Isn't that the definition of a monster? The man needs to be hunted and put down.
"Sam?" Dr. Hanson came up behind him and laid a hand on his arm, turning him away from the two women to face her. "This is a domestic violence case." Her words were cold and clinical, but her eyes had a soft sadness to them.
"Marilyn?" Sam swallowed hard against the lump forming in his throat. He called the doctor by her name—as a friend. This was hard for him. He could deal with the 'monster' outside this small curtained bay, but the survivor of that monster's wrath, he didn't want to deal with.
"Officer Winchester." Dr. Hanson called him by his title, reminding him of his job in an effort to ground him in it. "It's not the first time with this couple. You'll need to get a statement."
"I . . ." Sam stared dumbly at the doctor. He was aware of domestic violence—knew the staggering statistics, but now he was face to battered face, and the pain in Kaya's eyes threatened to undo him.
"You've been trained for this, haven't you?" Dr. Hanson asked.
"I . . . yes, Dr. Hanson."
"Your first case?" At Sam's nod, Dr. Hanson squared her shoulders and nailed him with a stern look. "Then you need to use that training and do what needs to be done in the most professional manner you can."
"Yes, ma'am." Sam straightened and began to recall his training. He'd been trained to swallow his fear, disgust, even anger and retain his ability to be calm and logical. At times his life had depended on that ability. He recalled the proper procedure for survivors of domestic violence. "Did you call Social Services?"
"They're on the way," Dr. Hanson responded. She seemed satisfied that Sam would handle this and turned to other duties, quietly leaving.
Sam turned back to the young woman lying on the ER gurney. He glanced at Kaya and approached the scene almost reverently as if he didn't want to disturb it, but it was already a tragically disturbed mess.
"I'm Officer Sam Winchester," he told the woman. "I'm with security here at the hospital. I'm also a public safety officer." He glanced at Kaya.
"Kanti," Kaya spoke to the woman in hushed tones. "Sam is a friend of mine. You can trust him."
"Kanti?" The woman nodded in response to Sam's question. "It looks as if someone did this to you, and I need to get a statement from you about what happened."
"It was an accident," she responded.
"Could you tell me how it happened?" he continued.
"I lost my balance. I fell."
Kaya snorted at her response, and Sam frowned at her. She pursed her lips in a pout.
He turned back to Kanti. "Could you be a little more specific?"
"Monster," Kaya mumbled under her breath, and Kanti seemed to close off completely giving Kaya a fearful look.
"Kaya, please." Sam spoke in the same soft voice he'd been using for Kanti. "I need to get the story first hand."
"Tell the truth." Kaya spoke low and angrily to the Kanti.
"I am." Kanti spit her answer back.
"Kaya." Sam wanted to plead with her. He'd been wanting to talk to her for two days, to clear the air between them. He wanted her to trust him. The last thing he wanted was to give her another reason to be mad at him, but he had a job to do, and she was not helping the situation.
"Okay," Sam looked from one woman to the other. "Help me understand what's going on between you two. First, are you related?" He knew that they were. There was no doubt in his mind about that, and it was also obvious to Sam that they had been through this with each other before.
"She's my cousin," Kaya answered.
Sam made it clear that he wanted Kanti to answer next. "Did you ask Kaya to be here with you?"
Kanti hesitated, and a small uncertain voice answered. "Yes."
"And would you like her to stay while you explain what happened, or would you rather talk about it without her. I can have a nurse come in with us."
Kanti looked at him in disbelief. "I . . ." she floundered.
"I'm not leaving her." The anger that rolled off of Kaya was so thick it hit Sam like a train.
He looked into Kaya's dark, angry eyes. "I have to hear the story from Kanti. She has to be the one to tell me what happened, without any prodding from anybody." He felt his heart clench as he continued to informed her. "If you can't let her speak, if you can't let her tell the story her way, then I'll have to ask you to leave, whether she wants you to or not." Kaya looked even angrier, and like the foggy clouds that rolled off the mountain and burned away in the warmth of the morning sun, whatever he had hoped could happen between them was gone. There would be no peace between them. He did not expect her to forgive him.
"Please." Sam watched as Kaya struggled to get her anger under control before he continued. "Okay, ladies, what's it going to be?"
Kaya sighed. "It's her story to tell."
"Good," Sam turned once more to Kanti. "So, can you be more specific? Tell me exactly how you fell."
Sam pulled out a pad and pen as Kanti hesitantly began to speak.
"I don't know. I think I might have passed out and fell."
"Well, that's possible, but Kanti, you have a lot of damage on your face." Sam continued his questions in a soft voice that he hoped was sympathetic and persuasive. "Your cheek is bruised and both eyes. That's a bad split on your lip." He watched as she glanced nervously at Kaya and back to him. "Those are pretty big injuries for a fall."
She hesitated, seeming to think about her answer just a little too long. "I fell down the stairs."
"Were the stairs inside the house or outside?" Sam continued to prod.
"She lives in a mobile home." Sam gave Kaya a warning look, and she blushed, bowing her head. "Sorry." He hated seeing that look on her face and wondered if she'd ever speak to him again—hoping in spite of the hopelessness in his heart that she would understand that this was what he had to do.
"So the stairs were outside?" Kanti nodded. "How many steps?"
"Three." Her tiny voice was unsure. It was obvious she was lying and obvious that she knew he knew. He wondered how long she would continue to cover for her husband, how many times he done this to her.
"Three steps?" She nodded again. "Is there a rail?" He continued to fish for information.
"Yes."
"Is there concrete at the bottom of the steps?"
"Dirt . . . a flowerbed . . . and rocks." Kanti floundered, working too hard to convince him.
"Do you have wounds other than on your face?"
"Broken rib and a bruise on my hip."
"And?"
"Broken wrist," she confessed.
"Well, it could be a bad fall, three steps out of the door." Sam tapped his pen against the pad he had yet to write anything on. "But, I have to be honest with you. A fall from three steps up into a flowerbed, even with rocks in it, doesn't seem likely that the results would be this bad. The wounds you have are consistent with assault, Kanti, and the marks on your arms. . ." He raised his own arm, elbow bent so that his forearm was across his face. "They look like defensive wounds, especially the broken wrist."
A dreadful silence filled the space leaving Sam and Kaya to wait hopefully for Kanti's response.
A tear slid from her swollen eye. "He was so angry."
"Your husband? Bear?" Sam prompted softly.
"Yes. He hit me."
"How many times?" Kaya looked at him as if she couldn't believe the question. He knew what she must be thinking. Who the hell could count while they are being beaten?
"I don't know," Kanti blurted out a sob.
"With his fists?" He continued to prod her.
"Yes. At first." More tears began to follow the first one. Kaya gripped her cousins hand tighter and Sam saw the tears fall from her eyes too.
"He hit you with his fists first—and then?" He waited for her answer.
"Baseball bat."
Sam felt his stomach churn. Nothing he could do would ever make this better for Kanti or for Kaya, and he felt useless. But he continued to do what he had to do.
"I'm sorry," Sam said, and he meant it. "Let's start from the beginning and I'm going to write all this down."
The ordeal of the morning came out in all it's ugly detail while Sam wrote down the whole story. He could see the muscles in Kaya's jaw work as she clenched her teeth. Sometimes she would close her eyes, and sometimes she would look away, but for whole time, she held her cousin's hand and offered silent encouragement while Kanti relived her of night of pain, fear and heart ache in the telling."
Finally, after Sam had the whole story, he asked. "Do you want to press charges?"
"He doesn't mean it," Kanti sobbed and Kaya looked at her in amazement.
Sam waited silently.
"He wasn't himself. That's not who he is." Kanti struggled. "It's like he changes . . . something happens to him. He's different."
"Different how?" Sam questioned.
"It's like he's not even the same person. I can see it in his eyes. He changes."
"Yeah." Kaya sneered. "He's such a sweetheart when he's not drunk."
"Wait," Sam held a hand up to Kaya then looked deep into Kanti's eyes. "How is he not the same person? What do you see in his eyes?"
"He's just . . . changed . . . like two different people in the same skin?" Her eyes became hard and bitter. "One of them I love, but the other . . . I hate him."
"Kanti—?"
"We need to move you to a room, Kanti." Dr. Hanson came into the ER bay, interrupting Sam's next question. "Mrs. Mason from Social Services is here. She'll interview you in ICU. You're going to stay for observation."
"But—"
"We need to get her settled, Officer Winchester," Dr. Hanson insisted. "If you don't have her statement yet, you can finish upstairs. We need to move things along."
"Yes, I'm . . . I have her statement." Sam put his notepad and pen in his pocket. "Thank you Kanti. I'll be off for the next few days, but there is always an officer on duty If you want to press charges, just let your nurse know. She can call and you can get that process started." He noticed the sorrowful expression in her eyes. "If . . ." He hesitated. "If you'd feel more comfortable. . ." He took his card out of his pocket and handed it to her. "You can call me—anytime."
…...
Sam finished out the rest of his shift writing up his report of the incident. He left out the part about Bear's eyes and the two different people in one skin shifting. Anyone but a hunter would chalk that talk up to the fact that Kanti was an abused woman and probably suffering from post traumatic stress, but her words kept niggling in Sam's mind and he couldn't ignore them. He found Kanti's address and went to investigate.
Maybe this wasn't anything supernatural. Maybe it was just a simple domestic violence case like thousands of others across the nation. He wondered if he should check inside, knowing that was exactly what he was going to do. He didn't want it to be simple abuse. He wanted it to be supernatural, a demon or ghost possession—something he could fix. But in his heart, he knew it wasn't, and Dean's words echoed in his mind.
"Demons I get. People are crazy."
When he came around the last corner of the mobile home, he found himself face to face with Kaya at the front door.
"Sam? What are you doing here?"
…...
TBC
Author's Note: For those who are curious, the name Kaya means 'little but wise'. It is Hopi and it is predominantly used in English. Its meaning is derived from the word kaka-hoya.
The name Kanti is Blackfeet and it means 'she sings'.
