CHAPTER 52

(GRACE)

I am totally sickened by what I have just witnessed. The levels of abuse on this poor woman's body are simply horrific. Elliot and Christian have both asked me to comprehensively examine her and write a detailed report on my findings for her to use as evidence against the person who inflicted these injuries.

"Alright you can get dressed now" I tell her gently as I wash my hands, and I watch as she quickly redresses. I glance at her daughter who accompanied her into the room.

"Please tell me that you are definitely going to be pressing charges" I say after a moment.

Sadie nods, "I am, Lucy has been documenting the evidence for years and she gave Christian a flash drive with all the photographs and videos she took".

"But you say there are no medical records?" I ask and Sadie shakes her head.

"No, David always treated me himself so there was no record of him doing anything" she says.

I nod, "Well, when I have written my report on everything that I have found, you will have some medical evidence of the abuse you have suffered" I say kindly.

I am so angry that someone who professes to help heal others has been doing this to his own wife. I had been surprised when Christian had called me and not only asked me to examine Sadie but also get Carrick on board to help this woman. The story he laid out for us was unbelievable but after seeing the damage this poor woman has endured, I have decided I cannot in good conscience not intervene either. I will do everything within my power to try and get her husband's licence to practice medicine revoked.

"What are your plans now that you are here in Seattle?" I ask.

Sadie looks nervously at Lucy and then swallows hard. "Erm… I believe that wheels are being set in motion to help me get a divorce from my husband. To be totally honest with you, I am not entirely sure what is going to happen; when I woke up this morning I wasn't even sure if I would be escaping as I had no idea if the plan my daughter had put into place would work".

"Plan?" I ask as I look at her questioningly, thoughts of the fact she is just using Elliot and Christian fill my mind. Lucy must notice my reaction as she looks at me a little defiantly.

"Mom has lived a life of hell. She was desperate to meet Elliot, but she knew that dad wouldn't allow her to do so. The only way to do so would be for my sister to get involved as I knew that if she knew about Elliot she would insist on meeting him, which is exactly what happened. I also realised that this could be moms only chance to get away from dad. I have been planning our escape for years and as I told Elliot and Christian, I have been saving my allowance for years so mom would have the financial means to start again along with amassing evidence of the abuse and the fact my dad has been using her as a slave. I admit that there was an element of knowing that with the influence and resources your family have it would make moms escape easier but the fundamental fact remains that primarily mom wanted to meet Elliot. She has always loved him and always thought about him, I knew all about him and while dad forbid her to talk about him, she confided in me and she never forgot him".

I feel ashamed as I feel a surge of jealousy flow through me and I can't help but worry that Sadie is going to try and be a mother to Elliot, now that she is in his life. I am feeling conflicted at the moment as I can understand the desperation of wanting to escape an abusive relationship and I cannot fault either of them for grabbing the opportunity that was presented to them, but upon hearing that Sadie also harbours maternal feelings towards Elliot… it worries me. Sadie reaches out and touches my hand.

"I am so grateful to you for giving him what I couldn't. You gave him a loving family with every possible advantage to make a success of his life and he has done that. I want to reassure you that I am not going to use Elliot or Christian purely for my own gain, Christian has been good enough to let us stay in his apartment here in Seattle until we get ourselves sorted out but it is only temporary, I don't intend to mooch off of either of your sons".

I smile as I squeeze her hand kindly, her words have gone some way to mollify me. Sadie returns the squeeze and she looks at me carefully. "I would also like to make it clear that I accept that you are Elliot's mother. I have no desire to insert myself into his life in that way. I gave up any rights I had to him when I signed the adoption papers. Having said that, I do want to get to know him and have a relationship with him though, but I just want to be a friend to him and I don't want to step on any toes and usurp your place in his life".

Lucy nods in agreement. "Yes, we are incredibly grateful to everyone for everything they have done. Also, thank you for agreeing to see my mom and examining her, but I want to assure you we are not here to cause any trouble or difficulties within your family".

I feel placated and reassured by their words and I wave my hand dismissively, and I decide to change the subject and bring the conversation back to why they are both here. "You don't have to thank me, it is my pleasure. I know this was a bit of an ordeal for you but I needed to be thorough, and the evidence of the healed repeatedly broken bones, the scarring and the fresh injuries has all been noted. I will make sure I make a full and detailed report on all my findings which can be used as evidence".

As Sadie and Lucy thank me once again, I shepherd them towards the door. As I open it, I see everyone waiting and as one they all look up. Elliot immediately stands, closely followed by Christian.

"Well?" Christian asks and I shake my head at him and give him a disapproving look. He knows I cannot divulge anything I have seen in that room due to patient confidentiality.

"You know I can't say anything Christian, but I will say I will do my very best to ensure that everything I have seen is detailed thoroughly in my report" I say hoping that will suffice as an answer.

Christian thinks for a moment and then reluctantly nods, "And dad is going to be on the case to help Sadie get her divorce?" he asks and I nod.

"Yes, he is" I reply. I turn towards Sadie and Lucy, "Would you both like to come for dinner tonight and you can take the time to talk to Carrick and discuss your case. I know you met him briefly earlier but that was mainly just a brief introduction".

Sadie and Lucy nod and Sadie glances at Elliot nervously. He smiles reassuringly at her and wraps his arm around her shoulder.

"Don't worry, I'll be there – if mom is offering dinner, I always invite myself along". He says flippantly which produces an amused smile from Sadie. He pauses and glances at Christian, "What about you bro?" he asks.

Christian nods, "Ana and I will be there" he says simply. As he says that I hear a phone ringing and Ana fumbles in her purse. She pulls out her phone and looks at the screen.

"It's Eva" she says as she quickly answers.

"Put it on speaker baby, so we can all hear as I am assuming she is calling regarding her interaction with Jen" Christian says and Ana nods and presses a button.

"Hello" she says and almost immediately I hear Eva's voice fill the room and what she says confirms Christian's assumptions about what it is regarding.

"Let's go back into my office, so we have a little privacy to hear what Eva is saying" I say and we all troop inside and I close the door.

"Hang on Eva, you are on speaker so we are just going somewhere private" Ana says and Eva immediately stops talking.

I have barely closed the door when Ana informs Eva that we are now in private and Eva's voice fills the room once more.

"Ana, I just thought I'd bring you all up to speed on what has gone down since you left Detroit. So… I went to the police precinct to look for Jen to give her, her phone back. She was there, and she seemed surprised to see me, I can't think why as I told her I would return her phone to her as soon as Sadie and Lucy were safely in the air. Unless of course she was concerned that I would cause a scene or something. It became apparent very quickly that she had spoken to her father and is now trying to save her own skin by offering to furnish us with all the evidence she has of David's abusive relationship with Sadie. I played along, as I'm not going to turn down free info especially when it can help - although I'm not totally convinced that she won't switch sides again. But I need to give you a heads up, she seemed to be under the impression that David will come to Seattle to find Sadie. Now, I want to reassure you that Gideon has jumped right on that. While I was seeing Jen, he was with me but as soon as Jen told us that she thought David would go to Seattle he left and went to David's office and confronted him. I'm not sure what was said but when I called him to find out how he got on and if David was going to be any kind of real threat, he didn't seem overly concerned. But I am just on my way to meet him now so I will be able tell you more later".

"Thank you Eva" Ana says gratefully.

"No problem, I have to say it was highly entertaining to watch Jen squirming and trying to wriggle out of any culpability for her part in all this".

"Thank you Eva. I'll make sure I get that list of police officers to you as soon as I can" Lucy calls.

"Oh yes that reminds me, I was approached by one of dads' buddies while I was there. He recognised me and he knows my dad and he pulled me to one side and advised me to keep away from Jen and he suggested she wasn't the most truthful or honourable police officer. I asked him what he meant by that and he said he just said that he had seen enough over the years to know that she was not the sort of person to trust. So, as soon as I get that list from you, I'll give it to my dad and let him do his thing".

"Thank you, Eva" Sadie says and then she glances round, "Thank you to all of you for everything you are doing for us. I have no idea how I will ever be able to repay you all for everything you are doing for us and the way you are putting yourselves out for us".

Elliot shakes his head, "Stop it, we have already told you. You are family and we look after our family".

I feel a pang in my chest as I hear Elliot say that but I try not to show any response or reaction to it. He is calling his birth mother family and that comment worries me, Sadie has reassured me that she wants no claim on my son but it is clear that Elliot sees her as family and once again I worry that my son is slipping away from me.