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Chapter Three: The Right
"The problem: Somebody's been beating the brakes off that kid; The question: What's that gotta do with you, Olivia?"
"Absolutely nothing," Ned declared hotly, cutting off Olivia's response. He turned his distraught gaze back to Dr. Ledet. "What are you...are you saying Nate's been abused?"
"Follow me," Dr. Ledet directed, leading them to a conference room where he posted a series of x-rays, scans, and pictures on a whiteboard while they sat around a table. "We found what appears to be signs of chronic physical abuse."
As Ned covered his mouth with his fist to stifle a sob, Alex restrained her emotions behind a mantle of professional detachment. She pointed at one of the photos depicting a knobby, pale leg peppered with patches of purple and red bruises. "Those aren't from the accident," she observed, her tone placidly clinical.
"I reckon they're about three or four days old," Dr. Ledet confirmed, though he seemed unnerved by Alex's demeanor. "See these white spots," he pointed to a scan of the boy's brain. "They're calcifications from old head trauma."
Alex ruthlessly swallowed the bile creeping up her throat. "How old?" she managed.
"A year or less. I immediately ordered a full body scan," Dr. Ledet tapped the remaining items on the whiteboard. "An old subdural hematoma, improperly healed wrist and rib fractures, avulsion in his left shoulder, defensive bruising on his forearms..."
Alex's conscience sagged under the weight of Dr. Ledet's revelations. The guilt manifested behind her temples in the form of a migraine. The cold shame coiled around her, it's unforgiving tendrils muffling Dr. Ledet's voice, obscuring the room in inky blackness, forcing Alex to swallow the irrefutable fact that this was all her fault.
As if summoned, a string of agonizing screams seared across Alex's mind.
The Blackness danced around her, disturbingly in sync with the oddly familiar screams. Suddenly, Alex was seventeen again, pinned and powerless. Screaming, crying, pleading, her fault...
"Alex?"
She knew that voice. It sounded concerned, and slightly frightened, but it was a desperately needed life preserver.
The darkness receded to reveal fluorescent lights and Olivia hand covering Alex's.
Alex's spine snapped straight. She held her breath and schooled her features, attempting to hide how that casual touch — so familiar, so missed, so crucial — seemed to right Alex's axis.
Olivia felt sick.
It wasn't the subject matter. She'd sat through countless similar conversations, and while she was never unaffected, she was certainly acclimated to the emotional side effects.
It was the tortured, guilt-ridden stare muddling Alex's eyes. Though the rest of Alex's face was still, her eyes seemed locked in the grip of strong, well-fed pain. If Olivia was a betting woman, she'd wager that Dr. Ledet's revelations were kindling to whatever pain had engulfed Alex's relationship with Sam.
Olivia's memory took her back to another hospital, to another Sam whose demons Alex had internalized. As Olivia contemplated, she leaned closer to Alex, and gingerly brushed her hand over the blonde's. "Alex?"
Alex's eyes unclouded, and though her face had hardened, she didn't move her hand. Olivia squeezed those pale, delicate fingers, hoping the sensation would bring some semblance of comfort.
It must've, because Alex squeezed back.
Ned's rattled voice severed the moment. "I know what you're thinking," he started, staring at Alex with a pleading, broken expression. "Sam would never hurt Nate."
Dr. Ledet and Rocky exchanged knowing looks. Olivia wondered if either had previous contact with Sam or her son. Rocky was unlikely to answer questions in front of Ned, who seemed ill equipped to hear his friend portrayed as anything less than a paragon of maternal virtue.
"When was the last time you spoke to Mrs. Robichaud?" Rocky asked. Her tone was deliberate, like cautious fingers checking the wires of a time bomb.
He ignored the question. "I know her! I trust her, " he asserted fervently, his blue eyes ablaze. He whirled on Alex. "You trusted her. Why else would —" He stopped abruptly and wrenched away from the table. "I can't do this."
Alex immediately followed him into the hall.
Rocky blew out a dramatic sigh once the door closed. "Well, that was...interesting..."
Olivia realized she had an opportunity to address her earlier suspicions. "Something tells me the two of you are familiar with this family."
Rocky cocked her head, a slight smirk lifting the right corner of her mouth. "Funny, I was wondering the same about you."
Olivia knew she had to give to get, especially with Rocky. "Alex is a friend."
"Hmm. The way she stomached all this," she waved an encompassing hand at the whiteboard. "She a cop?"
"Prosecutor."
"Uh-huh," Rocky nodded, rocking in her chair. Her expression was knowing, and slightly mischievous. "You always so touchy feely with your ADAs?"
Olivia sighed, beginning a hybrid of an apology and explanation. "Look, Rocky…"
Rocky lifted her hands in mock surrender. "Untighten your ass, Detective — we straight, baby," she assuaged with an easy laugh. "Anyway, I can't say that I've had the personal pleasure of meeting either Robichaud."
"Same," Dr. Ledet agreed, hesitantly.
"And your colleagues?" Olivia asked, though she already knew the answer.
Rocky chose her words carefully. "Can't say that they have, either, seeing as the Robichauds are out of Lafourche Parish. Now, child welfare, yeah, they talk to all types of folks — especially these days; you know, with this opioid epidemic going on."
Olivia jerked forward, gripping both arms of her chair. "Sam was an addict," Olivia whispered, sneaking a glance at the closed door.
Dr. Ledet cleared his throat. "I got family out that way. If she's kin to the Robichauds I'm thinking of, folks might be hesitant to talk."
Rocky grinned in response to his warning. "Yeah? Well, I got ways of getting folks to sing," she gave Olivia a steady look. "Huh, Olivia?"
Much to her chagrin, Olivia blushed, the color washing up to her face in a dull brick color. Thankfully, the door opened, and Alex, followed by a visibly calmer Ned, rejoined everyone at the table. Olivia brushed her hand over Alex's in assessment, vaguely aware of Rocky's smug gaze analyzing the gesture.
The doctor seemed to sense the need to steer the conversation away from Sam. "With respect to Nate's current injuries, Mr. Cabot, as Nate's medical guardian…"
Alex looked between her brother and Dr. Ledet, raw confusion knitting her brows. "I'm sorry, there must be some —"
"—no, there isn't," Ned interrupted. He looked like a chastened child, fiddling with the strings of his hoodie. "Sam and I," he stumbled over his words. "Well...we...we transferred everything to me, after...well, you know..."
Indignation roiled through Alex like lava. All of her nerve endings pulsated with wild, frenzied rage. Her head seemed to split like an atom as the anger accelerated like a neuron toward the nucleus of her self control.
Ned sputtered out a sigh, raking shaky fingers through his hair. "I know...I know you're...angry," he started haltingly. "I just...I knew you would...I knew you would only come if you were obligated."
She gripped the edge of the table, her pale knuckles jutting against her pale skin, as she fought against the boiling current threatening to curl her hands around Ned's neck to squeeze the entitlement from his throat. She wanted to shake, to swear, to scream — but she didn't.
Instead, she breathed. Low, slow, and deliberate. In and out.
Silently, Alex recited Ten Thousand Men of Harvard, calming herself. She released her vice grip on the table and stared down her brother. "You had no right," Alex said flatly.
Ned's eyes flashed. "No, I had a strategy," he retorted, sourly. He hissed a cold, bitter laugh. "You're fluent in the art of maneuver, Alex. Lord knows you wouldn't have come for Sam or Nate, but you'd come for duty. You've got the strongest, strictest fidelity to justice, to the greater good. You may neglect people, your people, but the formidable ADA Cabot would never forsake The People."
Alex choked out a dry sob as she stood up. She pursed her lips, raised her eyes, and regarded Ned coldly behind her glasses. "You had no right," she repeated, woundedly.
Ned stood and returned her glare. "I had every right," he hissed. "Then and now."
With that, Alex pushed him, and fled the room.
Some of Dr. Ledet's dialogue describing Nate's injuries came from 10x20 Crush.