AN: I hope you guys like this next chapter. All mistakes are mine, I haven't found a beta yet.
Blondie2000: Thank you for your comment. You are correct, Lexa did come from an abusive background, and yes, she was trying to escape.
Lexa glanced around the small room that the doctors had put her in. It was the same four walls she'd been looking at the past few weeks. If boredom could kill, she knew she'd been dead a long time ago. The only thing that kept her going was the stories that the staff told about the patients. She liked to try and figure out what was wrong with the patients and try to guess the treatments that they needed. Her brain turned like a wheel when Will told her about the patients that'd come in the past few days who were treated with chemo but never had cancer. The only thing she could come up with is that the doctor who treated them got their files wrong.
Lexa's eyes landed on her arm, they just did surgery on it last week. Now it was stiffly wrapped up in an itchy groaned I hate being in one spot. She thought to herself. Connor and Natalie gave her a few books to read, but that only kept her mind active for a few hours. She glanced down at her arm again, trying to remember how she'd broken her arm. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't remember anything. There were times when she'd have nightmares about a group of yelling guys. She shuddered at the thought, that wasn't a dream she liked to remember
With one more glance at her arm, she threw back the blankets on the bed. Dr. Halstead let her walk around once since she came to the hospital, it was only a short walk down the hall and back. That walk felt like she'd just did a marathon. "I can do this," she muttered to herself. With a deep breath, she slowly slid off the bed. Her head pounded with the sudden motion, even with the meds, it didn't fully take away the pain from the concussion. Once she was sure her legs weren't going to give out, she made her way to the door. Lexa nervously opened the door, to her surprise the hallway was empty.
"Just a for a few minutes," she mumbled as she made her way out of the room. Her heart pounded with each step she took, as a surge of adrenaline rushed through her. Dr. Manning warned her not to leave the room on her own. It was something to do with pain or injuries not healed all the way. Lexa quit listening halfway through the older ladies lecture. "She just has baby brain," she chuckled to herself. "I'll be fine, it's not like I'm going very far," she said, trying to convince herself.
Her eyes scanned the names on the paperwork outside each patients door. "Trinity, Alisa, Crowley, Shadow." Lexa's read off, "at least I'm not really alone." She turned down another hallway, which split off into a T. She turned down the left hallway, she didn't know where she was going, but it felt nice to finally be out of that room.
Connor sat next to Natalie and Daniel, each of them wore the same pissed off expression. They'd been called into Sharon's office for a meeting, they assumed it had to do with the cancer case that they were dealing with. To their dismay, that wasn't the case. When the trio made their way into the office, their face dropped at the sight the social worker.
"You can't just put her in a home," Natalie cried out, not caring about her quivering voice.
"No one has come forth about a missing child. We suspected that she was part of the human traffic operation, she isn't in the system, we haven't had anyone report a child that resembles her. With the child not having any memory of her past, the only option we have is for her to go to a group home."
"We have no idea what she's been through, what we do know is that she's been abused," Daniel said in a calm voice. "Sending her to a group home would only set back her healing. She needs to be in a home where she's the only child. She needs one on one attention with someone who can give her what she needs."
"A group home is the only option," the social worker argued. "She doesn't remember her past, which won't be a problem with her settling into a new place. She will adjust well with a steady routine, which a group home will give her."
"Yeah, and who will be there if she has a nightmare?" Connor's voice was laced with anger. "She wakes up screaming every time she tries to fall asleep. The adults in a group home wouldn't be able to be there with her 24/7."
"The nightmares will go away," the social worker replied. "Once she gets used to her new place, she'll be fine."
"What if someone was to foster to adopt?" Natalie suggested, her eyes wandered over to where Connor was sitting.
"If we were able to find someone to do that, then we could." The social worker ran her hand through her thick black hair. "However, families don't want a problemed older child. They want young kids... mostly babies," she said with a sigh.
"I know of someone who would be perfect to care for the child," Natalie said, with a small smile. "He's a great guy with a decent job. I've never been to his place, but I hear it's nice." She caught Daniel's eye, who smiled back.
"Ah yes, that guy would be perfect," Daniel said with a soft chuckle. "We wouldn't have to worry about the child not being able to be cared for. I know he has good friends who'd be willing to help out, too."
Connor shot the two a death glare. He couldn't believe what he was hearing, they were talking about sending the child away as if she was nothing.
"You'd have to contact him. He needs to fill out paperwork, so we can get approved. Then we'd need to do a home check plus a background check."
"I don't think he'd have much of a problem passing a background check." Daniel's eyes sparkled when we spoke.
"And just who is this person you're just pawning the child off to?" Connor demanded.
"I thought it would be obvious," Sharon finally pipped up, trying to stifle a laugh.
"Obviously it's not," he snapped back.
"It's you!" Natalie threw back her head, laughing.
"Me? But..I..I." Connor stumbled over his words, unsure of what to say.
"Won't he be too busy?" The Social worker asked.
"Not if you look at it like this," Daniel paused a second, then continued. "Lexa would go to school at seven in the morning, which is just right before Connor has to come into work. He could drop her off at school on the way in. Then, when she gets out of school, she could come here until Connor gets done working."
"Yeah, and where would she stay? A hospital isn't the place for a child." The Social worker challenged.
"She could hang out in the lounge working on homework. I know the others would be more than happy to help her between their patients." Daniel explained.
The social worker sat there, glancing between the four of them. "Before I say yes, I'd like to talk to the child."
Sharon nodded, "if you'd follow us, we'll take you to her." She walked over to the door, holding it open for them.
With Connor in the lead, Natalie standing shoulder to shoulder with Daniel on one side and Sharon on the other, they led the social worker to the room.
"How did her surgery go?" The social worker asked.
"It was a complicated surgery, but we were able to get the bones back in place." Connor glanced over to his shoulder, the social worker scribbled notes down in her folder. "Here's her room," he said, as he opened the door. "Lexa, this is..." His voice trailed off, "she's...she's gone."
"Of course she is," the social worker muttered under her breath.
"Maybe one of the other doctors took her for a little walk," Natalie's voice sounded almost hopeful.
"What's everyone looking at?" Will asked, making his way over to the small group.
"Is Lexa with you?" Natalie's voice lowered a bit.
"No, I was coming to get her to see if she wanted to go for a short walk." He glanced around the group, his mouth opened in surprise. "She was here an hour ago."
"Not like it's the first time you lost a child." The social worker said, bitterly.
"What does THAT mean!" Connor snapped, causing Will to take a step back.
"I just mean, you already lost a runaway, now this child vanishes." The social worked scuffed
"She can't be far, she could just be walking around," Natalie suggested.
"Will, Connor why don't you two go down the hall. Daniel and I can go down the other hall to see if she went down that way. Natalie, could you..." Shanon's voice trailed off, at the sound of approaching footsteps.
"Uh...I." Lexa mumbled, feebly. She'd hoped she could have made it back to her room before anyone showed up, she wasn't expecting to get lost.
"Where have you been," Connor asked, sternly.
"Well..I..uh...i.." Lexa's eyes met her shoes, finding them to be more interesting.
Connor put his fingers under her chin, gently lifting her head up. "There we go, I prefer not to talk to your head." He said with a gentle smile. "Now, would you like to tell me where you went," he asked, softly.
"I just went for a small walk...I got bored." Lexa mumbled under her breath.
Connor nodded, "a short walk it more than just a short walk. When we didn't see you in here we got worried. We didn't know where you were, or if you were okay. If something happened we wouldn't know where to find you," He explained.
"I'm sorry," Lexa whispered.
Connor laid his arm over the girl's shoulders, "come on, let's get you back to bed." He slowly led her over to the bed. "Next time you want to go for a walk, just ask."
"Yes sir," she replied. "I just don't like being cooped up all the time." Lexa climbed back onto the bed, pulling the covers over herself.
"You won't be here much longer. The social services have to do some paperwork, but they think they might have found a place for you to stay." Connor squeezed her shoulder, reassuringly.
"But, I don't wanna go." Tears filled her eyes, threatening to spill out any second. "I want to stay here... What if they don't like me? What if they hurt me? What if... what if the people from before find me?"
"Hey, hey, hey." Natalie rushed over to the girl's side. "No one is ever going to hurt you, I promise you that." She glanced over at the social worker, who gave a nod of approval. "We just need to work out a few small details. Once we get things figured out, you'll be staying with Connor."
Lexa stared at them wide-eyed, not believing what she was hearing.
"If Connor passes the home inspection, he'll need to fill out a bit of paperwork." The social worker said, walking over to the bed. "If he gets approved, would you want to live with him?"
"Y...yes." Tears raced down her face, "I don't know what to say."
"Yes is all I needed," Connor pulled her into a gentle hug. "Everything is going to be okay."