Signature of an Abusive Father
Dave Malucci walked out of the exam room and down the hall to the admitting desk to enter his new patient on the board.
As he got closer to the desk, his pace slowed. A woman was at the desk. He only saw the back of her full blonde head, but he knew who it was. Randi, who was talking to the woman looked back and smiled at the approaching doctor, and then returned her attention to the woman in front of her.
But the woman in front of her turned and smiled.
"Davey baby!" she exclaimed and ran up to Dave threw her arms around him and kissed him on each cheek.
Randi smiled at him and raised her eyebrows.
"Hi mom!" Dave said and was pleased to see Randi's mouth drop open in surprise.
His mom was definitely a beautiful woman. And she looked young. But she was his mother, and he hated it when people acted like she was girlfriend. Even if she did act like the clingy girlfriend type.
Dr. Greene walked into the ER.
"New girlfriend?" he mouthed to Randi.
"Mother." Randi mouthed back.
Mark watched the mother and son, and soon saw that Dave was gasping for breath within his mother's tight hug.
He walked over and and said, "Mrs. Malucci, I think your holding Dave a little too tight."
"Oh!" she exclaimed and let go of Dave. "I'm sorry honey."
"That's ok mom." He said, and then, hesitantly, "Why are you here?"
"Come on. I need to talk to you." She pulled him to the side. "Honey, I -"
"Where is Mariana Watkins?" a hurried voice asked. Dr. Maluccu turned to see the person.
A teenage boy stood before him, frantically looking around.
"Who are you?" Dr. Malucci asked. He had herd that Mr. Watkins had shown up and although this man obviously wasn't her father, he didn't want another unwanted visitor to show up.
"I'm Mitchell Evans. I'm her boyfriend." The boy introduced himself.
"She's on the second floor in ICU. You can ask the desk what room." He told the boy who then thanked him and ran to the elevator.
"What are you here for, mom?" Dave asked, turning back to his mother.
"Your father, is dying."
~*~*~*~*~
Mitchell found the ICU on 2nd floor fairly easily. He walked up to the nurses station.
"Yes?" a nurse, asked when he approached.
"Mariana Watkins room, please." He told the lady.
She typed the name into the computer. "Room 338. Right across from here." She told him pointing.
He thanked her and turned around, and walked up to the door. He stopped. 338 was boldly written across the door.
He knocked. Then he waited for awhile until the door opened. Alexandria stood before him.
"Hi, Mitchell," she smiled at him but he thought she looked tired. "I'm gonna go grab some lunch in the cafeteria. You guys can spend time alone for awhile." She said and then slipped out.
He shut the door and then turned to look at Mariana. He gasped when he saw her. She had an IV in one hand and a heart monitor attatched to the other. She was getting air through her nose.
His beautiful Mariana was wrapped in cords and tubes and wires.
"Hi honey." He finally said.
"Hi Mitch." She replied. He noticed that her voice was hoarse.
"What's wrong with your voice?" he asked her concerned.
"Oh! They had to put a tube in my throat to help me breath yesterday. They said my voice should be hoarse for a day or two."
"Oh." He said and sat down on the side of her bed. He sat there for awhile, and then he suddenly yelled, "How could he do that I could kill him for almost killing you!"
Mariana laughed a little. "Calm down, Mitchell."
There was a knock on the door and a tall, dark man in a white lab coat stepped in. "Hi Mariana. How are you today?" he spoke with a deep accent.
"Hi. I'm fine. Dr. Kovac, this is my boyfriend Mitchell. Mitch, this is Dr. Kovac, he's the doctor who worked on me when I came to the ER yesterday."
Mitch stood and shook the man's hand with gratitude. "Hi Dr. Kovac. Thank you for working on Mariana! Thank you so much for saving her life!"
Dr. Kovac just laughed, and mentioned he had help. He then got to the point. "I just got your scans back, Mariana." Mitchell grabbed Mariana's hand. He didn't know what the scans were for, but he didn't think were good. He knew his assumption was correct when her hand tightened around his. "You will need surgery. I've got Dr. Benton assigned to the case. He's an excellent surgeon."
Mitchell looked at Mariana. He could see the fear in her eyes.
"Surgery?" she whispered, her eyes dropping.
"Yes," he said sympathy in his voice. "Dr. Benton should be in sometime today or tomorrow to talk to you."
"Will it hurt?"
"There will be some discomfort, yes." Dr. Kovac told her. "Well, I'll let you talk to Mitchell alone." He left the room.
Mitchell looked at Mariana and saw that she was surprised, yet comforted by the doctor's rectitude.
"Are you ok, Ana?"
"Yeah."
Mitchell sat back down on the side of her bed.
"Honey, are you mad?" he asked her. She was unusually quiet and she had short answers for everything.
"No. I'm tired." She answered.
Her answer scared him. A man had just abused her. Maybe she didn't trust men; maybe she didn't want to be around them.
"Tired?" he asked. "Tired, of us?"
"No! No, of course not!" she laughed. "They gave me medicine for the pain. It's making me tired,"
"Oh!" he laughed with relief. "Well then, I'll let you get some sleep." He leaned forward and kissed her forehead.
"Thank you for coming, Mitchell."
"Of course I came! I couldn't just at home while my girlfriend was in the hospital!" he exclaimed.
"Well, thanks. I really appreciate it." She said, and then closed her eyes. He could tell by her breathing that she was asleep. He smiled and watched her for awhile.
He really loved her. He had been so scared when Alexandria had called him, even though she had told him that Ana was ok.
He hadn't been able to believe it; Mariana had been stabbed! He looked at her now, sleeping on her back, the only way she could because all the machines. She hated sleeping on her back!
He started walking towards the door. He had liked that Dr. Kovac. He was a nice man. And, he had saved Ana's life.
~*~*~*~*~
"Would you like another salad?" the waiter asked Dave.
"Yes, please." Dave answered and the waiter ran off to get it. Dave and his mother were sitting at the Olive Garden. "Now, what about dad?"
"He has terminal cancer. He has only about three months left. Could you please come down and spend the last months with him? He's scared and alone. You're a doctor and his son. He hasn't seen you in a long time. Please?" his mother pleaded, tears in her eyes.
"Let me call Kerry," he said. "I'll see when I'm able to get off."
His mother got her cell phone out and handed it over.
~*~*~*~*~
The phone was ringing and Randi answered, blowing a bubble.
"Randi! Will you stop chewing gum?" Dave asked as the bubble popped. "What do our patients families think of us?"
"Oh, don't worry Dave. I knew it wasn't anyone important." She smiled, her eyes twinkling. "Who do you want?"
"Weaver."
"Oooooh!" she smiled, her eyes twinkling.
"Funny, Randi! But, at least I don't want her as badly as she wants you."
"Ewww!" Randi shouted.
"I want to talk to her Randi."
"Oh!" Randi laughed. "She's off duty."
"Who can I talk to for her, then?"
"Luka."
"Put him on!" Dave exclaimed.
"He's not here." She said.
"What?!"
"He's checking on Mariana." Randi told him.
"Oh." He said disappointed."
"Wait! He's here!" she said, and then he heard her calling, "Luka!"
Soon the other doctor came on. "Hello?"
"Hey. It's me, Malucci." He said.
"What do you want?" he sighed.
"Can I take the next three months off?"
"What?! Malucci! You can't just call for no reason asking for three months off!" he exclaimed. He couldn't believe Malucci was asking this.
"I know! I know! My dad's dying and he really wants me there because I'm a doctor and his son and he hasn't seen me in awhile." Luka was about to say something, but Malucci kept going. "And he loves me, and he cares for me. And I'm his favorite boy in the world. And..."
"Malucci!" Luka cut the ongoing ego off.
"Sorry, my mother is mouthing all these things to me." Malucci said and Luka smiled at the thought of it. "And now she's crying! I need an answer!"
"Yeah. I'll talk it over with Weaver for you."
"Thanks!" Malucci called out, and the line was disconnected.
~*~*~*~*~
"We'll be moving you two into foster care." Detective Morris told them.
The police, social worker, Kovac and Alexandria were all with Mariana in her tiny ICU room.
"Foster care!" Mariana yelled. "No way!"
"Ms. Watkins, I can understand why you wouldn't want to go into foster care. But you can't go back to your father."
"I wasn't thining of going back to him! I know that's not an option! But I can't go into foster care!" she retorted.
"Ms. Watkins! If your not planning to go to a foster care home, and your not going to go back to your father, where will you go?" Officer Inglebrit sternly asked.
Mariana looked down to the side and blinked awhile. "Fine!" she spat out.
Alexandria wanted to kill Officer Inglebrit for talking to her sister like that. Luka was just as mad.
"Good." Detective Morris said. "Now, we'll try as hard as we can to keep you two together - but we can't promise anything."
Mariana and Alexandria's heads snapped in his direction when he said this word.
"Try?" Mariana called out, incredulously. "Try? You better do more than try buddy! You better make sure we're kept together."
"Ms. Watkins, we like keeping siblings together, but I can't promise anything." The Detective said.
"Excuse me, Detective Morris." Alexandria replied icily. "But we are more than plain old siblings. We are twins. We shared the womb at the same time, we were born at the same time, and we've shared a room together all our lives and never complained! We have never been separated!!! We are sisters! We are best friends! We are twins! If you thought that it was ok for you to separate us, than you have been mistaken! You can not separate us!"
Sighing, the detective said, "Ms. Watkins!"
"Don't try to reason with us Detective Morris!" Mariana snapped. "When I agreed to this foster care crap, I was not aware of this splitting up possiblity! We're either placed together or not at all! Got it?"
Detective Morris tried to talk again.
"Got it?" Mariana yelled, a look of pure anger on her face.
"Got it." The Detective sighed.
"What about adoption?" Dr. Kovac spoke up.
"What about it?" Detective Morris asked.
"Why don't you put them up for adoption?"
"Why would we do that?" Morris asked, confused.
"Because they would be together, and they'd have a home after they turn eighteen. They'll have a place to go on Christmas and other holidays. They'd have birthday presents. They've had a hard life. This would make it easier for them from now on." He said, and looked at into Mariana and Alexandria's tear-filled eyes. At that moment he realized that he'd hit home. This is what the twins had always wanted. He found himself wanting to cry at this. These girls had never thought that this would happen. He decided that he would make the detective put these two girls up for adoption.
"That's impossible." The detective said simply.
"Really?" Dr. Kovac asked.
"Yes."
"Why is it impossible?"
"They are sixteen. People adopt babies, not teenagers." The detective said matter-of-factly.
"That's not good enoguh. You better come up with a new explanation because I'm not buying that one!"
"Their father still has custody of them. And even when we get a hold of him, and if he's convicted, he'll still have custody of them. The only way to release that is if we get him to sign some papers." She said.
"He would never sign any papers if you brought them." Mariana said.
"Any other way, Detective?" Kovac asked.
"We could take him to court." The detective said. But she quickly added, "It would take awhile to get him into court, and since no one has ever seen him beat Mariana, it's not going to be easy to get the verdict we want. By the time we do, they could be eighteen. And even if they're not, it would take a long time to find them a home. Their teens."
"So, basically we have to get him to sign some papers, which he'll never do." Dr. Kovac sighed.
"Basically." Morris answered.
"Did you guys hear what I said?" Mariana asked. Everyone looked at her. "I said if you guys ask him too. You don't know my dad, but he loves us very much."
"He loves you?" Officer Inglebrit exclaimed. "He tried to kill you!"
"He loves us very much." She continued. "If we asked him, he'd probably sign."
"I'll go." Alexandria said.
"No! We can't have you near him." Officer Ingelbrit said.
"I am going to go." Alexandria said firmly.
There was a long silence and then the social worker said, "I'll get you the papers."
~*~*~*~*~
Luka was in the lounge drinking coffee when Abby came in.
"Hi Luka."
"Hi Abby."
She came over and gave him a big kiss on the lips, but was surprised when it wasn't returned.
"Luka, what's wrong?" she asked him, concerned.
"I suggested that Ana and her sister be put up for adoption and now Alexandria is looking for her abusive to sign custody release forms."
"Oh, Luka." Abby said softly.
"I'm worried about her." Luka said.
Abby gave him a big hug. As she held him, she said, "She'll be okay."
~*~*~*~*~
He had to be here. This was the last bar in all of Chicago. He had to be here.
Alexandria walked into the smoky bar, clutching the Release of Custody forms. She looked around and saw him at a table emptying a bottle of beer, with five bottles around him as well as two bottles of whiskey. He ordered another bottle beer.
She cautiously walked over.
"Dad?" she asked him. He didn't respond so she said, "Dad" again and touched his shoulder.
He jumped and looked up at her, anger in his eyes, but they anger went away when he saw that it was his daughter.
"Alexandria." He said, his words slurring. "What are you doing here?"
"Um, dad. The police are going to put Mariana and I in a foster home, unless you sign papers releasing custody of us so that we can be adopted." She explained.
"You mean, they want me to give up my two daughters? My only living family?" he yelled, drunkenly.
"Yeah, dad." Alexandria said, and then with tears filling her eyes she said, "Dad, you almost killed Mariana! We can't come back to you! And if we go to a foster home, we won't have anybody after we turn eighteen! Please, sign the papers. Sign them so we can be adopted. I know you love us daddy. I know you want what's best for us. So please, make the best decision for us that you could ever make. Sign the papers."
Jack Watkins stood up, his face dark with anger. Alexandria's eyes grew wide with fear as he stood over her.
Uh-oh! I've made him mad. Now I know how scared Mariana was before he ever beat her! I'm going to go through what she went through. Alexandria thought.
He raised his arm and she was closed her eyes preparing for him to punch her, hit her, whatever he was going to do. And she was afraid. She was so scared.
She felt the papers sliding out from her fingers, and when she realized that he would have beat her already, she opened her eyes.
Her dad was on the last paper. He handed them back to Alexandria and giving her a hug, put money on the table and walked out of the bar.
Alexandria looked through the papers. Each one had the signature, Jack Watkins.
Dave Malucci walked out of the exam room and down the hall to the admitting desk to enter his new patient on the board.
As he got closer to the desk, his pace slowed. A woman was at the desk. He only saw the back of her full blonde head, but he knew who it was. Randi, who was talking to the woman looked back and smiled at the approaching doctor, and then returned her attention to the woman in front of her.
But the woman in front of her turned and smiled.
"Davey baby!" she exclaimed and ran up to Dave threw her arms around him and kissed him on each cheek.
Randi smiled at him and raised her eyebrows.
"Hi mom!" Dave said and was pleased to see Randi's mouth drop open in surprise.
His mom was definitely a beautiful woman. And she looked young. But she was his mother, and he hated it when people acted like she was girlfriend. Even if she did act like the clingy girlfriend type.
Dr. Greene walked into the ER.
"New girlfriend?" he mouthed to Randi.
"Mother." Randi mouthed back.
Mark watched the mother and son, and soon saw that Dave was gasping for breath within his mother's tight hug.
He walked over and and said, "Mrs. Malucci, I think your holding Dave a little too tight."
"Oh!" she exclaimed and let go of Dave. "I'm sorry honey."
"That's ok mom." He said, and then, hesitantly, "Why are you here?"
"Come on. I need to talk to you." She pulled him to the side. "Honey, I -"
"Where is Mariana Watkins?" a hurried voice asked. Dr. Maluccu turned to see the person.
A teenage boy stood before him, frantically looking around.
"Who are you?" Dr. Malucci asked. He had herd that Mr. Watkins had shown up and although this man obviously wasn't her father, he didn't want another unwanted visitor to show up.
"I'm Mitchell Evans. I'm her boyfriend." The boy introduced himself.
"She's on the second floor in ICU. You can ask the desk what room." He told the boy who then thanked him and ran to the elevator.
"What are you here for, mom?" Dave asked, turning back to his mother.
"Your father, is dying."
~*~*~*~*~
Mitchell found the ICU on 2nd floor fairly easily. He walked up to the nurses station.
"Yes?" a nurse, asked when he approached.
"Mariana Watkins room, please." He told the lady.
She typed the name into the computer. "Room 338. Right across from here." She told him pointing.
He thanked her and turned around, and walked up to the door. He stopped. 338 was boldly written across the door.
He knocked. Then he waited for awhile until the door opened. Alexandria stood before him.
"Hi, Mitchell," she smiled at him but he thought she looked tired. "I'm gonna go grab some lunch in the cafeteria. You guys can spend time alone for awhile." She said and then slipped out.
He shut the door and then turned to look at Mariana. He gasped when he saw her. She had an IV in one hand and a heart monitor attatched to the other. She was getting air through her nose.
His beautiful Mariana was wrapped in cords and tubes and wires.
"Hi honey." He finally said.
"Hi Mitch." She replied. He noticed that her voice was hoarse.
"What's wrong with your voice?" he asked her concerned.
"Oh! They had to put a tube in my throat to help me breath yesterday. They said my voice should be hoarse for a day or two."
"Oh." He said and sat down on the side of her bed. He sat there for awhile, and then he suddenly yelled, "How could he do that I could kill him for almost killing you!"
Mariana laughed a little. "Calm down, Mitchell."
There was a knock on the door and a tall, dark man in a white lab coat stepped in. "Hi Mariana. How are you today?" he spoke with a deep accent.
"Hi. I'm fine. Dr. Kovac, this is my boyfriend Mitchell. Mitch, this is Dr. Kovac, he's the doctor who worked on me when I came to the ER yesterday."
Mitch stood and shook the man's hand with gratitude. "Hi Dr. Kovac. Thank you for working on Mariana! Thank you so much for saving her life!"
Dr. Kovac just laughed, and mentioned he had help. He then got to the point. "I just got your scans back, Mariana." Mitchell grabbed Mariana's hand. He didn't know what the scans were for, but he didn't think were good. He knew his assumption was correct when her hand tightened around his. "You will need surgery. I've got Dr. Benton assigned to the case. He's an excellent surgeon."
Mitchell looked at Mariana. He could see the fear in her eyes.
"Surgery?" she whispered, her eyes dropping.
"Yes," he said sympathy in his voice. "Dr. Benton should be in sometime today or tomorrow to talk to you."
"Will it hurt?"
"There will be some discomfort, yes." Dr. Kovac told her. "Well, I'll let you talk to Mitchell alone." He left the room.
Mitchell looked at Mariana and saw that she was surprised, yet comforted by the doctor's rectitude.
"Are you ok, Ana?"
"Yeah."
Mitchell sat back down on the side of her bed.
"Honey, are you mad?" he asked her. She was unusually quiet and she had short answers for everything.
"No. I'm tired." She answered.
Her answer scared him. A man had just abused her. Maybe she didn't trust men; maybe she didn't want to be around them.
"Tired?" he asked. "Tired, of us?"
"No! No, of course not!" she laughed. "They gave me medicine for the pain. It's making me tired,"
"Oh!" he laughed with relief. "Well then, I'll let you get some sleep." He leaned forward and kissed her forehead.
"Thank you for coming, Mitchell."
"Of course I came! I couldn't just at home while my girlfriend was in the hospital!" he exclaimed.
"Well, thanks. I really appreciate it." She said, and then closed her eyes. He could tell by her breathing that she was asleep. He smiled and watched her for awhile.
He really loved her. He had been so scared when Alexandria had called him, even though she had told him that Ana was ok.
He hadn't been able to believe it; Mariana had been stabbed! He looked at her now, sleeping on her back, the only way she could because all the machines. She hated sleeping on her back!
He started walking towards the door. He had liked that Dr. Kovac. He was a nice man. And, he had saved Ana's life.
~*~*~*~*~
"Would you like another salad?" the waiter asked Dave.
"Yes, please." Dave answered and the waiter ran off to get it. Dave and his mother were sitting at the Olive Garden. "Now, what about dad?"
"He has terminal cancer. He has only about three months left. Could you please come down and spend the last months with him? He's scared and alone. You're a doctor and his son. He hasn't seen you in a long time. Please?" his mother pleaded, tears in her eyes.
"Let me call Kerry," he said. "I'll see when I'm able to get off."
His mother got her cell phone out and handed it over.
~*~*~*~*~
The phone was ringing and Randi answered, blowing a bubble.
"Randi! Will you stop chewing gum?" Dave asked as the bubble popped. "What do our patients families think of us?"
"Oh, don't worry Dave. I knew it wasn't anyone important." She smiled, her eyes twinkling. "Who do you want?"
"Weaver."
"Oooooh!" she smiled, her eyes twinkling.
"Funny, Randi! But, at least I don't want her as badly as she wants you."
"Ewww!" Randi shouted.
"I want to talk to her Randi."
"Oh!" Randi laughed. "She's off duty."
"Who can I talk to for her, then?"
"Luka."
"Put him on!" Dave exclaimed.
"He's not here." She said.
"What?!"
"He's checking on Mariana." Randi told him.
"Oh." He said disappointed."
"Wait! He's here!" she said, and then he heard her calling, "Luka!"
Soon the other doctor came on. "Hello?"
"Hey. It's me, Malucci." He said.
"What do you want?" he sighed.
"Can I take the next three months off?"
"What?! Malucci! You can't just call for no reason asking for three months off!" he exclaimed. He couldn't believe Malucci was asking this.
"I know! I know! My dad's dying and he really wants me there because I'm a doctor and his son and he hasn't seen me in awhile." Luka was about to say something, but Malucci kept going. "And he loves me, and he cares for me. And I'm his favorite boy in the world. And..."
"Malucci!" Luka cut the ongoing ego off.
"Sorry, my mother is mouthing all these things to me." Malucci said and Luka smiled at the thought of it. "And now she's crying! I need an answer!"
"Yeah. I'll talk it over with Weaver for you."
"Thanks!" Malucci called out, and the line was disconnected.
~*~*~*~*~
"We'll be moving you two into foster care." Detective Morris told them.
The police, social worker, Kovac and Alexandria were all with Mariana in her tiny ICU room.
"Foster care!" Mariana yelled. "No way!"
"Ms. Watkins, I can understand why you wouldn't want to go into foster care. But you can't go back to your father."
"I wasn't thining of going back to him! I know that's not an option! But I can't go into foster care!" she retorted.
"Ms. Watkins! If your not planning to go to a foster care home, and your not going to go back to your father, where will you go?" Officer Inglebrit sternly asked.
Mariana looked down to the side and blinked awhile. "Fine!" she spat out.
Alexandria wanted to kill Officer Inglebrit for talking to her sister like that. Luka was just as mad.
"Good." Detective Morris said. "Now, we'll try as hard as we can to keep you two together - but we can't promise anything."
Mariana and Alexandria's heads snapped in his direction when he said this word.
"Try?" Mariana called out, incredulously. "Try? You better do more than try buddy! You better make sure we're kept together."
"Ms. Watkins, we like keeping siblings together, but I can't promise anything." The Detective said.
"Excuse me, Detective Morris." Alexandria replied icily. "But we are more than plain old siblings. We are twins. We shared the womb at the same time, we were born at the same time, and we've shared a room together all our lives and never complained! We have never been separated!!! We are sisters! We are best friends! We are twins! If you thought that it was ok for you to separate us, than you have been mistaken! You can not separate us!"
Sighing, the detective said, "Ms. Watkins!"
"Don't try to reason with us Detective Morris!" Mariana snapped. "When I agreed to this foster care crap, I was not aware of this splitting up possiblity! We're either placed together or not at all! Got it?"
Detective Morris tried to talk again.
"Got it?" Mariana yelled, a look of pure anger on her face.
"Got it." The Detective sighed.
"What about adoption?" Dr. Kovac spoke up.
"What about it?" Detective Morris asked.
"Why don't you put them up for adoption?"
"Why would we do that?" Morris asked, confused.
"Because they would be together, and they'd have a home after they turn eighteen. They'll have a place to go on Christmas and other holidays. They'd have birthday presents. They've had a hard life. This would make it easier for them from now on." He said, and looked at into Mariana and Alexandria's tear-filled eyes. At that moment he realized that he'd hit home. This is what the twins had always wanted. He found himself wanting to cry at this. These girls had never thought that this would happen. He decided that he would make the detective put these two girls up for adoption.
"That's impossible." The detective said simply.
"Really?" Dr. Kovac asked.
"Yes."
"Why is it impossible?"
"They are sixteen. People adopt babies, not teenagers." The detective said matter-of-factly.
"That's not good enoguh. You better come up with a new explanation because I'm not buying that one!"
"Their father still has custody of them. And even when we get a hold of him, and if he's convicted, he'll still have custody of them. The only way to release that is if we get him to sign some papers." She said.
"He would never sign any papers if you brought them." Mariana said.
"Any other way, Detective?" Kovac asked.
"We could take him to court." The detective said. But she quickly added, "It would take awhile to get him into court, and since no one has ever seen him beat Mariana, it's not going to be easy to get the verdict we want. By the time we do, they could be eighteen. And even if they're not, it would take a long time to find them a home. Their teens."
"So, basically we have to get him to sign some papers, which he'll never do." Dr. Kovac sighed.
"Basically." Morris answered.
"Did you guys hear what I said?" Mariana asked. Everyone looked at her. "I said if you guys ask him too. You don't know my dad, but he loves us very much."
"He loves you?" Officer Inglebrit exclaimed. "He tried to kill you!"
"He loves us very much." She continued. "If we asked him, he'd probably sign."
"I'll go." Alexandria said.
"No! We can't have you near him." Officer Ingelbrit said.
"I am going to go." Alexandria said firmly.
There was a long silence and then the social worker said, "I'll get you the papers."
~*~*~*~*~
Luka was in the lounge drinking coffee when Abby came in.
"Hi Luka."
"Hi Abby."
She came over and gave him a big kiss on the lips, but was surprised when it wasn't returned.
"Luka, what's wrong?" she asked him, concerned.
"I suggested that Ana and her sister be put up for adoption and now Alexandria is looking for her abusive to sign custody release forms."
"Oh, Luka." Abby said softly.
"I'm worried about her." Luka said.
Abby gave him a big hug. As she held him, she said, "She'll be okay."
~*~*~*~*~
He had to be here. This was the last bar in all of Chicago. He had to be here.
Alexandria walked into the smoky bar, clutching the Release of Custody forms. She looked around and saw him at a table emptying a bottle of beer, with five bottles around him as well as two bottles of whiskey. He ordered another bottle beer.
She cautiously walked over.
"Dad?" she asked him. He didn't respond so she said, "Dad" again and touched his shoulder.
He jumped and looked up at her, anger in his eyes, but they anger went away when he saw that it was his daughter.
"Alexandria." He said, his words slurring. "What are you doing here?"
"Um, dad. The police are going to put Mariana and I in a foster home, unless you sign papers releasing custody of us so that we can be adopted." She explained.
"You mean, they want me to give up my two daughters? My only living family?" he yelled, drunkenly.
"Yeah, dad." Alexandria said, and then with tears filling her eyes she said, "Dad, you almost killed Mariana! We can't come back to you! And if we go to a foster home, we won't have anybody after we turn eighteen! Please, sign the papers. Sign them so we can be adopted. I know you love us daddy. I know you want what's best for us. So please, make the best decision for us that you could ever make. Sign the papers."
Jack Watkins stood up, his face dark with anger. Alexandria's eyes grew wide with fear as he stood over her.
Uh-oh! I've made him mad. Now I know how scared Mariana was before he ever beat her! I'm going to go through what she went through. Alexandria thought.
He raised his arm and she was closed her eyes preparing for him to punch her, hit her, whatever he was going to do. And she was afraid. She was so scared.
She felt the papers sliding out from her fingers, and when she realized that he would have beat her already, she opened her eyes.
Her dad was on the last paper. He handed them back to Alexandria and giving her a hug, put money on the table and walked out of the bar.
Alexandria looked through the papers. Each one had the signature, Jack Watkins.
