Later that day.
"Hey Lu, these are Rachel Connelly's x-rays they just came up." "Thanks Lana." Lu is astounded when she puts Rachel's x-rays on her bright light board. "Oh my god." Lu whispered to herself. "What in the world?" Lu makes a startling discovery when she finds out that Rachel's right ankle is broken in three places, her shoulder bone disconnected, and what looks like at least 2 broken ribs, and a couple of small fractures, and Lu sees what looks like a previously broken nose that didn't heal quite right. "No one gets hurt this much in dance, and no one falls down this much either." "Lana, Lana, get in here!" Lana rushes in, "what is it baby?" "Lana, will you please check and see if Rachel has any medical records either here at Ritten, or anywhere else, it's really urgent." "Sure thing." About ten minutes later Lana returns with a printout. "Here, this is from County Hospital, looks like Rachel was seen there a few times." "Thanks so much Lana, this is exactly what I thought."
Lu reviewed the records Lana had brought her, and most of them said the same thing. At County Hospital, Rachel was seen by an ER doc who suspected abuse. He had convinced her to talk to the police after being brought in with a broken nose. She had admitted everything to the doctor, but when the police came she admitted nothing. A child psychiatrist and a social worker had also seen her and she said the same thing every time that she was hurt in dance. Lu read these charts and decided to call this ER doc over at County and speak with him. It looked like that every time she was brought in he was called to her case because of his familiarity with it.
Lu dialed the number, "Hi, this is Dr. Lu Delgado over at Rittenhouse, may I speak with a Dr. Hunkler?" "Hold on please." The receptionist told Lu. A few minutes later a young man answered. "Yes, this is Brian Hunkler how may I help you?" "Yes Hi, Doctor, my name is Dr. Lu Delgado and I work at Rittenhouse Women's Health Center and I have a few questions about a patient you have treated several times named Rachel Connelly." "Aww yes, Rachel." "How are you familiar with her case?" The doctor asked her. "I'm not, I'm just beginning to pull together this puzzle, my son has befriended her, and the two of us have suspected abuse. Right now she has a pretty badly broken ankle, and I ran an x-ray and discovered all of the previous abuse and some bad injuries that haven't been treated. I was wondering if you could tell me about your experiences with her and with her Father?" "Well, doctor." Lu stopped him. "Please call me Lu." The doctor chuckled, "okay Lu, will you please call me Brian." Lu smiled to herself. "Sure." "Well, as I was saying, I have seen Rachel here about 5 or 6 times within the period of a year and a half. From what I have gathered Rachel's mother died a year and a half ago, and the Father has completely lost it since then. He has become a brutal alcoholic, not to mention a horrible provider, and an abuser. Rachel trusted me the first time to tell me of the abuse and her tragic situation, but however when I mentioned turning her over to Social Services and reporting the abuse to the police, she just clammed up. She wouldn't tell me anything more. Every time she came to the ER, I repeatedly tried to reach her, and help her. She was always very polite but declined the offers. She denies everything, and I don't know what to do anymore." Lu couldn't believe her ears. "Well if I wasn't a doctor, and Rachel was just some girl that Marc had me meet, I don't think I would've suspected abuse." She told him. "She hides it quite well, she keeps the house relatively tidy, and she has two part time jobs to support herself on." He told her. "Poor Rachel." Lu quietly said. "Yes it is a very sad situation, that is hard to change." "Well, I'm going to try and help, can I count on your support?" "Of course Lu, I would do anything to help her, and I worry about her a lot." "Thanks Brian, you seem like a nice guy." "No thank you Lu, I am relieved to know that Rachel is at least alive." "Bye Brian, I'll be in touch." "Bye Lu."
Lu continued on with her day and went home early so she could speak with Marc. She told him everything that Brian had told her, and about her x- ray. Marc was close to tears. "Mom, we just have to help her, we have to." "I know honey, but these things can be tricky." "Isn't there something you can do, I mean call the police, just go and take her from that awful place and her father?" "I wish I could do that, but it is complicated. We have to have Social Services intervene, and she has to admit the abuse herself. Plus she doesn't want to leave her dad, she still loves him I imagine." "How can she love him when he is such a bastard to her?' "I know, I know baby, but all you can do for her is to be a good friend and to tell me if she gets any serious injuries or if she admits anything to you." "I will Mom, I will, I'm gonna watch her like a hawk." "Ok, but you should go to bed now, get some sleep." "Mom, I'm almost fifteen." "Yeah well, I don't care, like I have said before I can still kick your butt." Marc groaned and went to sleep.
Lu couldn't sleep very well and tried to brainstorm ideas on how she could help Rachel, she knew her first step was to enlist the help of her partner and her friends, Lana and Peter. Also she would need to conference with Brian and anybody else at County who was familiar with her case. Lu wasn't sure on what she was going to say to Rachel or how she would confront her with the information. "She had better come back to get her x-ray results." Lu muttered to herself, as she drifted off to sleep.
Thanks for reading Chapter three, I hope you are enjoying my story. Please review and leave suggestions.
~*Val*~
"Hey Lu, these are Rachel Connelly's x-rays they just came up." "Thanks Lana." Lu is astounded when she puts Rachel's x-rays on her bright light board. "Oh my god." Lu whispered to herself. "What in the world?" Lu makes a startling discovery when she finds out that Rachel's right ankle is broken in three places, her shoulder bone disconnected, and what looks like at least 2 broken ribs, and a couple of small fractures, and Lu sees what looks like a previously broken nose that didn't heal quite right. "No one gets hurt this much in dance, and no one falls down this much either." "Lana, Lana, get in here!" Lana rushes in, "what is it baby?" "Lana, will you please check and see if Rachel has any medical records either here at Ritten, or anywhere else, it's really urgent." "Sure thing." About ten minutes later Lana returns with a printout. "Here, this is from County Hospital, looks like Rachel was seen there a few times." "Thanks so much Lana, this is exactly what I thought."
Lu reviewed the records Lana had brought her, and most of them said the same thing. At County Hospital, Rachel was seen by an ER doc who suspected abuse. He had convinced her to talk to the police after being brought in with a broken nose. She had admitted everything to the doctor, but when the police came she admitted nothing. A child psychiatrist and a social worker had also seen her and she said the same thing every time that she was hurt in dance. Lu read these charts and decided to call this ER doc over at County and speak with him. It looked like that every time she was brought in he was called to her case because of his familiarity with it.
Lu dialed the number, "Hi, this is Dr. Lu Delgado over at Rittenhouse, may I speak with a Dr. Hunkler?" "Hold on please." The receptionist told Lu. A few minutes later a young man answered. "Yes, this is Brian Hunkler how may I help you?" "Yes Hi, Doctor, my name is Dr. Lu Delgado and I work at Rittenhouse Women's Health Center and I have a few questions about a patient you have treated several times named Rachel Connelly." "Aww yes, Rachel." "How are you familiar with her case?" The doctor asked her. "I'm not, I'm just beginning to pull together this puzzle, my son has befriended her, and the two of us have suspected abuse. Right now she has a pretty badly broken ankle, and I ran an x-ray and discovered all of the previous abuse and some bad injuries that haven't been treated. I was wondering if you could tell me about your experiences with her and with her Father?" "Well, doctor." Lu stopped him. "Please call me Lu." The doctor chuckled, "okay Lu, will you please call me Brian." Lu smiled to herself. "Sure." "Well, as I was saying, I have seen Rachel here about 5 or 6 times within the period of a year and a half. From what I have gathered Rachel's mother died a year and a half ago, and the Father has completely lost it since then. He has become a brutal alcoholic, not to mention a horrible provider, and an abuser. Rachel trusted me the first time to tell me of the abuse and her tragic situation, but however when I mentioned turning her over to Social Services and reporting the abuse to the police, she just clammed up. She wouldn't tell me anything more. Every time she came to the ER, I repeatedly tried to reach her, and help her. She was always very polite but declined the offers. She denies everything, and I don't know what to do anymore." Lu couldn't believe her ears. "Well if I wasn't a doctor, and Rachel was just some girl that Marc had me meet, I don't think I would've suspected abuse." She told him. "She hides it quite well, she keeps the house relatively tidy, and she has two part time jobs to support herself on." He told her. "Poor Rachel." Lu quietly said. "Yes it is a very sad situation, that is hard to change." "Well, I'm going to try and help, can I count on your support?" "Of course Lu, I would do anything to help her, and I worry about her a lot." "Thanks Brian, you seem like a nice guy." "No thank you Lu, I am relieved to know that Rachel is at least alive." "Bye Brian, I'll be in touch." "Bye Lu."
Lu continued on with her day and went home early so she could speak with Marc. She told him everything that Brian had told her, and about her x- ray. Marc was close to tears. "Mom, we just have to help her, we have to." "I know honey, but these things can be tricky." "Isn't there something you can do, I mean call the police, just go and take her from that awful place and her father?" "I wish I could do that, but it is complicated. We have to have Social Services intervene, and she has to admit the abuse herself. Plus she doesn't want to leave her dad, she still loves him I imagine." "How can she love him when he is such a bastard to her?' "I know, I know baby, but all you can do for her is to be a good friend and to tell me if she gets any serious injuries or if she admits anything to you." "I will Mom, I will, I'm gonna watch her like a hawk." "Ok, but you should go to bed now, get some sleep." "Mom, I'm almost fifteen." "Yeah well, I don't care, like I have said before I can still kick your butt." Marc groaned and went to sleep.
Lu couldn't sleep very well and tried to brainstorm ideas on how she could help Rachel, she knew her first step was to enlist the help of her partner and her friends, Lana and Peter. Also she would need to conference with Brian and anybody else at County who was familiar with her case. Lu wasn't sure on what she was going to say to Rachel or how she would confront her with the information. "She had better come back to get her x-ray results." Lu muttered to herself, as she drifted off to sleep.
Thanks for reading Chapter three, I hope you are enjoying my story. Please review and leave suggestions.
~*Val*~