"Where does it hurt at Julie?" Kayla asked.
"My stomach," the eight-year-old said.
"Lay back," Kayla told her.
Julie did and Kayla lifted up her shirt and saw bruises on her stomach. "Oh my God," Kayla said. "Julie, honey, where did these come from?"
"My mom's boyfriend."
"Do you have someone we can call?" Kayla asked. She knew that Julie came here on her own. Her mother was not the most responsible woman.
"My dad, but he's out of town."
"When will he be back?"
Julie shrugged. "I don't have anywhere else to go," she said.
Kayla sighed. "I'll be right back," she told her. "Stay here."
Kayla left Julie sitting on the bed and found Andy and talked to her. "I'll look in her files and try to contact her father," Andy said. "Then I'll talk to social services and see what they say."
Kayla nodded.
"You can take her to my office if you want."
"Ok," Kayla said, smiling.
Kayla turned and ran right into Peter. "Oh, I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed.
"It's ok," he told her. She looked up at him with those big brown eyes and that lip glossed mouth that he wanted to lean down and kiss but he restrained himself. He cleared his throat and without another word he stepped aside and walked off.
Weird, Kayla thought. She shrugged it off and took off to Julie. "Come with me," she said.
"Where am I going?" Julie asked.
"To Dr. Campbell's office," she said. "We're going to talk to Social Services and try to get a hold of your dad. We're going to get permission for you to stay with Dr. Campbell and me until your father gets back."
Julie smiled and hugged Kayla. "That'll be great!" she said.
"Alright," Kayla said. "Sit in here." She opened the door to Dr. Campbell's office. "I'll be back at lunch."
"Ok," Julie told her. She went in and sat in the office as Kayla went back to work.