Trust (trust)
Firm reliance on the integrity, ability, or character of a person or thing.
Chapter 2
I think after Dr. Ross realized that I wasn't what I would call a 'normal everyday case' he just decided to try and build up my trust and try to get to know me a little better. He tried to be as gentle and sweet as possible and in return I tried not to hold too much back.
"Do you like baseball?" he had asked me.
"No," I answered quietly as he wiped the blood up from my face. The cloth he used was damp and smelled like lemons.
"What do you like?" he asked.
"Nothing," I whisper, my voice barely audible.
"Aw. Come on, you've got to like something," he says lightly tickling by belly as he reaches for another cloth. I think for a while. What do I like?
"Doug! What did I tell you about other women?" a lady comes up and hits Dr. Ross playfully in the arm. She has curly black hair and soft brown eyes. Her voice is cheerful as she turns to me.
"Hi. My name's Carol. What's yours?" she asks.
"Carmella," I answer wondering how so many people could be so nice to me at once.
"Honey. Does this hurt when I touch it?" Dr. Ross asks gently pulling my arm away from my chest were I had been cradling it protectively. Pain shoots through my body and I loudly cry out. Tears run out of my eyes as I start to cry. Doug is saying sweet words to me in soft whispers to get me to calm down but it isn't doing anything.
"Carol."
I don't know where it had come from but for some reason I had murmured her name.
"Everything's going to be okay Carmella," she whispered, sitting down next to me and pulling me into her lap. I lay my head on her chest. I'm not used to this kind of attention. She smoothes my hair away from my face as I try to calm down. She try's to place me back down on the gurney but I cling to her tightly.
"We better take her up to x-ray," Doug says rubbing my back.
"What's that?" I ask panic gripping my heart.
"Were going to take a picture of your arm to see what we can do to make you feel better," Carol says.
"The labs are back for the woman in 4. Who's this cute one?" another lady comes up to Dr. Ross. I wonder quietly to myself how many lady friends he actually has. Her hair is curly too, and brown. She's wearing the same color scrubs as Carol and she seems nice.
"Chuny this is Carmella. Carmella this is Chuny," Dr. Ross introduces us.
"Hi," I smile up at her. I know I must not look too friendly with my black eye and my matted brown hair.
"Carol! We need you back in trauma!" a man shouts at her wheeling a gurney down the hallway.
"Alright Carmella. I'm going to leave you with Chuny and Doug okay?" Carol sets me back down and heads out after the man wheeling the gurney. I grow uneasy again as Dr. Ross says we better start heading to x-ray.
"I can't go," I whisper feeling a knot growing in my throat. "I'm too scared."
"WEAK!" I remember my father's shouts ringing through our tiny apartment. "That's all you are! Useless and weak. Just like your mother."
My mind set on the incident, I start to cry.
"I didn't mean it! I'm sorry. I'm not scared," I apologize over and over again as I let the tears rush down my face.
"Just please don't hurt me," I plead quietly.
"Honey nobody's here to hurt you," I hear Chuny's soft voice in my ears as she sits down next to me.
"We're all here to help you. You don't have to be scared but its okay if you are," I hear Dr. Ross faintly on the other side of me. I feel Chuny's hand pat my knee. I grab it and hold it tightly, leaning my face up against her scrubs. They feel scruffy under my cheek and smell like rice. I allow her to bring me closer to her.
"Chuny, would you like to walk down with us?" Doug asks quietly.
"Absolutely," Chuny says setting me down on the floor. I grabbed on to her hand tightly as we followed Dr. Ross down the hallway. My tears dried up pretty quickly. I forced myself to forget about my father and just enjoy how good Chuny, Carol, and Dr. Ross had made me feel.
"You see that goof ball over there?" Chuny gets down to my height once we get to the elevator. I giggle and nod my head seeing a man in his mid twenties yelling at a green Gameboy he has in his hands.
"David Malucci get your butt over here!" I hear Dr. Ross cry at him. The man quickly jumps to attention and is at Dr. Ross' side in a heartbeat. "Meet Carmella."
His panic stricken face calms as he kneels down to me and throws his arms around me, resting his head on my belly.
"Thanks squirt. You have no idea how much trouble I would have been in if you…,"
"Think again Malucci," Doug smiles cockily down at him. I gently push David's head away and giggle.
"His real name is David," Chuny explains to me getting up off of the floor. "But we usually call him Dave or Malucci. Or, how he likes to refer to himself, Dr. Dave."
I watch as Dr. Ross tugs him down the hallway. Dave sighs and waves to me. I wave back and then grab Chuny's hand again.
"I'll meet you up in x-ray!" Dr. Ross calls.
"Okay!" Chuny calls back as we step into the elevator. Two other men in white coats occupy it. I hid behind Chuny's leg.
"Who's your little friend Chuny?" the more intimidating looking man of the two asks.
"Carmella," Chuny says leading me out from behind her.
"Hey kid," he says getting down to my height. "I'm Dr. Gregory Pratt. But you can call me Pratt."
He sticks his hand out and I shake it, happy that he isn't mean.
"This is Carter," Chuny nods at the other man that's been quiet up until now.
"Nice to meet you Carmella," he says politely. I shake his hand too. I start to relax as the elevator opens. I realize that the people at the hospital are easy to trust. I realize that nobody's here to hurt me. Still, I grip Chuny's hand tightly as we head down the hallway with Carter and Pratt.
"What happened to you kid?" Pratt asks pushing hair away from my face, revealing my black eye and battered face. I start to cry again gripping onto Chuny's leg.
"Don't make me go back!" I plead again.
"I'll never go back!"