tem·po·rary custody
Custody awarded until a final judgment in a matter is made
Chapter 5
I woke up in a sweat and in confusion. Once I realized I was in my pitch black hospital room I felt around frantically for my teddy bear. When I couldn't find him I started to cry. A few minutes later a small amount of light peeked into my room from the door. I held my breath as someone walked in.
"Carmella?" the voice whispered. "Are you okay?"
It walked into my room and closed the door behind it. Then it turned on my light to reveal the face of Dr. Carter.
"What's the matter?" he asked concerned once he saw my tear streaked face.
"I can't find my teddy bear," I whispered sadly hanging my head.
"Here he is," Dr. Carter said picking my teddy bear up from the floor.
"My bear!" I cried excitedly taking him from Dr. Carter. I smiled up at him. "Thank you so much."
"Any time," he smiled. "What woke you?" He sat down on the edge of my bed.
"I had a bad dream," I confessed clutching my bear tightly again.
"I used to have bad dreams about monsters under the bed and in my closet when I was a kid," Dr. Carter said. "I still won't go to sleep without a light on for anything."
"It wasn't a dream like that," I hiccupped. "It was worse then monsters. It was about my dad."
"Not a nice guy huh?" he asked. I shook my head.
"He didn't like me or my mommy very much."
"Why do you think that was?" he asked me.
"I don't know. We never did anything bad. Sometimes I have dreams that my mommy's still alive. As soon as we moved to Chicago he locked me into a closet and I dreamed that my mommy was there with me." Dr. Carter was quiet for a long time and I was beginning to wonder if I had scared him. It wouldn't have been the first time someone was apprehensive.
"Did you run away from your dad?" Dr. Carter asked.
"Yes I did. He disappeared after he started smoking this stuff that smelled funny. It would make him kind of loopy then he'd go away. But he came back. But not this time. I got scared so I ran away."
"Do you want to come with me to get something to eat?" he asked. I nodded.
"Yes please!"
I crawled off of the bed and gripped Dr. Carter's hand tightly before we headed out into the hallway. It was very quiet.
"Where is everybody?" I whispered.
"Sleeping," he answered taking me into the elevator. "Where you sleep is where all the other boys and girls that come to our hospital sleep."
"Who sleeps where you and everybody else work?" I asked once it dinged on the floor to the ER.
"All of us do on occasion," he said.
"Carter would you please come talk to the guy in 4? He's about to leave AMA," Dr. Pratt came up to us. "Hey there Carmel." He ruffled my hair and I smiled.
"Alright," Carter said. "I'll be right back and we'll go eat alright?" I nodded and he headed down the hall after Pratt.
"ABBY!" I cried spotting her out of everyone else immediately.
"Hey there Carmella. How are you?" she asked.
"Good," I said holding my arms out to her. She lifted me up on to a stool next to her.
"That's a nice little bear," she said petting my bear on the head.
"Dave gave it to me," I said picking up a pen from the desk. I started to draw on a pad of paper. Abby's reaction was pretty much the same as Sam's had been.
"That was sweet of him," she said, like Sam, more to herself then to me.
"Abby," Luka got Abby's attention. "This is Mickey. She's a member of social services and she would like to talk with Carmella."
A young woman stood next to Luka. She looked like she wasn't a day older then 21. Her hair was a light auburn and she had green eyes. She held a clipboard in her hands and she had a soft smile on her face. I didn't like her already.
"Carmella," Abby turned to me. "Would you like to talk to this lady for a little bit?" I shook my head and tugged my teddy bear close to me.
"I would just like to ask you a few questions Carmella. It won't take very long," she said.
"I don't wanna," I whined, feeling like I was about to cry.
"Alright Carmella! I'm ready!" I heard Dr. Carter call from down the hall.
"I gotta go," I said jumping off of the stool and running after him. I grabbed his hand.
"Come on Dr. Carter lets go," I said tugging on him.
"Whoa. Slow down there Carmella," he said.
"John wait," Abby came up to us. She grabbed Dr. Carter's arm and whispered something in his ear. After Abby pulled away he looked down at me.
"I think we better put our trip to the cafeteria off for a little bit pal," he said pushing hair out of my eyes.
"Why?" I moaned tugging at his arm again.
"You have to go talk with this lady," he said picking me up and taking me back over to admit where Luka still stood with the funny lady.
"I won't talk to her!" I screamed and started to struggle against Dr. Carter. I kicked him without meaning to and he put me down. I started to run out of admit and down the long hallway of the ER. I tripped over a crash cart and fell over on the tiled floor, banging my head against the side of a gurney that held a man who was bleeding from his hand. I started to cry hysterically, clutching my head with my good hand.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Settle down munchkin." I felt arms go around me and lift me off of the floor. It was Sam.
"I won't talk to her Sammy!" I shrieked as she brought me back over to admit where everyone was still standing with the funny lady. By this time everyone one around us was staring at me.
"Will you talk with her if Abby or I go with you?" she asked. I guess that was okay. Reluctantly, I nodded my head.
"Abby," Sam handed me over to her. She smiled and went back to work along with everyone around us.
"Curtain area 2 is empty," Luka whispered to Abby in his deep voice. He patted me on the shoulder and I tightened my grip around Abby's neck. Abby led Mickey over to the empty bed in one of the curtain areas. She set me down on the bed and closed the curtain around us.
"Alright Carmella," Mickey sat down and crossed her legs, resting her clipboard in her lap. "I would like to ask you some questions about your father." I looked over at Abby apprehensively. She was standing behind me, next to the bed, with her arms crossed over her chest. She nodded her head slightly.
"Did your daddy hit you Carmella?" she asked. I clutched teddy tight. I only nodded my head.
"Did he hit you a lot?" Mickey asked.
"Yes," I whispered.
"If you tell ANYONE about this I will kill you!" my fathers booming voice came back to me. This time we were in our Chicago apartment. He was drunk; I could smell alcohol on his breath. He would repeat this over and over again every time he would hit me. For a second it felt like I couldn't catch my breath.
"Abby," I whispered feeling the tears burn my eyes. She sat down next to me and rubbed my back, trying to calm me down.
"It's okay babe. Only a couple more," she whispered.
"Is your father's name Travis Walker?" Mickey asked. I gasped. The only people that had ever called my Daddy that was my Mommy and the man that used to bring us our mail. It caught me off guard that Mickey knew his name. I nodded.
"That's all I need to know," Mickey said standing up with her clipboard. "Thank you for talking with me Carmella." She held her hand out and I shook it quickly before yanking my hand back. She turned to Abby.
"Ms. Lockhart? I will need to speak with you and your other co-workers in private." Abby only nodded and bent down to hug me.
"Thank you for being so brave," she whispered. "You stay here until I get back." I nodded and she followed Mickey outside. I climbed off of the bed and looked around the tiny curtain area. There wasn't a whole lot to see. I didn't want to disobey Abby, but at the same time I didn't want to stay by myself. Luckily I heard Sam's voice on the other side of the curtain. She was talking to Luka.
"That's really terrible. Are you sure that's her father?" I heard Sam ask. Then I heard Mickey.
"Sure of it," she said. "He was arrested last week for being in possession of marijuana. Carmella probably ran away when the pain of her broken arm became too much for her. Now that we hold the information that we do we can take him to court and get him under a larger sentence. Child abuse and murder. Carmella won't ever have to live in fear again. Live in the way of fury."
"Wait hold on just a minute," now I heard Dave's voice. "What's going to happen to Carmella?"
"I've tried to track down family members since I was first assigned this case a few days ago but so far I haven't been able to come up with anyone," Mickey said sadly.
"Until you find someone… Where's she going to go?" Luka asked. He sounded upset.
"Probably a group home or a foster community," Mickey said. I felt my breath catch in my throat. I couldn't go away! I couldn't leave the hospital. Carol told me! She told me I needed to stay at the hospital with everyone. That I belonged here.
"You can't do that," Dave snapped.
"I'm afraid I'm going to have to. Its law for me to take cases like Carmella's and put them in foster positions until something more permanent comes up," Mickey said.
"Well can't we be her foster position?" Abby asked. "Can't we take care of Carmella?" There was a long silence in which I held my breath.
"I…I don't know if that can be arranged," Mickey whispered. I started to cry quietly and I quickly came out from behind the curtain.
"Abby!" I could hardly see Luka, Sam, Dave, and Abby through the foggy wall of tears that blurred my vision. It seemed like forever but I finally made my way into her arms. I cried into her chest.
"I don't wanna go!"
Abby hugged me tightly until I pulled away and found Dave's arms. Soon Sam and Luka were kneeled down and I ran into their arms too.
"Can't we try and arrange something Mickey?" Luka asked. "She's happy here." Mickey seemed to be thinking very hard.
"I will run it by my boss and if she approves then Carmella can stay here until something else comes up. As of right now and as far as I'm concerned she's very happy here and you four as well as two other caretakers of your choice have temporary joint custody of Carmella."
"Hear that baby? You can stay," Sam hugged me closely. Abby, Luka, and Dave joined in.
"I'll drop by later this week to tell you what my boss has decided," Mickey said. Luka got up to shake her hand and show her the way out of the hospital. I smiled up at Sam and Abby and Dave. My dad was in jail and I'd be able to stay with everyone at the hospital. At this point in time, pain and suffering and loneliness had disappeared from my vocabulary.