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They had been alerted by multiple sources that Abby had been rescued and was on her way to County, on her way back to them. As the word spread through the ER, everyone began to wonder what it would be like? How would Abby react? Would she just pretend like nothing had happened, or would she actually open up to someone, anyone.
Kerry had been the first to get the word, and immediately announced that only females members would be allowed in the trauma room with Abby, until they had a good enough guess as to both her mental and physical condition.
Kerry, Susan and Sam had gathered outside the ambulance bay, waiting. The police had been forced to block the bay from the media, to give the ambulance a chance to pull up. It had been a long and frustrating three weeks for them, full of worry and wonder of what might have become of their friend, their colleague, in the hands of a mad man. Nobody knew what to think, what to do, or what to say once they were able to see Abby again.
"Here they come," Kerry pointed to the approaching ambulance. The sirens were blaring as the once hint of an ambulance became bigger until it came to a stop right in front of the bay door. The as if out of nowhere she watched as the media began recording footage of them as they hastily pulled open the back of the rig, the doors wide open, unsure of what they would encounter.
Joe had already jumped from the front of the stopped rig and was running back around to help his partner and Abby. "Hey Dr. Weaver." Joe said seeing the familiar physician's face, he knew that they were all full of worry as well, he grabbed onto the side of the gurney. "She's really out of it, I just want to warn you." the three nodded their heads, already expecting it. But really out of it, didn't give them enough details as of what to think. Out of it as in unconscious, or out of it as in refusing to acknowledging anybody's presence.
And then the doors opened, and for the first time in three weeks, they got to see Abby. Instantly their hearts broke, this wasn't the Abby they were used to, and most likely they would never see that Abby again. She was lying down on the gurney, buried beneath a multitude of blue blankets, a bag of saline dripping into her almost lifeless looking body.
"Abby, honey, its Kerry, your safe now," Kerry said, knowing that Susan and Sam were still to choked up to speak. But Abby didn't look up, she kept her gaze down as they wheeled her into the ER, the gurney once again surrounded by cops.
The hallway was silent as they raced to the trauma room, not needing to necessarily save her life, but to get her out of the public's eye. Once in the privacy of trauma one, the shades were pulled to block views at all entrances, and security guards were posted at the doors. Nobody, including staff, could get in that room, unless Kerry Weaver gave the go ahead.
Together, there was a grand total of six people in the room. Todd, Joe, Kerry, Susan, Sam and of course, Abby who had yet to say anything. They started in as if this was any other trauma that they would have to deal with, as hard as it was the staff needed to back away from the situation and keep personally feelings at bay. While this was Abby, if they got to involved they wouldn't be objective in their medical care, and right now Abby needed them to be at their best, medical attention needed to come first.
"Abby," Susan called out, "can you hear me." There was a chilling silence in the room when Abby didn't respond she didn't even flinch to the presence of the doctor's in the room. Susan began the process of checking Abby for injuries among the bruises that lined her face, her arms, her legs, it was heart wrenching to see her in this state and everyone felt the same, all they wanted to do right now was take care of Abby. She was lying there nearly motionless locked in her own little world, or so it appeared.
She handed the chart over to Kerry knowing that Kerry had seen the same things that she had seen, knowing Kerry would be thinking the same thing that she was thinking, she had to be, there was no doubt in Susan's mind what had happened to Abby, that unspeakable act that every woman dreaded. It was painfully obvious to everyone, including the paramedics in the room, what had happened. There was something about the way that she was acting that just made the fact that she had been traumatized stand out even more.
"You want a rape kit?" Sam asked.
"Yeah, let's do that now, get it out of the way." Susan responded before turning her attention back to Abby. "Abby, we need to do a rape exam alright, we'll make it fast," Susan didn't know why she had expected a response from Abby, but it was an attempt to get her to say anything, even if it was to object, it didn't work.
As Susan got ready to make sure that Abby was fully okay, that she hadn't been hurt even worse, places that they couldn't see, Abby started to fight back. She had apparently realized what they were about to do, most likely when Sam began cutting off her shirt. Abby began pulling away from everyone, from their touch, there was a sense of urgency in her that was telling her that she needed to get out of there and get out of there now, there was no place where she was ever going to feel safe again. Taken from outside her place of work and then taken from within the walls where she thought she was safe had shattered Abby to the core.
Susan watched as her best friend, her patient became more and more agitated. The alarm signals didn't need to tell her that, it was obvious by Abby's struggling against the doctors and nurse. They were cutting off her clothes, and she was trying to push their hands away.
"Honey, its okay, we're not going to hurt you I promise," Susan whispered to her. Nothing that Susan was saying seemed to be registering with Abby it was almost as if she couldn't hear her.
Susan tried her hardest to keep Abby calm as she was kicked and clawed as she tried to do the exam on her, there were signs of trauma and Susan was taking her fair share of bruises from Abby now as she did what needed to be done. But it was no use, Abby was to severely traumatized to trust even her best friend. She thought back to when Abby's neighbor has assaulted her years before, how Susan had to do the same exam, but that was different. At least then Abby would talk to her, show emotion, anything., But now, Susan didn't know what to do, Abby was literally fighting them tooth and nail, desperately trying to defend herself, what dignity she had left.
Sam and Kerry had decided not to restrain her using the conventional method, but each had taken a post on either side of her, and gently held her so Susan could finish her job. What scared the hell out of the doctors, was not that Abby was fighting as much as she was, but that she was completely silent while doing it. Not a sound had escaped from her lips, even when Susan had started the exam. They were meticulous in their collection of evidence, making sure to mark every tear, bruise, anything that might in someway help nail this guy to the wall for what he had done to Abby. It was clear to both Kerry and Susan that this man had done to her.
"Okay Abby, we're done," Kerry told her once she saw Susan scoot away from the end of the gurney, and put Abby's legs back down on the bed. Sam had gently placed a gown over Abby, her shaking getting to Sam, the fear she saw in Abby, was like no other. She had never seen a patient act like this, much less Abby. The tears had yet to stop, but she had stopped struggling long before.
Kerry, Sam and Susan all looked at each other not sure of what to do next, it was obvious that they would need psych to come down and attempt to get Abby to talk, but for now they were clueless.
Susan, at a last attempt to get Abby to talk, or in the very least, make eye contact, grabbed a stool, and sat down next to Abby's left side. Kerry and Sam looked on cautiously.
"Abs," and that's when Susan made the mistake, she reached over and grazed Abby's shoulder, suddenly bringing her friend out of the trance she had been locked in for a while now. But for some reason, something that Susan had said triggered a violent response, one that nobody would have expected from Abby. In one quick motion, she sat up, and swung at the closest person to her, who just happened to be Kerry on her left side. Her fist collided with Kerry's eye, momentarily stunning her but nothing more, while it had hurt, Abby simply didn't have that much strength in her anymore to do any serious damage to anybody.
"Susan, we need to sedate her," Kerry managed to get out, as she pressed her hand to her eye, already feeling the swelling. She would defiantly have a shiner within the next hour. Susan nodded in agreement.
"Let's do 2.5 of Ativan," she told Sam, as she and Kerry tried to prevent Abby from hurting anybody else, or herself, by forcefully holding her down on the gurney, and still, not a sound from her.
"Ativan's in," Sam announced as soon as she had injected the sedative into Abby's IV. She aided the two doctors is restraining her friend, until the medicine finally took effect. Within ten minutes, Abby was asleep, no longer struggling, no longer afraid, at least at the moment.
Sam looked up only to see tears in Susan's eyes, she didn't blame her, she felt the same thing on her own cheeks. It was horrible to see Abby like this, they all knew it was going to be bad when she first came in, but this was beyond all of their expectations. Never in their combined careers had anybody ever seen such a traumatized victim. But when had they started referring to Abby as a victim, and no longer their friend, coworker, or just Abby?
"Sam," it was Susan's voice, "Can you call psyche, tell them we need them to come down here ASAP," Susan spoke softly, hating to admit that they needed to call down a psychiatrist.
The nurse nodded, before walking over to the phone and dialing the number. "Dr. Winters is coming down, said she'll be here in about twenty minutes,"
"Its not like we're going anywhere," Susan once again took her seat on the stool and scooted up to the gurney, trying to figure out how in anyway shape or form she could bring Abby back.
Although her injuries were not life threatening, they would have to keep her for observation, for a few days. Dehydration, two broken ribs, a badly sprained wrist, and lack of food for three weeks would be hell on anybody, Abby was no different. Her body was showing signs of lack of food, she had lost an incredible amount of weight, making her tinier then she already was before she had disappeared. When she had first laid eyes upon Abby, after getting over the initial shock of actually seeing her, Susan could immediately tell she was dehydrated just by the look of her skin. She had thought for sure Abby's wrist would be broken, just judging by the swelling and bruising, but x-ray had not shown that. But what was broken was two ribs, she had probably been kicked, or hit, or any multiple amount of things could explain that injury. And until Susan was absolutely sure that she had recovered from that list, she would be staying safe at County. Her friends watching over her constantly.
